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: 42884
A strong colonizer rules the trematode guild in an intertidal snail host A strong colonizer rules the trematode guild in an intertidal snail host
We examined the extent to which supply‐side, niche, and competition theories and concepts help explain a trematode community in which one species comprises 87% of the trematode individuals, and the remaining 15 species each have
Authors
Pilar Alda, Nicolas Bonel, Nestor J. Cazzaniga, Sergio R. Martorelli, Kevin D. Lafferty
Status and trends of prey fish populations in Lake Michigan, 2018 Status and trends of prey fish populations in Lake Michigan, 2018
The U.S. Geological Survey Great Lakes Science Center has conducted lake-wide surveys of the fish community in Lake Michigan each fall since 1973 using standard 12 m bottom trawls towed along contour at depths of 9 to 110 m at each of seven index transects. The survey provides relative abundance and biomass estimates between the 5 m and 114 m depth contours of the lake for prey fish...
Authors
David B. Bunnell, Charles P. Madenjian, Timothy J. Desorcie, Patricia Dieter, Jean V. Adams
Plasticity in elk migration timing is a response to changing environmental conditions Plasticity in elk migration timing is a response to changing environmental conditions
Migration is an effective behavioral strategy for prolonging access to seasonal resources and may be a resilient strategy for ungulates experiencing changing climatic conditions. In the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), elk are the primary ungulate, with approximately 20,000 individuals migrating to exploit seasonal gradients in forage while also avoiding energetically costly snow...
Authors
Gregory J.M. Rickbeil, Jerod A. Merkle, Greg Anderson, M. Paul Atwood, Jon P. Beckmann, Eric K Cole, Alyson B. Courtemanch, Sarah Dewey, David D. Gustine, Matthew J. Kauffman, Douglas E. McWhirter, Tony W. Mong, Kelly Proffitt, Patrick J. White, Arthur D. Middleton
Invasive buffelgrass detection using high-resolution satellite and UAV imagery on Google Earth Engine Invasive buffelgrass detection using high-resolution satellite and UAV imagery on Google Earth Engine
Methods to detect and monitor the spread of invasive grasses are critical to avoid ecosystem transformations and large economic costs. The rapid spread of non‐native buffelgrass(Pennisetum ciliare) has intensified fire risk and is replacing fire intolerant native vegetation in the Sonoran Desert of the southwestern US. Coarse‐resolution satellite imagery has had limited success in...
Authors
Kaitlyn Elkind, Temuulen T. Sankey, Seth M. Munson, Clare E. Aslan
Plague management of prairie dog colonies: Degree and duration of deltamethrin flea control Plague management of prairie dog colonies: Degree and duration of deltamethrin flea control
Plague is a flea-borne disease of mammalian hosts. On the grasslands of western North America, plague stifles populations of Cynomys spp. prairie dogs (PDs). To manage plague, PD burrows are treated with 0.05% deltamethrin dust that can suppress flea numbers and plague transmission. Here, we evaluate the degree and duration of deltamethrin flea control with three PD species at six sites...
Authors
David Austin Eads, Dean E. Biggins
Regeneration of Metrosideros polymorpha forests in Hawaii after landscape‐level canopy dieback Regeneration of Metrosideros polymorpha forests in Hawaii after landscape‐level canopy dieback
Questions (a) Have Metrosideros polymorpha trees become re‐established in Hawaiian forests previously impacted by canopy dieback in the 1970s? (b) Has canopy dieback expanded since the 1970s? (c) Can spatial patterns from this dieback be correlated with habitat factors to model future dieback in this area? Study Site An 83,603 ha study area on the eastern slopes of Mauna Loa and Mauna...
Authors
Linda Mertelmeyer, James D. Jacobi, Dieter Mueller-Dombois, Kevin W. Brinck, Hans Juergen Boehmer
Confronting uncertainty: Contributions of the wildlife profession to the broader scientific community Confronting uncertainty: Contributions of the wildlife profession to the broader scientific community
Most wildlife professionals are engaged in 1 or both of 2 basic endeavors: science and management. These endeavors are a focus of many other disciplines, leading to widespread sharing of general methodologies. Wildlife professionals have appropriately borrowed and assimilated many methods developed primarily in other disciplines but have also led the development of one class of...
Authors
James D. Nichols
Environmental DNA as a tool to help inform zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha, management in inland lakes Environmental DNA as a tool to help inform zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha, management in inland lakes
Zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) are an aquatic invasive species that plague much of North America and are difficult to impossible to eradicate once they become established. Therefore, prevention and monitoring are key elements in the control of these organisms. Traditional microscopy is commonly used in monitoring but requires the presence of larval veligers. This limits the times...
Authors
Jon Amberg, Christopher M. Merkes, Wendylee Stott, Christopher B. Rees, Richard A. Erickson
The effectiveness of non-native fish removal techniques in freshwater ecosystems: a systematic review The effectiveness of non-native fish removal techniques in freshwater ecosystems: a systematic review
In aquatic systems, biological invasions can result in adverse ecological effects. Management techniques available for non-native fish removal programs (including eradication and population size control) vary widely, but include chemicals, harvest regimes, physical removal, or biological control. For management agencies, deciding on what non-native fish removal program to use has been...
Authors
Trina Rytwinski, Jessica J. Taylor, Lisa A. Donaldson, J. Robert Britton, David R. Browne, Robert E. Gresswell, Mark Lintermans, Kent A. Prior, Marlow G. Pellatt, Chantal Vis, Steven J. Cooke
Aquatic macroinvertebrate community responses to wetland mitigation in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem Aquatic macroinvertebrate community responses to wetland mitigation in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
1. Wetlands are critical components of freshwater biodiversity and provide ecosystem services, but human activities have resulted in large-scale loss of these habitats across the globe. To offset this loss, mitigation wetlands are frequently constructed, but their ability to replicate the functions of natural wetlands remains uncertain. Further, monitoring of mitigation wetlands is...
Authors
LEAH K. SWARTZ, Blake R. Hossack, Erin L. Muths, Robert L. Newell, Winsor H. Lowe
Pesticides and pollinators: A socioecological synthesis Pesticides and pollinators: A socioecological synthesis
The relationship between pesticides and pollinators, while attracting no shortage of attention from scientists, regulators, and the public, has proven resistant to scientific synthesis and fractious in matters of policy and public opinion. This is in part because the issue has been approached in a compartmentalized and intradisciplinary way, such that evaluations of organismal pesticide...
Authors
Douglas B. Sponsler, Christina M. Grozinger, Claudia Hitaj, Rundlof, Cristina Botias, Aimee Code, Eric V. Lonsdorf, Andony P. Melthapoulos, David J. Smith, Sainath Suryanarayanan, Wayne E. Thogmartin, Neal M. Williams, Minghua Zhang, Margaret R. Douglas
Fish culling reduces tapeworm burden in Arctic charr by increasing parasite mortality rather than by reducing density‐dependent transmission Fish culling reduces tapeworm burden in Arctic charr by increasing parasite mortality rather than by reducing density‐dependent transmission
Two common Dibothriocephalus (formerly Diphyllobothrium) tapeworm species were significantly reduced by experimental culling of their fish host Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) in a subarctic lake. Between 1984 and 1991, funnel traps were used to cull ~35 metric tons of Arctic charr, reducing charr density by ~80%. As charr densities decreased, tapeworm prevalence and then intensity...
Authors
Eirik H. Henriksen, Andre Frainer, Rune Knudsen, Roar Kristoffersen, Armand M. Kuris, Kevin D. Lafferty, Per-Arne Amundsen