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The USGS provides unbiased, objective, and impartial scientific information upon which our audiences, including resource managers, planners, and other entities, rely.
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Key breeding habitats of threatened golden eagles across Eastern Canada identified using a multi-level, multi-scale habitat selection approach Key breeding habitats of threatened golden eagles across Eastern Canada identified using a multi-level, multi-scale habitat selection approach
Context In a conservation context, identifying key habitats suitable for reproduction, foraging, or survival is a useful tool, yet challenging for species with large geographic distributions and/or living in remote regions.Objectives The objective of this study is to identify selected habitats at multiple levels and scales of the threatened eastern North American population of golden...
Authors
Laurie D Maynard, Jerome Lemaitre, Jean-Francois Therrien, Tricia A. Miller, Todd E. Katzner, Scott G. Somershoe, Cooper. Jeff, Robert Sargent, Nicolas Lecomte
The influence of time, tide, and place on fine scale nekton distribution: Insights from the San Francisco Estuary The influence of time, tide, and place on fine scale nekton distribution: Insights from the San Francisco Estuary
The location of estuarine organisms varies based on geophysical cycles and environmental conditions, which can strongly bias understanding of organism abundance and distribution. In the San Francisco Estuary, California, extensive monitoring surveys have provided insight into the life history and ecology of certain commercially important or legislatively protected fish species. However...
Authors
Matthew J. Young, Frederick V. Feyrer, Jason L. Hassrick, Shawn Acuna, David E. Ayers, John M. Donovan, Lenny Grimaldo
Developing transmissible vaccines for animal infections Developing transmissible vaccines for animal infections
Many emerging and reemerging pathogens originate from wildlife, but nearly all wild species are unreachable using conventional vaccination, which requires capture of and vaccine administration to individual animals. By enabling immunization at scales sufficient to interrupt pathogen transmission, transmissible vaccines (TVs) that spread themselves through wildlife populations by...
Authors
Daniel G. Streicker, Megan E. Griffiths, Rustom Antia, Laura M. Bergner, Peter Bowman, Maria Vitoria dos Santos de Moraes, Kevin Esvelt, Mike Famulare, Amy T. Gilbert, Biao He, Michael A. Jarvis, David A. Kennedy, Jennifer Kuzma, Carolyne Nasimiyu Wanyonyi, Christopher Remien, Kyle Rosenke, Tonie E. Rocke, Courtney Schreiner, Justin Sheen, David Simons, Ivet A. Yordanova, James J. Bull, Scott L. Nuismer
Acute toxicity of the lampricide 4-nitro-3-(trifluoromethyl)phenol to the Mussel (Obovaria subrotunda), its host (Percina maculata), and a surrogate mussel species (Obovaria olivaria) Acute toxicity of the lampricide 4-nitro-3-(trifluoromethyl)phenol to the Mussel (Obovaria subrotunda), its host (Percina maculata), and a surrogate mussel species (Obovaria olivaria)
The risk of lampricide applications (such as 4-nitro-3-[trifluoromethyl]phenol [TFM]) to nontarget fauna continues to be a concern within the Great Lakes Fishery Commission Sea Lamprey Control Program, especially among imperiled aquatic species—such as native freshwater mussels. The Grand River (Ohio, USA) is routinely treated for larval sea lampreys (Petromyzon marinus), and this river...
Authors
Teresa J. Newton, Nicholas Schloesser, Cheryl Kaye, Chad K. Andresen, Michael A. Boogaard, Christina M. Carter, Ryan Jay Ellingson, Courtney A. Kirkeeng, Justin R. Schueller
Wildlife stewardship on Tribal lands: Our place is in our soul By Serra J. Hoagland and Steven Albert (Eds.), Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. 2023. pp. 432. $59.95 (hardcover). ISBN 978-1-4214-4657-8 Wildlife stewardship on Tribal lands: Our place is in our soul By Serra J. Hoagland and Steven Albert (Eds.), Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. 2023. pp. 432. $59.95 (hardcover). ISBN 978-1-4214-4657-8
Despite thousands of years of land stewardship by Indigenous Peoples, Western ideology and science predominantly influences wildlife management in North America today. Indigenous science and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) extend beyond the scope of Western science and ecological understanding to include knowledge derived from generations of people living as part of ecosystems...
Authors
Johanna M. H. Ford, Ambar A. Melendez Perez, Lindsey A. W. Gapinski, Juliana M. Kaloczi, Michael Rohde, Taylor Siddons, Riggs O. Wilson, Aaron A. Yappert, Robert W. Klaver
Potential impact of annual vaccination with reformulated COVID-19 vaccines: Lessons from the US COVID-19 scenario modeling hub Potential impact of annual vaccination with reformulated COVID-19 vaccines: Lessons from the US COVID-19 scenario modeling hub
Background Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to cause significant hospitalizations and deaths in the United States. Its continued burden and the impact of annually reformulated vaccines remain unclear. Here, we present projections of COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths in the United States for the next 2 years under 2 plausible assumptions about immune escape (20% per year...
Authors
Sung-mok Jung, Sara L Loo, Emily Howerton, Lucie Contamin, Claire P. Smith, Erica Carcelén, Katie Yan, Samantha J Bents, John Levander, Jessi Espino, Joseph C Lemaitre, Koji Sato, Clif D McKee, Alison L Hill, Matteo Chinazzi, Jessica T Davis, Kunpeng Mu, Alessandro Vespignani, Erik T Rosenstrom, Sebastian A Rodriguez-Cartes, Julie S Ivy, Maria E Mayorga, Julie L Swann, Guido Espana, Sean Cavany, Sean M Moore, Alex Perkins, Shi Chen, Rajib Paul, Daniel Janies, Jean-Claude Thill, Ajitesh Srivastava, Majd Al Aawar, Kaiming Bi, Shraddha R Bandekar, Anass Bouchnita, Spencer J Fox, Lauren A. Meyers, Przemyslaw Porebski, Srinivasan Venkatramanan, Aniruddha Adiga, Benjamin Hurt, Brian Klahn, Joseph Outten, Jiangzhuo Chen, Henning Mortveit, Amanda Wilson, Stefan Hoops, Parantapa Bhattacharya, Dustin Machi, Anil Vullikanti, Bryan Lewis, Madhav Marathe, Harry Hochheiser, Michael C. Runge, Katriona Shea, Shaun Truelove, Cécile Viboud, Justin Lessler
Comparison of two methods to detect the northwestern pond turtle (Actinemys marmorata) and the invasive American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) in interior northern California Comparison of two methods to detect the northwestern pond turtle (Actinemys marmorata) and the invasive American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) in interior northern California
Knowledge about the distributions of species and the variables influencing their occurrence is important for their management and conservation, but factors affecting occurrence can vary across the range of a species. Northwestern pond turtles (Actinemys marmorata) are widespread generalist turtles, but are nonetheless of conservation concern throughout their range. To better understand...
Authors
Brian J. Halstead, Patrick M. Kleeman, Caren S. Goldberg, Jonathan P. Rose
Biological soil crusts are more prevalent in warmer and drier environments within the Great Basin ecoregion: Implications for managing annual grass invasion Biological soil crusts are more prevalent in warmer and drier environments within the Great Basin ecoregion: Implications for managing annual grass invasion
Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) can thrive under environmental conditions that are stressful for vascular plants such as high temperatures and/or extremely low moisture availability. In these settings, and in the absence of disturbance, cover of biocrusts commonly exceeds cover of vascular plants. Arid landscapes are also typically slow to recover from disturbance and prone to altered
Authors
Lea A. Condon, John B. Bradford, Peter S. Coates
Evolving wildlife management cultures of governance through Indigenous Knowledges and perspectives Evolving wildlife management cultures of governance through Indigenous Knowledges and perspectives
Within governance agencies, academia, and communities alike, there are increasing calls to recognize the value and importance of culture within social-ecological systems and to better implement Indigenous sciences in research, policy, and management. Efforts thus far have raised questions about the best ethical practices to do so. Engaging with plural worldviews and perspectives on their...
Authors
Jonathan J. Fisk, Kirsten Leong, Richard Eugene Waggaman Berl, Jonathan W. Long, Adam Landon, Melinda Adams, Don L. Hankins, Christopher J. Williams, Frank K. Lake, Jonathan Salerno
Ecology shapes the genomic and biosynthetic diversification of Streptomyces bacteria from insectivorous bats Ecology shapes the genomic and biosynthetic diversification of Streptomyces bacteria from insectivorous bats
Streptomyces are prolific producers of secondary metabolites from which many clinically useful compounds have been derived. They inhabit diverse habitats but have rarely been reported in vertebrates. Here, we aim to determine to what extent the ecological source (bat host species and cave sites) influence the genomic and biosynthetic diversity of Streptomyces bacteria. We analysed draft...
Authors
Manuela Montoya-Giraldo, Kathryn R. Piper, Odion O. Ikhimiukor, Cooper J. Park, Nicole A. Caimi, Debbie C. Buecher, Ernest W. Valdez, Diana E. Northup, Cheryl P. Andam
Hunting mode and habitat selection mediate the success of human hunters Hunting mode and habitat selection mediate the success of human hunters
Background As a globally widespread apex predator, humans have unprecedented lethal and non-lethal effects on prey populations and ecosystems. Yet compared to non-human predators, little is known about the movement ecology of human hunters, including how hunting behavior interacts with the environment.Methods We characterized the hunting modes, habitat selection, and harvest success of...
Authors
Kaitlyn M. Gaynor, Michael C Mcinturff, Briana L. Abrahms, Alison M. Smith, Justin S. Brashares
High-quality, chromosome-level reference genomes of the viviparous Caribbean skinks Spondylurus nitidus and S. culebrae High-quality, chromosome-level reference genomes of the viviparous Caribbean skinks Spondylurus nitidus and S. culebrae
New World mabuyine skinks are a diverse radiation of morphologically cryptic lizards with unique reproductive biologies. Recent studies examining population-level data (morphological, ecological, and genomic) have uncovered novel biodiversity and phenotypes, including the description of dozens of new species and insights into the evolution of their highly complex placental structures...
Authors
Danielle Rivera, James B. Henderson, Athena W. Lam, Nathan J. Hostetter, Jaime A. Collazo, Rayna C. Bell