Publications
Browse more than 160,000 publications authored by our scientists over the past 100+ year history of the USGS. Publications available are: USGS-authored journal articles, series reports, book chapters, other government publications, and more.
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An assessment of N, P, Fe, Zn, Ni and Mo limitation on suspended nutrient diffusing substrates in nearshore areas of Lake Michigan and Lake Erie An assessment of N, P, Fe, Zn, Ni and Mo limitation on suspended nutrient diffusing substrates in nearshore areas of Lake Michigan and Lake Erie
In large lakes, metal availability sometimes limits the acquisition of nutrients (nitrogen, N and phosphorus, P) in offshore waters that are relatively isolated from tributaries and sediments. We hypothesize that metals may also be important within harmful algal blooms (HABs). HABs occur where nutrient loads are elevated, but bioassays often indicate that phytoplankton in HABs are N or P...
Authors
James H. Larson, David M. Costello, Jordyn T. Stoll, Andrea S. Fitzgibbon, Sean Bailey, Mary Anne Evans
Quantifying potential effects of China’s gallium and germanium export restrictions on the U.S. economy Quantifying potential effects of China’s gallium and germanium export restrictions on the U.S. economy
China’s export controls on gallium and germanium exemplify concerns regarding the reliability of supplies of mineral commodities that are essential to economic development, national security, and transition to renewable energy. This report presents a new model that quantifies the potential effects of mineral commodity supply disruptions on the U.S. economy. After calculating...
Authors
Nedal T. Nassar, Ensieh Shojaeddini, Elisa Alonso, Brian Jaskula, Amy Tolcin
Climate change amplifies ongoing declines in sagebrush ecological integrity Climate change amplifies ongoing declines in sagebrush ecological integrity
Understanding how climate change will contribute to ongoing declines in sagebrush ecological integrity is critical for informing natural resource management, yet complicated by interactions with wildfire and biological invasions. Here, we assessed potential future changes in sagebrush ecological integrity under a range of scenarios using an individual plant-based simulation model...
Authors
Martin C. Holdrege, Kyle A. Palmquist, Daniel Rodolphe Schlaepfer, William K. Lauenroth, Chad S. Boyd, Megan K. Creutzburg, Michele R. Crist, Kevin E. Doherty, Thomas E. Remington, John C. Tull, Lief A. Wiechman, John B. Bradford
Forest cover influences fish mercury concentrations in national parks of the western U.S. Forest cover influences fish mercury concentrations in national parks of the western U.S.
The global prevalence of mercury (Hg) contamination and its complex biogeochemical cycling has resulted in elevated Hg concentrations in biota in remote and pristine environments. However, there is uncertainty in the relative importance of Hg deposition and landscape factors that control Hg cycling and bioaccumulation. To address this, we measured total mercury (THg) concentrations in...
Authors
Colleen M. Flanagan-Pritz, Branden L. Johnson, James Willacker, Christopher M. Kennedy, Ninette R. Daniele, Collin A. Eagles-Smith
Hatch timing of largemouth bass: Implications for recruitment at the northern edge of their native range Hatch timing of largemouth bass: Implications for recruitment at the northern edge of their native range
Climate-related shifts in hatch timing could mean that age-0 largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides in north temperate lakes reach larger sizes and experience higher survival, which may contribute to increased prevalence of this species in many lakes. However, information on age-0 largemouth bass life history is lacking for these lakes. We estimated hatch dates, daily growth rates (DGR)...
Authors
Giancarlo Coppola, Craig J. Kelling, Daniel J. Dembkowski, Daniel A. Isermann
Reframing conservation audiences from individuals to social beings Reframing conservation audiences from individuals to social beings
Environmental practitioners often develop communications and behavior change interventions that conceptualize individuals as consumers or as other limited, standalone personae. This view neglects the role of conservation audiences as social beings with complex social relationships and networks, potentially resulting in lost opportunities to increase the effectiveness of conservation...
Authors
L. Thomas-Walters, V. Cologna, E. de Lange, J. Ettinger, M. Selinske, Megan Siobhan Jones
Learning from the past and planning for the future: Experience-driven insight into managing for ecosystem transformations induced by drought and wildfire Learning from the past and planning for the future: Experience-driven insight into managing for ecosystem transformations induced by drought and wildfire
Drought and wildfire pose enormous threats to the integrity of natural resources that land managers are charged with protecting. Recent observations and modeling forecasts indicate that these stressors will likely produce catastrophic ecosystem transformations, or abrupt changes in the condition of plants, wildlife, and their habitats, in regions across the country in coming decades. In...
Authors
Seth M. Munson, Brian Petersen
Migratory strategies across an ecological barrier: Is the answer blowing in the wind? Migratory strategies across an ecological barrier: Is the answer blowing in the wind?
Background: Ecological barriers can shape the movement strategies of migratory animals that navigate around or across them, creating migratory divides. Wind plays a large role in facilitating aerial migrations, and can temporally or spatially change the challenge posed by an ecological barrier, with beneficial winds potentially converting a barrier to a corridor. Here, we explore the...
Authors
Rosalyn E. Bathrick, James A. Johnson, Daniel R. Ruthrauff, Rebekah Snyder, Maria Stager, Nathan R. Senner
Climate futures for lizards and snakes in western North America may result in new species management issues Climate futures for lizards and snakes in western North America may result in new species management issues
We assessed changes in fundamental climate-niche space for lizard and snake species in western North America under modeled climate scenarios to inform natural resource managers of possible shifts in species distributions. We generated eight distribution models for each of 130 snake and lizard species in western North America under six time-by-climate scenarios. We combined the highest...
Authors
David S. Pilliod, Michelle I. Jeffries, Robert Arkle, Deanna H. Olson
Propagating observation errors to enable scalable and rigorous enumeration of plant population abundance with aerial imagery Propagating observation errors to enable scalable and rigorous enumeration of plant population abundance with aerial imagery
Estimating and monitoring plant population size is fundamental for ecological research, as well as conservation and restoration programs. High-resolution imagery has potential to facilitate such estimation and monitoring. However, remotely sensed estimates typically have higher uncertainty than field measurements, risking biased inference on population status.We present a model that...
Authors
Andrii Zaiats, Trevor Caughlin, Jennyffer Cruz, David S. Pilliod, Megan E Cattau, Rongsong Liu, Richard Rachman, Maisha Maliha, Donna M. Delparte, John DF Clare
Accounting for multiple uncertainties in a decision-support population viability assessment Accounting for multiple uncertainties in a decision-support population viability assessment
Conservation and management decisions often must be made on strict timelines, based on the “best available information” regarding a species’ current and expected future status. Simulation models are valuable tools for predicting a species’ future status but must incorporate multiple types of uncertainty in order to provide a complete understanding of plausible outcomes. Here we present a
Authors
Erica M. Christensen, Abigail Jean Lawson, E. Rivenbark, P.K. London, D. Castellanos, J.C. Culbertson, S.M. DeMay, C. Eakin, L.S. Pearson, K. Soileau, J. Hardin Waddle, Conor P. McGowan
EthoCRED: A framework to guide reporting and evaluation of the relevance and reliability of behavioural ecotoxicity studies EthoCRED: A framework to guide reporting and evaluation of the relevance and reliability of behavioural ecotoxicity studies
Behavioural analysis has been attracting significant attention as a broad indicator of sub-lethal toxicity and has secured a place as an important subdiscipline in ecotoxicology. Among the most notable characteristics of behavioural research, compared to other established approaches in sub-lethal ecotoxicology (e.g. reproductive and developmental bioassays), are the wide range of study...
Authors
Michael G. Bertram, Marlene Agerstrand, Eli S.J. Thore, Joel Allen, Sigal Balshine, Jack A. Brand, Bryan W. Brooks, ZhiChao Dang, Sabine Duquesne, Alex T. Ford, Frauke Hoffmann, Henner Hollert, Stefanie Jacob, Werner Kloas, Nils Kluver, Jim Lazorchak, Mariana Ledesma, Gerd Maack, Erin L. Macartney, Jake M. Martin, Steven D. Melvin, Marcus Michelangeli, Silvia Mohr, Stephanie Padilla, Gregory G. Pyle, Minna Saaristo, Rene Sahm, Els Smit, Jeffery A. Steevens, Sanne van den Berg, Laura E. Vossen, Donald Wlodkowic, Bob B.M. Wong, Michael Ziegler, Tomas Brodin