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
Science and innovation for battling invasive carp
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is the Federal Government’s independent research agency that conducts research to inform management of invasive species. Bighead, black, grass, and silver carp, which are native to China, were originally stocked in aquaculture facilities to control algae, snails, and vegetation. These species have invaded the Mississippi River and are now established throughout th
Authors
Patrick M. Kočovský
2021 Lake Michigan lake trout working group report
No abstract available.
Authors
Charles P. Madenjian, Charles R. Bronte, Rick Clark, Ben Dickinson, Kevin Donner, Roger Gordon, Dale Hanson, John Janssen, Jory Jonas, Matthew Kornis, Steve Lenart, Dan Makauskas, Erik Olsen, Becky Redman, Jason Smith, Laura Schmidt, Ted Treska
Resisting ecosystem transformation through an intensive whole-lake fish removal experiment
Lake ecosystems are shifting due to many drivers including climate change and landscape-scale habitat disturbance, diminishing their potential to support some fisheries. Walleye Sander vitreus (Mitchill) populations, which support recreational and tribal fisheries across North America, have declined in some lakes. Climate change, harvest, invasive species and concurrent increases in warm-water fis
Authors
Holly Susan Embke, Stephen R. Carpenter, Daniel A. Isermann, Giancarlo Coppola, Douglas Beard, Abigail Lynch, Greg. G Sass, Zachary S. Feiner, M. Jake Vander Zanden
A flexible movement model for partially migrating species
We propose a flexible model for a partially migrating species, which we demonstrate using yearly paths for golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos). Our model relies on a smoothly time-varying potential surface defined by a number of attractors. We compare our proposed approach using varying coefficients to a latent-state model, which we define differently for migrating, dispersing, and local individuals
Authors
Elizabeth Eisenhauer, Ephraim M. Hanks, Matthew Beckman, Robert Murphy, Tricia A. Miller, Todd E. Katzner
Pesticide exposure of wild bees and honey bees foraging from field border flowers in intensively managed agriculture areas
Bees are critical for food crop pollination, yet their populations are declining as agricultural practices intensify. Pollinator-attractive field border plantings (e.g. hedgerows and forb strips) can increase bee diversity and abundance in agricultural areas, however recent studies suggest these plants may contain pesticides. Pesticide exposure for wild bees in agricultural areas remains largely u
Authors
Laura T. Ward, Michelle Hladik, Aidee Guzman, Sara Winsemius, Ariana Bautista, Claire Kremen, Nicholas Mills
Evaluation of MPA designs that protect highly mobile megafauna now and under climate change scenarios
Marine protected area (MPA) designs, including large-scale MPAs (LSMPAs; >150,000 km2), mobile MPAs (fluid spatiotemporal boundaries), and MPA networks, may offer different benefits to species and could enhance protection by encompassing spatiotemporal scales of animal movement. We sought to understand how well LSMPAs could benefit nine highly-mobile marine species in the tropics now and into the
Authors
Morgan Elizabeth Gilmour, Josh Adams, Barbara A. Block, Jennifer E. Caselle, A. M. Friedlander, Edward T. Game, E. L. Hazen, Nick D. Holmes, Kevin D. Lafferty, S. M. Maxwell, Douglas J. McCauley, E. M. Oleson, Kenneth H. Pollock, S. A. Shaffer, N. H. Wolff, Alex Wegmann
Looking ahead, guided by the past: The role of U.S. national parks in amphibian research and conservation
Protected areas like national parks are essential elements of conservation because they limit human influence on the landscape, which protects biodiversity and ecosystem function. The role of national parks in conservation, however, often goes far beyond limiting human influence. The U.S. National Park Service and its system of land units contribute substantively to conservation by providing prote
Authors
Brian J. Halstead, Andrew M. Ray, Erin L. Muths, Evan H. Campbell Grant, Rob Grasso, Michael J. Adams, Kathleen Semple Delaney, Jane Carlson, Blake R. Hossack
Vulnerability of avian populations to renewable energy production
Renewable energy production can kill individual birds, but little is known about how it affects avian populations. We assessed the vulnerability of populations for 23 priority bird species killed at wind and solar facilities in California, USA. Bayesian hierarchical models suggested that 48% of these species were vulnerable to population-level effects from added fatalities caused by renewables and
Authors
Tara Conkling, Hannah B. Vander Zanden, Taber D Allison, James E. Diffendorfer, Thomas V Dietsch, A. Duerr, Amy L Fesnock, Rebecca R. Hernandez, S. R. Loss, David M. Nelson, Peter M. Sanzenbacher, Julie L. Yee, Todd E. Katzner
Balancing prey availability and predator consumption: A multispecies stock assessment for Lake Ontario
Trophic interactions are drivers of ecosystem change and stability, yet are often excluded from fishery assessment models, despite their potential capacity to improve estimates of species dynamics and future fishery sustainability. In Lake Ontario, recreational salmonine fisheries, including Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush), depend on a single prey sp
Authors
Kimberly B. Fitzpatrick, Brian C. Weidel, Michael J. Connerton, Jana R. Lantry, Jeremy P. Holden, Michael J. Yuille, Brian F. Lantry, Steven R. LaPan, Lars G. Rudstam, Patrick J. Sullivan, Travis O. Brenden, Suresh Sethi
A biological condition gradient for coral reefs in the US Caribbean Territories: Part I. Coral narrative rules
As coral reef condition and sustainability continue to decline worldwide, losses of critical habitat and their ecosystem services have generated an urgency to understand and communicate reef response to management actions, environmental contamination, and natural disasters. Increasingly, coral reef protection and restoration programs emphasize the need for robust assessment tools for protecting hi
Authors
Deborah L. Santavy, Susan K. Jackson, Benjamin Jessup, Jeroen Gerritsen, Caroline Rogers, William S. Fisher, Ernesto Weil, Alina Szmant, David Cuevas-Miranda, Brian K. Walker, Christopher F G Jeffrey, Patricia Bradley, David Ballantine, Loretta Roberson, Hector Ruiz-Torres, Brandi Todd, Tyler B. Smith, Randy Clark, Ernesto L. Diaz, Jorge Bauzá-Ortega, Christina Horstmann, Sandy Raimondo
Integrating climate considerations into grazing management programs in national parks
The National Park Service (NPS) is responsible for managing livestock grazing in nearly 100 parks, and several park grazing management planning efforts are currently underway. However, there is a recognized need to update grazing management practices to be responsive and adaptive to future climate change. As a step toward developing a process to address this need, this project worked with Dinosaur
Authors
Brian W. Miller, Amanda Hardy, Emily Spencer, Jordan Spaak, Greg Eckert, Gregor Schuurman, Amber Childress, Imtiaz Rangwala, David Thoma, Leonardo Frid, Kirk R. Sherrill, Linda Zeigenfuss, Danguole Bockus
Interlaboratory comparison of three sediment bioaccumulation tests
Standard bioaccumulation tests are commonly conducted using Macoma nasuta (clam), and Alitta virens (polychaete) for marine tests, and Lumbriculus variegatus (an oligochaete) for freshwater tests. Because the interlaboratory variability associated with these tests is unknown, four experienced laboratories conducted standard 28-day bioaccumulation tests with the above species using sediments contam
Authors
Guilherme R. Lotufo, James M. Biedenbach, J. Daniel Farrar, Michael K. Chanov, Brian W. Hester, Charles R. Warbritton, Jeffery Steevens, Jenifer M. Netchaev, Anthony J. Bednar, David W. Moore