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: 41763
Gull plumages are, and are not, what they appear to human vision
Clear correlations between human and bird visual assessments of color have been documented, and are often assumed, despite fundamental differences in human and avian visual physiology and morphology. Analyses of plumage colors with avian perceptual models have shown widespread hidden inter-sexual and inter-specific color variation among passerines perceived as monochromatic to humans, highlighting
Authors
Muir D Eaton, Pilar Benites, Luke Campillo, Robert E. Wilson, Sarah A. Sonsthagen
Evidence of increased mussel abundance related to the Pacific marine heatwave and sea star wasting
Mussels occupy a key middle trophic position in nearshore food webs linking primary producers to predators. Climate-related environmental changes may synergistically combine with changes in predator abundance to affect intertidal ecosystems. We examined the influence of two major events on mussel (Mytilus trossulus) abundance in the northern Gulf of Alaska: the recent Pacific marine heatwave (PMH,
Authors
Sarah Beth Traiger, James L. Bodkin, Heather Coletti, Brenda Ballachey, Dean Thomas, Daniel Esler, Katrin Iken, Brenda Konar, Mandy Lindeberg, Daniel Monson, Brian H. Robinson, Robert M. Suryan, Ben Weitzman
Relocated beaver can increase water storage and decrease stream temperature in headwater streams
Many areas are experiencing increasing stream temperatures due to climate change, and some are experiencing reduced summer stream flows and water availability. Because dam building and pond formation by beaver can increase water storage, stream cooling, and riparian ecosystem resilience, beaver have been proposed as a potential climate adaption tool. Despite the large number of studies that have e
Authors
Benjamin J. Dittbrenner, Jason W. Schilling, Christian E. Torgersen, Joshua J. Lawler
A phylogeny based on cytochrome-c oxidase gene sequences identifies sympatric Ichthyophonus genotypes in the NE Pacific Ocean
ABSTRACT: In recent decades, evidence has accumulated to suggest that the widespread and highly variable parasite Ichthyophonus hoferi is actually a species complex. Highly plastic morphology and a general lack of defining structures has contributed to the likely underestimate of biodiversity within this group. Molecular methods are a logical next step in the description of these parasites, but ma
Authors
Jacob L. Gregg, Paul Hershberger, Abigail S. Neat, Hiruni T. Jayasekera, Jayde A. Ferguson, Rachel L. Powers, Maureen K. Purcell
Ten-year ecological responses to fuel treatments within semiarid Wyoming big sagebrush ecosystems
Sagebrush ecosystems of western North America are threatened by invasive annual grasses and wildfires that can remove fire-intolerant shrubs for decades. Fuel reduction treatments are used ostensibly to aid in fire suppression, conserve wildlife habitat, and restore historical fire regimes, but long-term ecological impacts of these treatments are not clear. In 2006, we initiated fuel reduction tre
Authors
David A. Pyke, Scott Shaff, Jeanne C. Chambers, Eugene W. Schupp, Beth A. Newingham, Margaret L Gray, Lisa M. Ellsworth
Fibropapillomatosis dynamics in green sea turtles Chelonia mydas over 15 years of monitoring in Akumal Bay, Quintana Roo, Mexico
ABSTRACT: Fibropapillomatosis (FP) is a tumor disease that affects all sea turtle species but is mainly seen in green turtles Chelonia mydas. The pathology of FP has been described extensively, but its dynamics in populations over time have been less studied. We analyzed the dynamics of FP in a population of green turtles in Akumal Bay on the central coast of the Mexican Caribbean. A total of 475
Authors
Fernando A. Muñoz Tenería, Vanessa Labrada-Martagón, Roberto Herrera-Pavón, Thierry M. Work, Erik González Ballesteros, Ana Negrete-Philippe, Gisela Maldonado-Saldaña
Divergent successional trajectories of soil seed bank and post-fire vegetation in a semiarid oak forest: Implications for post-fire ecological restoration
Wildfires are a major disturbance in forest ecosystems around the world and may lead to changes in vegetation succession trajectories. This study examined the impact of time since wildfires on the successional gradients of the degraded Zagros semi-arid oak forest in Iran. Here, we investigated the role of soil seed bank in postfire understory vegetation successional trajectories after wildfires an
Authors
Sina Attar Roshan, Mehdi Heydari, Alexander Wait, S.M. Mijan Uddin, Manuel Esteban Lucas-Borja, Jon Keeley
Expert perspectives on global biodiversity loss and its drivers and impacts on people
Despite substantial progress in understanding global biodiversity loss, major taxonomic and geographic knowledge gaps remain. Decision makers often rely on expert judgement to fill knowledge gaps, but are rarely able to engage with sufficiently large and diverse groups of specialists. To improve understanding of the perspectives of thousands of biodiversity experts worldwide, we conducted a survey
Authors
Forest Isbell, Patricia Balvanera, Akira S. Mori, Jin-Sheng He, James M. Bullock, Ganga Ram Regmi, Eric W. Seabloom, Simon Ferrier, Osvaldo E. Sala, Nathaly R. Guerrero-Ramírez, Julia Tavella, Daniel J. Larkin, Bernhard Schmid, Charlotte L. Outhwaite, Pairot Pramua, Elizabeth T. Borer, Michel Loreau, Taiwo Crossby Omotoriogun, David O. Obura, Maggie Anderson, Cristina Portales-Reyes, Kevin Kirkman, Pablo M Vergara, Adam Thomas Clark, Kimberly J Komatsu, Owen L. Petchey, Sarah R. Weiskopf, Laura J. Williams, Scott L. Collins, Nico Eisenhauer, Christopher H Trisos, Delphine Renard, Alexandra J. Wright, Poonam Tripathi, Jane Cowles, Jarrett E. K. Byrnes, Peter B. Reich, Andy Purvis, Zati Sharip, Mary I. O'Connor, Clare E. Kazanski, Nick M. Haddad, Eulogio H. Soto, Laura E. Dee, Sandra Díaz, Chad R. Zirbel, Meghan L. Avolio, Shaopeng Wang, Zhiyuan Ma, Jingjing Liang, Hanan C. Farah, Justin Andrew Johnson, Brian W. Miller, Yann Hautier, Melinda D. Smith, Johannes M. H. Knops, Bonnie Myers, Zuzana Harmáčková, Jorge Cortés, Mike Harfoot, Andrew Gonzalez, Tim Newbold, Jacqueline Oehri, Marina Mazón, Cynnamon Dobbs, Meredith S. Palmer
Testing whether adrenal steroids mediate phenotypic and physiologic effects of elevated salinity on larval tiger salamanders
Salinity (sodium chloride, NaCl) from anthropogenic sources is a persistent contaminant that negatively affects freshwater taxa. Amphibians can be susceptible to salinity, but some species are innately or adaptively tolerant. Physiological mechanisms mediating tolerance to salinity are still unclear, but changes in osmoregulatory hormones such as corticosterone (CORT) and aldosterone (ALDO) are pr
Authors
Brian J. Tornabene, Creagh W Breuner, Erica J Crespi, Blake R. Hossack
Riparian buffers provide refugia during secondary forest succession
AimSecondary forests regenerating from human disturbance are increasingly becoming a predominant forest type in many regions, and they play a significant role in forest community dynamics. Understanding the factors that underlie the variation in species responses during secondary succession is important for understanding community assembly and biodiversity monitoring and management. Because specie
Authors
Michelle E. Thompson, Brian J. Halstead, Maureen A. Donnelly
Scanning the horizon for invasive plant threats using a data-driven approach
Early detection and eradication of invasive plants are more cost-effective than managing well-established invasive plant populations and their impacts. However, there is high uncertainty around which taxa are likely to become invasive in a given area. Horizon scanning that combines a data-driven approach with rapid risk assessment and consensus building among experts can help identify invasion thr
Authors
Amy E Kendig, Susan Canavan, Patti J Anderson, S Luke Flory, Lyn A Gettys, Doria R. Gordon, Basil V Iannone III, John M Kunzer, Tabitha Petri, Ian Pfingsten, Deah Lieurance
Marine minerals in Alaska — A review of coastal and deep-ocean regions
Minerals occurring in marine environments span the globe and encompass a broad range of mineral categories, forming within varied geologic and oceanographic settings. They occur in coastal regions, either from the continuation or mechanical reworking of terrestrial mineralization, as well as in the deep ocean, from diagenetic, hydrogenetic, and hydrothermal processes. The oceans cover most of the
Authors
Amy Gartman, Kira Mizell, Douglas C. Kreiner