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: 43480
Real-time oil spill concentration assessment through fluorescence imaging and deep learning Real-time oil spill concentration assessment through fluorescence imaging and deep learning
Oil spills may pose severe ecological and socioeconomic threats, necessitating rapid and accurate environmental assessment. Traditional assessment methods used to determine the extent of a spill including gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, satellite imaging, and visual surveys, are often time-consuming, expensive, and limited by weather conditions or sampling constraints. Furthermore...
Authors
Biplab Poudel, Jiacheng Xie, Congyu Guo, Olivia Watt, Erin L. Pulster, Rishi J. Patel, Jeffery A. Steevens, Dong Xu
Use of uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) and regression tree modeling to calculate fractional shrub cover for greater sage-grouse microhabitat Use of uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) and regression tree modeling to calculate fractional shrub cover for greater sage-grouse microhabitat
Accurate maps of habitat availability for greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) across broad extents are of paramount importance to conservation efforts in sagebrush ecosystems across the Great Basin, particularly for habitat assessments and mitigation efforts. However, the ability to manage sage-grouse microhabitat is constrained by the spatial and spectral resolution of most...
Authors
K. Benjamin Gustafson, Peter S. Coates, Jeffrey M. Mintz, Cali L. Weise, Mark A. Ricca, Lea A. Condon
Detroit River becoming a crucible for boundary organization experimentation Detroit River becoming a crucible for boundary organization experimentation
The Detroit River has a long history of human use and abuse, resulting in public outcry over water pollution and resource degradation. This public outcry helped catalyze the enactment of many laws and the Canada-U.S. Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement which led to enhanced research, monitoring, and water pollution control. As pollution from industries and municipal wastewater treatment...
Authors
John H. Hartig, Robin L. DeBruyne, Katie Stammler, James C. Boase, Edward F. Roseman
Spatially explicit demographics of Mojave Desert Tortoises on a demography plot in California, USA Spatially explicit demographics of Mojave Desert Tortoises on a demography plot in California, USA
Obtaining reliable estimates of demographic parameters is critical to effective wildlife conservation and management. Densities of Mojave Desert Tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) were historically derived from capture–mark–recapture surveys on small, often strategically placed demography plots, or demographic study areas, that also provided information on demographic composition and vital...
Authors
Sarah Doyle, Sean M. Murphy, K. Kristina Drake, Julie Hendrix, Todd C. Esque
Advancing the implementation of coastal restoration in Louisiana through a co-production of science framework Advancing the implementation of coastal restoration in Louisiana through a co-production of science framework
Coastal Louisiana faces complex challenges from the compounding effects of coastal land loss and climate change. The State of Louisiana’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) and the RESTORE Act Center of Excellence for Louisiana (LA-COE) have adopted a co-production of science framework to help ensure that scientific research funded through the LA-COE supports the...
Authors
Jacob M. Oster, Jessica R. Henkel, Alyssa Dausman, Eva D. Windhoffer, Bingqing Liu, Melissa Millman Baustian, Denise Reed, Summer Langlois, David C. Lindquist
Mapping global coral vulnerability to stony coral tissue loss disease: Implications for biosecurity and conservation Mapping global coral vulnerability to stony coral tissue loss disease: Implications for biosecurity and conservation
Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) has devastated Caribbean coral reefs since 2014, but its potential for global impact remains uncertain. We developed predictive models to assess the worldwide vulnerability of coral reefs to SCTLD under different origin and spread hypotheses. Using random forest regression models incorporating coral taxonomy and zooxanthellae clade associations...
Authors
Kevin D. Lafferty, Giovanni Strona
Ecological acclimation: A framework to integrate fast and slow responses to climate change Ecological acclimation: A framework to integrate fast and slow responses to climate change
Ecological responses to climate change occur across vastly different time-scales, from minutes for physiological plasticity to decades or centuries for community turnover and evolutionary adaptation. Accurately predicting the range of ecosystem trajectories will require models that incorporate both fast processes that may keep pace with climate change and slower ones likely to lag behind...
Authors
Michael Stemkovski, Joey Bernhardt, Benjamin Wong Blonder, John B. Bradford, Kyra Clark-Wolf, Laura E. Dee, Margaret Evans, Virginia Iglesias, Loretta Johnson, Abigail J. Lynch, Sparkle Malone, Brooke Osborne, Melissa Pastore, Michael Paterson, Malin Pinsky, Christine R. Rollinson, Oliver Selmoni, Jason Venkiteswarnan, Anthony P. Walker, Nicole K. Ward, John B. Williams, Claire Zarakas, Peter B. Adler
Pathology, tissue distribution, and phylogenomic characterization of largemouth bass virus isolated from a wild smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) Pathology, tissue distribution, and phylogenomic characterization of largemouth bass virus isolated from a wild smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu)
We performed a diagnostic disease investigation on a wild smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) with skin ulcers that was collected from Lake Oahe, South Dakota, following reports from anglers of multiple fish with similar lesions. Gross and histologic lesions of ulcerative dermatitis, myositis, and lymphocytolysis within the spleen and kidneys were consistent with largemouth bass virus...
Authors
Christine J.E. Haake, Thomas B. Waltzek, Chrissy D. Eckstrand, Nora Hickey, Joetta Lynn Reno, Rebecca M. Wolking, Preeyanan Sriwanayos, Jan Lovy, Elizabeth A. Renner, Kyle R. Taylor, Ryan Oliveira
Risks and rewards of pre-emergent herbicide (indaziflam) to defend core sagebrush-steppe ecosystems under suboptimal precipitation Risks and rewards of pre-emergent herbicide (indaziflam) to defend core sagebrush-steppe ecosystems under suboptimal precipitation
Protection of intact habitat from the spread of invasive plants is a global priority, especially where invaders alter wildfire occurrence. Invasion of perennial sagebrush-steppe ecosystems by cheatgrass and other fire-promoting exotic annual grasses (EAGs) is one of the most notorious examples of this problem. Protection and expansion of the remaining intact “core” sagebrush areas are...
Authors
Brynne Lazarus, Matthew Germino
Daily fluctuating flows affect riparian plant species distributions from local to regional scales Daily fluctuating flows affect riparian plant species distributions from local to regional scales
Aims The number of hydropower dams has grown globally over recent decades, with significant impacts on downstream riparian plant communities. Many of these dams generate daily fluctuating flows known as hydropeaking to meet sub-daily variation in energy demands. Hydropeaking can significantly impact riparian plant communities, with obligate riparian species tending to experience the...
Authors
Bradley J. Butterfield, Emily C. Palmquist
Sediment transport modeling in Lake Ontario embayments: Impacts on fish spawning substrates Sediment transport modeling in Lake Ontario embayments: Impacts on fish spawning substrates
Anthropogenically-driven sedimentation changes have had adverse environmental impacts on aquatic environments, including reductions in fish spawning habitats in embayments worldwide. This study was motivated by the need to understand the impacts of waves and current-driven sedimentation patterns on traditional spawning areas and their effect on sustainable fish reproduction in the Great...
Authors
Ali Kheiri, Joseph F. Atkinson, Zhu Zhenduo, Lucas Alexander Le Tarte, Brian Weidel
Evaluating deterrent locations and sequence in the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers and the Tennessee–Tombigbee Waterway to minimize invasive carp occupancy and abundance Evaluating deterrent locations and sequence in the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers and the Tennessee–Tombigbee Waterway to minimize invasive carp occupancy and abundance
Invasive carps, specifically silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix), bighead carp (H. nobilis), grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella), and black carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus), have proliferated in the Mississippi River Basin owing to escapes from aquaculture facilities and intentional releases. In the Water Resources and Development Act (WRDA) of 2020 Sec. 509, Congress directed the U...
Authors
Michael E. Colvin, Caleb A. Aldridge, Neal Jackson, Max Post van der Burg