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: 42878
Reconstructing half a century of coregonine recruitment reveals species-specific dynamics and synchrony across the Laurentian Great Lakes Reconstructing half a century of coregonine recruitment reveals species-specific dynamics and synchrony across the Laurentian Great Lakes
Understanding how multiple species and populations vary in their recruitment dynamics can elucidate the processes driving recruitment across space and time. Lake Whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) and Cisco (C. artedi) are socioecologically important fishes across their range; however, many Laurentian Great Lakes populations have experienced declining, poor, or sporadic recruitment in...
Authors
Taylor A. Brown, Lars G. Rudstam, Suresh A. Sethi, Paul Ripple, Jason Smith, Ted Treska, Christopher Hessell, Erik Olsen, Ji X. He, Jory Jonas, Benjamin J. Rook, Joshua Blankenheim, Sarah J.H. Beech, Erin Brown, Eric K. Berglund, H. Andrew Cook, Erin S. Dunlop, Stephen James, Steven A. Pothoven, Zach Amidon, John A. Sweka, Dray Carl, Scott Hansen, David B. Bunnell, Brian Weidel, Andrew Edgar Honsey
Sea level rise threatens Florida’s insular vertebrate biodiversity Sea level rise threatens Florida’s insular vertebrate biodiversity
Islands are some of the most biodiverse places on earth, but they are also hotspots of biodiversity loss. The coastline of Florida, U.S.A., is surrounded by thousands of islands, many of which are home to species that occur nowhere else. A rapidly emerging threat to these low-lying islands is inundation as sea levels rise. The capacity of island-dwelling species to adapt to climate...
Authors
Erin L. Koen, William J. Barichivich, Elizabeth Braun De Torrez, Susan Walls
Macro- and micronutrient effects on phytoplankton in Green Bay, Lake Michigan and the western basin of Lake Erie Macro- and micronutrient effects on phytoplankton in Green Bay, Lake Michigan and the western basin of Lake Erie
Efforts to reduce the frequency, extent, and toxicity of harmful algal blooms (HABs) require knowledge about drivers of algal growth, toxin production, and shifts in phytoplankton community composition to cyanobacterial dominance. Although labile nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fuel primary production, micronutrients also play roles as the enzymatic engines that facilitate rapid and...
Authors
Jordyn T. Stoll, James H. Larson, Sean Bailey, Christopher Blackwood, David M. Costello
Arsenic accumulation in Sonora Mud Turtles (Kinosternon sonoriense) in an unusual freshwater food web Arsenic accumulation in Sonora Mud Turtles (Kinosternon sonoriense) in an unusual freshwater food web
Montezuma Well is an unusual fishless, spring-fed, desert wetland in central Arizona. Water in the wetland is naturally enriched with > 100 µg/l dissolved geogenic arsenic (As) and supports a simple aquatic food web dominated by a small number of endemic invertebrate species that achieve high abundances. Previous studies of As among various environmental compartments and organisms in...
Authors
Jeffrey E. Lovich, Thomas R. Kulp, Charles A. Drost, Rodrigo Macipríos, Susan Knowles, Joshua R. Ennen
Salt marsh habitats and diamondback terrapins in a rapidly changing climate: A review Salt marsh habitats and diamondback terrapins in a rapidly changing climate: A review
The impacts associated with global climate change (e.g., sea-level rise, tropical storms, and warming temperatures) are expected to alter predator–prey interactions, foundation species, and plant community structure in coastal ecosystems. While the complex dynamics of these habitats have been examined under future climate predictions, few ecosystem models incorporate influences from...
Authors
Margaret M. Lamont, Michael J. Osland, Melissa M. Baustian
Increasing soil water drought in response to altered precipitation timing across the western United States Increasing soil water drought in response to altered precipitation timing across the western United States
Recent trends of rising temperatures and longer droughts between precipitation events are impacting water-limited dryland ecosystems in the western United States. Although ecosystem drought response depends directly on soil moisture, trends in soil moisture (e.g., edaphic drought) remain more poorly explored than precipitation (e.g., meteorological drought), representing an important...
Authors
Fangyue Zhang, Joel A. Biederman, Daniel Rodolphe Schlaepfer, John B. Bradford, Sasha C. Reed, William K. Smith
Dryland fungi are spatially heterogeneous and resistant to global change drivers Dryland fungi are spatially heterogeneous and resistant to global change drivers
Fungi are considered particularly important in regulating the structure and function of dryland ecosystems, yet the response of dryland fungal communities to global change remains notably understudied. Without a clear understanding of how fungi respond to global change drivers, mitigation plans—required for biodiversity and ecosystem service conservation and restoration—are impossible to...
Authors
Andrea Lopez, Mark Anthony, Jovani Catalan-Dibene, Scott Ferrenberg, Samuel E. Jordan, Brooke B. Osborne, Sasha C. Reed, Adriana L. Romero-Olivares
Food-web dynamics of a floodplain mosaic overshadow the effects of engineered logjams for Pacific salmon and steelhead Food-web dynamics of a floodplain mosaic overshadow the effects of engineered logjams for Pacific salmon and steelhead
Food webs vary in space and time. The structure and spatial arrangement of food webs are theorized to mediate temporal dynamics of energy flow, but empirical corroboration in intermediate-scale landscapes is scarce. River-floodplain landscapes encompass a mosaic of aquatic habitat patches and food webs, supporting a variety of aquatic consumers of conservation concern. How the structure...
Authors
James C. Paris, Colden V. Baxter, James R Bellmore, Joseph R. Benjamin
Restoration treatments enhance tree growth and alter climatic constraints during extreme drought Restoration treatments enhance tree growth and alter climatic constraints during extreme drought
The frequency and severity of drought events are predicted to increase due to anthropogenic climate change, with cascading effects across forested ecosystems. Management activities such as forest thinning and prescribed burning, which are often intended to mitigate fire hazard and restore ecosystem processes, may also help promote tree resistance to drought. However, it is unclear...
Authors
Kyle C. Rodman, John B. Bradford, Alicia M. Formanack, Peter Z. Fulé, David W. Huffman, Thomas E. Kolb, Ana T. Miller-ter Kuile, Donald P. Normandin, Kiona Ogle, Rory J. Pederson, Daniel Rodolphe Schlaepfer, Michael T. Stoddard, Amy E.M. Waltz
Adaptive capacities of inland fisheries facing anthropogenic pressures Adaptive capacities of inland fisheries facing anthropogenic pressures
Inland fisheries face multiple, intensifying threats (i.e., proximate human pressures causing degraded ecological attributes) from land development, climate change, resource extraction, and competing demands for water resources. Planning for resiliency amidst these pressures requires understanding the factors that influence an inland fishery’s capacity to adapt to system changes under...
Authors
Gretchen L. Stokes, Samuel J. Smidt, Emily L. Tucker, Matteo Cleary, Simon Funge-Smith, John Valbo-Jorgensen, Benjamin S. Lowe, Abigail J. Lynch
Natural resource management confronts the growing scale and severity of ecosystem responses to drought and wildfire Natural resource management confronts the growing scale and severity of ecosystem responses to drought and wildfire
Intensification of drought and wildfire associated with climate change has triggered widespread ecosystem stress and transformation. Natural resource managers are on the frontline of these changes, yet their perspectives on whether management actions match the scale and align with the severity of ecosystem responses to improve outcomes are not well understood. To provide new insight, a...
Authors
Seth M. Munson, Anna L. Vaughn, Brian Petersen, John B. Bradford, Michael C. Duniway