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: 43280
Plant diversity shifts with drying and wetting cycles following removal of poplar plantations in Dongting Lake, China Plant diversity shifts with drying and wetting cycles following removal of poplar plantations in Dongting Lake, China
Dongting Lake, the second largest lake in China, plays a crucial role in maintaining regional ecological security by providing key habitats for waterbirds. This study examined how hydrology and topography (ditches and mounds) together generate fine-scale wet–dry gradients that shape species establishment and successional trajectories. Over the past decade, vegetation restoration has been
Authors
Xueer Ma, Chenchen Liu, Lingli Peng, Chengzhu Liu, Beth A. Middleton, Ting Lei
Body size, dispersal potential, range size and habitat fragmentation are linked to extinction risk of freshwater mussels Body size, dispersal potential, range size and habitat fragmentation are linked to extinction risk of freshwater mussels
Aim: Trait-based approaches are increasingly recognized as a tool for understanding species’ vulnerabilities to intensifying global change. For species with complex life histories that involve a parasitic life stage, a combination of traits associated with either the host or parasite could influence extinction risk. Location: United States of America Taxon: Freshwater mussels are a...
Authors
Garrett W. Hopper, Sean M. Keogh, Carla L. Atkinson, Traci P. Dubose, Jeffrey D. Lozier, John M. Pfeiffer, Irene Sánchez González
Mesophotic octocoral larval settlement preferences and behaviors Mesophotic octocoral larval settlement preferences and behaviors
Introduction Lab-based coral reproduction is advancing restoration efforts to support coral populations injured by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Objectives This study aimed to answer foundational questions concerning coral spawning and larval settlement that need to be resolved for these mesophotic and deep-sea coral species before restoration efforts can be scaled up. Methods...
Authors
Mark McCauley, Julia Johnstone, William G. Jenkins, Jayci Grosso, Arielle Pollock, Jonathan Mark Quigley, Leigh-Anne Christine Carlson, Christopher L. Gardner, Peter J. Etnoyer, Kristopher G. Benson, Amanda J. Demopoulos
Resurvey of cross sections on the Green River in Browns Park, Colorado and Utah Resurvey of cross sections on the Green River in Browns Park, Colorado and Utah
This study resurveyed ten previously established cross sections and established eight new cross sections on the Green River in Browns Park to document changes in channel width, depth, and area since earlier surveys conducted in 1994. The measured area of the channel cross sections on the Green River in Browns Park generally increased between the initial surveys and 2019. This increase in...
Authors
Ronald E. Griffiths, David J. Topping, Joel A. Unema, Keith A. Kohl
A Lake Charr pangenome reveals highly conserved Ohnologs as drivers of phenotypic diversity A Lake Charr pangenome reveals highly conserved Ohnologs as drivers of phenotypic diversity
Whole-genome duplication (WGD) is hypothesized to spur evolutionary diversification by producing genome-wide duplicate gene sets (Ohnologs) that are initially functionally redundant but can diverge markedly as the effects of relaxed selection accumulate over time. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear, in part because genomic studies often reconstruct Ohnolog evolution over...
Authors
Christopher Osborne, Nathan J.C. Backenstose, Daniel J. MacGuigan, Steven J Fleck, Brian F. Lantry, Victor A. Albert, Dimitry Gorsky, Trevor J Krabbenhoft
Satellite observations reveal widespread alteration of river thermal regimes by U.S. dams Satellite observations reveal widespread alteration of river thermal regimes by U.S. dams
Dams are well known to alter river thermal regimes, but assessments of downstream temperature changes have been constrained to single dams, single basins, or specific seasonal windows, thus limiting knowledge of their widespread impacts. We used satellite-based thermal infrared observations to quantify river surface temperature differences up- and downstream of 287 large dams in the...
Authors
Emily A. Ellis, George H. Allen, Christian E. Torgersen, Katie A. McQuillan
Stream temperature variability in headwater beaver dam complexes in relation to hydrologic and environmental factors Stream temperature variability in headwater beaver dam complexes in relation to hydrologic and environmental factors
Beaver modify hydrological regimes and have the ability to both increase water storage and alter stream temperatures. For these reasons, beaver translocation and the construction of human engineered beaver-dam analogs (BDAs) have become popular tools for climate-change adaptation. However, there is a lack of understanding about how beaver engineering affects stream temperature. The...
Authors
Catherine D.O. Means, Christian E. Torgersen, Joshua J. Lawler, Andrew S. Gendaszek, Benjamin J. Dittbrenner
Conservation enhances resilience of the United States Duck Factory as environmental shifts may diminish landscape-scale waterfowl breeding capacity Conservation enhances resilience of the United States Duck Factory as environmental shifts may diminish landscape-scale waterfowl breeding capacity
Wetlands in the U.S. Prairie Pothole Region (USPPR) provide habitat for an estimated 5 million breeding ducks and remain a focal point for North American waterfowl conservation. After decades of investment, almost 20% of the USPPR is protected by some form of wetland or grassland conservation. We synthesized four decades of modeling studies aimed at understanding how environmental change...
Authors
Owen P. McKenna, Aaron T. Pearse, Imtiaz Rangwala, Jason D. Tack, Ned Wright, Audrey Claire Lothspeich
Restoration is a partial but not complete solution for long-term declines in oyster populations—A case history from the northeastern Gulf of America Restoration is a partial but not complete solution for long-term declines in oyster populations—A case history from the northeastern Gulf of America
Objective We sought to evaluate whether oyster reef restoration is associated with sustained increases in intertidal eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica density in Suwannee Sound, Florida, and to examine how commercial fishing activity and freshwater discharge may modify those patterns.Methods We monitored intertidal oyster reefs for 14 years, including 9 years prior to large-scale...
Authors
W. E. Pine, J. F. Moore, Michael J. Dodrill, J. Aufmuth, M. Moreno, T. S. Coleman, J. Casteel, S. Beck, B. Ennis, N. Rogers, P. C Frederick
Fipronil baits as emerging tools for flea control and plague mitigation: Experiments with cricetid mice on prairie dog colonies Fipronil baits as emerging tools for flea control and plague mitigation: Experiments with cricetid mice on prairie dog colonies
Plague is a zoonotic disease of mammalian hosts and flea vectors. Wildlife biologists most commonly mitigate plague by controlling flea populations. We evaluated the efficacy of edible baits for systemic flea control with two cricetid species on colonies of black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus): the western deer mouse (Peromyscus sonoriensis) and the northern grasshopper mouse
Authors
David A. Eads, Travis Livieri, Marc R. Matchett, Madisen Hartlaub, Jason Fly, Michelle L. Hladik, Shelli A. Dubay, Paul Roghair, Brooke Fricke, Phillip Dobesh, Ashley Merkel, Eddie Childers, John P. Hughes, Dean E. Biggins
Toxoplasma gondii: Challenges and perspectives in interpreting longitudinal seroprevalence data for a chronic parasitic infection Toxoplasma gondii: Challenges and perspectives in interpreting longitudinal seroprevalence data for a chronic parasitic infection
Toxoplasma gondii—the causative agent of toxoplasmosis—is a zoonotic pathogen of warm-blooded hosts. Infection causes mild-to-severe symptoms, including lethargy, fever, muscle pain, abortion, ocular disease, and encephalitis. Toxoplasma affects many vertebrate species, although felids are the only known definitive hosts. Seroprevalence in wildlife is often assessed using cross-sectional...
Authors
Kendall L. Bancroft, Connor J. Meyer, Emily J. Jenkins, Paul C. Cross, Randy W. DeYoung, Aaron M. Foley, Miranda L. Hopper, Kevin T. Lovasik, Landon N. Schofield, Bryan D. Spencer, Michael J Cherry, Alynn M. Martin
A cross-site comparison of ecosystem- and plot-scale methane fluxes across multiple sites A cross-site comparison of ecosystem- and plot-scale methane fluxes across multiple sites
Wetland and upland ecosystems play significant but opposing roles in the global methane (CH4) budget, acting as natural sources and sinks, respectively. Two of the most common approaches for measuring CH4 fluxes (FCH4) are chambers, which measure fluxes at fine spatial scales (ca. 1 m2), and eddy covariance (EC) towers, which integrate fluxes across larger footprints (ca. 100–10 000 m2)...
Authors
Tiia Määttä, Ankur R. Desai, Masahito Ueyama, Rodrigo Vargas, Eric J. Ward, Zhen Zhang, Gil Bohrer, Kyle Delwiche, Etienne Fluet-Chouinard, Järvi Järveoja, Sara H. Knox, Lulie Melling, Mat B. Nilsson, Matthias Peichl, Angela Che Tang, Eeva-Stiina Tuittila, Jinsong Wang, Sheel Bansal, Sarah Feron, Manuel Helbig, Aino Korrensalo, Karen W. Krauss, Gavin McNicol, Shuli Niu, Zutao Ouyang, Kathleen Savage, Oliver Sonnentag, Robert Jackson, Avni Malhotra