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: 42768
Ecology and management of plague in diverse communities of rodents and fleas Ecology and management of plague in diverse communities of rodents and fleas
Plague originated in Asia as a flea-borne zoonosis of mammalian hosts. Today, the disease is distributed nearly worldwide. In western United States of America, plague is maintained, transmitted, and amplified in diverse communities of rodents and fleas. We examined flea diversity on three species of prairie dogs (Cynomys spp., PDs) and six species of sympatric small rodents in Montana...
Authors
David A. Eads, Dean E. Biggins, Kenneth L. Gage
Assessment of Ambystomatid salamander populations and their breeding habitats in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area Assessment of Ambystomatid salamander populations and their breeding habitats in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area
This report presents abundance and occurrence data for three species of ambystomad salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum, A. jeffersonianum, and A. opacum) collected over a 3-year period (2000, 2001, and 2002) at 200 potentional breeding sies within the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (DEWA). In addition, numerous measures of inpond, near-pond, and landscape attributes were...
Authors
Craig D. Snyder, John A. Young, James T. Julian, Tim L. King, Shanon E. Julian
Warming and microbial uptake influence the fate of added soil carbon across a Hawai'ian weathering gradient Warming and microbial uptake influence the fate of added soil carbon across a Hawai'ian weathering gradient
Tropical forest soils contain some of the largest carbon (C) stocks on Earth, yet the effects of warming on the fate of fresh C entering tropical soils are still poorly understood. This research sought to understand how the fate of fresh C entering soils is influenced by warming, soil weathering status, and C chemistry. We hypothesized that compounds that are quickly incorporated into...
Authors
Avishesh Neupane, Sasha C. Reed, Daniela F. Cusack
Influence of water temperature and biotic interactions on the distribution of westslope cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi) in a population stronghold under climate change Influence of water temperature and biotic interactions on the distribution of westslope cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi) in a population stronghold under climate change
Climate warming is expected to have substantial impacts on native trout across the Rocky Mountains, but there is little understanding of how these changes affect future distributions of co-occurring native fishes within population strongholds. We used mixed-effects logistic regression to investigate the role of abiotic (e.g., temperature) and biotic factors (bull trout presence...
Authors
Kadie Heinle, Lisa A Eby, Clint C. Muhlfeld, Amber Steed, Leslie Jones, Vincent S. D’Angelo, Andrew R. Whiteley, Mark Hubblewhite
Small mammal responses to wetland restoration in the Greater Everglades ecosystem Small mammal responses to wetland restoration in the Greater Everglades ecosystem
Wetlands have experienced dramatic losses in extent around the world, disrupting ecosystem function, habitat, and biodiversity. In Florida’s Greater Everglades, a massive restoration effort costing billions of dollars and spanning multiple decades is underway. As Everglades restoration is implemented in incremental projects, scientists and planners monitor the outcomes of projects. In...
Authors
Stephanie Romanach, Laura D’Acunto, Julia Chapman, Matthew R Hanson
A comparison of plant communities in restored, old field, and remnant coastal prairies A comparison of plant communities in restored, old field, and remnant coastal prairies
Temperate grasslands are experiencing worldwide declines due to habitat conversion. Grassland restoration efforts are employed to compensate for these losses. However, there is a need to better understand the ecological effects of grassland restoration and management practices. We investigated the effects of three different grassland management regimes on plant communities of coastal...
Authors
Laura Feher, Larry Allain, Michael Osland, Elisabeth Pigott, Christopher Reid, Nicholas Latiolais
Review of trap-and-haul for managing Pacific salmonids (Oncorhynchus spp.) in impounded river systems Review of trap-and-haul for managing Pacific salmonids (Oncorhynchus spp.) in impounded river systems
High-head dams are migration barriers for Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp. in many river systems and recovery measures for impacted stocks are limited. Trap-and-haul has been widely used in attempts to facilitate recovery but information from existing programs has not been synthesized to inform improvements to aid recovery of salmonids in systems with high-head dams. We reviewed 17 trap...
Authors
Tobias J. Kock, John W. Ferguson, Matthew L. Keefer, Carl B. Schreck
Evaluating wildlife translocations using genomics: A bighorn sheep case study Evaluating wildlife translocations using genomics: A bighorn sheep case study
Wildlife restoration often involves translocation efforts to reintroduce species and supplement small, fragmented populations. We examined the genomic consequences of bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) translocations and population isolation to enhance understanding of evolutionary processes that affect population genetics and inform future restoration strategies. We conducted a population...
Authors
Elizabeth P Flesch, Tabitha A. Graves, Jennifer Thomson, Kelly Proffitt, P.J. White, Thomas R Stephenson, Robert A. Garrott
Evaluating natural experiments in ecology: Using synthetic controls in assessments of remotely sensed land treatments Evaluating natural experiments in ecology: Using synthetic controls in assessments of remotely sensed land treatments
Many important ecological phenomena occur on large spatial scales and/or are unplanned and thus do not easily fit within analytical frameworks that rely on randomization, replication, and interspersed a priori controls for statistical comparison. Analyses of such large‐scale, natural experiments are common in the health and econometrics literature, where techniques have been developed to...
Authors
Stephen E. Fick, Travis W. Nauman, Colby C. Brungard, Michael C. Duniway
Record fledging count from a seven-egg clutch in the Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) Record fledging count from a seven-egg clutch in the Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii)
Cooper's Hawks (Accipiter cooperii) typically lay 3–5 eggs per clutch, rarely 6 eggs, and there are 2 accounts of 7-egg clutches and 1 record of a maximum 8-egg clutch for the species. Brood sizes of 3–5 young are common and the previous maximum brood count is 6 young. However, in 2019, we found an urban nest in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, with 7 eggs that resulted in a record high of 7...
Authors
Robert N. Rosenfield, Sarah A. Sonsthagen, Ann Elizabeth Riddle-Berntsen, Evan Kuhel
Anadromous coastal cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarkii clarkii as a host for Argulus pugettensis (Crustacea, Branchiura): Parasite prevalence, intensity and distribution Anadromous coastal cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarkii clarkii as a host for Argulus pugettensis (Crustacea, Branchiura): Parasite prevalence, intensity and distribution
Coastal cutthroat trout [Oncorhynchus clarkii clarkii (Richardson, 1836)] from the marine waters of Puget Sound, WA, was documented as a new host for the ectoparasite Argulus pugettensis (Dana, 1852). The prevalence of A. pugettensis was 66% (49 of 74) on cutthroat trout and 0% (0 of 55) on coho salmon [O. kisutch (Walbaum, 1792)] collected during the winter of 2017/2018. Infestations...
Authors
James P Losee, Simon R M Jones, Caitlin A E McKinstry, William N. Batts, Paul Hershberger
Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus)
This chapter comprises the following sections: names, taxonomy, subspecies and distribution, descriptive notes, habitat, movements and home range, activity patterns, feeding ecology, reproduction and growth, behavior, parasites and diseases, status in the wild, and status in captivity.
Authors
Karyn D. Rode, Martyn E. Obbard, Stanislav Belikov, Andrew E. Derocher, George M. Durner, Gregory Thiemann, Morten Tryland, Robert J. Letcher, Randi Meyersen, Christian Sonne, Bjorn Jenssen, Rune Dietz, Dag Vongraven