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: 42864
Extreme drought impacts have been underestimated in grasslands and shrublands globally Extreme drought impacts have been underestimated in grasslands and shrublands globally
Drought has well-documented societal and economic consequences. Climate change is expected to intensify drought to even more extreme levels, but because such droughts have been historically rare, their impact on ecosystem functioning is not well known. We experimentally imposed the most frequent type of intensified drought—one that is ~1 y in duration—at 100 grassland and shrubland sites
Authors
Melinda D. Smith, Kate D Wilkins, Martin C. Holdrege, Peter A. Wilfahrt, Scott L. Collins, Alan K. Knapp, Osvaldo E. Sala, Jeffrey S. Dukes, Richard P. Phillips, Laura Yahdjian, Laureano A. Gherardi, Timothy Ohlert, Claus Beier, Lauchlan H. Fraser, Anke Jentsch, Michael E. Loik, Fernando T. Maestre, Sally A. Power, Qiang Yu, Andrew J. Felton, Seth M. Munson, Yiqi Luo, Hamed Abdoli, Mehdi Abedi, Concepcion L. Alados, Juan Alberti, Moshe Alon, Hui An, Brian Anacker, Maggie Anderson, Harald Auge, Seton Bachle, Khadijeh Bahalkeh, Michael Bahn, Amgaa Batbaatar, Taryn Bauerle, Karen H. Beard, Kai Behn, Ilka Beil, Lucio Biancari, Irmgard Blindow, Viviana Florencia Bondaruk, Elizabeth T. Borer, Edward W. Bork, Carlos Martin Bruschetti, Kerry M. Byrne, James F. Cahill Jr., Dianela A. Calvo, Michele Carbognani, Augusto Cardoni, Cameron N. Carlyle, Miguel Castillo-Garcia, Scott X. Chang, Jeff Chieppa, Marcus V. Cianciaruso, Ofer Cohen, Amanda L. Cordeiro, Daniela F. Cusack, Sven Dahlke, Pedro Daleo, Carla M. D'Antonio, Lee H. Dietterich, Tim S. Doherty, Maren Dubbert, Anne Ebling, Nico Eisenhauer, Felicia M. Fischer, T’ai G. W. Forte, Tobias Gebauer, Beatriz Gozalo, Aaron C. Greenville, Karlo G. Guidoni-Martins, Heather J. Hannusch, Siri Vatso Haugum, Yann Hautier, Mariet Hefting, Hugh A. L. Henry, Daniela Hoss, Johannes Ingrisch, Oscar Iribarne, Forest Isbell, Yari Johnson, Samuel E. Jordan, Eugene F. Kelly, Kaitlin Kimmel, Juergen Kreyling, Gyorgy Kroel-Dulay, Alicia Kropfl, Angelika Kubert, Andrew Kulmatiski, Eric G. Lamb, Klaus Steenberg Larsen, Julie Larson, Jason Lawson, Cintia V. Leder, Anja Linstadter, Jielin Liu, Shirong Liu, Alexandra G. Lodge, Grisel Longo, Alejandro Loydi, Junwei Luan, Frederick Curtis Lubbe, Craig Macfarlane, Kathleen Mackie-Haas, Andrey V. Malyshev, Adrian Maturano-Ruiz, Thomas Merchant, Daniel B. Metcalfe, Akira S. Mori, Edwin Mudongo, Gregory S. Newman, Uffe N. Nielsen, Dale Nimmo, Yujie Niu, Paola Nobre, Rory C. O’Connor, Roma Ogaya, Gastón R. Oñatibia, Ildiko Orban, Brooke B. Osborne, Rafael Otfinowski, Meelis Pärtel, Josep Penuelas, Pablo L. Peri, Guadalupe Peter, Alessandro Petraglia, Catherine Picon-Cochard, Valerio D. Pillar, Juan Manuel Pineiro-Guerra, Laura W. Ploughe, Robert M. Plowes, Cristy Portales-Reyes, Suzanne M. Prober, Yolanda Pueyo, Sasha C. Reed, Euan G. Ritchie, Dana Aylen Rodriguez, William E. Rogers, Christiane Roscher, Ana M. Sánchez, Bráulio A. Santos, Maria Cecilia Scarfo, Eric W. Seabloom, Baoku Shu, Lara Souza, Andreas Stampfli, Rachel J. Standish, Marcelo Sternberg, Wei Sun, Marie Sunnemann, Michelle Tedder, Pal Thorvaldsen, Dashuan Tian, Katja Tielborger, Alejandro Valdecantos, Liesbeth van den Brink, Vigdis Vandvik, Mathew R. Vankoughnett, Liv Guri Velle, Changhui Wang, Yi Wang, Glenda M. Wardle, Christiane Werner, Cunzheng Wei, Georg Wiehl, Jennifer L. Williams, Amelia A. Wolf, Michaela Zeiter, Fawei Zhang, Juntao Zhu, Ning Zong, Xiaoan Zuo
Comparing maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods for fitting hidden Markov models to multi-state capture-recapture data of invasive carp in the Illinois River Comparing maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods for fitting hidden Markov models to multi-state capture-recapture data of invasive carp in the Illinois River
Background Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) are often used to model multi-state capture-recapture data in ecology. However, a variety of HMM modeling approaches and software exist, including both maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods. The diversity of these methods obscures the underlying HMM and can exaggerate minor differences in parameterization.Methods In this paper, we describe a...
Authors
Charles J. Labuzzetta, Alison A. Coulter, Richard A. Erickson
Can the planetary health concept save freshwater biodiversity and ecosystems? Can the planetary health concept save freshwater biodiversity and ecosystems?
People clearly need and benefit from healthy freshwater ecosystems; Given the precarious state of these important systems and services, current efforts to address the freshwater biodiversity crisis remain insufficient. Planetary health is an emerging framework that aims to secure the state of natural systems within environmental limits that ensure humanity can flourish. The planetary...
Authors
Steven J. Cooke, Abigail Lynch, David Tickner, Robin Abell, Tatenda Dalu, Kathryn J. Fiorella, Rajeev Raghavan, Ian J. Harrison, Sonja C. Jahnig, Derek Vollmer, Steve Carpenter
Subsurface redox interactions regulate ebullitive methane flux in heterogeneous Mississippi River deltaic wetland Subsurface redox interactions regulate ebullitive methane flux in heterogeneous Mississippi River deltaic wetland
As interfaces connecting terrestrial and ocean ecosystems, coastal wetlands develop temporally and spatially complex redox conditions, which drive uncertainties in greenhouse gas emission as well as the total carbon budget of the coastal ecosystem. To evaluate the role of complex redox reactions in methane emission from coastal wetlands, a coupled reactive-transport model was configured...
Authors
Jiaze Wang, Theresa O’Meara, Sophie LaFond-Hudson, Songjie He, Kanchan Maiti, Eric Ward, Benjamin N. Sulman
Environmental and geographical factors influence the occurrence and abundance of the southern house mosquito, Culex quinquefasciatus, in Hawai‘i Environmental and geographical factors influence the occurrence and abundance of the southern house mosquito, Culex quinquefasciatus, in Hawai‘i
Hawaiian honeycreepers, a group of endemic Hawaiian forest birds, are being threatened by avian malaria, a non-native disease that is driving honeycreepers populations to extinction. Avian malaria is caused by the parasite Plasmodium relictum, which is transmitted by the invasive mosquito Culex quinquefasciatus. Environmental and geographical factors play an important role in shaping...
Authors
Oswaldo Villena, Katherine Maria McClure, Richard J. Camp, Dennis A. LaPointe, Carter T. Atkinson, Helen Sofaer, Lucas Berio Fortini
The geographic extent of bird populations affected by renewable-energy development The geographic extent of bird populations affected by renewable-energy development
Bird populations are declining globally. Wind and solar energy can reduce emissions of fossil fuels that drive anthropogenic climate change, yet renewable-energy production represents a potential threat to bird species. Surveys to assess potential effects at renewable-energy facilities are exclusively local, and the geographic extent encompassed by birds killed at these facilities is...
Authors
Hannah Vander Zander, David H. Nelson, Tara Conkling, Taber Allison, James E. Diffendorfer, Thomas Dietsch, Amy L Fesnock, Scott Loss, Patricia Ortiz, Robin Paulmann, Krysta Rodgers, Peter M. Sanzenbacher, Todd E. Katzner
Limitations of invasive snake control tools in the context of a new invasion on an island with abundant prey Limitations of invasive snake control tools in the context of a new invasion on an island with abundant prey
In October 2020, a new population of invasive brown treesnakes (Boiga irregularis) was discovered on the 33-ha Cocos Island, 2.5 km off the south coast of Guam. Cocos Island is a unique conservation resource, providing refuge for many lizards and birds, including endangered species, which were extirpated from mainland Guam by invasive predators including brown treesnakes. We sought to...
Authors
Shane R. Siers, Melia Gail Nafus, Jaried E. Calaor, Rachel M. Volsteadt, Matthew S. Grassi, Megan Volsteadt, Aaron F. Collins, Patrick D Barnhart, Logan Tanner Huse, Amy A. Yackel Adams, Diane L. Vice
Spawning habitat selection and egg deposition by reintroduced Lake Sturgeon in a tributary to Cayuga Lake, NY Spawning habitat selection and egg deposition by reintroduced Lake Sturgeon in a tributary to Cayuga Lake, NY
In June 2017, we documented the first observed spawning event by a reintroduced population of Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) in Fall Creek, a tributary to Cayuga Lake, New York, USA. This is the first observed spawning encounter of adult Lake Sturgeon since the beginning of the multi-agency Lake Sturgeon restoration effort in Cayuga Lake initiated in 1995 by the New York State...
Authors
Dawn E. Dittman, Marc Chalupnicki, Phyllis Randall, Emily C. Zollweg-Horan
Reply to comment on "Five decades of observed daily precipitation reveal longer and more variable drought events across much of the western United States" Reply to comment on "Five decades of observed daily precipitation reveal longer and more variable drought events across much of the western United States"
Paciorek and Wehner raise important questions around our use of the Mann-Kendall nonparametric trend test on smoothed data for analyzing long-term hydrometeorological trends in Zhang et al. (2021, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020gl092293). We thank them for initiating this important conversation and their gracious cooperation in exploring the issues addressed in their comment. In this reply...
Authors
Joel A. Biederman, Fangyue Zhang, Matthew P. Dannenberg, Dong Yan, Sasha C. Reed, William K. Smith
Contrasting demographic responses under future climate for two populations of a montane amphibian Contrasting demographic responses under future climate for two populations of a montane amphibian
For species with complex life histories, climate change can have contrasting effects for different life stages within locally adapted populations and may result in responses counter to general climate change predictions. Using data from two, 14-year demographic studies for a North American montane amphibian, Cascades frog (Rana cascadae), we quantified how aspects of current climate...
Authors
Amanda M. Kissel, Wendy J. Palen, Michael J. Adams, Justin M Garwood
A dataset of amphibian species in U.S. National Parks A dataset of amphibian species in U.S. National Parks
National parks and other protected areas are important for preserving landscapes and biodiversity worldwide. An essential component of the mission of the United States (U.S.) National Park Service (NPS) requires understanding and maintaining accurate inventories of species on protected lands. We describe a new, national-scale synthesis of amphibian species occurrence in the NPS system...
Authors
Benjamin Lafrance, Andrew M. Ray, Robert N. Fisher, Evan H. Campbell Grant, Charles Shafer, David Beamer, Stephen Frank Spear, Todd W Pierson, Jon M. Davenport, Matthew L. Niemiller, R. Alexander Pyron, Brad Glorioso, William Barichivich, Brian J. Halstead, Kory Roberts, Blake R. Hossack
Non-negligible near-term risk of extinction to the eastern migratory population of monarch butterflies—An updated assessment (2006–22) Non-negligible near-term risk of extinction to the eastern migratory population of monarch butterflies—An updated assessment (2006–22)
The eastern migratory population of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) started declining as early as the mid-1970s and seemed to stop declining by the early 2000s; the population now (about 2022) persists at a much-reduced abundance. Stochastic variation in abundance, at levels typical of monarch butterflies and other insects, was assessed to determine whether this population is at...
Authors
Wayne E. Thogmartin