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: 42707
Conservation status of the world’s swan populations, Cygnus sp. and Coscoroba sp.: a review of current trends and gaps in knowledge Conservation status of the world’s swan populations, Cygnus sp. and Coscoroba sp.: a review of current trends and gaps in knowledge
Recent estimates of the world’s swan Cygnus sp. populations indicate that there are currently between 1.5–1.6 million birds in 8 species, including the Coscoroba Swan Coscoroba coscoroba as an honorary swan. Monitoring programmes in Europe and North America indicate that most populations increased following the introduction of national and international legislation to protect the species...
Authors
Eileen Rees, Lei Cao, P. Clausen, J. M. Coleman, J. Cornely, O. Einarsson, Craig R. Ely, R. Kingsford, Ming Ma, C. E. Mitchell, S. Nagy, T. Shimada, Jeffrey Snyder, D. Solovyeva, W. Tijsen, Y. Vilna, R. Wlodarczyk, K. Brides
Asian carp population modeling to support an Adaptive Management framework, USGS Contribution Asian carp population modeling to support an Adaptive Management framework, USGS Contribution
The Spatially Explicit Asian carp Population (SEAcarP) model was developed to inform management and research decisions with the goal of minimizing the abundance of Bighead Carp and Silver Carp (collectively referred to as “Asian carp” in this document) in the upper Illinois River waterway, thereby reducing risk of population expansion toward the Great Lakes and reducing potential impacts...
Authors
Richard A. Erickson
Sixty years of White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) yarding in a Gray Wolf (Canis lupus)–deer system Sixty years of White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) yarding in a Gray Wolf (Canis lupus)–deer system
This article synthesizes information from over a six-decade period of studies of White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) use of a winter yard and subject to Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) predation in northeastern Minnesota. It also adds spring migration data from 35 adult female deer and fawns studied there during 1998, 1999, 2001, 2014, and 2017. Twenty-nine of these deer migrated in...
Authors
L. David Mech, Shannon Barber-Meyer
Contrasting demographic responses of toad populations to regionally synchronous pathogen (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) dynamics Contrasting demographic responses of toad populations to regionally synchronous pathogen (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) dynamics
Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), a fungal pathogen that causes amphibian chytridiomycosis, has been implicated in population declines globally. To better understand how Bd affects survival and how threats vary spatially and temporally, we conducted long-term (range: 9–13 yrs) capture-recapture studies of boreal toads (Anaxyrus boreas) from three similar communities in western Montana...
Authors
Blake R. Hossack, Robin E. Russell, Rebecca McCaffery
Gopherus agassizii (Cooper 1861) – Agassiz’s Desert Tortoise, Mojave Desert Tortoise Gopherus agassizii (Cooper 1861) – Agassiz’s Desert Tortoise, Mojave Desert Tortoise
The Mojave Desert Tortoise, Gopherus agassizii (Family Testudinidae), is a large terrestrial species that can reach >370 mm in straight midline carapace length (CL) but most individuals are smaller. Both sexes reach adulthood at 12 to 21 years and ca. 180 mm CL. The species is sexually dimorphic, with males typically larger than females; sexual characteristics of males become more...
Authors
Kristin H. Berry, Robert W. Murphy
Genetically-informed seed transfer zones for Pleuraphis jamesii, Sphaeralcea parvifolia, and Sporobolus cryptandrus across the Colorado Plateau and adjacent regions Genetically-informed seed transfer zones for Pleuraphis jamesii, Sphaeralcea parvifolia, and Sporobolus cryptandrus across the Colorado Plateau and adjacent regions
(Massatti) Introduction: The majority of native plant materials (NPMs) utilized for restoration purposes are developed for widely distributed species that provide a variety of ecosystem services (Wood et al. 2015; Butterfield et al. 2017). Disturbed ecosystems benefit from the use of appropriate NPMs, which are those that display ecological fitness at the restoration site, are compatible...
Authors
Robert Massatti
Quantifying changes to infaunal communities associated with several deep-sea coral habitats in the Gulf of Mexico and their potential recovery from the DWH oil spill Quantifying changes to infaunal communities associated with several deep-sea coral habitats in the Gulf of Mexico and their potential recovery from the DWH oil spill
Extensive information is available about infaunal soft-sediment communities in the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) (Pequegnat et al. 1990, Rowe and Kennicutt II 2009, Wei et al. 2010), particularly from the large-scale sampling effort of the Deep Gulf of Mexico Benthos (DGOMB) project in the early 2000s (Rowe and Kennicutt II 2009). Infaunal soft-sediment communities in the northern Gulf differ by
Authors
Jill R. Bourque, Amanda W.J. Demopoulos
Integrating multiple data sources and multi-scale land-cover data to model the distribution of a declining amphibian Integrating multiple data sources and multi-scale land-cover data to model the distribution of a declining amphibian
Determining the spatial scale at which landscape features influence population persistence is an important task for conservation planning. One challenge is that sampling biases confound factors that influence species occurrence and survey effort. Recent developments in Point Process Models (PPMs) enable researchers to disentangle the sampling process from ecological drivers of species'
Authors
Jonathan P. Rose, Brian J. Halstead, Robert N. Fisher
DNA fingerprinting of Southern Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus fuliginatus) in North San Diego County, California (2018-19) DNA fingerprinting of Southern Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus fuliginatus) in North San Diego County, California (2018-19)
Throughout the western United States, efforts are underway to better understand and preserve migration and movement corridors for mule deer and other big game and to minimize the impacts of development and other land-use change on populations. San Diego County is home to a unique non-migratory subspecies of mule deer, the Southern mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus fuliginatus; herein...
Authors
Anna Mitelberg, Julia G. Smith, Amy G. Vandergast
Economic effects of wildfire risk reduction and source water protection projects in the Rio Grande River Basin in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado Economic effects of wildfire risk reduction and source water protection projects in the Rio Grande River Basin in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado
Investments in landscape-scale restoration and fuels management projects can protect publicly managed trusts, enhance public health and safety, and help to preserve the many environmental goods and services enjoyed by the public. These investments can also support jobs and generate business sales activities within nearby local economies. This report investigates how investments made by...
Authors
Christopher Huber, Catherine Cullinane Thomas, James Meldrum, Rachel Meier, Steven Bassett
Effect of growth rate on transcriptomic responses to immune stimulation in wild-type, domesticated, and GH-transgenic coho salmon Effect of growth rate on transcriptomic responses to immune stimulation in wild-type, domesticated, and GH-transgenic coho salmon
Background Transcriptomic responses to immune stimulation were investigated in coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) with distinct growth phenotypes. Wild-type fish were contrasted to strains with accelerated growth arising either from selective breeding (i.e. domestication) or genetic modification. Such distinct routes to accelerated growth may have unique implications for relationships...
Authors
Jin-Hyoung Kim, Daniel J Macqueen, James Winton, John D. Hansen, Hyun Park, Robert H Devlin
Local climate determines vulnerability to camouflage mismatch in snowshoe hares Local climate determines vulnerability to camouflage mismatch in snowshoe hares
Aim Phenological mismatches, when life‐events become mistimed with optimal environmental conditions, have become increasingly common under climate change. Population‐level susceptibility to mismatches depends on how phenology and phenotypic plasticity vary across a species’ distributional range. Here, we quantify the environmental drivers of colour moult phenology, phenotypic plasticity...
Authors
Marketa Zimova, Alexej P. K. Siren, Joshua J. Nowak, Alexander Bryan, Jacob S. Ivan, Toni Lyn Morelli, Skyler L. Suhrer, Jesse Whittington, L. Scott Mills