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: 42704
Scaling-up camera traps: monitoring the planet's biodiversity with networks of remote sensors Scaling-up camera traps: monitoring the planet's biodiversity with networks of remote sensors
Countries committed to implementing the Convention on Biological Diversity's 2011–2020 strategic plan need effective tools to monitor global trends in biodiversity. Remote cameras are a rapidly growing technology that has great potential to transform global monitoring for terrestrial biodiversity and can be an important contributor to the call for measuring Essential Biodiversity...
Authors
Robin Steenweg, Mark Hebblewhite, Roland Kays, Jorge A. Ahumada, Jason T. Fisher, Cole Burton, Susan E. Townsend, Chris Carbone, J. Marcus Rowcliffe, Jesse Whittington, Jedediah Brodie, Andy Royle, Adam Switalski, Anthony P. Clevenger, Nicole Heim, Lindsey N. Rich
Landscape genetic approaches to guide native plant restoration in the Mojave Desert Landscape genetic approaches to guide native plant restoration in the Mojave Desert
Restoring dryland ecosystems is a global challenge due to synergistic drivers of disturbance coupled with unpredictable environmental conditions. Dryland plant species have evolved complex life-history strategies to cope with fluctuating resources and climatic extremes. Although rarely quantified, local adaptation is likely widespread among these species and potentially influences...
Authors
Daniel F. Shryock, Caroline A. Havrilla, Lesley A. DeFalco, Todd C. Esque, Nathan Custer, Troy E. Wood
Mercury contamination and stable isotopes reveal variability in foraging ecology of generalist California gulls Mercury contamination and stable isotopes reveal variability in foraging ecology of generalist California gulls
Environmental contaminants are a concern for animal health, but contaminant exposure can also be used as a tracer of foraging ecology. In particular, mercury (Hg) concentrations are highly variable among aquatic and terrestrial food webs as a result of habitat- and site-specific biogeochemical processes that produce the bioaccumulative form, methylmercury (MeHg). We used stable isotopes...
Authors
Sarah H. Peterson, Joshua T. Ackerman, Collin A. Eagles-Smith
Temporal segmentation of animal trajectories informed by habitat use Temporal segmentation of animal trajectories informed by habitat use
Most animals live in seasonal environments and experience very different conditions throughout the year. Behavioral strategies like migration, hibernation, and a life cycle adapted to the local seasonality help to cope with fluctuations in environmental conditions. Thus, how an individual utilizes the environment depends both on the current availability of habitat and the behavioral...
Authors
Marielle L. van Toor, Scott H. Newman, John Y. Takekawa, Martin Wegmann, Kamran Safi
Quarterly wildlife mortality report January 2016 to March 2016 Quarterly wildlife mortality report January 2016 to March 2016
No abstract available
Authors
Anne E. Ballmann, Barbara L. Bodenstein, Robert J. Dusek, Daniel R. Grear, Jennifer Chipault
Links between atmosphere, ocean, and cryosphere from two decades of microseism observations on the Antarctic Peninsula Links between atmosphere, ocean, and cryosphere from two decades of microseism observations on the Antarctic Peninsula
The lack of landmasses, climatological low pressure, and strong circumpolar westerly winds between the latitudes of 50°S to 65°S produce exceptional storm‐driven wave conditions in the Southern Ocean. This combination makes the Antarctic Peninsula one of Earth's most notable regions of high‐amplitude wave activity and thus, ocean‐swell‐driven microseism noise in both the primary (direct...
Authors
Robert E. Anthony, Richard C. Aster, Daniel Mcgrath
A global database of ant species abundances A global database of ant species abundances
What forces structure ecological assemblages? A key limitation to general insights about assemblage structure is the availability of data that are collected at a small spatial grain (local assemblages) and a large spatial extent (global coverage). Here, we present published and unpublished data from 51,388 ant abundance and occurrence records of more than 2693 species and 7953...
Authors
Heloise Gibb, Rob R. Dunn, Nathan J. Sanders, Blair F. Grossman, Manoli Photakis, Silvia Abril, Donat Agosti, Alan N. Andersen, Elena Angulo, Ingre Armbrecht, Xavier Arnan, Fabricio B. Baccaro, Tom R. Bishop, Raphael Boulay, Carsten Bruhl, Cristina Castracani, Xim Cerda, Israel Del Toro, Thibaut Delsinne, Mireia Diaz, David A. Donoso, Aaron M. Ellison, Martha L. Enriquez, Tom M. Fayle, Donald H. Feener, Brian L. Fisher, Robert N. Fisher, Matthew C. Fitpatrick, Cristanto Gomez, Nicholas J. Gotelli, Aaron Gove, Donato A. Grasso, Sarah Groc, Benoit Guenard, Nihara Gunawardene, Brian Heterick, Benjamin Hoffmann, Milan Janda, Clinton Jenkins, Michael Kaspari, Petr Klimes, Lori Lach, Thomas Laeger, John Lattke, Maurice Leponce, Jean-Philippe Lessard, John Longino, Andrea Lucky, Sarah H. Luke, Jonathan Majer, Terrence P. McGlynn, Sean Menke, Dirk Mezger, Alessandra Mori, Jimmy Moses, Thinandavha Caswell Munyai, Renata Pacheco, Omid Paknia, Jessica Pearce-Duvet, Martin Pfeiffer, Stacy M. Philpott, Julian Resasco, Javier Retana, Rogerio R. Silva, Magdalena D. Sorger, Jorge Souza, Andrew V. Suarez, Melanie Tista, Heraldo L. Vasconcelos, Merav Vonshak, Michael D. Weiser, Michelle Yates, Catherine L. Parr
Mechanisms of aquatic species invasions across the South Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative region Mechanisms of aquatic species invasions across the South Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative region
Invasive species are a global issue, and the southeastern United States is not immune to the problems they present. Therefore, various analyses using modeling and exploratory statistics were performed on the U.S. Geological Survey Nonindigenous Aquatic Species (NAS) Database with the primary objective of determining the most appropriate use of presence-only data as related to invasive...
Authors
Amy J. Benson, Bradley Stith, Victor C. Engel
Organic contamination in tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) nestlings at United States and binational great Lakes Areas of Concern Organic contamination in tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) nestlings at United States and binational great Lakes Areas of Concern
Contaminant exposure of tree swallows, Tachycineta bicolor, nesting in 27 Areas of Concern (AOCs) in the Great Lakes basin was assessed from 2010 to 2014 to assist managers and regulators in their assessments of Great Lakes AOCs. Contaminant concentrations in nestlings from AOCs were compared with those in nestlings from nearby non-AOC sites. Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) and...
Authors
Thomas W. Custer, Christine M. Custer, Paul M. Dummer, Diana R. Goldberg, J. Christian Franson, Richard A. Erickson
Plague cycles in two rodent species from China: Dry years might provide context for epizootics in wet years Plague cycles in two rodent species from China: Dry years might provide context for epizootics in wet years
Plague, a rodent-associated, flea-borne zoonosis, is one of the most notorious diseases in history. Rates of plague transmission can increase when fleas are abundant. Fleas commonly desiccate and die when reared under dry conditions in laboratories, suggesting fleas will be suppressed during droughts in the wild, thus reducing the rate at which plague spreads among hosts. In contrast...
Authors
David A. Eads, Dean E. Biggins, Lei Xu, Qiyong Liu
Impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on deep-sea coral-associated sediment communities Impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on deep-sea coral-associated sediment communities
Cold-water corals support distinct populations of infauna within surrounding sediments that provide vital ecosystem functions and services in the deep sea. Yet due to their sedentary existence, infauna are vulnerable to perturbation and contaminant exposure because they are unable to escape disturbance events. While multiple deep-sea coral habitats were injured by the 2010 Deepwater...
Authors
Amanda W.J. Demopoulos, Jill R. Bourque, Erik E. Cordes, Katherine Stamler
Four-band image mosaic of the Colorado River corridor downstream of Glen Canyon Dam in Arizona, derived from the May 2013 airborne image acquisition Four-band image mosaic of the Colorado River corridor downstream of Glen Canyon Dam in Arizona, derived from the May 2013 airborne image acquisition
In May 2013, the U.S. Geological Survey’s Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center acquired airborne multispectral high-resolution data for the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, Arizona. The image data, which consist of four color bands (blue, green, red, and near-infrared) with a ground resolution of 20 centimeters, are available to the public as 16-bit geotiff files at http://dx...
Authors
Laura E. Durning, Joel B. Sankey, Philip A. Davis, Temuulen T. Sankey