Publications
Explore WARC's science publications.
Filter Total Items: 3380
Climate change
Amphibian ecology and distribution are strongly correlated with climate. Regional patterns of amphibian biodiversity are intimately linked to temperature, evapotranspiration rate, and clines in humidity. While amphibians are and will continue to be adversely affected by recent and projected changes in climate, research suggests that adaptation may happen more slowly than the expected rate of envir
Authors
David Bickford, Guinevere O.U. Wogan, Deanna H. Olson, K.S. Seshadri, Mark C. Urban, Ana Carnaval, John Measey, Jodi J.L. Rowley, Sean Rovito, Rudolf von May, Susan Walls
Realizing the potential of eDNA biodiversity monitoring tools in the marine environment with application to offshore renewable energy
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) researches the biological diversity and distribution of species to support management, conservation, and resource use decisions. USGS scientists advance detection and monitoring technologies to assess changes in fish and wildlife populations, biodiversity, and the health of ecosystems. The United States is planning to install 30 gigawatts of offshore marine and wi
Authors
Adam Sepulveda, Cheryl Morrison, Margaret Hunter, Mona Khalil
By
Deep vs shallow: GPS tags reveal a dichotomy in movement patterns of loggerhead turtles foraging in a coastal bay
BackgroundIndividual variation in movement strategies of foraging loggerhead turtles have been documented on the scale of tens to hundreds of kilometers within single ocean basins. Use of different strategies among individuals may reflect variations in resources, predation pressure or competition. It is less common for individual turtles to use different foraging strategies on the scale of kilomet
Authors
Margaret Lamont, Daniel Slone, James P. Reid, Susan M. Butler, Joseph A. Alday
Best practices for genetic and genomic data archiving
Genetic and genomic data are collected for a vast array of scientific and applied purposes. Despite mandates for public archiving, data are typically used only by the generating authors. The reuse of genetic and genomic datasets remains uncommon because it is difficult, if not impossible, due to non-standard archiving practices and lack of contextual metadata. But as the new field of macrogenetics
Authors
Deborah M. Leigh, A. G. Vandergast, Margaret Hunter, Eric D. Crandall, W. Chris Funk, Colin J Garroway, Sean M. Hoban, Sara J. Oyler-McCance, Christian Rellstab, Gernot Segelbacher, Chloe Schmidt, Ella Vázquez-Domínguez, Ivan Paz-Vinas
Environmental DNA
The widespread adoption of environmental DNA (eDNA) detection tools for biodiversity monitoring has led to the need for universal data standards to inform principled eDNA data applications. Improvements in understanding the meaning and possible uncertainty of eDNA data can minimize erroneous conclusions, increase confidence in eDNA data, and maximize conservation outcomes.
-Environmental DNA (eDN
Authors
Margaret Hunter, Kristian Meissner, Catherine Abbott, Florien Leese, Gernot Segelbacher
Multinational evaluation of genetic diversity indicators for the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework
Under the recently adopted Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, 196 Parties committed to reporting the status of genetic diversity for all species. To facilitate reporting, three genetic diversity indicators were developed, two of which focus on processes contributing to genetic diversity conservation: maintaining genetically distinct populations and ensuring populations are large enoug
Authors
Alicia Mastretta-Yanes, Jessica M. da Silva, Catherine E. Grueber, Luis Castillo-Reina, Viktoria Köppä, Brenna R. Forester, W. Chris Funk, Myriam Heuertz, Fumiko Ishihama, Rebecca Jordan, Joachim Mergeay, Ivan Paz-Vinas, Victor Julio Rincon-Parra, Maria Alejandra Rodriguez-Morales, Libertad Arredondo-Amezcua, Gaëlle Brahy, Matt DeSaix, Lily Durkee, Ashley Hamilton, Margaret E. Hunter, Austin Koontz, Iris Lang, María Camila Latorre-Cárdenas, Tanya Latty, Alexander Llanes-Quevedo, Anna J. MacDonald, Meg Mahoney, Caitlin Miller, Juan Francisco Ornelas, Santiago Ramírez-Barahona, Erica Robertson, Isa-Rita M. Russo, Metztli Arcila Santiago, Robyn E. Shaw, Glenn M. Shea, Per Sjögren-Gulve, Emma Suzuki Spence, Taylor Stack, Sofia Suarez, Akio Takenaka, Henrik Thurfjell, Sheela P. Turbek, Marlien van der Merwe, Fleur Visser, Ana Wegier, Georgina Wood, Eugenia Zarza, Linda Laikre, Sean M. Hoban
Zebra and Quagga mussels in the United States—Dreissenid mussel research by the U.S. Geological Survey
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) delivers high-quality data, technologies, and decision-support tools to help managers both reduce existing populations and control the spread of dreissenid mussels. The USGS researches ecology, biology, risk assessment, and early detection and rapid response methods; provides decision support; and develops and tests control measures.
Authors
Cayla R. Morningstar, Patrick M. Kočovský, Michael E. Colvin, Timothy D. Counihan, Wesley M. Daniel, Peter C. Esselman, Cathy A. Richter, Adam Sepulveda, Diane L. Waller
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Ecosystems Mission Area, Biological Threats and Invasive Species Research Program, Columbia Environmental Research Center, Great Lakes Science Center, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, Western Fisheries Research Center, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center
Restoring blue carbon ecosystems
Mangroves, tidal marshes and seagrasses have experienced extensive historical reduction in extent due to direct and indirect effects of anthropogenic land use change. Habitat loss has contributed carbon emissions and led to foregone opportunities for carbon sequestration, which are disproportionately large due to high ‘blue carbon’ stocks and sequestration rates in these coastal ecosystems. As suc
Authors
Daniel A. Friess, Zoë I. Shribman, Milica Stankovic, Naima Iram, Melissa Millman Baustian, Carolyn J. Ewers Lewis
A new era of genetic diversity conservation through novel tools and accessible data
As the foundation of biodiversity, genetic diversity is necessary for species to adapt to ecological changes, such as impacts from disease, invasive species, and climate change. Genetic diversity also supports ecosystem resilience and societal innovations. Unfortunately, declines in genetic diversity have been frequently observed in populations of wild and domestic species. Yet the field of popula
Authors
Margaret Hunter, Jessica M. da Silva, Alicia Mastretta-Yanes, Sean M. Hoban
Coastal breeding bird phenology on the dredged-material islands of the Baptiste Collette Bayou, US Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District, Louisiana
Coastal bird populations in North America have experienced significant population declines over the past four decades, and many species have become dependent upon human-made islands and other sediment-based habitats created through dredged material deposition. We monitored the breeding phenology of coastal bird populations utilizing dredged-material islands and open depositional areas in the Bapti
Authors
Michael P. Guilfoyle, Amanda Nicole Anderson, Samuel S. Jackson, Jacob F. Jung, Theodore J. Zenzal, Burton C. Suedel, Jeffrey M. Corbino
Hiding in plain sight: Federally protected Ringed Map Turtles (Graptemys oculifera) found in a new river system
Understanding the geographical range of a species is essential to successful conservation and management, but their ranges are not always fully known. Ringed Map Turtles (Graptemys oculifera) have been federally listed as a Threatened species since 1986, and they have long been considered endemic to the Pearl River system of central Mississippi and southeastern Louisiana, USA. Based on a 2021 ci
Authors
Brad Glorioso, Will Selman, Brian R. Kreiser, Aidan Ford
Wetland creation and reforestation of legacy surface mines in the Central Appalachian Region (USA): A potential climate-adaptation approach for pond-breeding amphibians?
Habitat restoration and creation within human-altered landscapes can buffer the impacts of climate change on wildlife. The Forestry Reclamation Approach (FRA) is a coal surface mine reclamation practice that enhances reforestation through soil decompaction and the planting of native trees. Recently, wetland creation has been coupled with FRA to increase habitat available for wildlife, including am
Authors
Lauren Sherman, Christopher D. Barton, Jacquelyn C. Guzy, Rebecca N. Davenport, John J. Cox, Jeffery L. Larkin, Todd Fearer, Jillian C. Newman, Steven J. Price