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: 5083
Assessing the vulnerability of military installations in the coterminous United States to potential biome shifts resulting from rapid climate change Assessing the vulnerability of military installations in the coterminous United States to potential biome shifts resulting from rapid climate change
Climate change impacts to Department of Defense (DoD) installations will challenge future military mission and natural resource stewardship efforts by increasing vulnerability to flooding, drought, altered fire regimes, invasive species, etc. We developed biome classifications based on current climate for the coterminous United States using the Holdridge Life Zone system to assess...
Authors
Richard H. Odom, W. Mark Ford
Benthic suffocation of invasive lake trout embryos by fish carcasses and sedimentation in Yellowstone Lake Benthic suffocation of invasive lake trout embryos by fish carcasses and sedimentation in Yellowstone Lake
Introduced Lake Trout Salvelinus namaycush threaten native Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout Oncorhynchus clarkii bouvieri in Yellowstone Lake, Yellowstone National Park, where gill nets have been used to suppress subadult and adult Lake Trout since 1995. However, survival of embryonic and larval life history stages can have profound effects on the population dynamics of Lake Trout. Inducing...
Authors
Alex S. Poole, Todd M. Koel, Nathan A. Thomas, Alexander V. Zale
Using a structured decision analysis to evaluate bald eagle vital signs monitoring in Southwest Alaska National Parks Using a structured decision analysis to evaluate bald eagle vital signs monitoring in Southwest Alaska National Parks
1. Monitoring programs can benefit from an adaptive monitoring approach, where key decisions about why, where, what, and how to monitor are revisited periodically in order to ensure programmatic relevancy. 2. The National Park Service (NPS) monitors status and trends of Vital Signs to evaluate compliance with the NPS mission. Although abundant, The Southwest Alaska Network (SWAN)...
Authors
Rebecca Kolstrom, Tammy L. Wilson, Larry M. Gigliotti
Extreme drought and adaptive resource selection by a desert mammal Extreme drought and adaptive resource selection by a desert mammal
When animals select areas to occupy, decisions involve trade-offs between the fitness benefits of obtaining critical resources and minimizing costs of biotic and abiotic factors that constrain their use. These processes can be more dynamic and complex for species inhabiting desert environments, where highly variable spatial and temporal distribution of precipitation can create high intra...
Authors
Jay V. Gedir, James W. Cain, Tyson Swetnam, Paul R. Krausman, John R. Morgart
Indexing age-0 Walleye abundance in northern Wisconsin lakes Before fall Indexing age-0 Walleye abundance in northern Wisconsin lakes Before fall
Age-0 Walleye Sander vitreus recruitment is often indexed using fall electrofishing surveys. However, collecting fish before fall may provide timely information regarding stocking decisions and factors influencing recruitment. We evaluated sampling methods for age-0 Walleye in northern Wisconsin lakes that could be used to assess recruitment in spring and summer. Initial assessments on...
Authors
Hadley I. A. Boehm, Jason C. Gostiaux, Gretchen J. A. Hansen, Daniel A. Isermann
Wave-like patterns of plant phenology determine ungulate movement tactics Wave-like patterns of plant phenology determine ungulate movement tactics
Animals exhibit a diversity of movement tactics [1]. Tracking resources that change across space and time is predicted to be a fundamental driver of animal movement [2]. For example, some migratory ungulates (i.e., hooved mammals) closely track the progression of highly nutritious plant green-up, a phenomenon called “green-wave surfing” [3-5]. Yet, general principles describing how the...
Authors
Ellen O. Aikens, Atle Mysterud, Jerod A. Merkle, Francesca Cagnacci, Inger Maren Rivrud, Mark Hebblewhite, Mark Hurley, Wibke Peters, Scott Bergen, Johannes De Groeve, Samantha P. H. Dwinnell, Benedikt Gehr, Marco Heurich, A. J. Mark Hewison, Anders Jarnemo, Petter Kjellander, Max Kroschel, Alain Licoppe, John D. C. Linnell, Evelyn H. Merrill, Arthur D. Middleton, Nicolas Morellet, Lalenia Neufeld, Anna C. Ortega, Katherine L. Parker, Luca Pedrotti, Kelly Proffitt, Sonia Said, Hall Sawyer, Brandon M. Scurlock, Johannes Signer, Patrick Stent, Pavel Sustr, Tara Szkorupa, Kevin L. Monteith, Matthew Kauffman
Living on the edge: Multi-scale analyses of bird habitat use in coastal marshes of Barataria Basin, Louisiana, USA Living on the edge: Multi-scale analyses of bird habitat use in coastal marshes of Barataria Basin, Louisiana, USA
Coastal marsh loss, combined with expected sea-level rise, will cause inundation and extensive shifts to vegetation and salinity regimes that may affect the bird species dependent on coastal ecosystems worldwide. Within coastal marsh habitats, birds provide key targets for coastal management goals. However, limited information on bird-habitat relationships within coastal marshes inhibits...
Authors
Brett Patton, J. A. Nyman, Megan K. La Peyre
Projected climate and land use changes drive plant community composition in agricultural wetlands Projected climate and land use changes drive plant community composition in agricultural wetlands
Playa wetlands in the Great Plains, USA support a wide variety of plant species not found elsewhere in this agriculturally-dominated region due to the ephemeral presence of standing water and hydric soils within playas. If longer dry periods occur due to climate change or if changes in surrounding land use alter sediment accumulation rates and water storage capacity in playas, plant...
Authors
Rachel K. Owen, Elisabeth B. Webb, David A. Haukos, Keith W. Goyne
Defining the need for genetic stock assignment when describing stock demographics and dynamics: An example using Lake Whitefish in Lake Michigan Defining the need for genetic stock assignment when describing stock demographics and dynamics: An example using Lake Whitefish in Lake Michigan
Genetic stock assignment is not routinely used when describing the dynamics and demographics of individual stocks supporting mixed-stock fisheries, and capture location and timing are often used as alternative assignment methods. However, variation in stock demographics and dynamics may not be accounted for if stock assignments based on capture location or timing do not accurately...
Authors
Daniel A. Isermann, Matthew J. Belnap, Keith N. Turnquist, Brian L. Sloss, Justin A. VanDeHey, Scott P. Hansen, David C. Caroffino
A multifaceted reconstruction of the population structure and life history expressions of a remnant metapopulation of Bonneville Cutthroat Trout: Implications for maintaining intermittent connectivity A multifaceted reconstruction of the population structure and life history expressions of a remnant metapopulation of Bonneville Cutthroat Trout: Implications for maintaining intermittent connectivity
Fishes that evolutionarily demonstrated a fluvial life history expression and migrated to spawning and rearing habitat by using lotic corridors are increasingly impacted by fragmentation. The overall goal of this study was to identify the contemporary importance of main-stem connectivity and tributaries for maintaining life history expression, population structure, and viability of a...
Authors
Phaedra E. Budy, Paul D. Thompson, Matt D. McKell, Gary P. Thiede, Timothy E. Walsworth, Mary M. Conner
Genetic structure of Smallmouth Bass in the Lake Michigan and Upper Mississippi River drainages relates to habitat, distance, and drainage boundaries: Smallmouth bass population genetic structure Genetic structure of Smallmouth Bass in the Lake Michigan and Upper Mississippi River drainages relates to habitat, distance, and drainage boundaries: Smallmouth bass population genetic structure
Analysis of genetic connectivity helps to define stock boundaries and provides information on interpopulation dynamics, such as migration and spawning site fidelity. We used 16 microsatellite loci to describe the genetic population structure of 1,215 Smallmouth Bass Micropterus dolomieu from 32 sites throughout the upper Mississippi River and Lake Michigan watersheds. We found that...
Authors
Peter T. Euclide, Jenna Ruzich, Scott P. Hansen, David Rowe, Troy G. Zorn, Wesley Larson
The abundance of Greater Sage-Grouse as a proxy for the abundance of sagebrush-associated songbirds in Wyoming, USA The abundance of Greater Sage-Grouse as a proxy for the abundance of sagebrush-associated songbirds in Wyoming, USA
Surrogate-species concepts are prevalent in animal conservation. Such strategies advocate for conservation by proxy, wherein one species is used to represent other taxa to obtain a conservation objective. The efficacy of such approaches has been rarely assessed empirically, but is predicated on concordance between the surrogate and sympatric taxa in distribution, abundance, and...
Authors
Jason D. Carlisle, Anna D. Chalfoun