Publications

Science is fundamental to sound policies, particularly when it comes to implementing an Ecosystem Approach. Science can and should inform nearly all facets of an Ecosystem Approach, yet challenges remain to realizing this goal. To help identify and better understand these challenges we used a qualitative comparative case study approach to identify and characterize the challenges and...

Anthropogenically driven flow intermittency is increasing in freshwater streams, with important implications for the management and conservation of aquatic ecosystems. Because most freshwater fishes are mobile, they are expected to emigrate from intermittent reaches, but this may not be true in streams transitioning from perennial to intermittent. Here, we attempt to determine if...

Snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus) in the Upper Peninsula (UP) of Michigan, USA, occupy the southern periphery of the species' range and are vulnerable to climate change. In the eastern UP, hares are isolated by the Great Lakes, potentially exacerbating exposure to climate-change-induced habitat alterations. Climate change is also measurably affecting distribution and prevalence of vector...

Many populations migrate between two different habitats (e.g. wintering/foraging to breeding area, mainstem–tributary, river–lake, river–ocean, river–side channel) as part of their life history. Detection technologies, such as passive integrated transponder (PIT) antennas or sonic receivers, can be placed at boundaries between habitats (e.g. near the confluence of rivers) to detect...

Exotic annual grass invasion is a widespread threat to the integrity of sagebrush ecosystems in Western North America. Although many predictors of annual grass prevalence and native perennial vegetation have been identified, there remains substantial uncertainty about how regional-scale and local-scale predictors interact to determine vegetation heterogeneity, and how associations...

Predicting the potential distribution of a non-native species can assist management efforts to mitigate impacts on recipient ecosystems. However, such predictions are lacking for marine species, such as the non-native regal demoiselle, Neopomacentrus cyanomos, that is currently expanding its distribution in the western Atlantic. We used correlative species distribution models with three...

Fall bottom trawl (fall BT) and lakewide acoustic (AC) surveys are conducted annually to generate indices of pelagic and benthic prey fish densities in Lake Michigan. The fall BT survey has been conducted each fall since 1973 using 12-m trawls at depths ranging from 9 to 110 m at fixed locations distributed across seven transects; this survey estimates densities of seven prey fish...

Stable isotopes (SI) and fatty acid (FA) biomarkers can provide insights regarding trophic pathways and habitats associated with contaminant bioaccumulation. We assessed relationships between SI and FA biomarkers and published data on concentrations of two pesticides [dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane and degradation products (DDX) and bifenthrin] in juvenile Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus...

The Arizona Toad (Anaxyrus microscaphus) is restricted to riverine corridors and adjacent uplands in the arid southwestern United States. As with numerous amphibians worldwide, populations are declining and face various known or suspected threats, from disease to habitat modification resulting from climate change. The Arizona Toad has been petitioned to be listed under the U.S...

Over the past centuries, coregonines have been exposed to a range of stressors that have led to extinctions, extirpations, and speciation reversals. Given that some populations remain at risk and fishery managers have begun restoring coregonines where they have been extirpated, we reviewed the primary and gray literature to describe the diversity of coregonine restoration or conservation...

Efforts to recover the critically endangered ko’ko’ (Guam rail, Hypotaenidia owstoni) through establishing an experimental population on the island of Rota in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands have been ongoing for three decades. The U.S. Geological Survey collaborated with the Guam Division of Aquatic and Wildlife Resources and the Government of Guam to evaluate whether...

With emerging infectious disease outbreaks in human, domestic and wild animal populations on the rise, improvements in pathogen characterization and surveillance are paramount for the protection of human and animal health, as well as the conservation of ecologically and economically important wildlife. Genomics offers a range of suitable tools to meet these goals, with metagenomic...