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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: 42863

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

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

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 R. Smerud, John Tix, Jose Rivera, Stacie A. Kageyama, Christopher M. Merkes, Richard A. Erickson, Jon Amberg, Mark P. Gaikowski

Batrachochytrium salamandriovrans (Bsal) in Appalachia—Using scenario building to proactively prepare for a wildlife disease outbreak caused by an invasive amphibian chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium salamandriovrans (Bsal) in Appalachia—Using scenario building to proactively prepare for a wildlife disease outbreak caused by an invasive amphibian chytrid fungus

Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal), a pathogenic chytrid fungus, is nonnative to the United States and poses a disease threat to vulnerable amphibian hosts. The Bsal fungus may lead to increases in threatened, endangered, and sensitive status listings at State, Tribal, and Federal levels, resulting in financial costs associated with implementing the Endangered Species Act of 1973...
Authors
M. Camille Hopkins, M. J. Adams, P.E. Super, D.H. Olson, C.R. Hickman, P. English, L. Sprague, I.B. Maska, A.B. Pennaz, K. A. Ludwig

Elk research efforts Elk research efforts

Presented the history of the NC elk herd and summarized early research to determine the population dispersal and mortality rates, assess habitat use, and evaluate elk’s impact on the national park to estimate the probability of success in establishing a permanent elk population in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP). Gave an overview of a fiveyear elk population study...
Authors
Joseph D. Clark

Holy flux: Spatial and temporal variation in massive pulses of emerging insect biomass from western U.S. rivers Holy flux: Spatial and temporal variation in massive pulses of emerging insect biomass from western U.S. rivers

The river stonefly, Pteronarcys californica (aka salmonfly), is an iconic insect in rivers of western North America due to its large size and its support of economically important species like wild trout (Nehring et al. 2011). Their emergence generates a large economic subsidy to local communities, as anglers from around the world travel to western rivers to fish the salmonfly “hatch” (e...
Authors
David Walters, Jeff S. Wesner, Robert E. Zuellig, Dan A. Kowalski, Matt C. Kondratieff

Quantifying postfire aeolian sediment transport using rare earth element tracers Quantifying postfire aeolian sediment transport using rare earth element tracers

Grasslands, which provide fundamental ecosystem services in many arid and semiarid regions of the world, are undergoing rapid increases in fire activity and are highly susceptible to postfire-accelerated soil erosion by wind. A quantitative assessment of physical processes that integrates fire-wind erosion feedbacks is therefore needed relative to vegetation change, soil biogeochemical...
Authors
David Dukes, Howell B. Gonzales, Sujith Ravi, David E. Grandstaff, R. Scott Van Pelt, Junran Li, Guan Wang, Joel B. Sankey

Rapid colonization of a Hawaiian restoration forest by a diverse avian community Rapid colonization of a Hawaiian restoration forest by a diverse avian community

Deforestation of tropical forests has led to widespread loss and extirpation of forest bird species around the world, including the Hawaiian Islands which have experienced a dramatic loss of forests over the last 200–800 years. Given the important role birds play in forest ecosystem functions via seed dispersal and pollination, a bird community's response to forest restoration is an...
Authors
Eben H. Paxton, Stephanie G. Yelenik, Tracy E. Borneman, Eli Rose, Richard J. Camp, Steve J. Kendall

Bioenergetic evaluation of diel vertical migration by bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) in a thermally stratified reservoir Bioenergetic evaluation of diel vertical migration by bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) in a thermally stratified reservoir

Many species living in deeper lentic ecosystems exhibit daily movements that cycle through the water column, generally referred to as diel vertical migration (DVM). In this study, we applied bioenergetics modelling to evaluate growth as a hypothesis to explain DVM by bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) in a thermally stratified reservoir (Ross Lake, WA, USA) during the peak of thermal
Authors
Madeleine Eckmann, Jason B. Dunham, Edward J. Connor, Carmen A. Welch

Agriculture Agriculture

Agricultural production is a fundamental activity conducted on 45% of the U.S. land area, 55% of Mexico’s land area, and 7% of Canada’s land area (World Bank 2016). Because of this vast spatial extent and the strong role that land management plays in how agricultural ecosystems function, agricultural lands and activities represent a large portion of the North American carbon budget...
Authors
Alexander N. Hristov, Jane M. F. Johnson, Charles W. Rice, Molly E. Brown, Richard T. Conant, Stephen J. Del Grosso, Noel P. Gurwick, C. Alan Rotz, Upendra M. Sainju, R. Howard Skinner, Tristram O. West, Benjamin R. K. Runkle, Henry Janzen, Sasha C. Reed, Nancy Cavallaro, Gyami Shrestha
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