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: 42707
Grazing and ecosystem service delivery in global drylands Grazing and ecosystem service delivery in global drylands
Grazing represents the most extensive use of land worldwide. Yet its impacts on ecosystem services remain uncertain because pervasive interactions between grazing pressure, climate, soil properties, and biodiversity may occur but have never been addressed simultaneously. Using a standardized survey at 98 sites across six continents, we show that interactions between grazing pressure...
Authors
Fernando T. Maestre, Yoann Le Bagousse-Pinguet, Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo, David J. Eldridge, Hugo Saiz, Miguel Berdugo, Beatriz Gozalo, Victoria Ochoa, Emilio Guirado, Miguel García-Gómez, Enrique Valencia, Juan J. Gaitan, Sergio Asensio, Betty J. Mendoza, Cesar Plaza, Paloma Diaz-Martinez, Ana Rey, Hang-Wei Hu, Ji-Zheng He, Jun-Tao Wang, Anika Lehmann, Matthias C. Rillig, Simone Cesarz, Nico Eisenhauer, Jaime Martinez-Valderrama, Eduardo Moreno-Jimenez, Osvaldo E. Sala, Mehdi Abedi, Negar Ahmadian, Concepcion L. Alados, Valeria Aramayo, Fateh Amghar, Tulio Arredondo, Rodrigo J. Ahumada, Khadijeh Bahalkeh, Farah Ben Salem, Niels Blaum, Bazartseren Boldgiv, Matthew A. Bowker, Donaldo Bran, Chongfeng Bu, Rafaella Canessa, Andrea P. Castillo-Monroy, Helena Castro, Ignacio Castro, Patricio Castro-Quezada, Roukaya Chibani, Abel A. Conceição, Courtney M. Currier, Anthony Darrouzet-Nardi, Balazs Deak, David A. Donoso, Andrew J. Dougill, Jorge Duran, Batdelger Erdenetsetseg, Carlos I. Espinosa, Alex Fajardo, Mohammad Farzam, Daniela Ferrante, Anke S. K. Frank, Lauchlan H. Fraser, Laureano A. Gherardi, Aaron C. Greenville, Carlos A. Guerra, Elizabeth Gusmán-Montalvan, Rosa M. Hernández-Hernández, Norbert Holzel, Elisabeth Huber-Sannwald, Frederic M. Hughes, Oswaldo Jadan-Maza, Florian Jeltsch, Anke Jentsch, Kudzai F. Kaseke, Melanie Kobel, Jessica E. Koopman, Cintia V. Leder, Anja Linstadter, Peter C. le Roux, Xinkai Li, Pierre Liancourt, Jushan Liu, Michelle A. Louw, Gillian Maggs-Kolling, Thulani P. Makhalanyane, Oumarou Malam Issa, Antonio J. Manzaneda, Eugene Marais, Juan P. Mora, Gerardo Moreno, Seth M. Munson, Alice Nunes, Gabriel Oliva, Gastón R. Oñatibia, Guadalupe Peter, Marco O. D. Pivari, Yolanda Pueyo, R. Emiliano Quiroga, Soroor Rahmanian, Sasha C. Reed, Pedro J. Rey, Benoit Richard, Alexandra Rodriguez, Víctor Rolo, Juan G. Rubalcaba, Jan C. Puppert, Ayman Salah, Max A. Schuchardt, Sedona Spann, Ilan Stavi, Colton R. A. Stephens, Anthony M. Swemmer, Alberto L. Teixido, Andrew D. Thomas, Heather L. Throop, Katja Tielborger, Samantha K. Travers, James Val, Orsolya Valko, Liesbeth van den Brink, Sergio Velasco Ayuso, Frederike Velbert, Wanyoike Wamiti, Deli Wang, Lixin Wang, Glenda M. Wardle, Laura Yahdjian, Eli Zaady, Yuanming Zhang, Xiaobing Zhou, Brajesh K. Singh, Nicolas Gross
Editorial: Plant phenology shifts and their ecological and climatic consequences Editorial: Plant phenology shifts and their ecological and climatic consequences
Climate change is causing plant phenology to shift, with consequences for ecosystems and the Earth’s climate. Over the last decades, the timing of many important phenological events has advanced in spring, such as leaf emergence and flowering, or been delayed in fall, such as leaf coloration and leaf fall. The consequences of such phenological shifts are still largely unknown, but are...
Authors
Yongshuo H. Fu, Janet S. Prevey, Yann Vitasse
Evolutionary and ecological connectivity in westslope cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi) and mountain whitefish (Prosopium williamsoni) in relation to the potential influences of Boundary Dam, Washington, Idaho, and parts of British Columbia Evolutionary and ecological connectivity in westslope cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi) and mountain whitefish (Prosopium williamsoni) in relation to the potential influences of Boundary Dam, Washington, Idaho, and parts of British Columbia
In this report, we consider evolutionary and ecological connectivity for westslope cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi) and mountain whitefish (Prosopium williamsoni) within the Pend Oreille River in northeastern Washington State, northern Idaho, and adjacent portions of southeastern British Columbia, Canada. Specifically, we focused on the rationale for active translocation of
Authors
Jason B. Dunham, Eric B. Taylor, Ernest R. Keeley
Freshwater mussels show elevated viral richness and intensity during a mortality event Freshwater mussels show elevated viral richness and intensity during a mortality event
Freshwater mussels (Unionida) are among the world’s most imperiled taxa, but the relationship between freshwater mussel mortality events and infectious disease is largely unstudied. We surveyed viromes of a widespread and abundant species (mucket, Actinonaias ligamentina; syn: Ortmanniana ligamentina) experiencing a mortality event of unknown etiology in the Huron River, Michigan, in...
Authors
Jordan Richard, Eric Leis, Christopher D. Dunn, Cleyo Harris, Rose Agbalog, Lewis J. Campbell, Susan Knowles, Diane L. Waller, Joel G. Putnam, Tony Goldberg
Size distribution and reproductive phenology of the invasive Burmese python (Python molurus bivittatus) in the Greater Everglades Ecosystem, Florida, USA Size distribution and reproductive phenology of the invasive Burmese python (Python molurus bivittatus) in the Greater Everglades Ecosystem, Florida, USA
The design of successful invasive species control programs is often hindered by the absence of basic demographic data on the targeted population. Establishment of invasive Burmese pythons (Python molurus bivittatus) in the Greater Everglades Ecosystem, Florida USA has led to local precipitous declines (> 90%) of mesomammal populations and is also a major threat to native populations of...
Authors
Andrea Faye Currylow, Bryan Falk, Amy A. Yackel Adams, Christina M. Romagosa, Jillian Josimovich, Michael R. Rochford, Michael Cherkiss, Melia Gail Nafus, Kristen Hart, Frank J. Mazzotti, Ray W. Snow, Robert Reed
Vegetative buffer strips show limited effectiveness for reducing antibiotic transport in surface runoff Vegetative buffer strips show limited effectiveness for reducing antibiotic transport in surface runoff
Vegetative buffer strips (VBS) have been demonstrated to effectively reduce loads of sediment, nutrients, and herbicides in surface runoff, but their effectiveness for reducing veterinary antibiotic (VA) loads in runoff has not been well documented. The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of VBS vegetation and width on surface runoff loads of the VAs sulfamethazine...
Authors
Adam H. Moody, Robert N. Lerch, Keith W. Goyne, Stephen H. Anderson, David Mendoza-Cozatl, David A. Alvarez
A review of current capabilities and science gaps in water supply data, modeling, and trends for water availability assessments in the Upper Colorado River Basin A review of current capabilities and science gaps in water supply data, modeling, and trends for water availability assessments in the Upper Colorado River Basin
The Colorado River is a critical water resource in the southwestern United States, supplying drinking water for 40 million people in the region and water for irrigation of 2.2 million hectares of land. Extended drought in the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCOL) and the prospect of a warmer climate in the future pose water availability challenges for those charged with managing the river...
Authors
Fred D. Tillman, Natalie K. Day, Matthew P. Miller, Olivia L. Miller, Christine Rumsey, Daniel Wise, Patrick C. Longley, Morgan C. McDonnell
Hawaiian waterbird movement across a developed landscape Hawaiian waterbird movement across a developed landscape
A key component for biologists managing mobile species is understanding where and when a species occurs at different locations and scaling management to fit the spatial and temporal patterns of movement. We established an automated radio-telemetry tracking network to document multi-year movement in 2016–2018 of 3 endangered waterbirds among wetlands on Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi, USA: ʻalae ʻula or...
Authors
Eben H. Paxton, Kristina L. Paxton, Martha Kawasaki, P. Marcos Gorresen, Charles B. van Rees, Jared G. Underwood
Piñon and juniper tree removal increases available soil water, driving understory response in a sage-steppe ecosystem Piñon and juniper tree removal increases available soil water, driving understory response in a sage-steppe ecosystem
Over the past century, piñon and juniper trees have encroached into sagebrush steppe lands of the interior United States, and managers have for many years removed trees to stimulate the favored understory. While consistent understory response to tree removal in these semiarid lands suggests that trees outcompete other plants for water, no studies have linked increased soil water to...
Authors
James D. McIver, James Grace, Bruce A. Roundy
Addressing detection uncertainty in Bombus affinis (Hymenoptera: Apidae) surveys can improve inferences made from monitoring Addressing detection uncertainty in Bombus affinis (Hymenoptera: Apidae) surveys can improve inferences made from monitoring
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service developed national guidelines to track species recovery of the endangered rusty patched bumble bee [Bombus affinis Cresson (Hymenoptera: Apidae)] and to investigate changes in species occupancy across space and time. As with other native bee monitoring efforts, managers have specifically acknowledged the need to address species detection uncertainty and...
Authors
Clint Otto, Alma Schrage, Larissa L. Bailey, John Michael Mola, Tamara A. Smith, Ian Pearse, Stacy C. Simanonok, Ralph Grundel
Density surface and excursion sets modeling as an approach to estimating population densities Density surface and excursion sets modeling as an approach to estimating population densities
Effective species management and conservation require knowledge of species distribution and status. We used point-transect distance sampling surveys of the endangered palila (Loxioides bailleui), a honeycreeper currently found only on the Island of Hawai'i, USA, to generate robust estimates of total abundance and simultaneously model the distribution, abundance, and spatial correlation...
Authors
Richard J. Camp, Chauncey K. Asing, Paul C. Banko, Lainie Berry, Kevin W. Brinck, Chris Farmer, Ayesha Genz
Automatic recorders monitor wolves at rendezvous sites: do wolves adjust howling to live near humans? Automatic recorders monitor wolves at rendezvous sites: do wolves adjust howling to live near humans?
We used automatic sound recorders to study spontaneous vocalizations of wild wolves during the pup-rearing season around rendezvous sites from 24 wolf packs in six study areas across North America, Asia, and Europe. Between 2018 and 2021, for a total of 1225 pack-days, we recorded 605 spontaneous wolf chorus howls and 224 solo-howl series. Howling occurrence varied across areas, from 12...
Authors
Vicente Palacios, Barbara Marti-Domken, Shannon Barber-Meyer, Bilal Habib, Jose Vicente Lopez-Bao, Douglas W. Smith, Daniel R. Stahler, Emilio Jose Garcia, Victor Sazatornil, L. David Mech