Publications
Browse publications authored by our scientists. Publications available are: USGS-authored journal articles, series reports, book chapters, other government publications, and more.
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Filter Total Items: 5293
King Rails in southeastern Arkansas are majority resident King Rails in southeastern Arkansas are majority resident
King Rails (Rallus elegans), a declining species of secretive marsh bird, have a mixed migratory strategy, with some individuals migrating and some being year-round residents. Determining the distribution of migratory versus resident King Rails is critical to guiding habitat management and assessing risks to populations. We examined the migratory status of adult King Rails at the Choctaw...
Authors
Jessica M Novobilsky, Caleb Powell Roberts, Jason McCallie, Karen Rowe, Auriel M.V. Fournier
Fostering landscape resilience and species conservation in frequent fire landscapes Fostering landscape resilience and species conservation in frequent fire landscapes
Restoration of dry forest landscapes of the Pacific Northwest often involves the removal of some closed-canopy forest that has expanded due to fire exclusion, but this can conflict with species conservation when species require closed-canopy forest as part of their habitat. Fire refugia—areas within fire perimeters that burn less severely or frequently—might provide a solution to this...
Authors
Jeremy T. Rockweit, Meg A. Krawchuk, David M. Bell, Katie M. Dugger, Damon B. Lesmeister
Rewilding the upper Klamath River Basin: Rapid recolonization of Chinook salmon following the world’s largest dam removal Rewilding the upper Klamath River Basin: Rapid recolonization of Chinook salmon following the world’s largest dam removal
Habitat fragmentation is a global driver of decline in biodiversity, yet evaluations of ecological response following re-connection remain rare. In 2024, four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River were removed, reconnecting over 640 km of anadromous habitat and marking the largest dam removal project completed to date. We used a stationary high-resolution multi-beam imaging SONAR to...
Authors
Damon H. Goodman, Keith Denton, George Pess, James Whelan, Oleksandr Stefankiv, Toz Soto, Alex Corum, Jordan Ortega, Oshun O'Rourke, Mark Hereford, Domenic Giudice, Nicholas A Som
Age and colony variation in Adélie penguin metapopulation vital rates: Insights from a 25-year mark–recapture study Age and colony variation in Adélie penguin metapopulation vital rates: Insights from a 25-year mark–recapture study
Understanding how vital rates vary with age, life-history stage, and among populations is fundamental for predicting the demographic consequences of environmental change, especially in longer-lived species with complex life histories. These species often exhibit delayed maturity and iteroparity, making nuanced demographic insights critical for assessing their long-term viability. This...
Authors
Katie M. Dugger, Grant Ballard, Kerry J Barton, Amélie Lescroël, Phil O’B. Lyver, Annie E. Schmidt, Ainley G. David
Listening for extinction: Range-wide occupancy highlights critical risks and priorities for northern spotted owls Listening for extinction: Range-wide occupancy highlights critical risks and priorities for northern spotted owls
The northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) continues to decline across its range, threatened by habitat disturbances and invasive barred owls (Strix varia). We conducted a range-wide spotted owl occupancy assessment using 2.1 million h of passive acoustic recordings from 4081 survey stations within 1027 randomly selected 5-km2 hexagons across six physiographic regions...
Authors
Damon B. Lesmeister, Julianna M.A. Jenkins, Raymond J. Davis, Natalie M. Rugg, Cara L. Appel, Larissa L. Bailey, Erin Bayne, Chestnut Tara, Leila S. Duchac, Katie M. Dugger, Taylor D. Ellis, Alan B. Franklin, Scott A. Gremel, Aaron Henderson, Edward Henson, J. Mark Higley, James E. Hines, Bruce A. Hollen, William L. Kendall, Taal Levi, Darryl I. MacKenzie, Christopher E. McCafferty, Thomas Munger, David Press, Caroline Provost, Suzanne Reffler, Zachary J. Ruff, James K. Swingle, Erica Tevini, Alaina D. Thomas, Matthew J. Weldy, Kirsten Wert, Angela White, Charles B. Yackulic
Black rails in Baja California Black rails in Baja California
Summarizing records from 1905 to 2025, we document the presence and distribution of the California black rail (Laterallus jamaicensis coturniculus) in northwestern México, particularly Baja California and the Colorado River Delta. This subspecies has a restricted distribution in the western U.S. and northwestern México. We found few records over the past century: sparse detections in the...
Authors
Hiram Rafael Moreno-Higareda, Courtney J. Conway, Héctor Manuel Sánchez-Márquez, Osvel Hinojosa, Enrique Zamora, Hans Sin, Gorgonio Ruiz-Campos, Justyn T. Stahl, Eduardo Palacios, Horacio de la Cueva
Ringtail (Bassariscus astutus) survival in southwestern Oregon Ringtail (Bassariscus astutus) survival in southwestern Oregon
The effective conservation and management of small carnivore populations requires understanding species’ life-history traits and identifying important vital rates that drive population trajectories. However, many of these species are rare or elusive and of state or federal conservation concern, and demographic information is often lacking and difficult to obtain. At the northern limit of...
Authors
Lindsay N. Somers, Katie M. Dugger, DeWaine H. Jackson
Family life is critical for migration and survival in a long-lived social bird Family life is critical for migration and survival in a long-lived social bird
Extended parental care is common among birds and particularly well known among long-lived migratory species. Yet, factors influencing the duration of parental care are poorly understood, and empirical evidence for the functional importance of family life for offspring development is scarce. Using unique tracking and genetic data of 55 adult and juvenile migratory Bewick’s swans, among...
Authors
Hans Linssen, E. Emiel van Loon, Robert E. Wilson, Sarah A. Sonsthagen, Gotz Eichhorn, Judy Shamoun-Baranes, Bart A. Nolet
Competition between invasive round goby and native slimy sculpin in a coldwater laboratory setting Competition between invasive round goby and native slimy sculpin in a coldwater laboratory setting
Slimy sculpin (Cottus cognatus) abundance has substantially declined in many regions of the Laurentian Great Lakes coincident with the arrival and range expansions of invasive round goby (Neogobius melanostomus). Previous studies have shown that round goby can outcompete native mottled sculpin (C. bairdii) for shelter and negatively affect native spoonhead sculpin (C. ricei) growth, but...
Authors
Joshua C. Hoekwater, Sara E. Ang, Darryl W. Hondorp, John Janssen, Kevin M. Keeler, Matthew S. Kornis, John D. Robinson, Ralph W. Tingley, Mark R. Vinson, Brian Weidel, Kelly Filer Robinson
Long-term effects of rangeland improvements on cattle distribution: A ranch-scale case study Long-term effects of rangeland improvements on cattle distribution: A ranch-scale case study
Resource matching can be a common assumption that underlies anthropogenic rangeland improvements for wildlife or livestock. Countless resources are spent on targeted vegetation manipulations for both livestock and wildlife, but selection for improved areas has not been well quantified in livestock. This case study investigates whether cattle exhibit preferential use of historically...
Authors
Sebastian Schreiber, Erica Francis Stuber, Juan J Villalba, Eric Thacker
Microclimate mediates the strength and direction of avian biotic interactions Microclimate mediates the strength and direction of avian biotic interactions
Theory predicts that that the strength and direction of species interactions can shift from being competitive in benign environments toward being facilitative in stressful environments. However, the environmental context dependency of species interactions has rarely been tested in animal communities. We capitalized on a 15-year, landscape-scale dataset, collected annually in a relatively...
Authors
Sarah J. Frey, Brian Daniel Gerber, Adam S. Hadley, Hankyu Kim, Madison Sutton, Nina C. Ferrari, Matthew G. Betts
Biome-scale spatial patterns of avian abundance reveal proactive conservation opportunities in North American grasslands Biome-scale spatial patterns of avian abundance reveal proactive conservation opportunities in North American grasslands
North American grassland birds have experienced steeper population declines than any other avian guild, yet conservation efforts remain largely reactive and fragmented. We used nearly four decades of North American Breeding Bird Survey data to identify biome-scale spatial patterns (clustering) of grassland bird abundance for the Great Plains. Our results reveal an ecological core in the...
Authors
Caleb Powell Roberts, Victoria M. Donovan, Samantha M. Cady, Brandon P.M. Edwards, Scott L. Morford, David Naugle, Rheinhardt Scholtz, Dirac Twidwell, Daniel R. Uden, Dillon T. Fogarty