Publications
This list of publications includes peer-review journal articles, official USGS publications series, reports and more authored by scientists in the Ecosystems Mission Area. A database of all USGS publications, with advanced search features, can be accessed at the USGS Publications Warehouse.
Filter Total Items: 41638
First documentation of grass carp spawning in Lake Erie’s Central Basin
Grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) are non-indigenous to North America having been translocated to the United States in the 1960s as a potential non-chemical solution for nuisance aquatic vegetation. Reproductively viable grass carp now exist in many watersheds in the United States. In the Great Lakes basin, grass carp were first discovered in the 1980s with direct confirmation of successful rep
Authors
Corbin David Hilling, Adam J. Landry, James Roberts, Nathan Thompson, Cathy A. Richter, Ryan E. Brown, Christine M. Mayer, Song S. Qian
West Nile virus (avian) case definition for wildlife
Diagnostic laboratories receive carcasses and samples for diagnostic evaluation and pathogen/toxin detection. Case definitions bring clarity and consistency to the evaluation process. Their use within and between organizations allows more uniform reporting of diseases and etiologic agents. The intent of a case definition is to provide scientifically based criteria for determining (a) if an individ
Authors
Stéphane Lair, Valerie I. Shearn-Bochsler, Marnie Zimmer
Albinism in American Bullfrog, Lithobates catesbeianus Shaw, 1802 tadpoles from the Gila River, New Mexico, USA
No abstract available.
Authors
Andrew M. Ray, J Andy Hubbard, Owen T Brown, Elizabeth R Schnaubelt, J. Tomasz Giermakowski, Erin R Zylstra, Blake R. Hossack
The influence of channel morphology and hydraulic complexity on larval pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus) drift and dispersal dynamics in the Fort Peck Segment, Upper Missouri River: Insights from particle tracking simulations
Longitudinal dispersal of migratory fish species can be interrupted by factors that fragment rivers, such as dams and reservoirs with incompatible habitats, and indirect alterations to variables, such as water temperature or turbidity. The endangered pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus) population in the Upper Missouri River Basin in North Dakota and Montana is an example of such fragmentation a
Authors
Bruce Call, Richard R. McDonald, Susannah O. Erwin, R. B. Jacobson
Reproduction of grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) in the Maumee River, Ohio: Part 1—Spawning area identification using bidirectional drift modeling
Control of invasive grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) populations in the Western Lake Erie Basin merits adaptive management guided by the best available science. Presently (2024), capture of mature grass carp in rivers during spawning season is most efficient, so knowing when and where grass carp are spawning is essential information for natural resource agencies. Using bidirectional drift mode
Authors
P. Ryan Jackson, Charles V. Cigrand, Patrick M. Kočovský, Nicole R. King, Alan Kasprak, Evan M. Lindroth, Henry F. Doyle, Song S. Qian, Christine M. Mayer
Network connectivity contributes to native small-bodied fish assemblages in the upper Mississippi River system
Effective management and conservation of fishes requires understanding habitat use across multiple life stages while ensuring necessary habitats are both available and accessible. Tributary habitats may play an important role in recruitment and dispersal of fishes in anthropogenically modified rivers such as the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers of the Midwest U.S.A. Identifying source locations tha
Authors
Shaley A Valentine, Kristen L. Bouska, Gregory W. Whitledge
Key breeding habitats of threatened golden eagles across Eastern Canada identified using a multi-level, multi-scale habitat selection approach
ContextIn a conservation context, identifying key habitats suitable for reproduction, foraging, or survival is a useful tool, yet challenging for species with large geographic distributions and/or living in remote regions.ObjectivesThe objective of this study is to identify selected habitats at multiple levels and scales of the threatened eastern North American population of golden eagles (Aquila
Authors
Laurie D Maynard, Jerome Lemaître, Jean-Francois Therrien, Tricia A. Miller, Todd E. Katzner, Scott Somershoe, Cooper. Jeff, Robert Sargent, Nicolas Lecomte
Developing transmissible vaccines for animal infections
Many emerging and reemerging pathogens originate from wildlife, but nearly all wild species are unreachable using conventional vaccination, which requires capture of and vaccine administration to individual animals. By enabling immunization at scales sufficient to interrupt pathogen transmission, transmissible vaccines (TVs) that spread themselves through wildlife populations by infectious process
Authors
Daniel G. Streicker, Megan E. Griffiths, Rustom Antia, Laura M. Bergner, Peter Bowman, Maria Vitoria dos Santos de Moraes, Kevin Esvelt, Mike Famulare, Amy T. Gilbert, Biao He, Michael A. Jarvis, David A. Kennedy, Jennifer Kuzma, Carolyne Nasimiyu Wanyonyi, Christopher Remien, Kyle Rosenke, Tonie E. Rocke, Courtney Schreiner, Justin Sheen, David Simons, Ivet A. Yordanova, James J. Bull, Scott L. Nuismer
Acute toxicity of the lampricide 4-nitro-3-(trifluoromethyl)phenol to the Mussel (Obovaria subrotunda), its host (Percina maculata), and a surrogate mussel species (Obovaria olivaria)
The risk of lampricide applications (such as 4-nitro-3-[trifluoromethyl]phenol [TFM]) to nontarget fauna continues to be a concern within the Great Lakes Fishery Commission Sea Lamprey Control Program, especially among imperiled aquatic species—such as native freshwater mussels. The Grand River (Ohio, USA) is routinely treated for larval sea lampreys (Petromyzon marinus), and this river contains p
Authors
Teresa J. Newton, Nicholas A. Schloesser, Cheryl A. Kaye, Chad K. Andresen, Michael A. Boogaard, Christina M. Carter, Ryan Jay Ellingson, Courtney A Kirkeeng, Justin Schueller
Comparison of two methods to detect the northwestern pond turtle (Actinemys marmorata) and the invasive American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) in interior northern California
Knowledge about the distributions of species and the variables influencing their occurrence is important for their management and conservation, but factors affecting occurrence can vary across the range of a species. Northwestern pond turtles (Actinemys marmorata) are widespread generalist turtles, but are nonetheless of conservation concern throughout their range. To better understand the distrib
Authors
Brian J. Halstead, Patrick M. Kleeman, Caren S. Goldberg, Jonathan P. Rose
Biological soil crusts are more prevalent in warmer and drier environments within the Great Basin ecoregion: Implications for managing annual grass invasion
Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) can thrive under environmental conditions that are stressful for vascular plants such as high temperatures and/or extremely low moisture availability. In these settings, and in the absence of disturbance, cover of biocrusts commonly exceeds cover of vascular plants. Arid landscapes are also typically slow to recover from disturbance and prone to altered vegetatio
Authors
Lea A. Condon, John B. Bradford, Peter S. Coates
Vegetation loss following vertical drowning of Mississippi River deltaic wetlands leads to faster microbial decomposition and decreases in soil carbon
Wetland ecosystems hold nearly a third of the global soil carbon pool, but as wetlands rapidly disappear the fate of this stored soil carbon is unclear. The aim of this study was to quantify and then link potential rates of microbial decomposition after vertical drowning of vegetated tidal marshes in coastal Louisiana to known drivers of anaerobic decomposition altered by vegetation loss. Profiles
Authors
Courtney Creamer, Mark Waldrop, Camille Stagg, Kristen L. Manies, Melissa Millman Baustian, Claudia Laurenzano, Tiong Gim Aw, Monica Haw, Sergio Merino, Donald R. Schoolmaster, Sabrina N. Sevilgen, Rachel Katherine Villani, Eric Ward