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: 42702
Review of trap-and-haul for managing Pacific salmonids (Oncorhynchus spp.) in impounded river systems Review of trap-and-haul for managing Pacific salmonids (Oncorhynchus spp.) in impounded river systems
High-head dams are migration barriers for Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp. in many river systems and recovery measures for impacted stocks are limited. Trap-and-haul has been widely used in attempts to facilitate recovery but information from existing programs has not been synthesized to inform improvements to aid recovery of salmonids in systems with high-head dams. We reviewed 17 trap...
Authors
Tobias Kock, John W. Ferguson, Matthew L. Keefer, Carl B. Schreck
Evaluating wildlife translocations using genomics: A bighorn sheep case study Evaluating wildlife translocations using genomics: A bighorn sheep case study
Wildlife restoration often involves translocation efforts to reintroduce species and supplement small, fragmented populations. We examined the genomic consequences of bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) translocations and population isolation to enhance understanding of evolutionary processes that affect population genetics and inform future restoration strategies. We conducted a population...
Authors
Elizabeth P Flesch, Tabitha A. Graves, Jennifer Thomson, Kelly Proffitt, P.J. White, Thomas R Stephenson, Robert A. Garrott
Evaluating natural experiments in ecology: Using synthetic controls in assessments of remotely sensed land treatments Evaluating natural experiments in ecology: Using synthetic controls in assessments of remotely sensed land treatments
Many important ecological phenomena occur on large spatial scales and/or are unplanned and thus do not easily fit within analytical frameworks that rely on randomization, replication, and interspersed a priori controls for statistical comparison. Analyses of such large‐scale, natural experiments are common in the health and econometrics literature, where techniques have been developed to...
Authors
Stephen E. Fick, Travis W. Nauman, Colby C. Brungard, Michael C. Duniway
Record fledging count from a seven-egg clutch in the Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) Record fledging count from a seven-egg clutch in the Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii)
Cooper's Hawks (Accipiter cooperii) typically lay 3–5 eggs per clutch, rarely 6 eggs, and there are 2 accounts of 7-egg clutches and 1 record of a maximum 8-egg clutch for the species. Brood sizes of 3–5 young are common and the previous maximum brood count is 6 young. However, in 2019, we found an urban nest in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, with 7 eggs that resulted in a record high of 7...
Authors
Robert N. Rosenfield, Sarah A. Sonsthagen, Ann Elizabeth Riddle-Berntsen, Evan Kuhel
Anadromous coastal cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarkii clarkii as a host for Argulus pugettensis (Crustacea, Branchiura): Parasite prevalence, intensity and distribution Anadromous coastal cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarkii clarkii as a host for Argulus pugettensis (Crustacea, Branchiura): Parasite prevalence, intensity and distribution
Coastal cutthroat trout [Oncorhynchus clarkii clarkii (Richardson, 1836)] from the marine waters of Puget Sound, WA, was documented as a new host for the ectoparasite Argulus pugettensis (Dana, 1852). The prevalence of A. pugettensis was 66% (49 of 74) on cutthroat trout and 0% (0 of 55) on coho salmon [O. kisutch (Walbaum, 1792)] collected during the winter of 2017/2018. Infestations...
Authors
James P Losee, Simon R M Jones, Caitlin A E McKinstry, William N. Batts, Paul Hershberger
Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus)
This chapter comprises the following sections: names, taxonomy, subspecies and distribution, descriptive notes, habitat, movements and home range, activity patterns, feeding ecology, reproduction and growth, behavior, parasites and diseases, status in the wild, and status in captivity.
Authors
Karyn D. Rode, Martyn E. Obbard, Stanislav Belikov, Andrew E. Derocher, George M. Durner, Gregory Thiemann, Morten Tryland, Robert J. Letcher, Randi Meyersen, Christian Sonne, Bjorn Jenssen, Rune Dietz, Dag Vongraven
How Is climate change affecting polar bears and giant pandas? How Is climate change affecting polar bears and giant pandas?
Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are the primary cause of climate change and an estimated increase of 3.7 to 4.8 °C is predicted by the year 2100 if emissions continue at current levels. Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) and giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) provide an interesting comparison study of the impact of climate change on bear species. While polar bears and giant pandas...
Authors
Melissa Songer, Todd C. Atwood, David C. Douglas, Qiongyu Huang, Renqiang Li, Nicholas Pilfold, Ming Xu, George M. Durner
Development of a novel framework for modeling field-scale conservation effects of depressional wetlands in agricultural landscapes Development of a novel framework for modeling field-scale conservation effects of depressional wetlands in agricultural landscapes
The intermixed cropland, grassland, and wetland ecosystems of the upper mid-western United States combine to provide a suite of valuable ecological services. Grassland and wetland losses in the upper midwestern United States have been extensive, but government-funded conservation programs have protected and restored hundreds of thousands of acres of wetland and grassland habitat in the...
Authors
Owen P. McKenna, Javier M. Osorio, Katherine D. Behrman, Luca Doro, David M. Mushet
Terrestrial ecological risk analysis via dietary exposure at uranium mine sites in the Grand Canyon watershed (Arizona, USA) Terrestrial ecological risk analysis via dietary exposure at uranium mine sites in the Grand Canyon watershed (Arizona, USA)
The U.S. Department of the Interior recently included uranium (U) on a list of mineral commodities that are considered critical to economic and national security. The uses of U for commercial and residential energy production, defense applications, medical device technologies, and energy generation for space vehicles and satellites are known, but the environmental impacts of uranium...
Authors
Jo Ellen Hinck, Danielle M. Cleveland, Bradley E. Sample
Increased burning in a warming climate reduces carbon uptake in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem despite productivity gains Increased burning in a warming climate reduces carbon uptake in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem despite productivity gains
1. The effects of changing climate and disturbance on mountain forest carbon stocks vary with tree species distributions and over elevational gradients. Warming can increase carbon uptake by stimulating productivity at high elevations but also enhance carbon release by increasing respiration and the frequency, intensity, and size of wildfires. 2. To understand the consequences of climate...
Authors
Paul D. Henne, Todd Hawbaker, Robert M. Scheller, Feng S Zhao, Hong S He, Wenru Xu, Zhiliang Zhu
It’s complicated…environmental DNA as a predictor of trout and char abundance in streams It’s complicated…environmental DNA as a predictor of trout and char abundance in streams
The potential to provide inferences about fish abundance from environmental (e)DNA samples has generated great interest. However, the accuracy of these abundance estimates is often low and variable across species and space. A plausible refinement is the use of common aquatic habitat monitoring data to account for attributes that influence eDNA dynamics. We therefore evaluated the...
Authors
Adam Sepulveda, Robert Al-Chokhachy, Matthew Laramie, Kyle Crapster, Ladd Knotek, Brian T. Miller, Alexander V. Zale, David Pilliod
Agricultural land-use change alters the structure and diversity of Amazon riparian forests Agricultural land-use change alters the structure and diversity of Amazon riparian forests
Riparian forests play key roles in protecting biodiversity and water resources, making them priorities for conservation in human-dominated landscapes, but fragmentation associated with expanding tropical croplands threatens their ecological integrity. We compared the structure of tropical riparian forests within intact and cropland catchments in a region of intensive soybean production...
Authors
Leonardo Maracahipes-Santos, Divino Vicente Silverio, Marcia Nunes Macedo, Leandro Maracahipes, Kathi Jo Jankowski, Lucas Navarro Paolucci, Christopher Neill, Paulo Monteiro Brando