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: 42702
Authors’ reply to letter to the editor: Continued improvement to genetic diversity indicator for CBD Authors’ reply to letter to the editor: Continued improvement to genetic diversity indicator for CBD
We appreciate the encouraging response to our call for indicators for genetic diversity within the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity, CBD (Laikre et al. 2020; Hoban et al. 2020). In agreement with us, Frankham (2021) highlights the urgent necessity for the CBD to include an indicator that tracks the maintenance of genetic diversity within...
Authors
Linda Laikre, Paul A. Hohenlohe, Fred W. Allendorf, Laura D. Bertola, Martin F Breed, Michael W. Bruford, W. Chris Funk, Gonzalo Gajardo, Antonio Gonzalez-Rodriguez, Catherine E. Grueber, Philip W Hedrick, Myriam Heuertz, Margaret Hunter, Kerstin Johannesson, Libby Liggins, Anna J. MacDonald, Joachim Mergeay, Farideh Moharrek, David O’Brien, Rob Ogden, Pablo Orozco-terWengel, Clarisse Palma-Silva, Jennifer Pierson, Ivan Paz-Vinas, Isa-Rita M Russo, Nils Ryman, Genot Segelbacher, Per Sjogren-Gulve, Lisette P Waits, Cristiano Vernesi, Sean M. Hoban
Priority species lists to restore desert tortoise and pollinator habitats in Mojave Desert shrublands Priority species lists to restore desert tortoise and pollinator habitats in Mojave Desert shrublands
Mojave Desert shrublands are home to unique plants and wildlife and are experiencing rapid habitat change due to unprecedented large-scale disturbances; yet, established practices to effectively restore disturbed landscapes are not well developed. A priority species list of native plant taxa was developed to guide seed collectors, commercial growers, resource managers, and restoration
Authors
Todd Esque, Lesley A. DeFalco, Gayle Loren Tyree, K. Kristina Drake, Kenneth E. Nussear, Joseph S Wilson
Field-level exposure of bumble bees to fungicides applied to a commercial cherry orchard Field-level exposure of bumble bees to fungicides applied to a commercial cherry orchard
Bumble bees, Bombus spp. (Apidae), are important native pollinators; however, populations of some species are declining in North America and agricultural chemicals are a potential cause. Fungicides are generally not highly toxic to bees, but little is known about sublethal or synergistic effects. This study evaluates bumble bee exposure to fungicides by quantifying concentrations of...
Authors
Kathryn M. Kuivila, Houston Judd, Michelle L. Hladik, James P. Strange
Blue sucker habitat use in a regulated Texas river: Implications for conservation and restoration Blue sucker habitat use in a regulated Texas river: Implications for conservation and restoration
Species conservation requires a clear understanding of habitat availability and subsequent use of those habitats. In cases where species declines have occurred and gone undetected by conservation managers, habitat alteration, fragmentation, and loss are often the largest contributors. River fragmentation often results in altered flow regimes, subsequently impacting the availability of...
Authors
Matthew Ross Acre, Timothy B. Grabowski, Daniel J. Leavitt, Nathan G. Smith, Allison A. Pease, Jessica E. Pease
Economic effects assessment approaches: US National Parks approach Economic effects assessment approaches: US National Parks approach
This chapter discusses the data and methods used by the US National Park Service to estimate the economic effects of National Park visitor spending to local and regional economies. Topics covered include a summary of economic effects analyses, required data for analysis (visitor count data, trip characteristics and spending patterns, and regional economic multipliers) and how these data...
Authors
Catherine Cullinane Thomas, Lynne Koontz
8,000 years of climate, vegetation, fire and land-use dynamics in the thermo-mediterranean vegetation belt of northern Sardinia (Italy) 8,000 years of climate, vegetation, fire and land-use dynamics in the thermo-mediterranean vegetation belt of northern Sardinia (Italy)
Knowledge about the vegetation history of Sardinia, the second largest island of the Mediterranean, is scanty. Here, we present a new sedimentary record covering the past ~ 8,000 years from Lago di Baratz, north-west Sardinia. Vegetation and fire history are reconstructed by pollen, spores, macrofossils and charcoal analyses and environmental dynamics by high-resolution element...
Authors
Tiziana Pedrotta, Erika Gobet, Christoph Schworer, Giorgia Beffa, Christoph Butz, Paul D. Henne, Cesar Morales-Molino, Salvatore Pasta, Jacqueline Van Leeuwen, Hendrik Vogel, Elias Zwimpfer, Flavio Anselmetti, Martin Grosjean, Willy Tinner
EverForecast—A near-term forecasting application for ecological decision support EverForecast—A near-term forecasting application for ecological decision support
The Everglades Forecasting application (EverForecast) provides decision makers with a support tool to examine optimal allocations of water across the managed landscape while explicitly quantifying the conflicting needs of multiple species. Covering the Greater Everglades (a vast, subtropical wetland ecosystem in South Florida), EverForecast provides 6-month forecasts of daily projected...
Authors
Saira M. Haider, Stephanie S. Romañach, Mark McKelvy, Kevin J. Suir, Leonard Pearlstine
Resistance, resilience, and recovery of dryland soil bacterial communities across multiple disturbances Resistance, resilience, and recovery of dryland soil bacterial communities across multiple disturbances
Dryland ecosystems are sensitive to perturbations and generally slow to recover post disturbance. The microorganisms residing in dryland soils are especially important as they contribute to soil structure and nutrient cycling. Disturbance can have particularly strong effects on dryland soil structure and function, yet the natural resistance and recovery of the microbial components of...
Authors
Blaire Steven, Michala Lee Phillips, Jayne Belnap, La Verne Gallegos-Graves, Cheryl R. Kuske, Sasha C. Reed
The scope and severity of white-nose syndrome on hibernating bats in North America The scope and severity of white-nose syndrome on hibernating bats in North America
Assessing the scope and severity of threats is necessary for evaluating impacts on populations to inform conservation planning. Quantitative threat assessment often requires monitoring programs that provide reliable data over relevant spatial and temporal scales, yet such programs can be difficult to justify until there is an apparent stressor. Leveraging efforts of wildlife management...
Authors
Tina L. Cheng, Jonathan D. Reichard, Jeremy T.H. Coleman, Ted Weller, Wayne E. Thogmartin, Brian Reichert, Alyssa Bennett, Hugh G. Broders, Joshua Campbell, Katherine Etchison, Daniel J. Feller, Richard Geboy, Traci Hemberger, Carl Herzog, Alan C. Hicks, Sandra Houghton, Jessica Humber, Joseph A. Kath, Andrew L. King, Susan C. Loeb, Ariane Masse, Katrina M. Morris, Holly Niederriter, Gerd E. Nordquist, Roger W. Perry, Rick Reynolds, David Blake Sasse, Michael R. Scafini, Richard C. Stark, Craig W. Stihler, Steven C. Thomas, Gregory G. Turner, Shevenell Webb, Bradley Westrich, Winifred F. Frick
Estimating and applying fish and invertebrate density and production enhancement from seagrass, salt marsh edge, and oyster reef nursery habitats in the Gulf of Mexico Estimating and applying fish and invertebrate density and production enhancement from seagrass, salt marsh edge, and oyster reef nursery habitats in the Gulf of Mexico
Seagrasses, oyster reefs, and salt marshes are critical coastal habitats that support high densities of juvenile fish and invertebrates. Yet which species are enhanced through these nursery habitats, and to what degree, remains largely unquantified. Densities of young-of-year fish and invertebrates in seagrasses, oyster reefs, and salt marsh edges as well as in paired adjacent...
Authors
Philine zu Ermgassen, Bryan M. DeAngelis, Jonathan R. Gair, Sophus zu Ermgassen, Ronald J. Baker, Andre Daniels, Timothy C. MacDonald, Kara Meckley, Sean P. Powers, Marta Ribera, Lawrence P. Rozas, Jonathan H. Grabowski
Fine-scale plant defence variability increases top-down control of an herbivore Fine-scale plant defence variability increases top-down control of an herbivore
Herbivore populations are regulated by a combination of plant defences and natural enemies. While plant defence can suppress herbivore populations, these defences can also adversely affect natural enemies, thereby releasing herbivores from top-down control.Over their life spans, herbivores and their natural enemies may experience substantial variation in plant defence. Recent studies...
Authors
Ryan Paul, Ian S. Pearse, Paul J. Ode
Historical effective population size of North American hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus) and challenges to estimating trends in contemporary effective breeding population size from archived samples Historical effective population size of North American hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus) and challenges to estimating trends in contemporary effective breeding population size from archived samples
Background Hoary bats (Lasiurus cinereus) are among the bat species most commonly killed by wind turbine strikes in the midwestern United States. The impact of this mortality on species census size is not understood, due in part to the difficulty of estimating population size for this highly migratory and elusive species. Genetic effective population size (Ne) could provide an index of...
Authors
Robert S. Cornman, Jennifer A. Fike, Sara J. Oyler-McCance, Paul M. Cryan