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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: 42871

Fire and invasive plants Fire and invasive plants

No abstract available.
Authors
Robert C. Klinger, Matthew L. Brooks, John M. Randall

Anticipatory natural resource science and management for a changing future Anticipatory natural resource science and management for a changing future

Prolonged shifts in long‐term average climate conditions and increasing variability in short‐term weather conditions affect ecological processes, and represent a fundamental challenge for natural resource management. Recent and forthcoming advances in climate predictability may offer novel opportunities, but capitalizing on these opportunities will require focusing scientific research on
Authors
John B. Bradford, Julio L. Betancourt, Bradley J. Butterfield, Seth M. Munson, Troy E. Wood

Terrestrial fauna are agents and endpoints in ecosystem restoration following dam removal Terrestrial fauna are agents and endpoints in ecosystem restoration following dam removal

Dam removal is an effective and increasingly applied river restoration strategy. This has led to heightened calls for research and monitoring aimed at understanding physical and ecological outcomes following dam removal. While such research programs have increased, roles of terrestrial fauna in the restoration process remain poorly understood, although wildlife and invertebrate fauna are...
Authors
Rebecca M. McCaffery, John P. McLaughlin, Kim Sager-Fradkin, Kurt J. Jenkins

Cumulative spring discharge and survey effort influence occupancy and detection of a threatened freshwater mussel, the Suwannee Moccasinshell Cumulative spring discharge and survey effort influence occupancy and detection of a threatened freshwater mussel, the Suwannee Moccasinshell

Freshwater mussels (Unionidae) are among the most imperiled groups of organisms in the world, and the lack of information regarding species distributions, life-history characteristics, and ecological and biological requirements may limit the protection of remaining mussel populations. We examined the influence of hydrologic factors on the occurrence of the Suwannee Moccasinshell...
Authors
Jordan M. Holcomb, Colin P. Shea, Nathan A. Johnson

Infection by Nanophyetus salmincola and toxic contaminant exposure in out‐migrating steelhead from Puget Sound, Washington: Implications for early marine survival Infection by Nanophyetus salmincola and toxic contaminant exposure in out‐migrating steelhead from Puget Sound, Washington: Implications for early marine survival

Out‐migrating steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss from four Puget Sound rivers and associated marine basins of Puget Sound in Washington State were examined for the parasite, Nanophyetus salmincola in 2014 to determine whether recent trends in reduced marine survival are associated with the presence of this pathogen. A subset of steelhead from three of these river–marine basin combinations was...
Authors
M.F. Chen, S. M. O’Neill, A. J. Carey, R. H. Conrad, B.A. Stewart, K. R. Snekvik, G. M. Ylitalo, Paul Hershberger

Genetic mark–recapture improves estimates of maternity colony size for Indiana bats Genetic mark–recapture improves estimates of maternity colony size for Indiana bats

Genetic mark–recapture methods are increasingly being used to estimate demographic parameters in species where traditional techniques are problematic or imprecise. The federally endangered Indiana bat Myotis sodalis has declined dramatically and threats such as white-nose syndrome continue to afflict this species. To date, important demographic information for Indiana bats has been...
Authors
Sara J. Oyler-McCance, Jennifer A. Fike, Paul M. Lukacs, Dale W. Sparks, Thomas J. O’Shea, John O. Whitaker

Variation in age ratio of midcontinent greater white-fronted geese during fall migration Variation in age ratio of midcontinent greater white-fronted geese during fall migration

Annual productivity is an important parameter for the management of waterfowl populations. Fall age ratio (juveniles:total birds) is an index of productivity of the preceding breeding season. However, differences in the timing of migration between family groups and nonbreeding birds may bias age-ratio estimates. We examined temporal variation in age ratios of midcontinent greater white...
Authors
Wade G. Schock, Julian B. Fischer, Craig R. Ely, Robert A. Stehn, Jeffery M. Welker, Douglas Causey

President elect's message President elect's message

The first morning home the day after I became president of SWS at the annual meeting in Denver, I note the wilting of my garden and the grumpiness of my cats as the dawn of my new reality. The extra hours that I will spend as president of SWS will manifest itself as more cat and garden unhappiness as travel and responsibilities grow. The cats gleefully blast out of the door into the...
Authors
Beth A. Middleton

Site-scale disturbance best predicts moss, vascular plant, and amphibian indices in Ohio wetlands Site-scale disturbance best predicts moss, vascular plant, and amphibian indices in Ohio wetlands

Loss of wetland habitats and their associated biological communities is a major environmental concern. Quality assessment indices (QAIs) and indices of biological integrity (IBIs) are useful for assessing the responses of taxa to wetland habitat quality and land use in the surrounding landscape. We synthesized the results of our previous predictive modeling studies of five IBIs and QAIs...
Authors
Martin A. Stapanian, Mick Micacchion, Brian Gara, William Schumacher, Jean V. Adams

Improved conventional PCR assay for detecting Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae DNA in fish tissues Improved conventional PCR assay for detecting Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae DNA in fish tissues

Conventional PCR is an established method to detect Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonaeDNA in fish tissues and to confirm diagnosis of proliferative kidney disease (PKD) caused by T. bryosalmonae. However, the commonly used PKX5f‐6r primers were designed with the intention of obtaining sequence information and are suboptimal for determining parasite DNA presence. A new PCR assay to detect T
Authors
Patrick R. Hutchins, Adam J. Sepulveda, Renee M. Martin, Lacey R. Hopper

Associations of intestinal helminth infections with health parameters of spring-migrating female lesser scaup (Aythya affinis) in the upper Midwest, USA Associations of intestinal helminth infections with health parameters of spring-migrating female lesser scaup (Aythya affinis) in the upper Midwest, USA

Thousands of lesser scaup (Aythya affinis) die during spring and fall migrations through the upper Midwest, USA, from infections with Cyathocotyle bushiensis and Sphaeridiotrema spp. (Class: Trematoda) after ingesting infected intermediate hosts, such as non-native faucet snails (Bithynia tentaculata). The lesser scaup is a species of conservation concern and is highly susceptible to...
Authors
J. Conner England, Jeffrey M. Levengood, Josh M. Osborn, Aaron P. Yetter, C. D. Suski, Rebecca A. Cole, Heath M. Hagy

burnr: Fire history analysis and graphics in R burnr: Fire history analysis and graphics in R

We developed a new software package, burnr, for fire history analysis and plotting in the Rstatistical programming environment. It was developed for tree-ring fire-scar analysis, but is broadly applicable to other event analyses (e.g., avalanches, frost rings, or culturally modified trees). Our new package can read, write, and manipulate standard tree-ring fire history FHX files, produce...
Authors
Steven B. Malevich, Christopher H. Guiterman, Ellis Q. Margolis
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