Publications
Click below for access to more than 170,000 publications written by USGS scientists over the century-plus history of the bureau.
Filter Total Items: 820
Estimating the impact of climate and vegetation changes on runoff risk across the Hawaiian landscape Estimating the impact of climate and vegetation changes on runoff risk across the Hawaiian landscape
In Hawai’i, ecosystem conservation practitioners are increasingly considering the potential ecohydrological benefits from applied conservation action to mitigate the degrading impacts of runoff on native and restored ecosystems. One determinant of runoff is excess rainfall events where rainfall rates exceed the infiltration capacity of soils. To help understand runoff risks, we...
Authors
Lucas Fortini, Lauren R. Kaiser, Kimberlie Perkins, Lulin Xue, Yaping Wang
Assessment and guidance for using Laser In-situ Scattering and Transmissometry– Stream-Lined 2 (LISST-SL2) Assessment and guidance for using Laser In-situ Scattering and Transmissometry– Stream-Lined 2 (LISST-SL2)
The Laser In-situ Scattering and Transmissometry–Stream-Lined 2 (LISST-SL2) is a second-generation isokinetic river sediment monitoring device that uses laser diffraction to measure suspended-sediment concentration and particle size between 1 and 500 microns in 36 log-spaced bins at a point in a river every second. We compare this latest laser diffraction instrument for suspended...
Authors
Muneer Ahammad, Jonathan A. Czuba, Christopher A. Curran
Ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae and Platypodinae) associated with rapid ohia death and mixed Metrosideros polymorpha forests on the Island of Kauai, Hawaii Ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae and Platypodinae) associated with rapid ohia death and mixed Metrosideros polymorpha forests on the Island of Kauai, Hawaii
Xyleborini (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) beetles on the island of Kauaʻi, Hawaiʻi, are of interest due to their role in the fungal disease complex, rapid ʻōhiʻa death (ROD), and the unique radiation of endemic ambrosia beetles found across the Hawaiian archipelago. We investigated the status of RODassociated and native ambrosia beetles on Kauaʻi by rearing beetles from bolts collected from...
Authors
Kylle Roy, Ellen Dunkle, Roshan Manandhar, Michelle Clark, Karl N. Magnacca, Kalli Harshman, Robert W. Peck
Land cover differentially affects abundance of common and rare birds Land cover differentially affects abundance of common and rare birds
While rare species are vulnerable to global change, large declines in common species (i.e., those with large population sizes, large geographic distributions, and/or that are habitat generalists) also are of conservation concern. Understanding if and how commonness mediates species' responses to global change, including land cover change, can help guide conservation strategies. We...
Authors
Kristin P. Davis, Paul C. Banko, Liba Pejchar
Crossing the threshold: Invasive grasses inhibit forest restoration on Hawaiian islands Crossing the threshold: Invasive grasses inhibit forest restoration on Hawaiian islands
Forest removal for livestock grazing is a striking example of human-caused state change leading to a stable, undesirable invasive grass system that is resistant to restoration efforts. Understanding which factors lead to resilience to the alternative grass state can greatly benefit managers when planning forest restoration. We address how thresholds of grass cover and seed rain might...
Authors
Evan M Rehm, Carla M. D'Antonio, Stephanie G. Yelenik
Gene expression reveals immune response strategies of naïve Hawaiian honeycreepers experimentally infected with introduced avian malaria Gene expression reveals immune response strategies of naïve Hawaiian honeycreepers experimentally infected with introduced avian malaria
The unprecedented rise in the number of new and emerging infectious diseases in the last quarter century poses direct threats to human and wildlife health. The introduction to the Hawaiian archipelago of Plasmodium relictum and the mosquito vector that transmits the parasite has led to dramatic losses in endemic Hawaiian forest bird species. Understanding how mechanisms of disease...
Authors
Kristina L. Paxton, Loren Cassin-Sackett, Carter T. Atkinson, Elin Videvall, Michael G. Campana, Robert C. Fleischer
Fire modifies plant–soil feedbacks Fire modifies plant–soil feedbacks
Although plant–soil feedbacks (interactions between plants and soils, often mediated by soil microbes, abbreviated as PSFs) are widely known to influence patterns of plant diversity at local and landscape scales, these interactions are rarely examined in the context of important environmental factors. Resolving the roles of environmental factors is important because the environmental...
Authors
Christopher Warneke, Stephanie G. Yelenik, Lars Brudvig
Landscape configuration influences Oma‘o (Myadestes obscurus) song diversity Landscape configuration influences Oma‘o (Myadestes obscurus) song diversity
Acoustic communication in the form of songs is a learned behavior in oscine that can be passed down from one generation to the next through cultural transmission. Over time songs can change when populations become isolated from one another, creating dialects that are distinct to a population. Habitat fragmentation is an isolating mechanism that can influence differences in songs between
Authors
Nicole Fernandez, Kristina L. Paxton, Eben H. Paxton, Adam A. Pack, Patrick J. Hart
Genetic diversity, structure, and effective population size of an endangered, endemic hoary bat, ʻōpeʻapeʻa, across the Hawaiian Islands Genetic diversity, structure, and effective population size of an endangered, endemic hoary bat, ʻōpeʻapeʻa, across the Hawaiian Islands
Island bat species are disproportionately at risk of extinction, and Hawaiʻi’s only native terrestrial land mammal, the Hawaiian hoary bat (Lasiurus semotus) locally known as ʻōpeʻapeʻa, is no exception. To effectively manage this bat species with an archipelago-wide distribution, it is important to determine the population size on each island and connectivity between islands. We used 18...
Authors
Corinna Pinzari, Mona Renee Bellinger, Donald K. Price, Frank J Bonaccorso
Burmese pythons in Florida: A synthesis of biology, impacts, and management tools Burmese pythons in Florida: A synthesis of biology, impacts, and management tools
Burmese pythons (Python molurus bivittatus) are native to southeastern Asia, however, there is an established invasive population inhabiting much of southern Florida throughout the Greater Everglades Ecosystem. Pythons have severely impacted native species and ecosystems in Florida and represent one of the most intractable invasive-species management issues across the globe. The...
Authors
Jacquelyn C. Guzy, Bryan G. Falk, Brian J. Smith, John David Willson, Robert Reed, Nicholas Aumen, Michael L. Avery, Ian A. Bartoszek, Earl Campbell, Michael Cherkiss, Natalie M. Claunch, Andrea Faye Currylow, Tylan Dean, Jeremy Dixon, Richard M. Engeman, Sarah Funck, Rebekah Gibble, Kodiak C. Hengstebeck, John S. Humphrey, Margaret Hunter, Jillian Josimovich, Jennifer Ketterlin Eckles, Michael Kirkland, Frank J. Mazzotti, Robert A. McCleery, Melissa A. Miller, Matthew F. McCollister, M. Rockwell Parker, Shannon E. Pittman, Michael R. Rochford, Christina Romagosa, Art Roybal, Ray W. Snow, McKayla M. Spencer, Hardin Waddle, Amy A. Yackel Adams, Kristen Hart
Out of the frying pan and into the fire: Effects of volcanic heat and other stressors on the conservation of a critically endangered plant in Hawaiʻi Out of the frying pan and into the fire: Effects of volcanic heat and other stressors on the conservation of a critically endangered plant in Hawaiʻi
Loss of local biodiversity resulting from abrupt environmental change is a significant environmental problem throughout the world. Extinctions of plants are particularly important yet are often overlooked. Drawing from a case in Hawai‘i, a global hotspot for plant and other extinctions, we demonstrate an effort to better understand and determine priorities for the management of an...
Authors
Nathan S. Gill, Jeff Stallman, Linda Pratt, Jennifer L. Lewicki, Tamar Elias, Patricia A. Nadeau, Stephanie G. Yelenik
Suppression of invasive Brown Treesnakes and reintroduction of native avifauna on Guam Suppression of invasive Brown Treesnakes and reintroduction of native avifauna on Guam
Many agencies and interest groups are committed to re-establishing components of Guam's native avifauna through the reintroduction of captive-reared birds or translocation from other islands in the Marianas if the Brown Treesnake (Boiga irregularis; BTS) can be eliminated. Island-wide eradication of BTS from Guam continues to appear out of reach, but with recent and future advancement in...
Authors
Robert McElderry, Eben H. Paxton, An Nguyen, Shane R. Siers