Publications
This list of publications includes peer-review journal articles, official USGS publications series, reports and more authored by scientists in the Ecosystems Mission Area. A database of all USGS publications, with advanced search features, can be accessed at the USGS Publications Warehouse.
Filter Total Items: 42704
Spatially-structured statistical network models for landscape genetics Spatially-structured statistical network models for landscape genetics
A basic understanding of how the landscape impedes, or creates resistance to, the dispersal of organisms and hence gene flow is paramount for successful conservation science and management. Spatially structured ecological networks are often used to represent spatial landscape‐genetic relationships, where nodes represent individuals or populations and resistance to movement is represented...
Authors
Mevin Hooten
Success of lake restoration depends on spatial aspects of nutrient loading and hydrology Success of lake restoration depends on spatial aspects of nutrient loading and hydrology
Many aquatic ecosystems have deteriorated due to human activities and their restoration is often troublesome. It is proposed here that the restoration success of deteriorated lakes critically depends on hitherto largely neglected spatial heterogeneity in nutrient loading and hydrology. A modelling approach is used to study this hypothesis by considering four lake types with contrasting...
Authors
Annette B. G. Janssen, Dianneke van Wijk, Luuk P.A. van Gerven, Elisabeth S. Bakker, Robert J. Brederveld, Donald L. DeAngelis, Jan H. Janse, Wolf M. Mooij
Feather mercury concentrations in North American raptors sampled at migration monitoring stations Feather mercury concentrations in North American raptors sampled at migration monitoring stations
We assessed total mercury (THg) concentrations in breast feathers of diurnal North American raptors collected at migration monitoring stations. For 9 species in the Pacific Flyway, we found species and age influenced feather THg concentrations whereas sex did not. Feather THg concentrations µg/g dry weight (dw) averaged (least-squared mean±standard error) higher for raptors that...
Authors
Ryan Baurbour, Breanna L. Martinico, Joshua T. Ackerman, Mark P. Herzog, Angus C. Hull, Allen M. Fish, Joshua M. Hull
Effectiveness of fish screens in protecting lamprey (Entosphenus and Lampetra spp.) ammocoetes—Pilot testing of variable screen angle Effectiveness of fish screens in protecting lamprey (Entosphenus and Lampetra spp.) ammocoetes—Pilot testing of variable screen angle
Thousands of screened water diversions throughout the Columbia River Basin of the Pacific Northwest are sources of entrainment (unintended diversion into an unsafe passage route), injury, and mortality for a range of fish species and screening criteria have been developed to reduce and mitigate these effects. Large knowledge gaps exist concerning the potential effects of these screens on...
Authors
Theresa L. Liedtke, Daniel J. Didricksen, Lisa K. Weiland, Joshua A. Ragala, Ralph Lampman
Fire risk in revegetated bunchgrass communities Infested with Bromus tectorum Fire risk in revegetated bunchgrass communities Infested with Bromus tectorum
In rangeland ecosystems, invasive annual grass replacement of native perennials is associated with higher fire risk. Large bunchgrasses are often seeded to reduce cover of annuals such as Bromus tectorum L. (cheatgrass), but there is limited information about how revegetation reduces fire risk over the long-term. For this research note, we conducted a pilot study to assess how community
Authors
Steve O Link, Randall W Hill, Sheel Bansal
Pathology in practice: Knemidocoptiasis in a pine grosbeak (Pinicola enucleator) Pathology in practice: Knemidocoptiasis in a pine grosbeak (Pinicola enucleator)
No abstract available.
Authors
Susan Knowles, Jennifer L. Swan, Constance Roderick, Rebecca A. Cole
National Park Service socioeconomic monitoring pilot survey: Visitor spending analysis National Park Service socioeconomic monitoring pilot survey: Visitor spending analysis
The National Park Service (NPS) is in the process of establishing a formal socioeconomic monitoring (SEM) program that will provide a standard visitor survey instrument and a long-term, systematic sampling design for in-park visitor surveys. The development of the pilot SEM survey provided the opportunity to add to the set of available visitor spending profiles for use in the NPS Visitor...
Authors
Catherine Cullinane Thomas, Egan Cornachione, Lynne Koontz, Christopher Keyes
Integration and tradeoffs Integration and tradeoffs
Managing for sagebrush ecosystems that are resilient to disturbance and resistant to invasive plants often requires managers to make tough decisions in the face of considerable complexity and uncertainty. The deci¬sion making environment is often characterized by multiple management objectives, limited manage¬ment authorities and capabilities, dynamic ecosystems and plant communities...
Authors
Michele R. Crist, Karen Prentice, Jeanne C. Chambers, Sue Phillips, Lief A. Wiechman
Movements of immature bald eagles: Implications for bird aircraft strike hazard Movements of immature bald eagles: Implications for bird aircraft strike hazard
Bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) aircraft strikes have increased dramatically over the last 20 years as their populations have recovered to near historic sizes. Their attraction to airfields and their large body size makes them a danger to aircraft and therefore important to airfield wildlife managers. However, their management is complicated by their special protected status and...
Authors
Tricia A. Miller, Jeff L Cooper, Adam E. Duerr, Melissa A. Braham, James T. Anderson, Todd E. Katzner
Virally-vectored vaccine candidates against white-nose syndrome induce anti-fungal immune response in little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) Virally-vectored vaccine candidates against white-nose syndrome induce anti-fungal immune response in little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus)
White-nose syndrome (WNS) caused by the fungus, Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd) has killed millions of North American hibernating bats. Currently, methods to prevent the disease are limited. We conducted two trials to assess potential WNS vaccine candidates in wild-caught Myotis lucifugus. In a pilot study, we immunized bats with one of four vaccine treatments or phosphate-buffered...
Authors
Tonie E. Rocke, Brock Kingstad-Bakke, Marcel Wuthrich, Ben Stading, Rachel C. Abbott, Marcos Isidoro Ayza, Hannah E. Dobson, Lucas dos Santos Dias, Kevin Galles, Julia S. Lankton, Elizabeth Falendysz, Jeffrey M. Lorch, J. Scott Fites, Jaime Lopera-Madrid, Bruce Klein, Jorge E. Osorio, J. Paul White
Quarterly wildlife mortality report April 2019 Quarterly wildlife mortality report April 2019
No abstract available.
Authors
Bryan J. Richards, Daniel A. Grear, C. LeAnn White, Thierry M. Work, Emily A Underwood
Shrub persistence and increased grass mortality in response to drought in dryland systems Shrub persistence and increased grass mortality in response to drought in dryland systems
Droughts in the southwest United States have led to major forest and grassland die‐off events in recent decades, suggesting plant community and ecosystem shifts are imminent as native perennial grass populations are replaced by shrub‐ and invasive plant‐dominated systems. These patterns are similar to those observed in arid and semiarid systems around the globe, but our ability to...
Authors
Daniel E. Winkler, Jayne Belnap, David L. Hoover, Sasha C. Reed, Michael C. Duniway