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: 42768
Blue snowflakes in a warming world: Karner blue butterfly climate change vulnerability synthesis and best practices for adaptation Blue snowflakes in a warming world: Karner blue butterfly climate change vulnerability synthesis and best practices for adaptation
This report—developed at the request of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service-led Karner Blue Butterfly Recovery Team by Recovery Team members and partners—provides a Karner blue butterfly climate change vulnerability synthesis, explores a range of potential responses, and presents best practices for climate change-informed conservation of the species. The three decades since the...
Authors
Gregor W. Schuurman, Christopher L. Hoving, Anna N. Hess, Lainey V. Bristow, Philip J. Delphey, Jessica J. Hellmann, Heather L. Keough, Randy L. Knutson, Annie Kellner
Sonoran desert tortoise: Gopherus morafkai Sonoran desert tortoise: Gopherus morafkai
Sonoran Desert Tortoise Gopherus morafkai has most recently been assessed for The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2019. Gopherus morafkai is listed as Vulnerable under criteria A2abce+4abce.
Authors
R.C. Averill-Murray, P.C. Rosen, C.A. Jones, T.R. Jones, R. A. Lara-Resendiz, Taylor Edwards, A. Karl, Kristin H. Berry
Bridging the gap between mathematical biology and undergraduate education using applicable natural resource modeling Bridging the gap between mathematical biology and undergraduate education using applicable natural resource modeling
Mathematical biology is a wide field of study with many venues that undergraduate students can access through research. However, the topics of study for these students can be overwhelming, and many topics of study yield either only trivial results or abstract outcomes that are nonintuitive and diffcult to understand. We have used natural resource modeling, and more specifically, a...
Authors
Richard A. Erickson, Douglas Baumann, Barbara Bennie, Wako Bungula, Aaron R. Cupp, James E. Diffendorfer, Eric A. Eager, Roger J. Haro, Kathi Jo Jankowski, Danelle M. Larson, Greg J. Sandland, Molly Van Appledorn, James P Peirce
Insights into glendonite formation from the upper Oligocene Sagavanirktok Formation, North Slope, Alaska Insights into glendonite formation from the upper Oligocene Sagavanirktok Formation, North Slope, Alaska
The type locality for the upper Oligocene Nuwok Member of the Sagavanirktok Formation (Carter Creek, North Slope, Alaska, USA) contains abundant occurrence of glendonite, a pseudomorph after the calcium carbonate mineral ikaite, which typically forms in the shallow subsurface of cold marine sediments. The region during the time of Nuwok Member deposition was located at a high latitude...
Authors
John W. Counts, Madeleine Vickers, Martha Stokes, Whittney Spivey, Kristina Frank Gardner, Jean Self-Trail, Jared T. Gooley, Ryan J. McAleer, Aaron M. Jubb, David W. Houseknecht, Richard O. Lease, Neil Patrick Griffis, Martin S. Vickers, Kasia Sliwinska, Hannah Gail Dooley Tompkins, Adam M. Hudson
Expansion of smallmouth bass distribution and habitat overlap with juvenile Chinook salmon in the Willamette River, Oregon Expansion of smallmouth bass distribution and habitat overlap with juvenile Chinook salmon in the Willamette River, Oregon
Smallmouth bass populations have expanded far beyond their native range and these predatory fish present a pervasive threat to native aquatic species throughout North America. In the western United States, smallmouth bass are now present in river and reservoir habitats where Pacific salmon are found and are considered a potential threat to salmon recovery in many locations. We conducted...
Authors
James White, Tobias J. Kock, Brooke E. Penaluna, Stanley V. Gregory, Joshua E. Williams, Randy Wildman
Diversification of forest management can mitigate wind damage risk and maintain biodiversity Diversification of forest management can mitigate wind damage risk and maintain biodiversity
Mitigating future forest risks, safeguarding timber revenues and improving biodiversity are key considerations for current boreal forest management. Alternatives to rotation forestry likely have an important role, but how they will perform under a changing climate remains unclear. We used a boreal forest growth simulator to explore how variations on traditional clear-cutting, in rotation...
Authors
Maria Potterf, Kyle Eyvindson, Clemens Blattert, Maria Trivino, Ryan C. Burner, Daniel Burgas, Mikko Monkkonen
Hawksbill and green turtle niche overlap in a marine protected area, US Virgin Islands Hawksbill and green turtle niche overlap in a marine protected area, US Virgin Islands
Studying how species interact with their environment and other co-occurring species are 2 main aspects of ecology. For marine turtles, ocean currents drive migratory routes and may determine the location of surrounding foraging grounds. As a result, circumglobal species like the hawksbill turtle Eretmochelys imbricata and green turtle Chelonia mydas adapt to diverse foraging habitats and...
Authors
Melissa A. Moorehouse, John D. Baldwin, Kristen Hart
Predicted distribution of ‘ua‘u (Hawaiian petrel Pterodroma sandwichensis) nest sites on Haleakalā, Maui Predicted distribution of ‘ua‘u (Hawaiian petrel Pterodroma sandwichensis) nest sites on Haleakalā, Maui
Haleakalā National Park and montane areas on east Maui, Hawaiian Archipelago, support critical nesting habitat for endangered ‘ua‘u Hawaiian petrel Pterodroma sandwichensis. Habitat loss, non-native predators, and damage by feral ungulates are limiting factors for ground-nesting petrels at Haleakalā and throughout Hawai‘i. Because nesting habitats differ among the Hawaiian Islands...
Authors
Josh Adams, Jonathan J. Felis, Robert C. Klinger, Emily C. Kelsey, Joy Tamayose, Raina Kaholoa’a, Cathleen Natividad Bailey, Jay F. Penniman, Jennifer Learned, Ciara Ganter, John Medeiros, Huisheng Chen
Long-term biocrust responses to wildfires in Washington, USA Long-term biocrust responses to wildfires in Washington, USA
Premise Dryland ecosystems in the western United States are affected by invasive species, wildfires, livestock grazing, and climate change in ways that are difficult to distinguish. Biocrusts perform important ecological roles in these systems and are sensitive to all of these pressures.Methods We revisited a Washington, USA, site sampled for biocrusts in 1999 to focus on effects of...
Authors
Heather T. Root, Julian Chan, Jeanne M Ponzetti, David A. Pyke, Bruce McCune
Climate change impacts on bird migration and highly pathogenic avian influenza Climate change impacts on bird migration and highly pathogenic avian influenza
The unprecedented extent of highly pathogenic avian influenza coincides with intensifying global climate changes that alter host ecology and physiology, and could impact virus evolution and dynamics.
Authors
Diann Prosser, Claire S. Teitelbaum, Shenglai Yin, Nichola J. Hill, Xiangming Xiao
Organic layers preserved in ice patches: A new record of Holocene environmental change on the Beartooth Plateau, USA Organic layers preserved in ice patches: A new record of Holocene environmental change on the Beartooth Plateau, USA
Growing season temperatures play a crucial role in controlling treeline elevation at regional to global scales. However, understanding of treeline dynamics in response to long-term changes in temperature is limited. In this study, we analyze pollen, plant macrofossils, and charcoal preserved in organic layers within a 10,400-year-old ice patch and in sediment from a 6000-year-old wetland...
Authors
Mio Alt, Kathryn Puseman, Craig Lee, Gregory T. Pederson, Joseph R. McConnell, Nathan J. Chellman, David B. McWethy