Publications
Below is a list of WERC's peer-reviewed publications. If you are searching for a specific publication and cannot find it in this list, please contact werc_web@usgs.gov
Filter Total Items: 3741
Landscape fragmentation overturns classical metapopulation thinking Landscape fragmentation overturns classical metapopulation thinking
Habitat loss and isolation caused by landscape fragmentation represent a growing threat to global biodiversity. Existing theory suggests that the process will lead to a decline in metapopulation viability. However, since most metapopulation models are restricted to simple networks of discrete habitat patches, the effects of real landscape fragmentation, particularly in stochastic...
Authors
Yun Tao, Alan Hastings, Kevin D. Lafferty, Ilkka Hanski, Otso Ovaskainen
Stony coral tissue loss disease indirectly alters reef communities Stony coral tissue loss disease indirectly alters reef communities
Many Caribbean coral reefs are near collapse due to various threats. An emerging threat, stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD), is spreading across the Western Atlantic and Caribbean. Data from the U.S. Virgin Islands reveal how SCTLD spread has reduced the abundance of susceptible coral and crustose coralline algae and increased cyanobacteria, fire coral, and macroalgae. A Caribbean...
Authors
Sara D. Swaminathan, Kevin D. Lafferty, Nicole S. Knight, Andrew H. Altieri
Season of grazing interacts with soil texture, selecting for associations of biocrust morphogroups Season of grazing interacts with soil texture, selecting for associations of biocrust morphogroups
Livestock grazing, a widespread land use in semi-arid systems, is often placed in opposition to the perpetuation of biological soil crusts (“biocrusts”: lichens, mosses, and algal crusts including cyanobacteria) that live on the soil surface and provide ecosystem functions. The composition of biocrusts and vascular plants varies with climate, soils, and disturbance. In general, ruderal...
Authors
Lea A. Condon, Roger Rosentreter, Kari E. Veblen, Peter S. Coates
Global mercury concentrations in biota: Their use as a basis for a global biomonitoring framework Global mercury concentrations in biota: Their use as a basis for a global biomonitoring framework
An important provision of the Minamata Convention on Mercury is to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the adopted measures and its implementation. Here, we describe for the first time currently available biotic mercury (Hg) data on a global scale to improve the understanding of global efforts to reduce the impact of Hg pollution on people and the environment. Data from the peer...
Authors
David C. Evers, Joshua T. Ackerman, Staffan Akerblom, Dominique Bally, Niladri Basu, Kevin Bishop, Nathalie Bodin, Hans Fredrik Veitberg Braaten, Mark Burton, Paco Bustamante, Celia Y. Chen, John Chetelat, Linroy Christian, Rune Dietz, Paul Drevnick, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Luis Fernandez, Neil Hammerschlag, Mireille Harmelin-Vivien, Agustin Harte, Eva Kruemmel, Jose Lailson-Brito, Gabriella Medina, Cesar Rodriguez, Iain Stenhouse, Elsie M. Sunderland, Akinori Takeuchi, Timothy Tear, Claudia Vega, Simon Wilson, Pianpian Wu
Methylmercury effects on birds: A review, meta-analysis, and development of toxicity reference values for injury assessment based on tissue residues and diet Methylmercury effects on birds: A review, meta-analysis, and development of toxicity reference values for injury assessment based on tissue residues and diet
Birds are used as bioindicators of environmental mercury (Hg) contamination, and toxicity reference values are needed for injury assessments. We conducted a comprehensive review, summarized data from 168 studies, performed a series of Bayesian hierarchical meta-analyses, and developed new toxicity reference values for the effects of methylmercury (MeHg) on birds using a benchmark dose...
Authors
Joshua T. Ackerman, Sarah H. Peterson, Mark P. Herzog, Julie L. Yee
Post-fire reference densities for giant sequoia seedlings in a new era of high-severity wildfires Post-fire reference densities for giant sequoia seedlings in a new era of high-severity wildfires
Many forests globally are experiencing increases in large, high-severity wildfires, often with increasingly inadequate post-fire tree regeneration. To identify areas that might need post-fire planting, forest managers have a growing need for seedling reference densities – the natural seedling densities expected to be adequate to regenerate a forest – to compare with observed post-fire...
Authors
Nathan L. Stephenson, Anthony C. Caprio, David Nicolas Bertil Soderberg, Adrian Das, Eva Louisa Lopez, A. Park Williams
Carotenoid skin ornaments as flexible indicators of male foraging behavior in a marine predator: Variation among Mexican colonies of brown booby (Sula leucogaster) Carotenoid skin ornaments as flexible indicators of male foraging behavior in a marine predator: Variation among Mexican colonies of brown booby (Sula leucogaster)
Carotenoid-dependent ornaments can reflect animals’ diet and foraging behaviors. However, this association should be spatially flexible and variable among populations to account for geographic variation in optimal foraging behaviors. We tested this hypothesis using populations of a marine predator (the brown booby, Sula leucogaster) that forage across a gradient in ocean depth in and...
Authors
Nathan P. Michael, Roxana Torres, Andreanna J. Welch, Jonathan J. Felis, Mario Erandi Bonillas-Monge, Josh Adams, Samantha Hodgson, Laura Lopez-Marques, Alejadro Martínez-Flores, Gala Enidh Castro-Mejias, Anne E. Wiley
Eggshell membrane thickness and its contribution to total eggshell thickness for 13 waterbird species Eggshell membrane thickness and its contribution to total eggshell thickness for 13 waterbird species
Eggshell thickness can be an indicator of environmental pollution in wild birds and shell quality in wild and domestic birds, but it is difficult to measure calcite eggshell thickness due to the presence of the adherent outer eggshell membrane. Eggshells of 13 waterbird species were divided in half longitudinally and the outer membrane was removed from one of the halves. Subsequently, we...
Authors
Gary M. Santolo, Sarah H. Peterson, Breanne Cooney, C. Alex Hartman, Mark P. Herzog, Joshua T. Ackerman
Phylogenomics, male internal genitalia, a new species, and other notes on New World Stenopelmatus Jerusalem crickets (Orthoptera: Stenopelmatoidea: Stenopelmatini) Phylogenomics, male internal genitalia, a new species, and other notes on New World Stenopelmatus Jerusalem crickets (Orthoptera: Stenopelmatoidea: Stenopelmatini)
Based on past and expanded DNA sampling, the orthopteran families Stenopelmatidae and Anostostomatidae, as currently structured, are shown to be non-monophyletic. The splay-footed cricket genus Comicus is confirmed to be genetically distinct from all Stenopelmatidae. We add two specimens to our previously published phylogenetic tree for New World Stenopelmatus Jerusalem cricket species...
Authors
David B. Weissman, Hojun Song, Amy G. Vandergast
Comparison of two methods to detect the northwestern pond turtle (Actinemys marmorata) and the invasive American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) in interior northern California Comparison of two methods to detect the northwestern pond turtle (Actinemys marmorata) and the invasive American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) in interior northern California
Knowledge about the distributions of species and the variables influencing their occurrence is important for their management and conservation, but factors affecting occurrence can vary across the range of a species. Northwestern pond turtles (Actinemys marmorata) are widespread generalist turtles, but are nonetheless of conservation concern throughout their range. To better understand...
Authors
Brian J. Halstead, Patrick M. Kleeman, Caren S. Goldberg, Jonathan P. Rose
Biological soil crusts are more prevalent in warmer and drier environments within the Great Basin ecoregion: Implications for managing annual grass invasion Biological soil crusts are more prevalent in warmer and drier environments within the Great Basin ecoregion: Implications for managing annual grass invasion
Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) can thrive under environmental conditions that are stressful for vascular plants such as high temperatures and/or extremely low moisture availability. In these settings, and in the absence of disturbance, cover of biocrusts commonly exceeds cover of vascular plants. Arid landscapes are also typically slow to recover from disturbance and prone to altered
Authors
Lea A. Condon, John B. Bradford, Peter S. Coates
Breeding population size of the Pink-footed Shearwater Ardenna creatopus on Isla Mocha, Chile Breeding population size of the Pink-footed Shearwater Ardenna creatopus on Isla Mocha, Chile
Species population estimates are a fundamental component of conservation planning, but there are deficiencies in reliable data for many seabirds. The Pink-footed Shearwater Ardenna creatopus is a seabird that breeds on three islands worldwide, with the largest population on Isla Mocha, Chile. We aimed to update the breeding population estimate of Pink-footed Shearwaters on Isla Mocha...
Authors
Ryan D. Carle, Tiare Varela, Valentina Colodro, T.J. Clark-Wolf, Jonathan J. Felis, Peter Hodum, Francisco Javier Astete Castillo, Veronica Lopez