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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: 42702

Lake trout spawning and habitat assessment at Stony Island Reef Lake trout spawning and habitat assessment at Stony Island Reef

Lake trout stocking began in the 1970s as part of a binational effort to restore a self-sustaining population of lake trout in Lake Ontario. Despite 48 years of restoration stocking, lake trout in Lake Ontario have not reestablished a self-sustaining population. Spawning surveys done at Stony Island Reef (SIR) in eastern Lake Ontario in 1987 and 1989 documented lake trout egg deposition...
Authors
Stacy Furgal, Brian F. Lantry, Brian Weidel, John M. Farrell, Dimitry Gorsky, Zy Biesinger

The nitrogen window for arctic herbivores: plant phenology and protein gain of migratory caribou (Rangifer tarandus) The nitrogen window for arctic herbivores: plant phenology and protein gain of migratory caribou (Rangifer tarandus)

Terrestrial plants are often limited by nitrogen (N) in arctic systems, but constraints of N supply on herbivores are typically considered secondary to those of energy. We tested the hypothesis that forage N is more limiting than energy for arctic caribou by collecting key forages (three species of graminoids, three species of woody browse, and one genus of forb) over three summers in...
Authors
Perry S. Barboza, Lindsay L. Van Someren, David D. Gustine, M. Syndonia Bret-Harte

Ecotypic variation in population dynamics of reintroduced bighorn sheep Ecotypic variation in population dynamics of reintroduced bighorn sheep

Selection of bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) for translocation historically has been motivated by preservation of subspecific purity rather than by adaptation of source stocks to similar environments. Our objective was to estimate cause‐specific, annual, and age‐specific mortality of introduced bighorn sheep that originated at low elevations in southern British Columbia, Canada (BC...
Authors
Vernon C. Bleich, Glen A. Sargeant, Brett P. Wiedmann

Using colony monitoring devices to evaluate the impacts of land use and nutritional value of forage on honey bee health Using colony monitoring devices to evaluate the impacts of land use and nutritional value of forage on honey bee health

Colony monitoring devices used to track and assess the health status of honey bees are becoming more widely available and used by both beekeepers and researchers. These devices monitor parameters relevant to colony health at frequent intervals, often approximating real time. The fine-scale record of hive condition can be further related to static or dynamic features of the landscape...
Authors
Matthew Smart, Clint Otto, Robert S. Cornman, Deborah D. Iwanowicz

Informing our successors: What botanical information for Santa Cruz Island will researchers and conservation managers in the century ahead need the most? Informing our successors: What botanical information for Santa Cruz Island will researchers and conservation managers in the century ahead need the most?

Climate changes are predicted to drive changes in plant species composition and vegetation cover around the world. Preserved specimens and other botanical information that we gather today—a period future practitioners may look back on as an early stage of modern anthropogenic climate change—will be of value to conservation managers and conservation biologists in the decades and centuries...
Authors
John M. Randall, Kathryn McEachern, John Knapp, Paula Power, Steve Junak, Kristina Gill, Denise Knapp, Matt Guilliams

Assessment of carbon dioxide piscicide treatments Assessment of carbon dioxide piscicide treatments

Few chemicals are approved to control or eradicate nuisance fish populations in the United States. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is currently being developed and studied as a new piscicide option for nonselective population control. This study evaluated dry ice (solid state CO2) as a simple CO2 delivery method during winter piscicide applications. Nonnative Silver Carp Hypophthalmichthys molitrix...
Authors
Aaron R. Cupp, Justin Smerud, John Tix, Jose Rivera, Stacie A. Kageyama, Christopher M. Merkes, Richard A. Erickson, Jon Amberg, Mark P. Gaikowski

Morphodynamic evolution following sediment release from the world’s largest dam removal Morphodynamic evolution following sediment release from the world’s largest dam removal

Sediment pulses can cause widespread, complex changes to rivers and coastal regions. Quantifying landscape response to sediment-supply changes is a long-standing problem in geomorphology, but the unanticipated nature of most sediment pulses rarely allows for detailed measurement of associated landscape processes and evolution. The intentional removal of two large dams on the Elwha River
Authors
Andrew C. Ritchie, Jonathan A. Warrick, Amy E. East, Christopher S. Magirl, Andrew W. Stevens, Jennifer A. Bountry, Timothy J. Randle, Christopher A. Curran, Robert C. Hilldale, Jeffrey J. Duda, Ian M. Miller, George R. Pess, Emily Eidam, Melissa M. Foley, Randall McCoy, Andrea S. Ogston

Lake Sturgeon, Lake Whitefish, and Walleye egg deposition patterns with response to fish spawning substrate restoration in the St. Clair–Detroit River system Lake Sturgeon, Lake Whitefish, and Walleye egg deposition patterns with response to fish spawning substrate restoration in the St. Clair–Detroit River system

Egg deposition and use of restored spawning substrates by lithophilic fishes (e.g., Lake Sturgeon Acipenser fulvescens, Lake Whitefish Coregonus clupeaformis, and Walleye Sander vitreus) were assessed throughout the St. Clair–Detroit River system from 2005 to 2016. Bayesian models were used to quantify egg abundance and presence/absence relative to site-specific variables (e.g., depth...
Authors
Jason L. Fischer, Jeremy J. Pritt, Edward F. Roseman, Carson G. Prichard, Jaquelyn M. Craig, Gregory W. Kennedy, Bruce A. Manny

The Southern Appalachian Brook Trout management conundrum: What should restoration look like in the 21st Century? The Southern Appalachian Brook Trout management conundrum: What should restoration look like in the 21st Century?

Brook Trout Salvelinus fontinalis in the southern Appalachian portion of their range have been isolated in remote headwater systems for millennia. Recent genetic investigations indicate extremely low allelic diversity, heterozygosity and effective population sizes in many streams. In populations restored using multiple source stocks, limited introgression has been observed despite source...
Authors
Matt A. Kulp, Shawna Mitchell, David C. Kazyak, Bernard R. Kuhajda, Jason Henegar, T. Casey Weathers, Anna George, Joshua R. Ennen, Tim King

Characterization of microsatellite loci for the Gulf Coast waterdog (Necturus beyeri) using paired-end Illumina shotgun sequencing and cross-amplification in other Necturus Characterization of microsatellite loci for the Gulf Coast waterdog (Necturus beyeri) using paired-end Illumina shotgun sequencing and cross-amplification in other Necturus

Amphibians are one of the most threatened groups of vertebrates (Stuart et al. 2004; Wake and Vredenburg 2008), and the application of molecular techniques to amphibian ecology and genetics has dramatically improved our ability to conserve species and populations (see Shaffer et al. [2015] for review). Microsatellites, tandem repeats of two to six nucleotides in the nuclear genome, are...
Authors
Jennifer Y. Lamb, Brian R. Kreiser, Hardin Waddle, Carl P. Qualls

Are nest boxes ecological traps for red-footed falcons Falco vespertinius at Naurzum Are nest boxes ecological traps for red-footed falcons Falco vespertinius at Naurzum

Nest box programs are frequently implemented for conservation of cavity-nesting birds, but their effectiveness is rarely evaluated in comparison to birds not using nest boxes. In the European Palearctic, Red-Footed Falcon (Falco vespertinus) populations are both of high conservation concern and are strongly associated with nest box programs in heavily managed landscapes. We used a 21...
Authors
Todd E. Katzner, Alexander E. Bragin, Evgeny A. Bragin
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