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: 42789
What could explain δ13C signatures in biocrust cyanobacteria of drylands? What could explain δ13C signatures in biocrust cyanobacteria of drylands?
Dryland ecosystems are increasing in geographic extent and contribute greatly to interannual variability in global carbon dynamics. Disentangling interactions among dominant primary producers, including plants and autotrophic microbes, can help partition their contributions to dryland C dynamics. We measured the δ13C signatures of biological soil crust cyanobacteria and dominant plant...
Authors
Eva Stricker, Grace Cain, Jennifer A. Rudgers, Robert L Sinsabaugh, Vanessa Fernandes, Corey Nelson, Ana Giraldo Silva, Ferran Garcia-Pichel, Jayne Belnap, Anthony Darrouzet-Nardi
Validating deployment of aerially delivered toxic bait cartridges for control of invasive brown treesnakes Validating deployment of aerially delivered toxic bait cartridges for control of invasive brown treesnakes
Aerial application of management tools can provide a cost‐effective means to conserve or control wildlife populations at the landscape scale. Large spatial scales, however, present difficulties when assessing in situ reliability and integrity of the devices themselves. We demonstrate application of a distance‐sampling density estimation approach to assess the performance of a newly...
Authors
Scott Michael Goetz, Amy A. Yackel Adams, Shane S Siers
msocc: Fit and analyse computationally efficient multi‐scale occupancy models in R msocc: Fit and analyse computationally efficient multi‐scale occupancy models in R
Environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling is a promising tool for the detection of rare and cryptic taxa, such as aquatic pathogens, parasites and invasive species. Environmental DNA sampling workflows commonly rely on multi‐stage hierarchical sampling designs that induce complicated dependencies within the data. This complex dependence structure can be intuitively modelled with Bayesian multi...
Authors
Christian Stratton, Adam J. Sepulveda, Andrew B. Hoegh
Biological assessment of a proposed vegetation management program to benefit tribes in eastern Oklahoma Biological assessment of a proposed vegetation management program to benefit tribes in eastern Oklahoma
Tribal communities may benefit from land management activities that enhance their use of resources on tribal lands. The Bureau of Indian Affairs is implementing a 5-year vegetation management program to provide support for projects that develop and use natural and cultural resources and improve opportunities for agricultural activities to benefit 20 Indian Tribes and Nations in the...
Authors
Benjamin R. Harms, Heidi L. Bencin, Natasha B. Carr
Space use and relative habitat selection for immature green turtles within a Caribbean marine protected area Space use and relative habitat selection for immature green turtles within a Caribbean marine protected area
Background A better understanding of sea turtle spatial ecology is critical for the continued conservation of imperiled sea turtles and their habitats. For resource managers to develop the most effective conservation strategies, it is especially important to examine how turtles use and select for habitats within their developmental foraging grounds. Here, we examine the space use and...
Authors
Lucas P Griffin, Brian J. Smith, Michael Cherkiss, Andrew Crowder, Clayton G Pollock, Zandy Hillis-Starr, Andy J. Danylchuk, Kristen Hart
Urban stream syndrome and contaminant uptake in salamanders of Central Texas Urban stream syndrome and contaminant uptake in salamanders of Central Texas
We studied the ecological health of springs experiencing varying levels of urban development to assess impacts to rare endemic salamanders (Eurycea spp.) of Central Texas. We evaluated measures of invertebrate species richness, water quality, and contaminant uptake by salamanders to determine how springs and their inhabitants were being affected by urban growth and changing land-use...
Authors
Peter H. Diaz, Erik L. Orsak, Floyd W. Weckerly, Mike A. Montagne, David A. Alvarez
Investigating the gene expression profiles of rehabilitated Florida manatees (Trichechus manatus latirostris) following red tide exposure Investigating the gene expression profiles of rehabilitated Florida manatees (Trichechus manatus latirostris) following red tide exposure
To investigate a Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) mortality event following a red tide bloom in Southwest Florida, an RNA sequencing experiment was conducted. Gene expression changes in white blood cells were assessed in manatees rescued from a red tide affected area (n = 4) and a control group (n = 7) using RNA sequencing. The genes with the largest fold changes were...
Authors
Rebecca Lazensky, Margaret Hunter, David M. Amador, Basima Al-Khedery, Fahong Yu, Cathy Walsh, Matthew A. Gitzendanner, Katie Tripp, Mike Walsh, Nancy D. Denslow
Climate-change refugia in boreal North America: What, where, and for how long? Climate-change refugia in boreal North America: What, where, and for how long?
TThe vast boreal biome plays an important role in the global carbon cycle but is experiencing particularly rapid climate warming, threatening the integrity of valued ecosystems and their component species. We developed a framework and taxonomy to identify climate‐change refugia potential in the North American boreal region, summarizing current knowledge regarding mechanisms, geographic
Authors
Diana Stralberg, Dominique Arseneault, Jennifer Baltzer, Quinn Barber, Erin Bayne, Yan Boulanger, Carissa Brown, Hilary Cooke, Kevin Devito, Jason Edwards, Cesar Estevo, Nadele Flynn, Lee Frelich, E. H. Hogg, Mark Johnston, Travis Logan, Steven M. Matsuoka, Paul Moore, Toni Lyn Morelli, Julienne Morissette, Elizabeth Nelson, Hedvig Nenzen, Scott Nielsen, Marc-André Parisien, John Pedlar, David Price, Fiona Schmiegelow, Stuart Slattery, Oliver Sonnentag, Daniel Thompson, Ellen Whitman
Report on the workshop ‘Next Steps in Developing Nature Futures’ Report on the workshop ‘Next Steps in Developing Nature Futures’
The workshop ‘New Narratives for Nature: operationalizing the IPBES Nature Futures Scenarios’ was organised by the IPBES task force on scenarios and models and hosted by the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), with support from the research team on “Predicting and Assessing Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services through an Integrated Social-Ecological Systems Approach...
Authors
Machteld Schoolenberg, Sana Okayasu, Rob Alkemade, Amanda Krijgsman, Ana Paula Dutra de Aguiar, Shizuka Hashimoto, Carolyn J. Lundquist, Laura Pereira, Garry Peterson, Dolors Armenteras, William W. L. Cheung, Mariteuw Chimere Diaw, America Paz Duran, Maria Gasalla, Ghassen Halouani, Paula Harrisson, Sylvia Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen, HyeJin Kim, Jan J. Kuiper, Brian W. Miller, Yasuo Takahashi, Ramon Pichs
Living on the edge: Multi-scale analyses of bird habitat use in coastal marshes of Barataria Basin, Louisiana, USA Living on the edge: Multi-scale analyses of bird habitat use in coastal marshes of Barataria Basin, Louisiana, USA
Coastal marsh loss, combined with expected sea-level rise, will cause inundation and extensive shifts to vegetation and salinity regimes that may affect the bird species dependent on coastal ecosystems worldwide. Within coastal marsh habitats, birds provide key targets for coastal management goals. However, limited information on bird-habitat relationships within coastal marshes inhibits...
Authors
Brett Patton, J. A. Nyman, Megan K. La Peyre
Wildfire-driven forest conversion in western North American landscapes Wildfire-driven forest conversion in western North American landscapes
Changing disturbance regimes and climate can overcome forest ecosystem resilience. Following high-severity fire, forest recovery may be compromised by lack of tree seed sources, warmer and drier postfire climate, or short-interval reburning. A potential outcome of the loss of resilience is the conversion of the prefire forest to a different forest type or nonforest vegetation. Conversion...
Authors
Jonathan D. Coop, Sean A. Parks, Camile S Stevens-Rumann, Shelley D. Crausbay, Philip E. Higuera, Matthew D. Hurteau, Alan J. Tepley, Ellen Whitman, Timothy J Assal, Brandon M. Collins, Kimberley T Davis, Solomon Dobrowski, Donald A. Falk, Paula J. Fornwalt, Peter Z Fule, Brian J. Harvey, Van R. Kane, Caitlin E. Littlefield, Ellis Q. Margolis, Malcolm North, Marc-André Parisien, Susan Prichard, Kyle C. Rodman
Mortality and cholinesterase inhibition in butterflies following aerial naled applications for mosquito control on the National Key Deer Refuge Mortality and cholinesterase inhibition in butterflies following aerial naled applications for mosquito control on the National Key Deer Refuge
Natural resource managers are concerned about the impacts of aerial ultra-low volume spray (ULV) of insecticides for mosquito control (i.e., mosquito adulticides) and seek science-driven management recommendations that reduce risk but allow vector control for nearby human populations. Managers at the National Key Deer Refuge (Florida Keys, FL) are concerned for ULV effects upon...
Authors
Timothy Bargar, Chad Anderson, Anthony Sowers