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: 42719
A window of opportunity for climate-change adaptation: Easing tree mortality by reducing forest basal area A window of opportunity for climate-change adaptation: Easing tree mortality by reducing forest basal area
Increasing aridity as a result of climate change is expected to exacerbate tree mortality. Reducing forest basal area – the cross-sectional area of tree stems within a given ground area – can decrease tree competition, which may reduce drought-induced tree mortality. However, neither the magnitude of expected mortality increases, nor the potential effectiveness of basal area reduction...
Authors
John B. Bradford, David M. Bell
Disturbance automated reference toolset (DART): Assessing patterns in ecological recovery from energy development on the Colorado Plateau Disturbance automated reference toolset (DART): Assessing patterns in ecological recovery from energy development on the Colorado Plateau
A new disturbance automated reference toolset (DART) was developed to monitor human land surface impacts using soil-type and ecological context. DART identifies reference areas with similar soils, topography, and geology; and compares the disturbance condition to the reference area condition using a quantile-based approach based on a satellite vegetation index. DART was able to represent...
Authors
Travis W. Nauman, Michael C. Duniway, Miguel L. Villarreal, Travis B. Poitras
The effects of drought and fire in the extirpation of an abundant semi-aquatic turtle from a lacustrine environment in the southwestern USA The effects of drought and fire in the extirpation of an abundant semi-aquatic turtle from a lacustrine environment in the southwestern USA
We documented a significant mortality event affecting a southwestern pond turtle (Actinemys pallida) population living in a lake in southern California, USA. The area around the lake was impacted by a large wildland fire in 2013 that occurred during a protracted drought. As the mortality event was still unfolding, we collected data in 2014 on water quality, demographic structure, and...
Authors
Jeffrey E. Lovich, Mari Quillman, Brian Zitt, Adam Schroeder, David E. Green, Charles B. Yackulic, Paul Gibbons, Eric Goode
Monitoring protocols: Options, approaches, implementation, benefits Monitoring protocols: Options, approaches, implementation, benefits
Monitoring and adaptive management are fundamental concepts to rangeland management across land management agencies and embodied as best management practices for private landowners. Historically, rangeland monitoring was limited to determining impacts or maximizing the potential of specific land uses—typically grazing. Over the past several decades, though, the uses of and disturbances...
Authors
Jason W. Karl, Jeffrey E. Herrick, David A. Pyke
Opinion: Why we need a centralized repository for isotopic data Opinion: Why we need a centralized repository for isotopic data
Stable isotopes encode and integrate the origin of matter; thus, their analysis offers tremendous potential to address questions across diverse scientific disciplines (1, 2). Indeed, the broad applicability of stable isotopes, coupled with advancements in high-throughput analysis, have created a scientific field that is growing exponentially, and generating data at a rate paralleling the...
Authors
Jonathan N. Pauli, Seth D. Newsome, Joseph A. Cook, Chris Harrod, Shawn A. Steffan, Christopher J. O. Baker, Merav Ben-David, David Bloom, Gabriel J. Bowen, Thure E. Cerling, Carla Cicero, Craig Cook, Michelle Dohm, Prarthana S. Dharampal, Gary Graves, Robert Gropp, Keith A. Hobson, Chris Jordan, Bruce MacFadden, Suzanne Pilaar Birch, Jorrit Poelen, Sujeevan Ratnasingham, Laura Russell, Craig A. Stricker, Mark D. Uhen, Christopher T. Yarnes, Brian Hayden
Benefits of the destinations, not costs of the journeys, shape partial migration patterns Benefits of the destinations, not costs of the journeys, shape partial migration patterns
1. The reasons that lead some animals to seasonally migrate, and others to remain in the same area year-round, are poorly understood. Associations between traits, such as body size, and migration provide clues. For example, larger species and individuals are more likely to migrate. 2. One explanation for this size bias in migration is that larger animals are capable of moving faster...
Authors
Charles B. Yackulic, Stephen Blake, Guillaume Bastille-Rousseau
The Nitrogen Footprint Tool network: A multi-institution program to reduce nitrogen pollution The Nitrogen Footprint Tool network: A multi-institution program to reduce nitrogen pollution
Anthropogenic sources of reactive nitrogen have local and global impacts on air and water quality and detrimental effects on human and ecosystem health. This paper uses the nitrogen footprint tool (NFT) to determine the amount of nitrogen (N) released as a result of institutional consumption. The sectors accounted for include food (consumption and upstream production), energy...
Authors
Elizabeth A. Castner, Allison M. Leah, Neal Leary, Jill Baron, Jana E. Compton, James N. Galloway, Meredith G. Hastings, Jacob Kimiecik, Jonathan Lantz-Trissel, Elizabeth de la Riguera, Rebecca Ryals
δ13C and d15N in the endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle Lepidochelys kempii after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill δ13C and d15N in the endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle Lepidochelys kempii after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
The Deepwater Horizon explosion in April 2010 and subsequent oil spill released 3.19 × 106 barrels (5.07 × 108 L) of MC252 crude oil into important foraging areas of the endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle Lepidochelys kempii (Lk) in the northern Gulf of Mexico (GoM). We measured δ13C and δ15N in scute biopsy samples from 33 Lk nesting in Texas during 2010–-12. Of these, 27 were equipped...
Authors
Kimberly J. Reich, Melania C. Lopez-Castro, Donna J. Shaver, Claire Iseton, Kristen M. Hart, Michael J. Hooper, Christopher J. Schmitt
Integrated species distribution models: combining presence-background data and site-occupancy data with imperfect detection Integrated species distribution models: combining presence-background data and site-occupancy data with imperfect detection
Two main sources of data for species distribution models (SDMs) are site-occupancy (SO) data from planned surveys, and presence-background (PB) data from opportunistic surveys and other sources. SO surveys give high quality data about presences and absences of the species in a particular area. However, due to their high cost, they often cover a smaller area relative to PB data, and are...
Authors
Vira Koshkina, Yang Wang, Ascelin Gordon, Robert Dorazio, Matthew White, Lewi Stone
Effects of experimental removal of barred owls on population demography of northern spotted owls in Washington and Oregon—2016 progress report Effects of experimental removal of barred owls on population demography of northern spotted owls in Washington and Oregon—2016 progress report
Evidence indicates that competition with invasive barred owls (Strix varia) is causing rapid declines in populations of northern spotted owls (S. occidentalis caurina), and that the long-term persistence of spotted owls may be in question without additional management intervention. A pilot study in California showed that removal of barred owls in combination with habitat conservation may...
Authors
J. David Wiens, Katie M. Dugger, Krista E. Lewicki, David C. Simon
Optimization of a Plaque Neutralization Test (PNT) to identify the exposure history of Pacific Herring to viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) Optimization of a Plaque Neutralization Test (PNT) to identify the exposure history of Pacific Herring to viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV)
Methods for a plaque neutralization test (PNT) were optimized for the detection and quantification of viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) neutralizing activity in the plasma of Pacific Herring Clupea pallasii. The PNT was complement dependent, as neutralizing activity was attenuated by heat inactivation; further, neutralizing activity was mostly restored by the addition of...
Authors
Lucas Hart, Ashley MacKenzie, Maureen K. Purcell, Rachel L. Thompson, Paul Hershberger
Low-pathogenic influenza A viruses in North American diving ducks contribute to the emergence of a novel highly pathogenic influenza A(H7N8) virus Low-pathogenic influenza A viruses in North American diving ducks contribute to the emergence of a novel highly pathogenic influenza A(H7N8) virus
Introductions of low-pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) viruses of subtypes H5 and H7 into poultry from wild birds have the potential to mutate to highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses, but such viruses' origins are often unclear. In January 2016, a novel H7N8 HPAI virus caused an outbreak in turkeys in Indiana, USA. To determine the virus's origin, we sequenced the genomes of...
Authors
Yifei Xu, Andrew M. Ramey, Andrew S. Bowman, Thomas J. DeLiberto, Mary L. Killian, Scott Krauss, Jacqueline M. Nolting, Mia Kim Torchetti, Andrew B. Reeves, Richard J. Webby, David E. Stallknecht, Xiu-Feng Wan