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: 42712
Vulnerabilities to climate change of Massachusetts animal species of greatest conservation need Vulnerabilities to climate change of Massachusetts animal species of greatest conservation need
Over the last decade, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has addressed the potential and actual impacts of climate change on state flora and fauna. The state’s involvement began in 2007 when, led by the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (DFW) and assisted by Manomet Center for Con-servation Research, it carried out one of the first habitat vulnerability assessments in North America...
Authors
Hector Galbraith, Toni L. Morelli
Delta-Flux: An eddy covariance network for a climate-smart Lower Mississippi Basin Delta-Flux: An eddy covariance network for a climate-smart Lower Mississippi Basin
Networks of remotely monitored research sites are increasingly the tool used to study regional agricultural impacts on carbon and water fluxes. However, key national networks such as the National Ecological Observatory Network and AmeriFlux lack contributions from the Lower Mississippi River Basin (LMRB), a highly productive agricultural area with opportunities for soil carbon...
Authors
Benjamin R. K. Runkle, James R. Rigby, Michele L. Reba, Saseendran S. Anapalli, Joydeep Bhattacharjee, Ken W. Krauss, Lu Liang, Martin A. Locke, Kimberly A. Novick, Ruixiu Sui, Kosana Suvocarev, Paul M. White
Role of raptors in contaminant research Role of raptors in contaminant research
This chapter reviews the history of and approaches used in studies focused on the effects of contaminants on raptors and raptor populations at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (Patuxent) in Laurel, MD. Worldwide raptor declines following World War II were unprecedented and resulted in a sequence of major efforts at Patuxent to understand their cause(s). The peregrine falcon (Falco...
Authors
Charles J. Henny
Recommended approaches to the scientific evaluation of ecotoxicological hazards and risks of endocrine-active substances Recommended approaches to the scientific evaluation of ecotoxicological hazards and risks of endocrine-active substances
A SETAC Pellston Workshop® “Environmental Hazard and Risk Assessment Approaches for Endocrine-Active Substances (EHRA)” was held in February 2016 in Pensacola, Florida, USA. The primary objective of the workshop was to provide advice, based on current scientific understanding, to regulators and policy makers; the aim being to make considered, informed decisions on whether to select an
Authors
Peter Matthiessen, Gerald T. Ankley, Ronald C. Biever, Poul Bjerregaard, Christopher Borgert, Kristin Brugger, Amy Blankinship, Janice Chambers, Katherine K. Coady, Lisa Constantine, ZhiChao Dang, Nancy D. Denslow, David Dreier, Steve Dungey, L. Earl Gray, Melanie Gross, Patrick D. Guiney, Markus Hecker, Henrik Holbech, Taisen Iguchi, Sarah Kadlec, Natalie K. Karouna-Renier, Ioanna Katsiadaki, Yukio Kawashima, Werner Kloas, Henry Krueger, Anu Kumar, Laurent Lagadic, Annegaaike Leopold, Steven L. Levine, Gerd Maack, Sue Marty, James P. Meador, Ellen Mihaich, Jenny Odum, Lisa Ortego, Joanne L. Parrott, Daniel Pickford, Mike Roberts, Christoph Schaefers, Tamar Schwarz, Keith Solomon, Tim Verslycke, Lennart Weltje, James R. Wheeler, Mike Williams, Jeffery C. Wolf, Kunihiko Yamazaki
Advancing the match-mismatch framework for large herbivores in the Arctic: Evaluating the evidence for a trophic mismatch in caribou Advancing the match-mismatch framework for large herbivores in the Arctic: Evaluating the evidence for a trophic mismatch in caribou
Climate-induced shifts in plant phenology may adversely affect animals that cannot or do not shift the timing of their reproductive cycle. The realized effect of potential trophic “mismatches” between a consumer and its food varies with the degree to which species rely on dietary income and stored capital. Large Arctic herbivores rely heavily on maternal capital to reproduce and give...
Authors
David D. Gustine, Perry Barboza, Layne G. Adams, Brad Griffith, Raymond D. Cameron, Kenneth R. Whitten
Relations of alpine plant communities across environmental gradients: Multilevel versus multiscale analyses Relations of alpine plant communities across environmental gradients: Multilevel versus multiscale analyses
Alpine plant communities vary, and their environmental covariates could influence their response to climate change. A single multilevel model of how alpine plant community composition is determined by hierarchical relations is compared to a separate examination of those relations at different scales. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling of species cover for plots in four regions across the...
Authors
George P. Malanson, Dale L. Zimmerman, Mitch Kinney, Daniel B. Fagre
Isotopic niches support the resource breadth hypothesis Isotopic niches support the resource breadth hypothesis
Because a broad spectrum of resource use allows species to persist in a wide range of habitat types, and thus permits them to occupy large geographical areas, and because broadly distributed species have access to more diverse resource bases, the resource breadth hypothesis posits that the diversity of resources used by organisms should be positively related with the extent of their...
Authors
Jonathan A. Rader, Seth D. Newsome, Pablo Sabat, R. Terry Chesser, Michael E. Dillon, Carlos Martinez del Rio
Conservation status of the American horseshoe crab, (Limulus polyphemus): A regional assessment Conservation status of the American horseshoe crab, (Limulus polyphemus): A regional assessment
Horseshoe crabs have persisted for more than 200 million years, and fossil forms date to 450 million years ago. The American horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus), one of four extant horseshoe crab species, is found along the Atlantic coastline of North America ranging from Alabama to Maine, USA with another distinct population on the coasts of Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo in the...
Authors
David R. Smith, H. Jane Brockmann, Mark A. Beekey, Tim L. King, Mike Millard, Jaime Zaldivar-Rae
Trawl-based assessment of Lake Ontario pelagic prey fishes including Alewife and Rainbow Smelt Trawl-based assessment of Lake Ontario pelagic prey fishes including Alewife and Rainbow Smelt
Managing Lake Ontario fisheries in an ecosystem-context, requires reliable data on the status and trends of prey fishes that support predator populations. We report on the community and population dynamics of Lake Ontario pelagic prey fishes, based on bottom trawl surveys. We emphasize information that supports the international Lake Ontario Committee’s Fish Community Objectives. In 2016...
Authors
Brian Weidel, Maureen Walsh, Michael J. Connerton, Jeremy P. Holden
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) mortality and recovery rates vary by wing molt status at time of banding Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) mortality and recovery rates vary by wing molt status at time of banding
Recovery (i.e., shot, retrieved, and reported) rates and daily mortality risk of 52,330 adult Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) leg-banded during pre-molt, in-molt, or post-molt during 1985–2011 were evaluated to better understand mortality during wing molt in dynamics of the Mallard population in California, USA. Recovery rates and non-hunting mortality risk varied by molt status at time of...
Authors
Joseph P. Fleskes, Brian J. Halstead, Jeffrey D. Kohl, Gregory S. Yarris
Assessment of contemporary genetic diversity and inter-taxa/inter-region exchange of avian paramyxovirus serotype 1 in wild birds sampled in North America Assessment of contemporary genetic diversity and inter-taxa/inter-region exchange of avian paramyxovirus serotype 1 in wild birds sampled in North America
Background Avian paramyxovirus serotype 1 (APMV-1) viruses are globally distributed, infect wild, peridomestic, and domestic birds, and sometimes lead to outbreaks of disease. Thus, the maintenance, evolution, and spread of APMV-1 viruses are relevant to avian health. Methods In this study we sequenced the fusion gene from 58 APMV-1 isolates recovered from thirteen species of wild birds...
Authors
Andrew M. Ramey, Iryna V. Goraichuk, Joseph T. Hicks, Kiril M. Dimitrov, Rebecca L. Poulson, David E. Stallknecht, Justin Bahl, Claudio L. Afonso
Five-year external reviews of the eight department of interior climate science centers Five-year external reviews of the eight department of interior climate science centers
No abstract available.
Authors
Jill B. Rolland, P. B. Duffy, Clifford Duke, David Helweg, Stephen L. Katz, Olivia E. LeDee, Steven Quiring