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
DNA-based studies and genetic diversity indicator assessments are complementary approaches to conserving evolutionary potential DNA-based studies and genetic diversity indicator assessments are complementary approaches to conserving evolutionary potential
Genetic diversity is essential for maintaining healthy populations and ecosystems. Several approaches have recently been developed to evaluate population genetic trends without necessarily collecting new genetic data. Such “genetic diversity indicators” enable rapid, large-scale evaluation across dozens to thousands of species. Empirical genetic studies, when available, provide detailed
Authors
Sean M. Hoban, Ivan Paz-Vinas, Robyn E. Shaw, Luis Castillo-Reina, Jessica M. da Silva, J. Andrew DeWoody, Robert Ekblom, Ancuta Fedorca, Brenna R. Forester, W. Chris Funk, Julia C. Geue, Myriam Heuertz, Peter M. Hollingsworth, Alice C. Hughes, Margaret Hunter, Christina Hvilsom, Fumiko Ishihama, Rebecca Jordan, Belma Kalamujic Stroil, Francine Kershaw, Colin K. Khoury, Viktoria Koppa, Linda Laikre, Anna J. MacDonald, Alicia Mastretta-Yanes, Mariah H. Meek, Joachim Mergeay, Katie L. Millette, David O'Brien, Victor J. Rincon-Parra, M. Alejandra Rodriguez-Morales, Meredith C. Schuman, Gernot Segelbacher, Paul Sunnucks, Rebecca S. Taylor, Henrik Thurfjell, Cristiano Vernesi, Catherine E. Grueber
Despite regional variation, Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus (Pinyon Jay) densities generally increase with local pinyon–juniper cover and heterogeneous ground cover Despite regional variation, Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus (Pinyon Jay) densities generally increase with local pinyon–juniper cover and heterogeneous ground cover
Traditionally, local-scale habitat-relationship models are developed over small spatial extents, limiting model transferability and inference outside the study area. Thus, habitat managers frequently lack fine-scale information regarding the influence of vegetation composition and structure on site suitability or species abundance. Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus (Pinyon Jay) represents one...
Authors
Nicholas J. Van Lanen, Adrian P. Monroe, Cameron L. Aldridge
Distribution, abundance, and breeding activities of the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California—2022 annual report Distribution, abundance, and breeding activities of the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California—2022 annual report
Executive Summary Surveys for the endangered Southwestern Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii extimus) were done at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton (MCBCP or “Base”), California, between May 9 and July 20, 2022. All of MCBCP’s historically occupied riparian habitat (core survey area) was surveyed for flycatchers in 2022. None of the non-core survey area was surveyed in 2022. Eight...
Authors
Scarlett L. Howell, Barbara E. Kus
Distribution, abundance, and breeding activities of the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California—2021 annual report Distribution, abundance, and breeding activities of the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California—2021 annual report
Executive Summary The purpose of this report is to provide the Marine Corps with an annual summary of abundance, breeding activity, demography, and habitat use of the endangered Southwestern Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii extimus) at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton (MCBCP). Surveys for the flycatcher were completed at MCBCP between May 5 and July 31, 2021. All of MCBCP’s...
Authors
Scarlett L. Howell, Barbara E. Kus
Landscape-scale modeling to forecast fluvial-aeolian sediment connectivity in river valleys Landscape-scale modeling to forecast fluvial-aeolian sediment connectivity in river valleys
Sedimentary landforms on Earth and other planetary bodies are built through scour, transport, and deposition of sediment. Sediment connectivity refers to the hypothesis that pathways of sediment transport do not occur in isolation, but rather are mechanistically linked. In dryland river systems, one such example of sediment connectivity is the transport of fluvially deposited sediment by...
Authors
Alan Kasprak, Joel B. Sankey, Joshua Caster
Wildlife health capacity enhancement in Thailand through the World Organisation for Animal Health Twinning Program Wildlife health capacity enhancement in Thailand through the World Organisation for Animal Health Twinning Program
There is an increasing need for robust wildlife health programs that provide surveillance and management for diseases in wildlife and wild aquatic populations to manage associated risks. This paper illustrates the value of a systematic method to enhancing wildlife health programs. The U.S. Geological Survey and Mahidol University, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Thailand National Wildlife...
Authors
Sarin Suwanpakdee, Nareerat Sangkachai, Anuwat Wiratsudakul, Witthawat Wiriyarat, Walasinee Sakcamduang, Peerawat Wongluechai, Choenkwan Pabutta, Ladawan Sariya, Waruja Korkijthamkul, David S. Blehert, C. LeAnn White, Daniel P. Walsh, Craig Stephen, Parntep Ratanakorn, Jonathan M. Sleeman
A conterminous United States–Wide validation of relative tidal elevation products A conterminous United States–Wide validation of relative tidal elevation products
Recent large-scale spatial products have been developed to assess wetland position in the tidal frame, but nationwide comparisons and validations are missing for these products. Wetland position within the tidal frame is a commonly used characteristic to compare wetlands across biogeomorphic gradients and factors heavily into wetland vulnerability models. We utilize a dataset of 365...
Authors
Justine Annaliese Neville, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, James Grace, Michael Osland, Bogdan Chivoiu
Declines and shifts in morphological diversity of ciscoes (Coregonus spp.) in lakes Huron and Michigan, 1917–2019 Declines and shifts in morphological diversity of ciscoes (Coregonus spp.) in lakes Huron and Michigan, 1917–2019
Ciscoes (Coregonus spp.) were historically abundant and ecologically important in Laurentian Great Lakes ecosystems. Despite well-documented declines in their abundance and taxonomic diversity, declines in morphological diversity remain understudied. This knowledge gap is especially pertinent for lakes Michigan and Huron, which have each lost six of eight historical species. Improved...
Authors
Paul W. Fedorowicz, Yu-Chun Kao, Amanda Susanne Ackiss, Katie Victoria Anweiler, Andrew Edgar Honsey
A unified approach to long-term population monitoring of grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem A unified approach to long-term population monitoring of grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
Long-term wildlife research and monitoring programs strive to maintain consistent data collections and analytical methods. Incorporating new techniques is important but can render data sets incongruent and limit their potential to discern trends in demographic parameters. Integrated population models (IPMs) can address these limitations by combining data sources that may span different...
Authors
Matthew J. Gould, Justin Clapp, Mark A. Haroldson, Cecily M. Costello, J. Joshua Nowak, Hans Martin, Michael Ebinger, Daniel D. Bjornlie, Daniel Thompson, Justin A. Dellinger, Matthew Mumma, Paul Lukacs, Frank T. van Manen
Predicting the effects of solar energy development on plants and wildlife in the Desert Southwest, United States Predicting the effects of solar energy development on plants and wildlife in the Desert Southwest, United States
Utility-scale solar energy (USSE) is rapidly expanding and expected to compose the largest source of renewable-generated electricity in the United States and globally over the coming decades. Lands in the hot Desert Southwest (Chihuahuan, Mojave, Sonoran, and San Joaquin Deserts) are increasingly selected for USSE development because of their high solar irradiance. The Desert Southwest...
Authors
Claire C Karban, Jeffrey E. Lovich, Steven Mark Grodsky, Seth M. Munson
The relationship between maturation size and maximum tree size from tropical to boreal climates The relationship between maturation size and maximum tree size from tropical to boreal climates
The fundamental trade-off between current and future reproduction has long been considered to result in a tendency for species that can grow large to begin reproduction at a proportionately larger size. Due to the prolonged time required to reach maturity, estimates of tree maturation size remain unavailable and we lack a global view on the generality and the shape of this trade-off...
Authors
Valentin Journe, Michał Bogdziewicz, Benoit Courbaud, Georges Kunstler, Tong Qiu, Marie-Claire Aravena Acuña, Davide Ascoli, Yves Bergeron, Daniel Berveiller, Thomas Boivin, Raul Bonal, Thomas Caignard, Maxime Cailleret, Rafael Calama, J. Julio Camarero, Chia-Hao Chang-Yang, Jerome Chave, Francesco Chianucci, Thomas Curt, Andrea Cutini, Adrian Das, Evangelia Daskalakou, Hendrik Davi, Nicolas Delpierre, Sylvain Delzon, Michael Dietze, Sergio Donoso Calderon, Laurent Dormont, Josep Maria Espelta, William Farfan-Rios, Michael Fenner, Jerry F. Franklin, Catherine A. Gehring, Gregory S. Gilbert, Georg Gratzer, Cathryn H. Greenberg, Arthur Guignabert, Qinfeng Guo, Andrew Hacket-Pain, Arndt Hampe, Qingmin Han, Mick E. Hanley, Janneke Hille Ris Lambers, Jan Holik, Kazuhiko Hoshizaki, Ines Ibanez, Jill F. Johnstone, Johannes M. H. Knops, Richard K. Kobe, Hiroko Kurokawa, Jonathan G. A. Lageard, Jalene LaMontagne, Mateusz Ledwon, Francois Lefevre, Theodor Leininger, Jean-Marc Limousin, James A. Lutz, Diana Macias, Anders Marell, Eliot J. B. McIntire, Emily V. Moran, Renzo Motta, Jonathan A. Myers, Thomas A. Nagel, Shoji Naoe, Mahoko Noguchi, Julian Norghauer, Michio Oguro, Jean-Marc Ourcival, Robert Parmenter, Ian Pearse, Ignacio M. Perez-Ramos, Lukasz Piechnik, Tomasz Podgorski, John Poulsen, Miranda D. Redmond, Chantal D. Reid, Pavel Samonil, C. Lane Scher, William H. Schlesinger, Barbara Seget, Shubhi Sharma, Mitsue Shibata, Miles Silman, Michael A. Steele, Nathan L. Stephenson, Jacob N. Straub, Samantha Sutton, Jennifer J. Swenson, Margaret Swift, Peter A. Thomas, Maria Uriarte, Giorgio Vacchiano, Amy V. Whipple, Thomas G. Whitham, S. Joseph Wright, Kai Zhu, Jess K. Zimmerman, Magdalena Zywiec, James S. Clark
Global assessment of aquatic Isoëtes species ecology Global assessment of aquatic Isoëtes species ecology
Isoëtes are iconic but understudied wetland plants, despite having suffered severe losses globally mainly because of alterations in their habitats. We therefore provide the first global ecological assessment of aquatic Isoëtes to identify their environmental requirements and to evaluate if taxonomically related species differ in their ecology.The assessment resulted in an extensive new...
Authors
Mattia M. Azzella, Alice Dalla Vecchia, Thomas Abeli, Janne Alahuhta, Victor B. Amoroso, Enric Ballesteros, Vincent Bertrin, Daniel Brunton, Alexander A. Bobrov, Cecilio Caldeira, Simona Ceschin, Elena V. Chemeris, Martina Ctvrtlikova, Mary de Winton, Esperanca Gacia, Oleg G. Grishutkin, Deborah Hofstra, Daniella Ivanova, Maria O. Ivanova, Nikita K. Konotop, Danelle M. Larson, Sara Magrini, Marit Mjelde, Olga A. Mochalova, Guilherme Oliveira, Ole Pedersen, Jovani B. de S. Pereira, Cristina Ribaudo, Maria Inmaculada Romero Bujan, Angelo Troia, Yulia S. Vinogradova, Polina A. Volkova, Daniel Zandonadi, Nadezhda V. Zueva, Rossano Bolpagni