Publications
Below is a list of WERC's peer-reviewed publications. If you are searching for a specific publication and cannot find it in this list, please contact werc_web@usgs.gov
Filter Total Items: 3599
Best practices for distributing and deploying U.S. Geological Survey Shiny applications
A goal of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) research is to create actionable science for U.S. Department of the Interior managers and partners. Properly managed and released software tools can quickly, accurately, and easily translate scientific results to aid managers’ decision-making. The USGS policies on software development and distribution affect how authors of USGS software products must navigat
Authors
Daniel F. Shryock, Micah C. Wright, Phillip J. van Mantgem, Todd C. Esque
AIMS for wildlife: Developing an automated interactive monitoring system to integrate real-time movement and environmental data for true adaptive management
To effectively manage species and habitats at multiple scales, population and land managers require rapid information on wildlife use of managed areas and responses to landscape conditions and management actions. GPS tracking studies of wildlife are particularly informative to species ecology, habitat use, and conservation. Combining GPS data with administrative data and a diverse suite of remotel
Authors
Michael L. Casazza, Austen Lorenz, Cory T. Overton, Elliott L. Matchett, Andrea Lynn Mott, Desmond Alexander Mackell, Fiona McDuie
Evolutionary fire ecology: An historical account and future directions
The idea that fire acts as an evolutionary force contributing to shaping species traits started a century ago, but had not been widely recognized until very recently. Among the first to realize this force were Edward B. Poulton, R. Dale Guthrie, and Edwin V. Komarek in animals and Willis L. Jepson, Walter W. Hough, Tom M. Harris, Philip V. Wells, and Robert W. Mutch in plants. They were all ahead
Authors
Juli G. Pausas, Jon Keeley
A spatially explicit modeling framework to guide management of subsidized avian predator densities
Anthropogenic resource subsidization across western ecosystems has contributed to widespread increases in generalist avian predators, including common ravens (Corvus corax; hereafter, raven). Ravens are adept nest predators and can negatively impact species of conservation concern. Predation effects from ravens are especially concerning for greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; hereafter
Authors
Shawn T. O'Neil, Peter S. Coates, Sarah Catherine Webster, Brianne E. Brussee, Seth J. Dettenmaier, John C. Tull, Pat J. Jackson, Michael L. Casazza, Shawn P. Espinosa
Variations in climate drive behavior and survival of small desert tortoises
In the Mojave Desert, timing and amounts of precipitation profoundly affect availability of water and annual plant foods necessary for the threatened Agassiz’s desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) to survive, especially during prolonged droughts. As part of recovery actions to increase declining populations, we translocated 83 juvenile and young desert tortoises raised in head-start pens for 4–10
Authors
Kristin H. Berry, Jeremy S Mack, Kemp M. Anderson
A genome assembly for the southern Pacific rattlesnake, Crotalus oreganus helleri, in the western rattlesnake species complex
Rattlesnakes play important roles in their ecosystems by regulating prey populations, are involved in complex coevolutionary dynamics with their prey, and exhibit a variety of unusual adaptations, including maternal care, heat-sensing pit organs, hinged fangs, and medically-significant venoms. The western rattlesnake (Crotalus oreganus) is one of the widest ranging rattlesnake species, with a dist
Authors
Erin P. Westeen, Merly Escalona, Matthew Holding, Eric Beraut, Colin Fairbairn, Mohan P. A. Marimuthu, Oanh Nguyen, Ralph Perri, Robert N. Fisher, Erin Toffelmier, H. Bradley Shaffer, Ian J. Wang
Keeping the heat on: Weighted surveillance for Chytrid fungus (Batrachochytirum dendrobatidis) in Dixie Valley toads (Anaxyrus [= Bufo] williamsi)
Introduced fungal pathogens have caused declines and extinctions of naïve wildlife populations across vertebrate classes. Consequences of introduced pathogens to hosts with small ranges might be especially severe because of limited redundancy to rescue populations and lower abundance that may limit the resilience of populations to perturbations like disease introduction. As a complement to biosecu
Authors
Matthew J. Forrest, Brian J. Halstead, Daniel A. Grear, Patrick M. Kleeman, Brian D. Todd, Oliver J. Miano, Kris D. Urquhart
Selenium hazards in the Salton Sea environment—Summary of current knowledge to inform future wetland management
Quaternary marine and continental shales in the western United States are sources of selenium that can be loaded into the aquatic environment through mining, agricultural, and energy production processes. The mobilization of selenium from shales through agricultural irrigation has been recognized since the 1930s; however, discovery of deformities in birds and other wildlife using agricultural habi
Authors
Michael R. Rosen, Susan E.W. De La Cruz, Krishangi D. Groover, Isa Woo, Sarah A. Roberts, Melanie J. Davis, Cristiana Y. Antonino
Prioritizing the risk and management of introduced species in a landscape with high indigenous biodiversity
Risk analysis protocols for prioritizing the management of non-native species are numerous, yet few incorporate risk and management in the same analysis or accommodate a broad diversity of taxa outside of a specific geographic area. We adapted a protocol that accounts for these factors to address non-native animal species in the Southern California/Northern Baja California Coast Ecoregion near the
Authors
Jonathan Q. Richmond, Jennifer Kingston, Brittany Ewing, Wendy M Bear, Stacie A. Hathaway, Cedric Lee, Camm C. Swift, Kristine L. Preston, Allison J. Schultz, Barbara E. Kus, Kerwin Russell, Philip Unitt, Bradford D. Hollingsworth, Robert E. Espinoza, Michael Wall, Scott Tremor, Kai Palenscar, Robert N. Fisher
Wildfire immediately reduces nest and adult survival of greater sage-grouse
Wildfire events are becoming more frequent and severe on a global scale. Rising temperatures, prolonged drought, and the presence of pyrophytic invasive grasses are contributing to the degradation of native vegetation communities. Within the Great Basin region of the western U.S., increasing wildfire frequency is transforming the ecosystem toward a higher degree of homogeneity, one dominated by in
Authors
Emily (Emmy) A Tyrrell, Peter S. Coates, Brian G. Prochazka, Brianne E. Brussee, Shawn P. Espinosa, Joshua M. Hull
Changes in abiotic drivers of green sea urchin demographics following the loss of a keystone predator
Sea urchin population demographics can respond to changes in keystone species abundances, with the magnitude of these responses varying depending on environmental influences. In this study, sea urchin populations were surveyed across 15 Aleutian archipelago islands over a 30-year period to understand how patterns of sea urchin demography (density, biomass, and size structure) varied through differ
Authors
Ben P. Weitzman, B. Konar, M. S. Edwards, D. B. Rasher, Michael C. Kenner, M. T. Tinker, J. A. Estes
Global assessment of marine plastic exposure for oceanic birds
Plastic pollution is distributed patchily around the world’s oceans. Likewise, marine organisms that are vulnerable to plastic ingestion or entanglement have uneven distributions. Understanding where wildlife encounters plastic is crucial for targeting research and mitigation. Oceanic seabirds, particularly petrels, frequently ingest plastic, are highly threatened, and cover vast distances during
Authors
Bethany L. Clark, Ana P. B. Carneiro, Elizabeth J. Pearmin, Marie-Morgane Rouyer, Thomas A Clay, Win Cowger, Richard A. Phillips, Andrea Manica, Carolina Hazin, Marcus Eriksen, Jacob González-Solís, Josh Adams, Yuri V. Albores-Barajas, Joanna Alfaro-Shigueto, Maria Saldhanha Alho, Deusa Teixeira Araujo, José Manuel Arcos, John P. Y. Arnould, Nadito J. P. Barbosa, Christophe Barbraud, Annalea M. Beard, Jessie Beck, Elizabeth Bell, Della G. Bennet, Maud Berlincourt, Manuel Biscoito, Oskar K. Bjørnstad, Mark Bolton, Katherine A. Booth Jones, John J. Borg, Karen Bourgeois, Vincent Bretagnolle, Joël Bried, James V. Briskie, M. de L. Brooke, Katherine C. Brownlie, Leandro Bugoni, Licia Calabrese, Letizia Campioni, Mark J. Carey, Ryan D. Carle, Nicholas Carlile, Ana R. Carreiro, Paulo Catry, Teresa Catry, Jacopo G. Cecere, Filipe R. Ceia, Yves Cherel, Chang-Yong Choi, Marco Cianchetti-Benedetti, Rohan H. Clarke, Jaimie Cleeland, Valentina Colodro, Bradley C. Congdon, Jóhannis Danielsen, Federico De Pascalis, Zoe Deakin, Nina Dehnhard, Giacomo Dell’Omo, Karine Delord, Sébastien Descamps, Ben J. Dilley, Herculano A. Dinis, Jerome Dubos, Brendon J. Dunphy, Louise M. Emmerson, Ana Isabel Fagundes, Annette L. Fayet, Jonathan J. Felis, Johannes H. Fischer, Amanda Freeman, Aymeric Fromant, Giorgia Gaibani, David García, Carina Gjerdrum, Ivandra Soeli Gonçalves Correia Gomes, Manuela G. Forero, José Pedro Granadeiro, W. James Grecian, David Grémillet, Tim Guilford, Gunnar Thor Hallgrimsson, Luke R. Halpin, Erpur Snær Hansen, April Hedd, Morten Helberg, Halfdan H. Helgason, Leeann M. Henry, Hannah F. R. Hereward, Marcos Hernandez-Montero, Mark A. Hindell, Peter J. Hodum, Simona Imperio, Audrey Jaeger, Mark Jessopp, Patrick Jodice, Carl G. Jones, Christopher W. Jones, Jón Einar Jónsson, Adam Kane, Sven Kapelj, Yuna Kim, Holly Kirk, Yann Kolbeinsson, Philipp L. Kraemer, Lucas Krüger, Paulo Lago, Todd J. Landers, Jennifer L. Lavers, Matthieu Le Corre, Andreia Leal, Maite Louzao, Jeremy Madeiros, Maria Magalhães, Mark L. Mallory, Juan F. Masello, Bruno Massa, Sakiko Matsumoto, Fiona McDuie, Laura McFarlane Tranquilla, Fernando Medrano, Benjamin J. Metzger, Teresa Militão, William A. Montevecchi, Rosalinda C. Montone, Leia Navarro-Herrero, Verónica C. Neves, David G. Nicholls, Malcolm A. C. Nicoll, Ken Norris, Steffen Oppel, Daniel Oro, Ellie Owen, Oliver Padget, Vítor H. Paiva, David Pala, Jorge M. Pereira, Clara Péron, Maria V. Petry, Admilton de Pina, Ariete T. Moreira Pina, Patrick Pinet, Pierre A. Pistorius, Ingrid L. Pollet, Benjamin J. Porter, Timothée A. Poupart, Christopher D. L. Powell, Carolina B. Proaño, Júlia Pujol-Casado, Petra Quillfeldt, John L. Quinn, Andre F. Raine, Helen Raine, Iván Ramírez, Jaime A. Ramos, Raül Ramos, Andreas Ravache, Matt J. Rayner, Timothy A. Reid, Gregory J. Robertson, Gerard J. Rocamora, Dominic P. Rollinson, Robert A. Ronconi, Andreu Rotger, Diego Rubolini, Kevin Ruhomaun, Asunción Ruiz, James C. Russell, Peter G. Ryan, Sarah Saldanha, Ana Sanz-Aguilar, Mariona Sardà-Serra, Yvan G. Satgé, Katsufumi Sato, Wiebke C. Schäfer, Stefan Schoombie, Scott A. Shaffer, Nirmal Jivan Shah, Akiko Shoji, Dave Shutler, Ingvar A. Sigurðsson, Mónica C. Silva, Alison E. Small, Cecilia Soldatini, Hallvard Strøm, Christopher A. Surman, Akinori Takahashi, Vikash R. V. Tatayah, Graeme A. Taylor, Robert J. Thomas, David R. Thompson, Paul M. Thompson, Thorkell L. Thórarinsson, Diego Vicente-Sastre, Eric Vidal, Ewan D. Wakefield, Susan M. Waugh, Henri Weimerskirch, Heiko U. Wittmer, Takashi Yamamoto, Ken Yoda, Carlos B. Zavalaga, Francis J. Zino, Maria P. Dias