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: 43327
EROD activity, chromosomal damage, and oxidative stress in response to contaminants exposure in tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) nestlings from Great Lakes Areas of Concern EROD activity, chromosomal damage, and oxidative stress in response to contaminants exposure in tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) nestlings from Great Lakes Areas of Concern
Tree swallow, Tachycineta bicolor, nestlings were collected from 60 sites in the Great Lakes, which included multiple sites within 27 Areas of Concern (AOCs) and six sites not listed as AOCs from 2010 to 2014. Nestlings, approximately 12 days-of-age, were evaluated for ethoxyresorufin-O-dealkylase (EROD) activity, chromosomal damage, and six measures of oxidative stress. Data on each of...
Authors
Thomas W. Custer, Christine M. Custer, Paul M. Dummer, Emilie Bigorgne, Elias Oziolor, Natalie K. Karouna-Renier, Sandra L. Schultz, Richard A. Erickson, Kevin Aagaard, Cole W. Matson
Field practices: Assessing tiger population dynamics using photographic captures Field practices: Assessing tiger population dynamics using photographic captures
From these histories, capture frequency statistics and estimates of capture probabilities can be derived.
Authors
K. Ullas Karanth, James D. Nichols, Abishek Harihar, Dale Miquelle, N. Samba Kumar, Robert Dorazio
Anticoagulant rodenticides and wildlife: Concluding remarks Anticoagulant rodenticides and wildlife: Concluding remarks
Rodents are known to affect human society globally in various adverse ways, resulting in a widespread demand for their continuous control. Anticoagulant rodenticides (ARs) have been, and currently remain, the cornerstone of rodent control throughout the world. Although alternative control methods exist, they are generally less effective. ARs work by affecting vitamin K metabolism...
Authors
Nico W. van den Brink, John E. Elliott, Richard F. Shore, Barnett A. Rattner
Anticoagulant rodenticides and wildlife: Introduction Anticoagulant rodenticides and wildlife: Introduction
Rodents have interacted with people since the beginning of systematic food storage by humans in the early Neolithic era. Such interactions have had adverse outcomes such as threats to human health, spoiling and consumption of food sources, damage to human infrastructure and detrimental effects on indigenous island wildlife (through inadvertent anthropogenic assisted introductions). These...
Authors
Nico W. van den Brink, John E. Elliott, Richard F. Shore, Barnett A. Rattner
Monitoring the welfare of polar bear populations in a rapidly changing Arctic Monitoring the welfare of polar bear populations in a rapidly changing Arctic
Most programs for monitoring the welfare of wildlife populations support efforts aimed at reaching discrete management objectives, like mitigating conflict with humans. While such programs can be effective, their limited scope may preclude systemic evaluations needed for large-scale conservation initiatives, like the recovery of at-risk species. We discuss select categories of metrics...
Authors
Todd C. Atwood, Colleen G. Duncan, Kelly A. Patyk, Sarah A. Sonsthagen
Application of synthetic scenarios to address water resource concerns: A management-guided case study from the Upper Colorado River Basin Application of synthetic scenarios to address water resource concerns: A management-guided case study from the Upper Colorado River Basin
Water managers are increasingly interested in better understanding and planning for projected resource impacts from climate change. In this management-guided study, we use a very large suite of synthetic climate scenarios in a statistical modeling framework to simultaneously evaluate how (1) average temperature and precipitation changes, (2) initial basin conditions, and (3) temporal
Authors
Stephanie A. McAfee, Gregory T. Pederson, Connie A. Woodhouse, Gregory J. McCabe
Determining fine-scale use and movement patterns of diving bird species in federal waters of the Mid-Atlantic United States using satellite telemetry Determining fine-scale use and movement patterns of diving bird species in federal waters of the Mid-Atlantic United States using satellite telemetry
Offshore wind energy development in the United States is projected to expand in the upcoming decades to meet growing energy demands and reduce fossil fuel emissions. There is particular interest in commercial offshore wind development within Federal waters (i.e., > 3 nautical miles from shore) of the mid-Atlantic. In order to understand the potential for adverse effects on marine birds...
Authors
Caleb Spiegel, Alicia Berlin, Andrew Gilbert, Carrie E. Gray, William Montevecchi, Iain Stenhouse, Scott Ford, Glenn H. Olsen, Jonathan Fiely, Lucas Savoy, M. Wing Goodale, Chantelle Burke
A swath across the great divide: Kelp forests across the Samalga Pass biogeographic break A swath across the great divide: Kelp forests across the Samalga Pass biogeographic break
Biogeographic breaks are often described as locations where a large number of species reach their geographic range limits. Samalga Pass, in the eastern Aleutian Archipelago, is a known biogeographic break for the spatial distribution of several species of offshore-pelagic communities, including numerous species of cold-water corals, zooplankton, fish, marine mammals, and seabirds...
Authors
Brenda H. Konar, Matthew S. Edwards, Aaron Bland, Jacob Metzger, Alexandra Ravelo, Sarah Traiger, Ben P. Weitzman
The value of information for woodland management: Updating a state–transition model The value of information for woodland management: Updating a state–transition model
Value of information (VOI) analyses reveal the expected benefit of reducing uncertainty to a decision maker. Most ecological VOI analyses have focused on population models rarely addressing more complex community models. We performed a VOI analysis for a complex state–transition model of Box-Ironbark Forest and Woodland management. With three management alternatives (limited harvest...
Authors
William K. Morris, Michael C. Runge, Peter A. Vesk
Regionalizing indicators for marine ecosystems: Bering Sea–Aleutian Island seabirds, climate, and competitors Regionalizing indicators for marine ecosystems: Bering Sea–Aleutian Island seabirds, climate, and competitors
Seabirds are thought to be reliable, real-time indicators of forage fish availability and the climatic and biotic factors affecting pelagic food webs in marine ecosystems. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that temporal trends and interannual variability in seabird indicators reflect simultaneously occurring bottom-up (climatic) and competitor (pink salmon) forcing of food webs. To...
Authors
William J. Sydeman, Sarah Ann Thompson, John F. Piatt, Marisol García-Reyes, Stephani Zador, Jeffrey C. Williams, Marc Romano, Heather Renner
Living on the edge: Opportunities for Amur tiger recovery in China Living on the edge: Opportunities for Amur tiger recovery in China
Sporadic sightings of the endangered Amur tiger Panthera tigris altaica along the China-Russia border during the late 1990s sparked efforts to expand this subspecies distribution and abundance by restoring potentially suitable habitats in the Changbai Mountains. To guide science-based recovery efforts and provide a baseline for future monitoring of this border population, empirical...
Authors
Tianming Wang, J. Andrew Royle, J.L.D. Smith, Liang Zou, Xinyue Lu, Tong Li, Haitao Yang, Zhilin Li, Rongna Feng, Yajing Bian, Limin Feng, Jianping Ge
Factors influencing uptake of sylvatic plague vaccine baits by prairie dogs Factors influencing uptake of sylvatic plague vaccine baits by prairie dogs
Sylvatic plague vaccine (SPV) is a virally vectored bait-delivered vaccine expressing Yersinia pestis antigens that can protect prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.) from plague and has potential utility as a management tool. In a large-scale 3-year field trial, SPV-laden baits containing the biomarker rhodamine B (used to determine bait consumption) were distributed annually at a rate of...
Authors
Rachel C. Abbott, Robin E. Russell, Katherine Richgels, Daniel W. Tripp, Marc R. Matchett, Dean E. Biggins, Tonie E. Rocke