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: 42702
Divergent successional trajectories of soil seed bank and post-fire vegetation in a semiarid oak forest: Implications for post-fire ecological restoration Divergent successional trajectories of soil seed bank and post-fire vegetation in a semiarid oak forest: Implications for post-fire ecological restoration
Wildfires are a major disturbance in forest ecosystems around the world and may lead to changes in vegetation succession trajectories. This study examined the impact of time since wildfires on the successional gradients of the degraded Zagros semi-arid oak forest in Iran. Here, we investigated the role of soil seed bank in postfire understory vegetation successional trajectories after...
Authors
Sina Attar Roshan, Mehdi Heydari, Alexander Wait, S.M. Mijan Uddin, Manuel Esteban Lucas-Borja, Jon Keeley
Expert perspectives on global biodiversity loss and its drivers and impacts on people Expert perspectives on global biodiversity loss and its drivers and impacts on people
Despite substantial progress in understanding global biodiversity loss, major taxonomic and geographic knowledge gaps remain. Decision makers often rely on expert judgement to fill knowledge gaps, but are rarely able to engage with sufficiently large and diverse groups of specialists. To improve understanding of the perspectives of thousands of biodiversity experts worldwide, we...
Authors
Forest Isbell, Patricia Balvanera, Akira S. Mori, Jin-Sheng He, James M. Bullock, Ganga Ram Regmi, Eric W. Seabloom, Simon Ferrier, Osvaldo E. Sala, Nathaly R. Guerrero-Ramirez, Julia Tavella, Daniel J. Larkin, Bernhard Schmid, Charlotte L. Outhwaite, Pairot Pramua, Elizabeth T. Borer, Michel Loreau, Taiwo Crossby Omotoriogun, David O. Obura, Maggie Anderson, Cristina Portales-Reyes, Kevin Kirkman, Pablo M Vergara, Adam Thomas Clark, Kimberly J Komatsu, Owen L. Petchey, Sarah R. Weiskopf, Laura J. Williams, Scott L. Collins, Nico Eisenhauer, Christopher H Trisos, Delphine Renard, Alexandra J. Wright, Poonam Tripathi, Jane Cowles, Jarrett E. K. Byrnes, Peter B. Reich, Andy Purvis, Zati Sharip, Mary I. O’Connor, Clare E. Kazanski, Nick M. Haddad, Eulogio H. Soto, Laura E. Dee, Sandra Díaz, Chad R. Zirbel, Meghan L. Avolio, Shaopeng Wang, Zhiyuan Ma, Jingjing Liang, Hanan C. Farah, Justin Andrew Johnson, Brian W. Miller, Yann Hautier, Melinda D. Smith, Johannes M. H. Knops, Bonnie Myers, Zuzana Harmáčková, Jorge Cortes, Mike Harfoot, Andrew Gonzalez, Tim Newbold, Jacqueline Oehri, Marina Mazon, Cynnamon Dobbs, Meredith S. Palmer
Testing whether adrenal steroids mediate phenotypic and physiologic effects of elevated salinity on larval tiger salamanders Testing whether adrenal steroids mediate phenotypic and physiologic effects of elevated salinity on larval tiger salamanders
Salinity (sodium chloride, NaCl) from anthropogenic sources is a persistent contaminant that negatively affects freshwater taxa. Amphibians can be susceptible to salinity, but some species are innately or adaptively tolerant. Physiological mechanisms mediating tolerance to salinity are still unclear, but changes in osmoregulatory hormones such as corticosterone (CORT) and aldosterone...
Authors
Brian J. Tornabene, Creagh W Breuner, Erica J Crespi, Blake R. Hossack
Riparian buffers provide refugia during secondary forest succession Riparian buffers provide refugia during secondary forest succession
Aim Secondary forests regenerating from human disturbance are increasingly becoming a predominant forest type in many regions, and they play a significant role in forest community dynamics. Understanding the factors that underlie the variation in species responses during secondary succession is important for understanding community assembly and biodiversity monitoring and management...
Authors
Michelle E. Thompson, Brian J. Halstead, Maureen A. Donnelly
Scanning the horizon for invasive plant threats using a data-driven approach Scanning the horizon for invasive plant threats using a data-driven approach
Early detection and eradication of invasive plants are more cost-effective than managing well-established invasive plant populations and their impacts. However, there is high uncertainty around which taxa are likely to become invasive in a given area. Horizon scanning that combines a data-driven approach with rapid risk assessment and consensus building among experts can help identify...
Authors
Amy E Kendig, Susan Canavan, Patti J Anderson, S Luke Flory, Lyn A Gettys, Doria R. Gordon, Basil V Iannone, John M Kunzer, Tabitha Petri, Ian Pfingsten, Deah Lieurance
Marine minerals in Alaska — A review of coastal and deep-ocean regions Marine minerals in Alaska — A review of coastal and deep-ocean regions
Minerals occurring in marine environments span the globe and encompass a broad range of mineral categories, forming within varied geologic and oceanographic settings. They occur in coastal regions, either from the continuation or mechanical reworking of terrestrial mineralization, as well as in the deep ocean, from diagenetic, hydrogenetic, and hydrothermal processes. The oceans cover...
Authors
Amy Gartman, Kira Mizell, Douglas C. Kreiner
Warming temperatures affect meadow-wide nectar resources, with implications for plant-pollinator communities Warming temperatures affect meadow-wide nectar resources, with implications for plant-pollinator communities
Nectar production may be a point of sensitivity that can help link primary and secondary trophic responses to climate shifts, and is therefore important to our understanding of ecosystem responses. We evaluated the nectar response of two widespread native forbs, Balsamorhiza sagittata and Eriogonum umbellatum, to experimental warming in a high-elevation sagebrush meadow in the Teton...
Authors
Audrey L. McCombs, Diane Debinski, Keith Reinhardt, Matthew J. Germino, Petrutza Caragea
Genetic diversity and connectivity of chemosynthetic cold seep mussels from the U.S. Atlantic margin Genetic diversity and connectivity of chemosynthetic cold seep mussels from the U.S. Atlantic margin
Background Deep-sea mussels in the subfamily Bathymodiolinae have unique adaptations to colonize hydrothermal-vent and cold-seep environments throughout the world ocean. These invertebrates function as important ecosystem engineers, creating heterogeneous habitat and promoting biodiversity in the deep sea. Despite their ecological significance, efforts to assess the diversity and...
Authors
Danielle M. DeLeo, Cheryl Morrison, Mariki Sei, Veronica J. Salamone, Amanda Demopoulos, Andrea M. Quattrini
2021 assessment of the Joint Fire Science Program’s Fire Science Exchange Network 2021 assessment of the Joint Fire Science Program’s Fire Science Exchange Network
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), on behalf of the Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP), conducted an evaluation of the Fire Science Exchange Network (FSEN), which connects wildland fire scientists and practitioners through 15 individual exchanges across the United States to help address complex wildfire needs and challenges. The study was divided into two phases: The first phase was a...
Authors
Natasha Collins, James Meldrum, Rudy Schuster, Nina Burkardt
Can we accurately estimate sediment budgets on Mars? Can we accurately estimate sediment budgets on Mars?
Sediment budgets are fundamentally important for planetary science. However, only one primary method, based on remote sensing, is currently available for determining extraterrestrial sediment budgets. For determining sediment budgets on Earth, both in-situ and remote sensing methods are available. Despite the widespread use of the two methods, there has been surprisingly little research...
Authors
Joel B. Sankey, Alan Kasprak, Matthew Chojnacki, Timothy N. Titus, Joshua Caster, Geoffrey DeBenedetto
African penguins and localized fisheries management: Response to Butterworth and Ross-Gillespie African penguins and localized fisheries management: Response to Butterworth and Ross-Gillespie
We present a response to Butterworth and Ross-Gillespie's (2022) comment on our perspectives on how forage fish fisheries are impacting the endangered African penguin (Sphenicus demersus), and corresponding management options. Butterworth and Ross-Gillespie overstate model uncertainties and downplay the clear ecological and conservation significance of the fisheries closure experiment...
Authors
Bill Sydeman, Gene Hunt, E.K. Pikitch, J. Parrish, John F. Piatt, D. Boersma, L. Kaufman, D. L. Anderson, S. Thompson, Richard B. Sherley
The North American tree-ring fire-scar network The North American tree-ring fire-scar network
Fire regimes in North American forests are diverse and modern fire records are often too short to capture important patterns, trends, feedbacks, and drivers of variability. Tree-ring fire scars provide valuable perspectives on fire regimes, including centuries-long records of fire year, season, frequency, severity, and size. Here, we introduce the newly compiled North American tree-ring...
Authors
Ellis Margolis, Christopher H. Guiterman, Raphael Chavardes, Jonathan D. Coop, Kelsey Copes-Gerbitz, Denyse A. Dawe, Donald A. Falk, James D. Johnston, Evan Larson, Hangkyo Lim, Joseph M. Marschall, Cameron E. Naficy, Adam T. Naito, Marc-André Parisien, Sean A. Parks, Jeanne Portier, Helen M. Poulos, Kevin M. Robertson, James H. Speer, Michael C. Stambaugh, Thomas W. Swetnam, Alan J. Tepley, Ichchha Thapa, Craig D. Allen, Yves Bergeron, Lori D. Daniels, Peter Z. Fule, David Gervais, Martin P. Girardin, Grant L. Harley, Jill E. Harvey, Kira M. Hoffman, Jean M. Huffman, Matthew D. Hurteau, Lane B. Johnson, Charles W. Lafon, Manuel K. Lopez, R. Stockton Maxwell, Jed Meunier, Malcolm North, Monica T. Rother, Micah R. Schmidt, Rosemary L. Sherriff, Lauren A. Stachowiak, Alan H. Taylor, Erana J. Taylor, Valerie Trouet, Miguel L. Villarreal, Larissa L. Yocom, Karen B. Arabas, Alexis H. Arizpe, Dominique Arseneault, Alicia Azpeleta Tarancon, Christopher H. Baisan, Erica Bigio, Franco Biondi, Gabriel D. Cahalan, Anthony C. Caprio, Julian Cerano-Paredes, Brandon M. Collins, Daniel C. Dey, Igor Drobyshev, Calvin A. Farris, M. Adele Fenwick, William T. Flatley, M. Lisa Floyd, Ze’ev Gedalof, Andres Holz, Lauren F. Howard, David W. Huffman, Jose Iniguez, Kurt F. Kipfmueller, Stanley G Kitchen, Keith Lombardo, Donald McKenzie, Andrew G. Merschel, Kerry L. Metlen, Jesse Minor, Christopher D. O'Connor, Laura Platt, William J. Platt, Thomas Saladyga, Amanda B. Stan, Scott L. Stephens, Colleen Sutheimer, Ramzi Touchan, Peter J. Weisberg