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: 42994
Climate and soil texture influence patterns of forb species richness and composition in big sagebrush plant communities across their spatial extent in the western US Climate and soil texture influence patterns of forb species richness and composition in big sagebrush plant communities across their spatial extent in the western US
Article for outlet: Plant Ecology. Abstract: Big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt.) plant communities are widespread non-forested drylands in western North American and similar to all shrub steppe ecosystems world-wide are composed of a shrub overstory layer and a forb and graminoid understory layer. Forbs account for the majority of plant species diversity in big sagebrush plant...
Authors
Victoria E. Pennington, Kyle A. Palmquist, John B. Bradford, William K. Lauenroth
Enhanced precipitation promotes decomposition and soil C stabilization in semiarid ecosystems, but seasonal timing of wetting matters Enhanced precipitation promotes decomposition and soil C stabilization in semiarid ecosystems, but seasonal timing of wetting matters
Aims Changing precipitation regimes in semiarid ecosystems will affect the balance of soil carbon (C) input and release, but the net effect on soil C storage is unclear. We asked how changes in the amount and timing of precipitation affect litter decomposition, and soil C stabilization in semiarid ecosystems. Methods The study took place at a long-term (18 years) ecohydrology experiment...
Authors
Xochi Campos, Matthew J. Germino, Marie-Anne de Graaff
A global multiproxy database for temperature reconstructions of the Common Era A global multiproxy database for temperature reconstructions of the Common Era
Reproducible climate reconstructions of the Common Era (1 CE to present) are key to placing industrial-era warming into the context of natural climatic variability. Here we present a community-sourced database of temperature-sensitive proxy records from the PAGES2k initiative. The database gathers 692 records from 648 locations, including all continental regions and major ocean basins...
Authors
Julian Emile-Geay, Nicholas P. McKay, Darrell S. Kaufman, Lucien von Gunten, Jianghao Wang, Kevin J. Anchukaitis, Nerilie J. Abram, Jason A. Addison, Mark A.J. Curran, Michael N. Evans, Benjamin J. Henley, Zhixin Hao, Belen Martrat, Helen V. McGregor, Raphael Neukom, Gregory T. Pederson, Barbara Stenni, Kaustubh Thirumalai, Johannes P. Werner, Chenxi Xu, Dmitry V. Divine, Bronwyn C. Dixon, Joelle Gergis, Ignacio A. Mundo, T. Nakatsuka, Steven J. Phipps, Cody C. Routson, Eric J. Steig, Jessica E. Tierney, Jonathan J. Tyler, Kathryn J. Allen, Nancy A. N. Bertler, Jesper Bjorklund, Brian M. Chase, Min-Te Chen, Ed Cook, Rixt de Jong, Kristine L. DeLong, Daniel A. Dixon, Alexey A. Ekaykin, Vasile Ersek, Helena L. Filipsson, Pierre Francus, Mandy B. Freund, M. Frezzotti, Narayan P. Gaire, Konrad Gajewski, Quansheng Ge, Hugues Goosse, Anastasia Gornostaeva, Martin Grosjean, Kazuho Horiuchi, Anne Hormes, Katrine Husum, Elisabeth Isaksson, Selvaraj Kandasamy, Kenji Kawamura, Nalan Koc, Guillaume Leduc, Hans W. Linderholm, Andrew M. Lorrey, Vladimir Mikhalenko, P. Graham Mortyn, Hideaki Motoyama, Andrew D. Moy, Robert Mulvaney, Philipp M. Munz, David J. Nash, Hans Oerter, Thomas Opel, Anais J. Orsi, Dmitriy V. Ovchinnikov, Trevor J. Porter, Heidi Roop, Casey Saenger, Masaki Sano, David Sauchyn, K.M. Saunders, Marit-Solveig Seidenkrantz, Mirko Severi, X. Shao, Marie-Alexandrine Sicre, Michael Sigl, Kate Sinclair, Scott St. George, Jeannine-Marie St. Jacques, Meloth Thamban, Udya Kuwar Thapa, E. Thomas, Chris Turney, Ryu Uemura, A.E. Viau, Diana O. Vladimirova, Eugene Wahl, James W. C. White, Z. Yu, Jens Zinke
Assessing multi-tissue lead burdens in free-flying obligate scavengers in eastern North America Assessing multi-tissue lead burdens in free-flying obligate scavengers in eastern North America
Avian scavengers are regularly exposed to anthropogenic lead. Although many studies evaluate lead concentrations of either blood or tissues of lead-poisoned birds, there is comparatively less research on lead burdens of free-flying, apparently healthy individuals and populations. Here, we address this lack of information by assessing lead levels of multiple tissues (femur, liver, kidney...
Authors
Shannon Behmke, Patricia Mazik, Todd E. Katzner
Growth strategies and threshold responses to water deficit modulate effects of warming on tree seedlings from forest to alpine Growth strategies and threshold responses to water deficit modulate effects of warming on tree seedlings from forest to alpine
1.Predictions of upslope range shifts for tree species with warming are based on assumptions of moisture stress at lower elevation limits and low temperature stress at high elevation limits. However, recent studies have shown that warming can reduce tree seedling establishment across the entire gradient from subalpine forest to alpine via moisture limitation. Warming effects also vary...
Authors
Brynne E. Lazarus, Cristina Castanha, Matthew J. Germino, Lara M. Kueppers, Andrew B. Moyes
Territory and nest site selection patterns by Grasshopper Sparrows in southeastern Arizona Territory and nest site selection patterns by Grasshopper Sparrows in southeastern Arizona
Grassland bird populations are showing some of the greatest rates of decline of any North American birds, prompting measures to protect and improve important habitat. We assessed how vegetation structure and composition, habitat features often targeted for management, affected territory and nest site selection by Grasshopper Sparrows (Ammodramus savannarum ammolegus) in southeastern...
Authors
Janet M. Ruth, Susan K. Skagen
Value of information analysis as a decision support tool for biosecurity Value of information analysis as a decision support tool for biosecurity
This chapter demonstrates the economic concept of ‘value of information’(VOI), and how biosecurity managers can use VOI analysis to decide whether or not to reduce uncertainty by collecting additional information through monitoring, experimentation, or some other form of research. We first explore how some uncertainties may be scientifically interesting to resolve, but ultimately...
Authors
Michael C. Runge, Tracy Rout, Daniel Spring, Terry Walshe
Status and trends of adult Lost River (Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose (Chasmistes brevirostris) sucker populations in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, 2015 Status and trends of adult Lost River (Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose (Chasmistes brevirostris) sucker populations in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, 2015
Executive Summary Data from a long-term capture-recapture program were used to assess the status and dynamics of populations of two long-lived, federally endangered catostomids in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon. Lost River suckers (LRS; Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose suckers (SNS; Chasmistes brevirostris) have been captured and tagged with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags during...
Authors
David A. Hewitt, Eric C. Janney, Brian S. Hayes, Alta C. Harris
Optimization of decision rules for hydroelectric operation to reduce both eel mortality and unnecessary turbine shutdown: A search for a win-win solution Optimization of decision rules for hydroelectric operation to reduce both eel mortality and unnecessary turbine shutdown: A search for a win-win solution
Worldwide populations of freshwater eels have declined with one of the contributing causes related to mortality during passage through hydropower turbines. An inherent trade‐off underlies turbine management where the competing demand for more hydropower comes at the expense of eel survival. A win–win solution exists when an option performs better on all competing demands compared to...
Authors
David R. Smith, Paul L. Fackler, Sheila M. Eyler, Laura Villegas, Stuart A. Welsh
Hydrologic impacts of changes in climate and glacier extent in the Gulf of Alaska watershed Hydrologic impacts of changes in climate and glacier extent in the Gulf of Alaska watershed
High‐resolution regional‐scale hydrologic models were used to quantify the response of late 21st century runoff from the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) watershed to changes in regional climate and glacier extent. NCEP Climate Forecast System Reanalysis data were combined with five Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 general circulation models (GCMs) for two representative concentration...
Authors
Jordan Beamer, Dave Hill, Daniel Mcgrath, Anthony A. Arendt, Christian Kienholz
Evolutionary dynamics of an expressed MHC class IIβ locus in the Ranidae (Anura) uncovered by genome walking and high-throughput amplicon sequencing Evolutionary dynamics of an expressed MHC class IIβ locus in the Ranidae (Anura) uncovered by genome walking and high-throughput amplicon sequencing
The Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) is a genomic region encoding immune loci that are important and frequently used markers in studies of adaptive genetic variation and disease resistance. Given the primary role of infectious diseases in contributing to global amphibian declines, we characterized the hypervariable exon 2 and flanking introns of the MHC Class IIβ chain for 17...
Authors
Kevin P. Mulder, Maria Cortazar-Chinarro, D. James Harris, Angelica Crottini, Evan H. Campbell Grant, Robert C. Fleischer, Anna E. Savage
Evidence of Asian carp spawning upstream of a key choke point in the Mississippi River Evidence of Asian carp spawning upstream of a key choke point in the Mississippi River
Bighead Carp Hypophthalmichthys nobilis, Silver Carp H. molitrix, and Grass Carp Ctenopharyngodon idella(collectively termed “Asian carp”) were introduced into North America during the 1960s and 1970s and have become established in the lower Mississippi River basin. Previously published evidence for spawning of these species in the upper Mississippi River has been limited to an area just
Authors
James H. Larson, Brent C. Knights, S. Grace McCalla, Emy Monroe, Maren T. Tuttle-Lau, Duane Chapman, Amy E. George, Jonathan M. Vallazza, Jon Amberg