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: 42710
Quantifying ecological integrity of terrestrial systems to inform management of multiple-use public lands in the United States Quantifying ecological integrity of terrestrial systems to inform management of multiple-use public lands in the United States
The concept of ecological integrity has been applied widely to management of aquatic systems, but still is considered by many to be too vague and difficult to quantify to be useful for managing terrestrial systems, particularly across broad areas. Extensive public lands in the western United States are managed for diverse uses such as timber harvest, livestock grazing, energy development...
Authors
Sarah K. Carter, Erica Fleishman, Ian I.F. Leinwand, Curtis H. Flather, Natasha B. Carr, Frank A. Fogarty, Matthias Leu, Barry R. Noon, M.E. Wohlfeil, David J. A. Wood
Satellite tracking of gulls and genomic characterization of fecal bacteria reveals environmentally mediated acquisition and dispersal of antimicrobial resistant Escherichia coli on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska Satellite tracking of gulls and genomic characterization of fecal bacteria reveals environmentally mediated acquisition and dispersal of antimicrobial resistant Escherichia coli on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Gulls (Larus spp.) have frequently been reported to carry Escherichia coli exhibiting antimicrobial resistance (AMR E. coli); however, the pathways governing the acquisition and dispersal of such bacteria are not well-described. We equipped 17 landfill-foraging gulls with satellite transmitters and collected gull fecal samples longitudinally from four locations on the Kenai Peninsula...
Authors
Christina Ahlstrom, Jonas Bonnedahl, Hanna Woksepp, Jorge Hernandez, John Reed, T. Lee Tibbitts, Bjorn Olsen, David C. Douglas, Andrew M. Ramey
Can multi-element fingerprinting of soils inform assessments of chemical connectivity between depressional wetlands? Can multi-element fingerprinting of soils inform assessments of chemical connectivity between depressional wetlands?
The question of wetland connectivity is particularly relevant regarding depressional wetlands because these wetlands often seem to be “isolated” from other wetlands on a landscape. In this study, multi-element fingerprinting of soils was used to assess similarity in element composition of depressional-wetland soils as a measure of wetland connectivity. We determined the concentrations of...
Authors
Xiaoyan Zhu, Yuxiang Yuan, David M. Mushet, Marinus L. Otte
Seasonality and prevalence of pollen collected from Hawaiian nectarivorous birds Seasonality and prevalence of pollen collected from Hawaiian nectarivorous birds
Hawaiian nectarivorous forest birds play a vital ecological role as pollinators in Hawaiian ecosystems. However, little is known about what nectar resources are utilized by Hawai‘i’s nectarivorous birds, how seasonality influences nectar availability, and how nectar preference differs by bird species. We sampled pollen from the heads of ‘i‘iwi (Drepanis coccinea), ‘apapane (Himatione...
Authors
Kathryn van Dyk, Kristina L. Paxton, Patrick J. Hart, Eben H. Paxton
Advancing barrier island habitat mapping using landscape position information Advancing barrier island habitat mapping using landscape position information
Barrier islands are dynamic ecosystems that change gradually from coastal processes, including currents and tides, and rapidly from episodic events, such as storms. These islands provide many important ecosystem services, including storm protection and erosion control to the mainland, habitat for fish and wildlife, and tourism. Habitat maps, developed by scientists, provide a critical...
Authors
Nicholas Enwright, Lei Wang, Sinéad M. Borchert, Richard Day, Laura Feher, Michael Osland
The rise of an apex predator following deglaciation The rise of an apex predator following deglaciation
Aim Sea otters (Enhydra lutris) are an apex predator of the nearshore marine community and nearly went extinct at the turn of the 20th century. Reintroductions and legal protection allowed sea otters to re‐colonize much of their former range. Our objective was to chronicle the colonization of this apex predator in Glacier Bay, Alaska, to help understand the mechanisms that governed their...
Authors
Mevin Hooten, George G. Esslinger
To forage or flee: Lessons from an elk migration near a protected area To forage or flee: Lessons from an elk migration near a protected area
Alteration of wide-ranging wildlife migrations can drastically impact the structure and function of ecosystems, yet the causes and consequences of shifting migration patterns remain largely unknown. Management decisions made in one portion of a landscape may induce spatial and temporal shifts of wildlife use in another, creating tension among private, state, and federal lands with...
Authors
Nathaniel Mikle, Tabitha A. Graves, Edward M. Olexa
Environmental DNA sampling reveals high occupancy rates of invasive Burmese pythons at wading bird breeding aggregations in the central Everglades Environmental DNA sampling reveals high occupancy rates of invasive Burmese pythons at wading bird breeding aggregations in the central Everglades
The Burmese python (Python bivittatus) is now established as a breeding population throughout south Florida, USA. However, the extent of the invasion, and the ecological impacts of this novel apex predator on animal communities are incompletely known, in large part because Burmese pythons (hereafter “pythons”) are extremely cryptic and there has been no efficient way to detect them...
Authors
Sophia C. M. Orzechowski, Peter C. Frederick, Robert M. Dorazio, Margaret Hunter
Establishing an Agassiz’s Desert Tortoise monitoring program within the Coachella Valley multiple species habitat conservation plan area: Final report to the Coachella Valley conservation commission on work performed near the Orocopia Mountains Establishing an Agassiz’s Desert Tortoise monitoring program within the Coachella Valley multiple species habitat conservation plan area: Final report to the Coachella Valley conservation commission on work performed near the Orocopia Mountains
In support of the goals of the Coachella Valley Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan and Natural Community Conservation Plan (CVMSHCP/NCCP), a population of Agassiz’s desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) was marked and studied to establish a desert tortoise monitoring program near the Orocopia Mountains beginning in early 2017 and ending in the summer of 2018, following the epic...
Authors
Jeffrey E. Lovich, Shellie R. Puffer, Kristy L. Cummings
Hurricane Sandy impacts on coastal wetland resilience Hurricane Sandy impacts on coastal wetland resilience
The goal of this research was to evaluate the impacts of Hurricane Sandy on surface elevation trends in estuarine marshes located across the northeast region of the United States from Virginia to Maine using data from an opportunistic (in other words, not strategic) and collaborative network (from here on, an opportunistic network) of surface elevation table-marker horizon (SET-MH)...
Authors
Donald R. Cahoon, Jennifer H. Olker, Alice G. Yeates, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, James B. Grace, Susan C. Adamowicz, Shimon C. Anisfeld, Andrew H. Baldwin, Nels Barrett, Leah Beckett, Alice Benzecry, Linda K. Blum, David M. Burdick, William Crouch, Marci Cole Ekberg, Sarah Fernald, Kristin Wilson Grimes, Joseph Grzyb, Ellen Kracauer Hartig, Danielle A. Kreeger, Marit Larson, Scott Lerberg, James C. Lynch, Nicole Maher, Martha Maxwell-Doyle, Laura R. Mitchell, Jordan Mora, Victoria O’Neill, Angela Padeletti, Diann J. Prosser, Tracy Quirk, Kenneth B. Raposa, William G. Reay, Drexel Siok, Christopher Snow, Adam Starke, J. Court Stevenson, Lorie Staver, Vincent Turner
Implementation of an occupancy-based monitoring protocol for a wide-spread and cryptic species, the New England cottontail Sylvilagus transitionalis Implementation of an occupancy-based monitoring protocol for a wide-spread and cryptic species, the New England cottontail Sylvilagus transitionalis
Designing effective long-term monitoring strategies is essential for managing wildlife populations. Implementing a cost-effective, practical monitoring program is especially challenging for widespread but locally rare species. Early successional habitat preferred by the New England cottontail (NEC) has become increasingly rare and fragmented, resulting in substantial declines from their...
Authors
Colin P. Shea, Mitchell J. Eaton, Darryl I. MacKenzie
Annual survival, site fidelity, and longevity in the eastern coastal population of the Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris) based on a 20-year mark-recapture/resighting study Annual survival, site fidelity, and longevity in the eastern coastal population of the Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris) based on a 20-year mark-recapture/resighting study
A long-term study of annual survival, longevity, and site fidelity in the eastern coastal population of the Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris) during the breeding season was conducted from 1999 through 2018 in the outer coastal plain of the southeastern Atlantic coast of the United States. Painted Buntings were uniquely color-banded from 1999 through 2003 at 40 study sites that were...
Authors
Paul W. Sykes, Mary Freeman, Joan J. Sykes, John T. Seginak, M. David Oleyar, Joshua P. Egan