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
Tell me a story! A plea for more compelling conference presentations Tell me a story! A plea for more compelling conference presentations
Effective communication with other scientists is an essential component of the scientific process, underlying success in publishing papers, building collaborations, securing grants and jobs, and stimulating further research. Oral presentations at professional meetings provide an opportunity to share research findings with a relatively broad scientific audience. However, many scientists...
Authors
Kathryn Langin
Temporal variability of foliar nutrients: responses to nitrogen deposition and prescribed fire in a temperate steppe Temporal variability of foliar nutrients: responses to nitrogen deposition and prescribed fire in a temperate steppe
Plant nutrient concentrations and stoichiometry drive fundamental ecosystem processes, with important implications for primary production, diversity, and ecosystem sustainability. While a range of evidence exists regarding how plant nutrients vary across spatial scales, our understanding of their temporal variation remains less well understood. Nevertheless, we know nutrients regulate...
Authors
Xiao-Tao Lu, Sasha C. Reed, Shuang-Li Hou, Yan-Yu Hu, Hai-Wei Wei, Fu-Mei Lu, Qiang Cui, Xing Guo Han
Divergence and gene flow in the globally distributed blue-winged ducks Divergence and gene flow in the globally distributed blue-winged ducks
The ability to disperse over long distances can result in a high propensity for colonizing new geographic regions, including uninhabited continents, and lead to lineage diversification via allopatric speciation. However, high vagility can also result in gene flow between otherwise allopatric populations, and in some cases, parapatric or divergence-with-gene-flow models might be more...
Authors
Joel Nelson, Robert E. Wilson, Kevin G. McCracken, Graeme Cumming, Leo Joseph, Patrick-Jean Guay, Jeffrey Peters
A dynamic spatio-temporal model for spatial data A dynamic spatio-temporal model for spatial data
Analyzing spatial data often requires modeling dependencies created by a dynamic spatio-temporal data generating process. In many applications, a generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) is used with a random effect to account for spatial dependence and to provide optimal spatial predictions. Location-specific covariates are often included as fixed effects in a GLMM and may be collinear...
Authors
Trevor J. Hefley, Mevin Hooten, Ephraim M. Hanks, Robin Russell, Daniel P. Walsh
Historical biogeography sets the foundation for contemporary conservation of martens (genus Martes) in northwestern North America Historical biogeography sets the foundation for contemporary conservation of martens (genus Martes) in northwestern North America
Effective conservation of insular populations requires careful consideration of biogeography, including colonization histories and patterns of endemism. Across the Pacific Northwest of North America, Pacific martens (Martes caurina) and American pine martens (Martes americana) are parapatric sister species with distinctive postglacial histories. Using mitochondrial DNA and 12 nuclear
Authors
Natalie G. Dawson, Jocelyn P. Colella, Maurine P. Small, Karen D. Stone, Sandra L. Talbot, Joseph A. Cook
Climate legacy and lag effects on dryland plant communities in the southwestern U.S. Climate legacy and lag effects on dryland plant communities in the southwestern U.S.
Climate change effects on vegetation will likely be strong in the southwestern U.S., which is projected to experience large increases in temperature and changes in precipitation. Plant communities in the southwestern U.S. may be particularly vulnerable to climate change as the productivity of many plant species is strongly water-limited. This study examines the relationship between...
Authors
Erin Bunting, Seth M. Munson, Miguel L. Villarreal
Managing the livestock– Wildlife interface on rangelands Managing the livestock– Wildlife interface on rangelands
On rangelands the livestock–wildlife interface is mostly characterized by management actions aimed at controlling problems associated with competition, disease, and depredation. Wildlife communities (especially the large vertebrate species) are typically incompatible with agricultural development because the opportunity costs of wildlife conservation are unaffordable except in arid and...
Authors
Johan T. du Toit, Paul C. Cross, Marion Valeix
Cessation of oil exposure in harlequin ducks after the Exxon Valdez oil spill: Cytochrome P4501A biomarker evidence Cessation of oil exposure in harlequin ducks after the Exxon Valdez oil spill: Cytochrome P4501A biomarker evidence
The authors quantified hepatic hydrocarbon-inducible cytochrome P4501A (CYP1A) expression, as ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) activity, in wintering harlequin ducks (Histrionicus histrionicus) captured in Prince William Sound, Alaska (USA), during 2011, 2013, and 2014 (22–25 yr following the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill). Average EROD activity was compared between birds from areas...
Authors
Daniel Esler, Brenda E. Ballachey, Lizabeth Bowen, A. Keith Miles, Rian D. Dickson, John D. Henderson
Identification of two novel reassortant avian influenza a (H5N6) viruses in whooper swans in Korea, 2016 Identification of two novel reassortant avian influenza a (H5N6) viruses in whooper swans in Korea, 2016
Background On November 20, 2016 two novel strains of H5N6 highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIVs) were isolated from three whooper swans (Cygnus cygnus) at Gangjin Bay in South Jeolla province, South Korea. Identification of HPAIVs in wild birds is significant as there is a potential risk of transmission of these viruses to poultry and humans.Results Phylogenetic analysis...
Authors
Jipseol Jeong, Chanjin Woo, S. Ip, Injung An, Youngsik Kim, Kwanghee Lee, Seong-Deok Jo, Kidong Son, Saemi Lee, Jae-Ku Oem, Seung-Jun Wang, Yongkwan Kim, Jeonghwa Shin, Jonathan M. Sleeman, Weonhwa Jheong
Continued feeding on Diporeia by deepwater sculpin in Lake Huron Continued feeding on Diporeia by deepwater sculpin in Lake Huron
Monitoring changes in diets of fish is essential to understanding how food web dynamics respond to changes in native prey abundances. In the Great Lakes, Diporeia, a benthic macroinvertebrate and primary food of native benthivores, declined following the introduction of invasive Dreissena mussels and these changes were reflected in fish diets. We examined the diets of deepwater sculpin
Authors
Patricia A. Thompson, Edward F. Roseman, Kevin M. Keeler, Timothy P. O’Brien, Dustin Bowser
Aquatic-riparian systems Aquatic-riparian systems
No abstract available.
Authors
Deanna H. Olson, Sherri L. Johnson, Paul D. Anderson, Brooke E. Penaluna, Jason B. Dunham
Migratory behavior of adult sea lamprey and cumulative passage performance through four fishways Migratory behavior of adult sea lamprey and cumulative passage performance through four fishways
This article describes a study of PIT-tagged sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) ascending four fishways comprising three designs at two dams on the Connecticut River, USA. Migration between dams was rapid (median migration rate = 23 km·day−1). Movement through the fishways was much slower, however (median = 0.02–0.33 km·day−1). Overall delay at dams was substantial (median = 13.6–14.6 days...
Authors
Theodore R. Castro-Santos, Xiaotao Shi, Alexander Haro