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: 42757
Background, methods, goals, challenges, opportunities, and information needs Background, methods, goals, challenges, opportunities, and information needs
Understanding how climate change and variability will impact grassland ecosystems is crucial for successful grasslands management in the future. In 2020, the North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center began a project to establish a baseline of information to best serve grassland managers (that is, those individuals who develop grassland management plans, implement those plans on the...
Ten new insights in climate science 2025 Ten new insights in climate science 2025
Interdisciplinary understanding is vital for delivering sound climate policy advice. However, navigating the ever-growing and increasingly diverse scholarly literature on climate change is challenging for any individual researcher. This annual synthesis highlights and explains recent advances across a variety of fields of climate change research. This year, the 10 insights focus on: (1)...
Authors
Daniel Ospina, Paula Mirazo, Richard P. Allan, Smriti Basnett, Ana Bastos, Nishan Bhattarai, Wendy Broadgate, Derik J. Broekhoff, Mercedes Bustamante, Deliang Chen, Yeonju Choi, Peter Cox, Luiz A. Domeignoz-Horta, Krislie Ebi, Pierre Friedlingstein, Thomas L. Frölicher, Sabine Fuss, Helge F. Goessling, Nicolas Gruber, Qingyou He, Sophie R. Hebden, Nadja Hedrich, Adrian Heilemann, Marina Hirota, Øivind Hodnebrog, Gustaf Hugelius, Santiago Izquierdo-Tort, Sirkku Juhola, Fumiko Kasuga, Piyu Ke, Douglas I. Kelley, Şiir Kilkiș, Maximilian Kotz, Nilushi Kumarasinghe, William F. Lamb, Shih-Yu Lee, Junguo Liu, Cara N. Maesano, Maria A. Martin, Guilherme G. Mazzochini, Christopher J. Merchant, Akira S. Mori, Jennifer Morris, Åsa Persson, Hans-Otto Pörtner, Benedict S. Probst, Justine Ramage, Estelle Razanatsoa, Aaron Redman, Johan Rockström, Regina Rodrigues, Sophie Ruehr, Sadie J. Ryan, Carl-Friedrich Schleussner, Peter Schlosser, William A. Scott, Jan C. Semenza, Hansjörg Seybold, Drew T. Shindell, Giles B. Sioen, Kathryn E. Smith, Youba Sokona, Annika H. Stechemesser, Thomas F. Stocker, Sophie H.L. Su, Djiby Thiam, Gregory Trencher, Anna-Maria Virkkala, Lila Warszawski, Sarah R. Weiskopf, Henry Wu, Shupeng Zhu
Abiotic and biotic controls of non-native perennial plant success in drylands Abiotic and biotic controls of non-native perennial plant success in drylands
Drivers of non-native plant success in drylands are poorly understood. Here we identify functional differences between dryland native and non-native perennial plants and assess how biotic, abiotic and anthropogenic factors shape the success of the latter. On the basis of plant community and functional trait data from 98 sites across 25 countries, we report a total of 41 non-native plant...
Authors
Soroor Rahmanian, Nico Eisenhauer, Yuanyuan Huang, Martin Hejda, Petr Pyšek, Hannes Feilhauer, David J. Eldridge, Nicholas Gross, Yoann Le Bagousse-Pinguet, Hugo Saiz, Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo, Miguel Berdugo, Victoria Ochoa, Beatriz Gozalo, Sergio Asensio, Emilio Guirado, Enrique Valencia, Miguel García-Gómez, Juan J. Gaitán, Betty J. Mendoza, César Plaza, Paloma Díaz-Martínez, Jaime Martínez-Valderrama, Mehdi Abedi, Negar Ahmadian, Rodrigo J. Ahumada, Fateh Amghar, Thiago Araújo, Antonio I. Arroyo, Farah Ben Salem, Niels Blaum, Enkhjargal Boldbat, Bazartseren Boldgiv, Matthew A. Bowker, Liesbeth van den Brink, Chongfeng Bu, Rafaella Canessa, Andrea P. Castillo-Monroy, Helena Castro, Patricio Castro-Quezada, Ghassen Chaieb, Roukaya Chibani, Abel A. Conceição, Yvonne C. Davila, Balázs Deák, David A. Donoso, Andrew David Dougill, Carlos Iván Espinosa, Alex Fajardo, Mohammad Farzam, Daniela Ferrante, Jorgelina Franzese, Lauchlan H. Fraser, Erika L. Geiger, Sofia Laura Gonzalez, Elizabeth Gusman Montalván, Robert Hering, Eugene Marais, Rosa Mary Hernández, Sandra Daniela Hernández-Valdez, Norbert Hölzel, Elisabeth Huber-Sannwald, Oswaldo Jadán, Anke Jentsch, Liana Kindermann, Melanie Köbel, Peter C. le Roux, Cintia V. Leder, Xinhao Li, Pierre Liancourt, Anja Linstädter, Jushan Liu, Michelle A. Louw, Gillian Maggs-Kölling, Thulani P. Makhalanyane, Oumarou Malam Issa, Antonio J. Manzaneda, Pierre Margerie, Raphaël Martin, Mitchel P. McClaran, João Vitor S. Messeder, Juan P. Mora, Gerardo Moreno, Seth M. Munson, Girish R. Nair, Alice Nunes, Gabriel Oliva, Salza Palpurina, Guadalupe Peter, Yolanda Pueyo, Emiliano Quiroga, Sasha C. Reed, Pedro J. Rey, Alexandra Rodríguez, Victor Rolo, Jan C. Ruppert, Ayman Salah, Shlomo Sarig, Brajesh K. Singh, Anthony M. Swemmer, Alberto L. Teixido, Andrew D. Thomas, Katja Tielbörger, Samantha K. Travers, Orsolya Valkó, Wanyoike Wamiti, Deli Wang, Lixin Wang, Glenda M. Wardle, Peter Wolff, Laura Yahdjian, Gastón R. Oñatibia, Reza Yari, Eli Zaady, Yuanming Zhang, Xiaobing Zhou, Fernando T. Maestre
James Buttle Review: A synthesis of riparian plant water use over two decades in North American drylands James Buttle Review: A synthesis of riparian plant water use over two decades in North American drylands
Assessing riparian ecosystem water use, particularly transpiration from vegetation and evaporation from soils (‘plant water use’, hereafter), is key to developing sound water management approaches. In western North America, a multidecadal drought is reducing water availability and increasing the use of detailed water budgets. Questions related to both removal of vegetation for water...
Authors
Emily C. Palmquist, Pamela Nagler, Kiona Ogle, Claudia DiMartini, Jeffrey R. Kennedy, Joel B. Sankey
New methods provide a 300–year perspective on modern area burned in two wilderness areas of the southwest United States New methods provide a 300–year perspective on modern area burned in two wilderness areas of the southwest United States
Climate change, expanding human ignitions, and increased fuels from fire exclusion are driving increases in area burned and fire severity in dry conifer forests of the western United States. Increasing area burned is occurring against the backdrop of a large fire deficit caused by over a century of fire exclusion. A key land management question is whether historically frequent fire...
Authors
Calvin A. Farris, Ellis Q. Margolis, Jose Iniguez, D.A. Falk, K. Gerow, C.H. Baisan, C.D. Allen, T.W. Swetnam
Integrating climate and anthropogenic dynamics can inform multifaceted management for declining mule deer populations Integrating climate and anthropogenic dynamics can inform multifaceted management for declining mule deer populations
Wildlife and their habitats face profound challenges from climate and landscape-scale changes that extend beyond the influence and time horizon of most biologists and land managers. In this changing environment, long-term datasets can enhance assessments of how demographic trends respond to interactions among local (e.g., habitat restoration decisions) and broad extent drivers, including...
Authors
Teagan A. Hayes, Aaron N. Johnston, L. Embere Hall, Jill Randall, Matthew Kauffman, Christopher Keefe, Kevin Monteith, Tabitha A. Graves
Restoration based on cost-benefit optimization: A grasslands pilot study Restoration based on cost-benefit optimization: A grasslands pilot study
Ecological restoration is essential to meeting global biodiversity conservation goals. Given limited conservation budgets, deciding where to restore habitat is a key challenge for the coming decade. We developed a spatially explicit framework to optimize ecological restoration site selection by integrating land use history, species distributions, and economic costs. The framework...
Authors
Sarah R. Weiskopf, Toni Lyn Morelli, Tina G. Mozelewski, Alexey N. Shiklomanov, Susannah B. Lerman
Vegetation cover and composition in environments surrounding uranium mines in the Grand Canyon ecosystem, Northern Arizona Vegetation cover and composition in environments surrounding uranium mines in the Grand Canyon ecosystem, Northern Arizona
Mining uranium from breccia-pipe deposits in the greater Grand Canyon region has occurred since the mid-1900s. However, possible ecosystem contamination with harmful levels of radionuclides may have occurred due to mining activities in the 21st century. In response, a 20-year Federal moratorium on new mining claims in the Grand Canyon watershed was initiated in 2012, to allow time to...
Authors
Rebecca K. Mann, Michael C. Duniway, Jo Ellen Hinck
A matter of timing: Sagebrush steppe restoration seeding outcomes altered by species responses to warmer spring temperatures and interannual weather variation A matter of timing: Sagebrush steppe restoration seeding outcomes altered by species responses to warmer spring temperatures and interannual weather variation
Introduction Restoration outcomes in cold desert ecosystems like sagebrush steppe are affected by weather variability, particularly during the spring, a critical time period for seedling establishment. Seedling emergence phenology is also highly variable among species in these ecosystems. Seed-based restoration outcomes are likely affected by the emergence timing of species in seed mixes...
Authors
Stella M Copeland, Jonathan D Bates, Kirk W Davies, Matthew Germino
Multi-year cut-to-drown management limits Phragmites australis growth, belowground resources, and rhizome viability in Great Lakes wetlands Multi-year cut-to-drown management limits Phragmites australis growth, belowground resources, and rhizome viability in Great Lakes wetlands
The distribution and abundance of Phragmites in the Great Lakes coastal zone has expanded in part due to its unique ventilation physiology and its ability to take advantage of changes in lake levels over the past several decades. During an extended period of low lake levels in the early 2000s, Phragmites expanded into vast shallow water areas as lake bottoms were exposed. Many of those...
Authors
Wesley A. Bickford, Kaira A. Schaefer, Spenser L. Widin, Kurt P. Kowalski
Mountain goat declines in a protected, interior, native population Mountain goat declines in a protected, interior, native population
A shifting climate poses threats to alpine-adapted species including mountain goats. We used long-term (12 years) citizen science monitoring data and Bayesian N-mixture modeling to estimate population trends and drivers of population metrics among mountain goats in Glacier National Park (GNP). Median goats per site (n = 37 sites) declined by 45% (95% credible interval [CRI] = 32%, 57%)...
Authors
Tabitha A. Graves, William Michael Janousek, Michael Yarnall, Jami Belt
Best practice guidelines for targeted environmental DNA-based proficiency testing in non-regulatory contexts Best practice guidelines for targeted environmental DNA-based proficiency testing in non-regulatory contexts
The effective use of environmental DNA (eDNA) tools is contingent on strict adherence to established and validated methods. Differences in eDNA methods and quality assurance protocols may contribute to variability in results. However, quality assurance measures such as proficiency testing can provide independent evaluation of laboratory performance against pre-established test criteria...
Authors
Margaret Hunter, Adam Sepulveda, Dianne M. Gleeson, Alejandro Trujillo-Gonzalez, Caren C. Helbing, Helen C. Rees, Devin Nicole Jones-Slobodian, Rachel C. Miliano, Toshifumi Minamoto, Susanna Theroux, Cecilia Villacorta Rath, Taylor Wilcox, Hiroki Yamanaka, Katy E. Klymus