Publications
Filter Total Items: 1145
New uses for ancient middens: Bridging ecological and evolutionary perspectives
Rodent middens provide a fine-scale spatiotemporal record of plant and animal communities over the late Quaternary. In the Americas, middens have offered insight into biotic responses to past environmental changes and historical factors influencing the distribution and diversity of species. However, few studies have used middens to investigate genetic or ecosystem level responses. Integrating midd
Authors
Katie M. Becklin, Julio L. Betancourt, Joseph Braasch, Olivier Dézerald, Francisca Díaz, Angélica L. González, Robert Harbert, Camille A. Holmgren, Angela D. Hornsby, Claudio L. Latorre, Marjorie D. Matocq, Felisa A. Smith
Nesting and post-fledging predation risk influence diel patterns of songbird fledging
Among stages of avian ontogeny, the act of nest departure or fledging is an abrupt transition into a new environment and a major leap toward independence for offspring. In altricial birds, the timing of fledging is notable in that many species tend to fledge early in the morning. Past studies have proposed nest predation as a key factor driving birds to fledge earlier in the morning (the ‘survival
Authors
Todd M. Jones, Scott J. Chiavacci, Thomas J. Benson, Michael P. Ward
Nisqually River Delta—Humans and nature benefiting together
IntroductionThis is a brochure created in partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Nisqually Indian Tribe, and the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. Designed for a public audience, the brochure describes the history of the Nisqually Indian Tribe, the ecology of the delta, the resources and recreational opportunities available for Refuge visitors, future challenges
Authors
Kristin B. Byrd, Isa Woo, Glynnis Nakai, Debbie Preston, Shonté Jenkins
Flood damage costs beyond buildings—A Lake Champlain case study
IntroductionFloods account for more than 75 percent of Federal disaster declarations and lead other natural disasters in economic costs. Early-warning systems have lowered flood-related fatalities, but costs continue to rise as flood-prone areas continue to be urbanized (U.S. Geological Survey, 2006). A Lake Champlain case study shows that at moderate flood heights, the economic costs of non-struc
Authors
Charles Rhodes
Transporting timbers to Chaco Canyon: How heavy, how many carriers and how far/fast?
A total of 200,000+ large timbers were transported >75 km to Chaco Canyon, a political and religious center in the precontact U.S. Southwest, using only human power. Previous researchers reported that typical primary roof beams (vigas) of Chacoan Great Houses averaged 0.22 m in diameter and 5 m in length with a mass of 275 kg. However, the 275 kg mass appears to be a miscalculation. Here, we calcu
Authors
James A. Wilson, Robert S. Weiner, Jeffrey S. Dean, Julio L. Betancourt, Rodger Kram
Estimating proximity effects to wildfire fuels treatments on house prices in Cibola National Forest, New Mexico, USA
Forested landscapes in the Western United States are subject to growing size and severity of wildfires, in part due to historical management strategies focusing on wildfire suppression. Forest restoration treatments and fuels reductions, including thinning and prescribed burning, can reduce the frequency and intensity of wildfires. Extensive restoration and fuels treatment efforts are underway acr
Authors
Ryan A. Fitch, Julie M. Mueller, James Meldrum, Christopher Huber
Recognizing political influences in participatory social-ecological systems modeling
Stakeholder participation in social-ecological systems (SES) modeling is increasingly considered a desirable way to elicit diverse sources of knowledge about SES behavior and to promote inclusive decision-making in SES. Understanding how participatory modeling processes function in the context of long-term adaptive management of SES may allow for better design of participatory processes to achieve
Authors
Theodore C. Lim, Pierre D. Glynn, Gary W. Shenk, Patrick Bitterman, Joseph H. A. Guillaume, John Little, D. G. Webster
Four conservation challenges and a synthesis
Conservation and management of biological systems involves decision-making over time, with a generic goal of sustaining systems and their capacity to function in the future. We address four persistent and difficult conservation challenges: (1) prediction of future consequences of management, (2) uncertainty about the system's structure, (3) inability to observe ecological systems fully, and (4) no
Authors
Byron K. Williams, Eleanor D. Brown
The value of scientific information — An overview
IntroductionThe U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) provides reliable science, data, information, and models (hereafter collectively referred to as “information”) to describe and understand the Earth. This information is used to minimize loss of life and property from natural disasters; manage water, biological, energy, and mineral resources; and enhance and protect quality of life. USGS science informs
Authors
Emily J. Pindilli, Scott J. Chiavacci, Crista L. Straub
The economic costs of chronic wasting disease in the United States
Cervids are economically important to a wide range of stakeholders and rights holders in the United States. The continued expansion of chronic wasting disease (CWD), a fatal neurodegenerative disease affecting wild and farmed cervids, poses a direct and indirect threat to state and federal government agency operations and cervid related economic activity. However, the scale of this disease’s direc
Authors
Scott J. Chiavacci
Partial observability and management of ecological systems
The actual state of ecological systems is rarely known with certainty, but management actions must often be taken regardless of imperfect measurement (partial observability). Because of the difficulties in accounting for partial observability, it is usually treated in an ad hoc fashion, or simply ignored altogether. Yet incorporating partial observability into decision processes lends a realism th
Authors
Byron K. Williams, Eleanor D. Brown
Estimating the effect of tidal marsh restoration on housing prices: A hedonic analysis in the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, Washington, USA
This study employs the hedonic pricing method and a rich spatial and temporal dataset from two counties in Washington, USA to determine the effect of the 2009 Nisqually Restoration project (NRP) on housing prices in adjacent communities. The NRP restored 308 hectares of wetlands via dike removal in the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge (NNWR), leading to improvements in salmon and
Authors
Anthony J. Good, Emily J. Pindilli