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: 42871
Multiscale guidance and tools for implementing a landscape approach to resource management in the Bureau of Land Management Multiscale guidance and tools for implementing a landscape approach to resource management in the Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is implementing a landscape approach to resource management (hereafter, landscape approach) to more effectively work with partners and understand the effects of management decisions. A landscape approach is a set of concepts and principles used to guide resource management when multiple stakeholders are involved and goals include diverse and...
Projected impacts of climate, urbanization, water management, and wetland restoration on waterbird habitat in California’s Central Valley Projected impacts of climate, urbanization, water management, and wetland restoration on waterbird habitat in California’s Central Valley
The Central Valley of California is one of the most important regions for wintering waterbirds in North America despite extensive anthropogenic landscape modification and decline of historical wetlands there. Like many other mediterranean-climate ecosystems across the globe, the Central Valley has been subject to a burgeoning human population and expansion and intensification of...
Authors
Elliott Matchett, Joseph P. Fleskes
Range-wide connectivity of priority areas for Greater Sage-Grouse: Implications for long-term conservation from graph theory Range-wide connectivity of priority areas for Greater Sage-Grouse: Implications for long-term conservation from graph theory
The delineation of priority areas in western North America for managing Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) represents a broad-scale experiment in conservation biology. The strategy of limiting spatial disturbance and focusing conservation actions within delineated areas may benefit the greatest proportion of Greater Sage-Grouse. However, land use under normal restrictions...
Authors
Michele R. Crist, Steven T. Knick, Steven E. Hanser
A detached eddy simulation model for the study of lateral separation zones along a large canyon-bound river A detached eddy simulation model for the study of lateral separation zones along a large canyon-bound river
Lateral flow separation occurs in rivers where banks exhibit strong curvature. In canyon-boundrivers, lateral recirculation zones are the principal storage of fine-sediment deposits. A parallelized,three-dimensional, turbulence-resolving model was developed to study the flow structures along lateralseparation zones located in two pools along the Colorado River in Marble Canyon. The model...
Authors
Laura V. Alvarez, Mark W. Schmeeckle, Paul E. Grams
Scientific monitoring plan in support of the selected alternative of the Glen Canyon Dam Long-Term Experimental and Management Plan Scientific monitoring plan in support of the selected alternative of the Glen Canyon Dam Long-Term Experimental and Management Plan
Introduction The purpose of this document is to describe a strategy by which monitoring and research data in the natural and social sciences will be collected, analyzed, and provided to the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), its bureaus, and to the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program (GCDAMP) in support of implementation of the Glen Canyon Dam Long-Term Experimental and...
Authors
Scott P. Vanderkooi, Theodore A. Kennedy, David J. Topping, Paul E. Grams, David L. Ward, Helen C. Fairley, Lucas S. Bair, Joel B. Sankey, John C. Schmidt, Charles B. Yackulic
Age and growth comparisons of Hovsgol grayling (Thymallus nigrescens Dorogostaisky, 1923), Baikal grayling (T. baicalensis Dybowski, 1874), and lenok (Brachymystax lenok Pallas, 1773) in lentic and lotic habitats of Northern Mongolia Age and growth comparisons of Hovsgol grayling (Thymallus nigrescens Dorogostaisky, 1923), Baikal grayling (T. baicalensis Dybowski, 1874), and lenok (Brachymystax lenok Pallas, 1773) in lentic and lotic habitats of Northern Mongolia
Despite concern over the conservation status of many Mongolian salmonids and the importance of their ecological role in Mongolia's aquatic ecosystems, little is known about their basic biology. Hovsgol grayling (Thymallus nigrescens) is endemic to Lake Hovsgol, Mongolia and listed as endangered on the Mongolian Red List. Baikal grayling (T. baicalensis) and lenok (Brachymystax lenok) are...
Authors
Pureviin Tsogtsaikhan, Budiin Mendsaikhan, Ganzorigiin Jargalmaa, Batsaikhanii Ganzorig, Brian Weidel, Christopher Filosa, Christopher Free, Talia Young, Olaf P. Jensen
Sandhill crane roost selection, human disturbance, and forage resources Sandhill crane roost selection, human disturbance, and forage resources
Sites used for roosting represent a key habitat requirement for many species of birds because availability and quality of roost sites can influence individual fitness. Birds select roost sites based on numerous factors, requirements, and motivations, and selection of roosts can be dynamic in time and space because of various ecological and environmental influences. For sandhill cranes...
Authors
Aaron T. Pearse, Gary Krapu, David A. Brandt
Feeding ecology of Brook Silverside, Golden Shiner, and Subyearling Pumpkinseed in a Lake Ontario embayment Feeding ecology of Brook Silverside, Golden Shiner, and Subyearling Pumpkinseed in a Lake Ontario embayment
Fish feeding ecology has been shown to vary over a 24-h period in terms of the prey consumed and feeding intensity. Consequently, in order to best determine the interspecific feeding associations within a fish community, examination of the diet at multiple times over a 24-h period is often necessary. We examined the diel feeding ecology of three fish species that were numerically...
Authors
James H. Johnson, Marc Chalupnicki, Ross Abbett, Avriel R Diaz, Christopher C Nack
Southern sea otter range expansion and habitat use in the Santa Barbara Channel, California Southern sea otter range expansion and habitat use in the Santa Barbara Channel, California
The re-colonization of the Santa Barbara channel by sea otters brings these ESA-listed marine mammals closer to active oil and gas production facilities, shipping lanes and naturally occurring oil and gas seeps. However, the degree to which sea otters may actually be affected by human-caused oil spills or exposure to natural oil seeps is currently unknown. Between 2012 and 2014, the U.S
Authors
M. Tim Tinker, Joseph A. Tomoleoni, Nicole LaRoche, Lizabeth Bowen, A. Keith Miles, Mike Murray, Michelle Staedler, Zachary Randell
Evaluation of nocturnal roost and diurnal sites used by whooping cranes in the Great Plains, United States Evaluation of nocturnal roost and diurnal sites used by whooping cranes in the Great Plains, United States
Endangered whooping cranes (Grus americana) of the Aransas-Wood Buffalo population migrate through the Great Plains twice each year. Although there is much interest in conservation and management for this species, information regarding characteristics of nocturnal roost sites used during migration has been limited and based largely on incidental observations. Using high-quality location...
Authors
Aaron T. Pearse, Mary J. Harner, David M. Baasch, Greg D. Wright, Andrew J. Caven, Kristine L. Metzger
Signals of impending change Signals of impending change
Society has an increasing awareness that there are finite limits to what we can expect the planet to absorb and still provide goods and services at current rates1. Both historical reconstructions and contemporary events continue to remind us that ecological regime changes are often abrupt rather than gradual. This reality motivates researchers who seek to discover leading indicators for...
Authors
James B. Grace
Inferring infection hazard in wildlife populations by linking data across individual and population scales Inferring infection hazard in wildlife populations by linking data across individual and population scales
Our ability to infer unobservable disease-dynamic processes such as force of infection (infection hazard for susceptible hosts) has transformed our understanding of disease transmission mechanisms and capacity to predict disease dynamics. Conventional methods for inferring FOI estimate a time-averaged value and are based on population-level processes. Because many pathogens exhibit...
Authors
Kim M. Pepin, Shannon L. Kay, Ben D. Golas, Susan A. Shriner, Amy T. Gilbert, Ryan S. Miller, Andrea L. Graham, Steven Riley, Paul C. Cross, Michael D. Samuel, Mevin Hooten, Jennifer A. Hoeting, James O. Lloyd-Smith, Colleen T. Webb, Michael G. Buhnerkempe