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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: 42729

Role of recovering river herring population on smallmouth bass diet and growth Role of recovering river herring population on smallmouth bass diet and growth

Fish assemblages in Atlantic coastal rivers have undergone extensive ecological change in the last two and a half centuries due to human influence, including extirpation of many migratory fish species, such as river herring (Alosa spp.) and introduction of nonnative piscivores, notably Smallmouth Bass Micropterus dolomieu. Recently, dam removals and fish passage improvements in the...
Authors
Jonathan M. Watson, Stephen M. Coghlan, Joseph D. Zydlewski, Daniel B. Hayes, Daniel S. Stich

Deep search: Deep sea exploration to advance research on coral/canyon/cold seep habitats Deep search: Deep sea exploration to advance research on coral/canyon/cold seep habitats

Led by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the United States Geological Survey (USGS), and OER is an interagency partnership to explore and characterize sensitive deepwater habitats of the U.S. mid- and south Atlantic deep-sea habitats. Sponsored by the National Oceanographic Partnership Program, the study has brought together scientists from six U.S. academic institutions and...
Authors
Erik E. Cordes, Amanda W.J. Demopoulos, Michael Rasser, Caitlin Adams

Complexities, context, and new information about the Elwha River Complexities, context, and new information about the Elwha River

Recently, Hand et al. (2018) discussed the socio- ecological complexities surround-ing natural resource policy, science, and management in the Columbia River Basin, using a case study of dam removal on the Elwha River in Washington State (WebFigure 1a). We feel compelled to provide additional historical context and correct some of the information provided by Hand et al. about the Elwha...
Authors
Jeff Duda, Joseph H Anderson, Matt M. Beirne, S.J. Brenkman, Patrick Crain, John Mahan, Michael McHenry, George Pess, Roger Peters, Brian Winter

Effectiveness of lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) suppression in Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho: 2006–2016 Effectiveness of lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) suppression in Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho: 2006–2016

The nonnative lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush Walbaum, 1792) population in Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho increased exponentially during 1999–2006. This led to an unsustainable level of predation mortality on kokanee (Oncorhynchus nerka Walbaum, 1792), increased the conservation threat to native bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus Suckley, 1859), and jeopardized the popular recreational...
Authors
Andrew M. Dux, Michael J. Hansen, Matthew P. Corsi, Nicholas C. Wahl, James P. Fredericks, Charles E. Corsi, Daniel J. Schill, Ned J. Horner

The black brant population is declining based on mark recapture The black brant population is declining based on mark recapture

Annual survival and recruitment in black brant (Branta bernicla nigricans) have declined since the 1990s, yet aerial surveys of the global population have been stable or even increasing over the past decade. We used a combination of a Lincoln estimator based on harvest information and band recoveries, and marked‐unmarked ratios in bag checks in 1 harvest area in Mexico to estimate the...
Authors
James S. Sedinger, Thomas V. Riecke, Alan G. Leach, David H. Ward

Flexible timing of annual movements across consistently used sites by Marbled Godwits breeding in Alaska Flexible timing of annual movements across consistently used sites by Marbled Godwits breeding in Alaska

The study of avian movement has detailed a spectrum of strategies for the timing and use of sites throughout the annual cycle, from near randomness to complete consistency. New tracking devices now permit the repeated tracking of individual animals throughout the annual cycle, detailing previously unappreciated levels of variation within migratory systems. Godwits (genus Limosa) have...
Authors
Daniel R. Ruthrauff, T. Lee Tibbitts, Robert E. Gill

U.S. Geological research at Grand Canyon National Park: A century of collaboration U.S. Geological research at Grand Canyon National Park: A century of collaboration

(Fairley) When historians describe the decades preceding designation of Grand Canyon National Park (GCNP), they typically focus attention on early scientific studies conducted by John Wesley Powell, Clarence Dutton, and Charles Walcott. All three of these pioneering scientists were employed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), a small Federal agency first established in 1879. Yet rarely...
Authors
Helen C. Fairley

Adaptive variation, including local adaptation, requires decades to become evident in common gardens Adaptive variation, including local adaptation, requires decades to become evident in common gardens

Population‐level adaptation to spatial variation in factors such as climate and soils is critical for climate‐vulnerability assessments, restoration seeding, and other ecological applications in species management, and the underlying information is typically based on common‐garden studies that are short duration. Here, we show >20 yr were required for adaptive differences to emerge among...
Authors
Matthew J. Germino, Ann M. Moer, Alan R. Sands

On the shoulders of giants: Continuing the legacy of large-scale ecosystem manipulation experiments in Puerto Rico On the shoulders of giants: Continuing the legacy of large-scale ecosystem manipulation experiments in Puerto Rico

There is a long history of experimental research in the Luquillo Experimental Forest in Puerto Rico. These experiments have addressed questions about biotic thresholds, assessed why communities vary along natural gradients, and have explored forest responses to a range of both anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic disturbances. Combined, these studies cover many of the major disturbances...
Authors
Tana E. Wood, Grizelle Gonzalez, Whendee L. Silver, Sasha C. Reed, Molly A. Cavaleri

Seed bank community and soil texture relationships in a cold desert Seed bank community and soil texture relationships in a cold desert

Sustainable dryland management depends on understanding environmental factors driving composition of current and future ecological communities. While there has been extensive research on aboveground plant communities, less is known about belowground soil seed bank communities, which can reflect both past and potential future communities. In the Colorado Plateau of the western United...
Authors
Jeffrey D. Haight, Sasha C. Reed, Akasha M. Faist

Mapping a keystone shrub species, huckleberry (Vaccinium membranaceum), using seasonal colour change in the Rocky Mountains Mapping a keystone shrub species, huckleberry (Vaccinium membranaceum), using seasonal colour change in the Rocky Mountains

Black huckleberries (Vaccinium membranaceum) provide a critical food resource to many wildlife species, including apex omnivores such as the grizzly bear (Ursus arctos), and play an important socioeconomic role for many communities in western North America, especially indigenous peoples. Remote sensing imagery offers the potential for accurate landscape-level mapping of huckleberries...
Authors
Carolyn R. Shores, Nathaniel Mikle, Tabitha A. Graves

Long-term nitrogen addition shifts the soil nematode community to bacterivore-dominated and reduces its ecological maturity in a subalpine forest Long-term nitrogen addition shifts the soil nematode community to bacterivore-dominated and reduces its ecological maturity in a subalpine forest

Nitrogen deposition from anthropogenic sources is a global problem that reaches even the most remote ecosystems. Responses belowground vary by ecosystem, and have feedbacks to geochemical processes, including carbon storage. A long-term nitrogen addition study in a subalpine forest has shown carbon loss over time, atypical for a forest ecosystem. Loss of microbial biomass is likely...
Authors
E. Ashley Shaw, Claudia M. Boot, John C. Moore, Diana H. Wall, Jill Baron
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