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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: 42765

Terrestrial ecosystem health and biodiversity Terrestrial ecosystem health and biodiversity

No abstract available.
Authors
Stephen D. LeDuc, James N. Carleton, Alison Duff, Tara Greaver, Henriette Jager, S. Douglas Kaylor, Leigh C. Moorhead, Clint Otto, R. Byron Rice

Wind River subbasin restoration: Annual report of U.S. Geological Survey activities January 2023 through December 2023 Wind River subbasin restoration: Annual report of U.S. Geological Survey activities January 2023 through December 2023

We sampled juvenile wild Oncorhynchus mykiss (Steelhead Trout) in headwater streams of the Wind River, WA, to characterize population attributes and investigate life-history metrics, particularly migratory patterns, and early life-stage survival. We used passive integrated transponder (PIT) tagging and a series of instream PIT-tag interrogation systems (PTISs) to track juveniles and...
Authors
Ian Jezorek

Haploid gynogens facilitate disomic marker development in paleotetraploid sturgeons Haploid gynogens facilitate disomic marker development in paleotetraploid sturgeons

Acipenseriformes (sturgeons and paddlefishes) are of substantial conservation concern, and development of genomic resources for these species is difficult due to past whole genome duplication. Development of disomic markers for polyploid organisms can be challenging due to difficulty in resolving alleles at a single locus from those among duplicated loci. In this study, we detail the...
Authors
Richard Flamio, Dominic G Swift, David S Portnoy, Kimberly Chojnacki, Aaron J. Delonay, Jeffrey Powell, Patrick Braaten, Edward J. Heist

Seasonal spatial ecology of Lake Trout in Lake Erie Seasonal spatial ecology of Lake Trout in Lake Erie

Objective Lake Trout Salvelinus namaycush are native coldwater apex predators that play an important role in maintaining ecosystem functionality and diversity in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Following population collapses, rehabilitation efforts were widely initiated in the Great Lakes to reestablish self‐sustaining Lake Trout populations. Lake Erie may pose a challenge to these...
Authors
Tyler Funnell, Travis Brenden, Richard Kraus, Tom MacDougall, James Markham, Charles Richard Murray, Jason Robinson, Christopher S. Vandergoot

Supporting the adaptive capacity of species through more effective knowledge exchange with conservation practitioners Supporting the adaptive capacity of species through more effective knowledge exchange with conservation practitioners

There is an imperative for conservation practitioners to facilitate the ability of biodiversity to adapt to accelerating environmental change. Evolutionary biologists are well-positioned to inform the development of evidence-based management strategies that will effectively support the adaptive capacity of species and ecosystems. Conservation practitioners increasingly accept that...
Authors
Carly N. Cook, Erik A. Beever, Lindsey Thurman, Laura Thompson, John E. Gross, Andrew R. Whiteley, Adrienne Nicotra, Jennifer A. Szymanski, Carlos Botero, Kimberley Hall, Ary A. Hoffmann, Gregor W. Schuurman, Carla Sgro

Assessing community assembly controls over community-scale nutrient resorption responses to nitrogen deposition Assessing community assembly controls over community-scale nutrient resorption responses to nitrogen deposition

Nutrient resorption is a fundamental physiological process in plants, with important ecological controls over numerous ecosystem functions. However, the role of community assembly in driving responses of nutrient resorption to perturbation remains largely unknown. Following the Price equation framework and the Community Assembly and Ecosystem Function framework, we quantified the...
Authors
Xiao-Tao Lü, Sasha C. Reed, Shuang-Li Hou, Guo-Jiao Yang

Can big data inform invasive dreissenid mussel risk assessments of habitat suitability? Can big data inform invasive dreissenid mussel risk assessments of habitat suitability?

Invasion risk assessments of habitat suitability provide insight on early detection effort allocation; however, sufficient data are rarely available to inform assessments. We explored tradeoffs of leveraging big data from the National Water Quality Portal (WQP), a standardized water quality database in the United States, to inform calcium- and pH-based risk assessments of invasive mussel
Authors
Adam Sepulveda, Joshua A. Gage, Timothy D. Counihan, Anthony F. Prisciandaro

A new genomic resource to enable standardized surveys of SNPs across the native range of brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) A new genomic resource to enable standardized surveys of SNPs across the native range of brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis)

Understanding how genetic diversity is distributed across spatiotemporal scales in species of conservation or management concern is critical for identifying large-scale mechanisms affecting local conservation status and implementing large-scale biodiversity monitoring programmes. However, cross-scale surveys of genetic diversity are often impractical within single studies, and combining...
Authors
Nadya Mamoozadeh, Andrew R. Whiteley, Benjamin Letcher, David C. Kazyak, Charlene Tarsa, Mariah H. Meek

Large differences in herbivore performance emerge from simple herbivore behaviors and fine-scale spatial heterogeneity in phytochemistry Large differences in herbivore performance emerge from simple herbivore behaviors and fine-scale spatial heterogeneity in phytochemistry

Patterns of phytochemistry localisation in plant tissues are diverse within and across leaves. These spatial heterogeneities are important to the fitness of herbivores, but their effects on herbivore foraging and dietary experience remain elusive. We manipulated the spatial variance and clusteredness of a plant toxin in a synthetic diet landscape on which individual caterpillars fed. We...
Authors
Vincent S. Pan, Enakshi Ghosh, Paul J. Ode, William C. Wetzel, Kadeem J. Gilbert, Ian S. Pearse

Don’t move a mussel: The role of key environmental drivers and management scale in assessing spatial variation in dreissenid spread risk in the Missouri River Basin Don’t move a mussel: The role of key environmental drivers and management scale in assessing spatial variation in dreissenid spread risk in the Missouri River Basin

The spread of non-native freshwater mussels in North America is a growing threat that has already resulted in substantial ecological and economic damage to infested areas. A primary vector by which invasive mussels spread is watercraft that are transported over land from an infested waterbody to an uninfested waterbody. Management efforts such as watercraft inspection and detection...
Authors
Joseph Raymond, Lucas Bair, Timothy D. Counihan, Wesley Daniel, Sofie Duntugan, Matthew Neilson, Michael R. Springborn

Dynamic treeline and cryosphere response to pronounced mid-Holocene climatic variability in the US Rocky Mountains Dynamic treeline and cryosphere response to pronounced mid-Holocene climatic variability in the US Rocky Mountains

Climate-driven changes in high-elevation forest distribution and reductions in snow and ice cover have major implications for ecosystems and global water security. In the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem of the Rocky Mountains (United States), recent melting of a high-elevation (3,091 m asl) ice patch exposed a mature stand of whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) trees, located ~180 m in...
Authors
Gregory T. Pederson, Daniel K. Stahle, David B McWethy, Matthew Toohey, Johann Jungclaus, Craig Lee, Justin T. Martin, Mio Alt, Nickolas E. Kichas, Nathan J. Chellman, Joseph R. McConnell, Cathy Whitlock

The MIEM guidelines: Minimum information for reporting of environmental metabarcoding data The MIEM guidelines: Minimum information for reporting of environmental metabarcoding data

Environmental DNA (eDNA) and RNA (eRNA) metabarcoding has become a popular tool for assessing biodiversity from environmental samples, but inconsistent documentation of methods, data and metadata makes results difficult to reproduce and synthesise. A working group of scientists have collaborated to produce a set of minimum reporting guidelines for the constituent steps of metabarcoding...
Authors
Katy E. Klymus, Jacoby D. Baker, Cathryn L. Abbott, Rachel J. Brown, Joseph M. Craine, Zachary Gold, Margaret Hunter, Mark D. Johnson, Devin Nicole Jones-Slobodian, Michelle J. Jungbluth, Sean P. Jungbluth, Yer Lor, Aaron P. Maloy, Christopher M. Merkes, Rachel T. Noble, Nastassia V. Patin, Adam Sepulveda, Stephen Frank Spear, Joshua A. Steele, Miwa Takahashi, Alison W. Watts, Susanna Theroux
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