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: 42878
U.S. Geological Survey Tunison Laboratory of Aquatic Science research to rehabilitate native prey fish of the Lake Ontario fish community—Coregonine fishes U.S. Geological Survey Tunison Laboratory of Aquatic Science research to rehabilitate native prey fish of the Lake Ontario fish community—Coregonine fishes
Restoration of native coregonines to Lake Ontario of the Laurentian Great Lakes will improve the diversity of forage for salmonid predators and ecological function in the lake, but efficacy of experimental releases for native species restoration must be evaluated. The Coregonine Research Program at the U.S. Geological Survey Tunison Laboratory of Aquatic Science encompassed a diverse...
Authors
James E. McKenna, James H. Johnson, Steven Lapan, Marc Chalupnicki, Gregg Mackey, Mike Millard, Kevin Loftus, Michael Connerton, Christopher Legard, Brian Weidel, Dimitry Gorsky
Closing the conservation gap in the sagebrush biome: Spatial targeting and coordination are needed for conservation to keep pace with sagebrush losses Closing the conservation gap in the sagebrush biome: Spatial targeting and coordination are needed for conservation to keep pace with sagebrush losses
Core sagebrush areas (CSAs), patches of high sagebrush ecological integrity, continue to decline despite significant conservation and restoration investments across the sagebrush biome. Historically, conservation decisions in the biome have been driven by wildlife species-specific demands, but increasing recognition of the scale of threats and the pace of ecosystem degradation has...
Authors
Tina G. Mozelewski, Patrick T. Freeman, Alexander V. Kumar, David E. Naugle, Elissa M. Olimpi, Scott L. Morford, Michelle I. Jeffries, David S. Pilliod, Caitlin E. Littlefield, Sarah E. McCord, Lief A. Wiechman, Emily J. Kachergis, Kevin E. Doherty
The state of the bats in North America The state of the bats in North America
The world's rich diversity of bats supports healthy ecosystems and important ecosystem services. Maintaining healthy biological systems requires prompt identification of threats to biodiversity and immediate action to protect species, which for wide-ranging bat species that span geopolitical boundaries warrants international coordination. Anthropogenic forces drive the threats to bats...
Authors
Amanda M. Adams, Luis A. Trujillo, C.J. Campbell, Karen L. Akre, Joaquin Arroyo-Cabrales, Leanne Burns, Jeremy T.H. Coleman, Rita D. Dixon, Charles M. Francis, Melquisedec Gamba-Rios, Vona Kuczynska, Angie McIntire, Rodrigo A. Medellin, Katrina M. Morris, Jonathan D. Reichard, Brian E. Reichert, Jordi L. Segers, Michael D. Whitby, Winifred F. Frick
An assessment of N, P, Fe, Zn, Ni and Mo limitation on suspended nutrient diffusing substrates in nearshore areas of Lake Michigan and Lake Erie An assessment of N, P, Fe, Zn, Ni and Mo limitation on suspended nutrient diffusing substrates in nearshore areas of Lake Michigan and Lake Erie
In large lakes, metal availability sometimes limits the acquisition of nutrients (nitrogen, N and phosphorus, P) in offshore waters that are relatively isolated from tributaries and sediments. We hypothesize that metals may also be important within harmful algal blooms (HABs). HABs occur where nutrient loads are elevated, but bioassays often indicate that phytoplankton in HABs are N or P...
Authors
James H. Larson, David M. Costello, Jordyn T. Stoll, Andrea S. Fitzgibbon, Sean Bailey, Mary Anne Evans
Climate change amplifies ongoing declines in sagebrush ecological integrity Climate change amplifies ongoing declines in sagebrush ecological integrity
Understanding how climate change will contribute to ongoing declines in sagebrush ecological integrity is critical for informing natural resource management, yet complicated by interactions with wildfire and biological invasions. Here, we assessed potential future changes in sagebrush ecological integrity under a range of scenarios using an individual plant-based simulation model...
Authors
Martin C. Holdrege, Kyle A. Palmquist, Daniel Rodolphe Schlaepfer, William K. Lauenroth, Chad S. Boyd, Megan K. Creutzburg, Michele R. Crist, Kevin E. Doherty, Thomas E. Remington, John C. Tull, Lief A. Wiechman, John B. Bradford
Forest cover influences fish mercury concentrations in national parks of the western U.S. Forest cover influences fish mercury concentrations in national parks of the western U.S.
The global prevalence of mercury (Hg) contamination and its complex biogeochemical cycling has resulted in elevated Hg concentrations in biota in remote and pristine environments. However, there is uncertainty in the relative importance of Hg deposition and landscape factors that control Hg cycling and bioaccumulation. To address this, we measured total mercury (THg) concentrations in...
Authors
Colleen M. Flanagan-Pritz, Branden L. Johnson, James Willacker, Christopher M. Kennedy, Ninette R. Daniele, Collin A. Eagles-Smith
Climate futures for lizards and snakes in western North America may result in new species management issues Climate futures for lizards and snakes in western North America may result in new species management issues
We assessed changes in fundamental climate-niche space for lizard and snake species in western North America under modeled climate scenarios to inform natural resource managers of possible shifts in species distributions. We generated eight distribution models for each of 130 snake and lizard species in western North America under six time-by-climate scenarios. We combined the highest...
Authors
David S. Pilliod, Michelle I. Jeffries, Robert Arkle, Deanna H. Olson
Propagating observation errors to enable scalable and rigorous enumeration of plant population abundance with aerial imagery Propagating observation errors to enable scalable and rigorous enumeration of plant population abundance with aerial imagery
Estimating and monitoring plant population size is fundamental for ecological research, as well as conservation and restoration programs. High-resolution imagery has potential to facilitate such estimation and monitoring. However, remotely sensed estimates typically have higher uncertainty than field measurements, risking biased inference on population status.We present a model that...
Authors
Andrii Zaiats, Trevor Caughlin, Jennyffer Cruz, David S. Pilliod, Megan E Cattau, Rongsong Liu, Richard Rachman, Maisha Maliha, Donna M. Delparte, John DF Clare
EthoCRED: A framework to guide reporting and evaluation of the relevance and reliability of behavioural ecotoxicity studies EthoCRED: A framework to guide reporting and evaluation of the relevance and reliability of behavioural ecotoxicity studies
Behavioural analysis has been attracting significant attention as a broad indicator of sub-lethal toxicity and has secured a place as an important subdiscipline in ecotoxicology. Among the most notable characteristics of behavioural research, compared to other established approaches in sub-lethal ecotoxicology (e.g. reproductive and developmental bioassays), are the wide range of study...
Authors
Michael G. Bertram, Marlene Agerstrand, Eli S.J. Thore, Joel Allen, Sigal Balshine, Jack A. Brand, Bryan W. Brooks, ZhiChao Dang, Sabine Duquesne, Alex T. Ford, Frauke Hoffmann, Henner Hollert, Stefanie Jacob, Werner Kloas, Nils Kluver, Jim Lazorchak, Mariana Ledesma, Gerd Maack, Erin L. Macartney, Jake M. Martin, Steven D. Melvin, Marcus Michelangeli, Silvia Mohr, Stephanie Padilla, Gregory G. Pyle, Minna Saaristo, Rene Sahm, Els Smit, Jeffery A. Steevens, Sanne van den Berg, Laura E. Vossen, Donald Wlodkowic, Bob B.M. Wong, Michael Ziegler, Tomas Brodin
Drivers of woody dominance across global drylands Drivers of woody dominance across global drylands
Increases in the abundance of woody species have been reported to affect the provisioning of ecosystem services in drylands worldwide. However, it is virtually unknown how multiple biotic and abiotic drivers, such as climate, grazing, and fire, interact to determine woody dominance across global drylands. We conducted a standardized field survey in 304 plots across 25 countries to assess...
Authors
Lucio Biancari, Martin R. Aguiar, David J. Eldridge, Gastón R. Oñatibia, Yoann Le Bagousse-Pinguet, Hugo Saiz, Nicolas Gross, Amy T. Austin, Victoria Ochoa, Beatriz Gozalo, Sergio Asensio, Emilio Guirado, Enrique Valencia, Miguel Berdugo, Cesar Plaza, Jaime Martinez-Valderrama, Betty J. Mendoza, Miguel García-Gómez, Mehdi Abedi, Rodrigo J. Ahumada, Julio M. Alcantara, Fateh Amghar, Jose D. Anadon, Valeria Aramayo, Tulio Arredondo, Maaike Y. Bader, Khadijeh Bahalkeh, Farah Ben Salem, Niels Blaum, Bazartseren Boldgiv, Matthew A. Bowker, Cristina Branquinho, Chongfeng Bu, Batbold Byambatsogt, Dianela A. Calvo, Andrea P. Castillo Monroy, Helena Castro, Patricio Castro-Quezada, Roukaya Chibani, Abel A. Conceição, Courtney M. Currier, David A. Donoso, Andrew David Dougill, Hamid Ejtehadi, Carlos I. Espinosa, Alex Fajardo, Mohammad Farzam, Daniela Ferrante, Lauchlan H. Fraser, Juan J. Gaitan, Laureano A. Gherardi, Elizabeth Gusman-Montalvan, Rosa M. Hernández-Hernández, Norbert Holzel, Elisabeth Huber-Sannwald, Frederic M. Hughes, Oswaldo Jadan-Maza, Florian Jeltsch, Anke Jentsch, Mengchen Ju, Kudzai F. Kaseke, Liana Kindermann, Melanie Kobel, Peter C. le Roux, Pierre Liancourt, Anja Linstadter, Jushan Liu, Michelle A. Louw, Gillian Maggs-Kolling, Oumarou Malam Issa, Eugene Marais, Pierre Margerie, Joao Vitor S. Messeder, Juan P. Mora, Gerardo Moreno, Seth M. Munson, Gabriel Oliva, Yolanda Pueyo, R. Emiliano Quiroga, Sasha C. Reed, Pedro J. Rey, Alexandra Rodriguez, Laura B. Rodriguez, Víctor Rolo, Jan C. Ruppert, Osvaldo E. Sala, Ayman Salah, Ilan Stavi, Colton R. A. Stephens, Anthony M. Swemmer, Alberto L. Teixido, Andrew D. Thomas, Heather L. Throop, Katja Tielborger, Samantha K. Travers, Liesbeth van den Brink, Viktoria Wagner, Wanyoike Wamiti, Deli Wang, Lixin Wang, Peter Wolff, Laura Yahdjian, Eli Zaady, Fernando T. Maestre
Tracking mangrove condition changes using dense Landsat time series Tracking mangrove condition changes using dense Landsat time series
Mangroves in tropical and subtropical coasts are subject to episodic disturbances, notably from severe storms, leading to potential widespread vegetation mortality. The ability of vegetation to recover varies, and with disturbances becoming more frequent and severe, it is vital to track and project vegetation responses to support management and policy decisions. Prior studies have...
Authors
Xiucheng Yang, Zhe Zhu, Kevin D. Kroeger, Shi Qiu, Scott Covington, Jeremy R. Conrad, Zhiliang Zhu
Lake temperature and morphometry shape the thermal composition of recreational fishing catch Lake temperature and morphometry shape the thermal composition of recreational fishing catch
Objective Managing freshwater fisheries in warming lakes is challenging because climate change impacts anglers, fish, and their interactions.Methods We integrated recent models of current and future lake temperatures with recreational fisheries catch data from 587 lakes in three north-central U.S. states (Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin) to evaluate how the thermal composition of...
Authors
Lyndsie S. Wszola, Nicholas A. Sievert, Abigail J. Lynch, Holly Susan Embke, Anna L. Kaz, Matthew D. Robertson, Stephen R. Midway, Craig P. Paukert