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
Assessing effects of sediment delivery to coral reefs: A Caribbean watershed perspective
Coral reefs in the western Atlantic and Caribbean are deteriorating primarily from disease outbreaks, increasing seawater temperatures, and stress due to land-based sources of pollutants including sediments associated with land use and dredging. Sediments affect corals in numerous ways including smothering, abrasion, shading, and inhibition of coral recruitment. Sediment delivery resulting in depo
Authors
Caroline Rogers, Carlos E. Ramos-Scharrón
Forecasting species distributions: Correlation does not equal causation
AimIdentifying the mechanisms influencing species' distributions is critical for accurate climate change forecasts. However, current approaches are limited by correlative models that cannot distinguish between direct and indirect effects.LocationNew Hampshire and Vermont, USA.MethodsUsing causal and correlational models and new theory on range limits, we compared current (2014–2019) and future (20
Authors
Alexej Sirén, Christopher Sutherland, Ambarish V. Karmalkar, Matthew Duveneck, Toni Lyn Morelli
Thiamine status of lake trout in lake Ontario and its relation to diet after the colonization of round goby, 2005–2006
A predominance of alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus), a species having high thiaminase activity, in Lake Ontario lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) diets, has been related to thiamine deficiency in lake trout eggs during 1994–2004. The late 1990s invasion by round goby (Neogobius melanostomus), that appear to have thiaminase activity of low biological activity, represented a potential to reduce the di
Authors
John D. Fitzsimons, Brian F. Lantry, Dale C. Honeyfield, Robert O'Gorman, Scott A. Rush, Shawn P. Sitar
Optimization of salt marsh management at the Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge of the Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge Complex, Maine, through use of structured decision making
Structured decision making is a systematic, transparent process for improving the quality of complex decisions by identifying measurable management objectives and feasible management actions; predicting the potential consequences of management actions relative to the stated objectives; and selecting a course of action that maximizes the total benefit achieved and balances tradeoffs among objective
Authors
Hilary A. Neckles, James E. Lyons, Jessica L. Nagel, Susan C. Adamowicz, Toni Mikula, Sara Williams
Abundance and distribution of sea otters (Enhydra lutris) in the southcentral Alaska stock, 2014, 2017, and 2019
The Southcentral Alaska (SCAK) sea otter (Enhydra lutris) stock is the northernmost stock of sea otters, a keystone predator known for structuring nearshore marine ecosystems. We conducted aerial surveys within the range of the SCAK sea otter stock to provide recent estimates of sea otter abundance and distribution. We defined three survey regions: (1) Eastern Cook Inlet (2017), (2) Outer Kenai Pe
Authors
George G. Esslinger, Brian H. Robinson, Daniel H. Monson, Rebecca L. Taylor, Daniel Esler, Ben P. Weitzman, Joel Garlich-Miller
Dietary composition and fatty acid content of giant salmonflies (Pteronarcys californica) in two Rocky Mountain rivers
Many aquatic invertebrates are declining or facing extinction from stressors that compromise physiology, resource consumption, reproduction, and phenology. However, the influence of these common stressors specifically on consumer–resource interactions for aquatic invertebrate consumers is only beginning to be understood. We conducted a field study to investigate Pteronarcys californica (i.e., the
Authors
Lindsey K. Albertson, Michelle A. Briggs, Zachary Maguire, Sophia Swart, Wyatt F. Cross, Cornelia W. Twining, Jeff S. Wesner, Colden V. Baxter, David Walters
Navigating ecological transformation: Resist-accept-direct as a path to a new resource management paradigm
Natural resource managers worldwide face a growing challenge: Intensifying global change increasingly propels ecosystems toward irreversible ecological transformations. This nonstationarity challenges traditional conservation goals and human well-being. It also confounds a longstanding management paradigm that assumes a future that reflects the past. As once-familiar ecological conditions disappea
Authors
Gregor W. Schuurman, David N. Cole, Amanda E. Cravens, Scott Covington, Shelley D. Crausbay, Cat Hawkins Hoffman, David J. Lawrence, Dawn R. Magness, John M. Morton, Elizabeth Nelson, Robin O'Malley
Age-specific survival rates, causes of death, and allowable take of golden eagles in the western United States
In the United States, the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act prohibits take of golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) unless authorized by permit, and stipulates that all permitted take must be sustainable. Golden eagles are unintentionally killed in conjunction with many lawful activities (e.g., electrocution on power poles, collision with wind turbines). Managers who issue permits for incidental ta
Authors
Brian Milsap, Guthrie S. Zimmerman, William L. Kendall, Joseph G. Barnes, Melissa A. Braham, Bryan E Bedrosian, Douglas A. Bell, Peter H. Bloom, Ross H. Crandall, Robert Domenech, Daniel Driscoll, Adam E. Duerr, Rick Gerhardt, Samantha E.J. Gibbs, Alan R. Harmata, Kenneth Jacobson, Todd E. Katzner, Robert N. Knight, J. Michael Lockhart, Carol McIntyre, Robert K. Murphy, Steven J. Slater, Brian W. Smith, Jeff P. Smith, Dale W. Stahlecker, James W. Watson
A landscape approach for identifying potential reestablishment sites for extirpated stream fishes: an example with Arctic grayling (Thymallus arcticus) in Michigan
Habitat degradation combined with climate change increases the threat of extinction for stream fishes. In response to these threats, efforts to reestablish species within formerly occupied streams or translocation to suitable areas may be effective conservation strategies. In the absence of historic species presence data, identifying locations where suitable habitat exists across many fluvial habi
Authors
Ralph William Tingley, Dana M. Infante, Emily M. Dean, Douglas W. Schemske, Arthur R. Cooper, Jared Ross, Wesley M. Daniel
2019-2021 Palila abundance estimates and trend
The palila (Loxioides bailleui) population on Mauna Kea Volcano, Hawai‘i Island, was estimated from annual surveys in 2019−2021, and a trend analysis was performed on survey data from 1998−2021. The 2019 population was estimated at 1,030−1,899 birds (point estimate: 1,432), the 2020 population was estimated at 964−1,700 birds (point estimate: 1,312), and the 2021 population was estimated at 452−94
Authors
Ayesha Genz, Kevin W. Brinck, Chauncey K. Asing, Lainie Berry, Richard J. Camp, Paul C. Banko
Winter habitat selection and efficacy of telemetry to aid Grass Carp removal efforts in a large reservoir
Grass Carp Ctenopharyngodon idella were introduced in North America to control aquatic vegetation in small, closed systems. However, when they escape into larger systems in which they can reproduce, they have the potential to cause significant declines and alterations in aquatic vegetation communities. These alterations can in turn affect native species that are dependent on aquatic vegetation. In
Authors
Tyler Michael Hessler, Duane Chapman, Craig Paukert, Jeff C. Jolley, Michael E. Byrne
Identifying and characterizing juvenile lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens, Rafinesque, 1817) occupancy hot spots within the St. Clair-Detroit River System
Over the past two decades, extensive monitoring has been conducted in the St. Clair – Detroit River System to describe spatial and temporal patterns of lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens). To characterize spatial patterns in juvenile lake sturgeon (<1000 mm TL) based on survey collections, ‘hot spots’ were identified through optimized hot spot analysis (HSA). This HSA was then interpolated by inv
Authors
Aaron J Mettler, Justin A. Chiotti, Andrew S Briggs, James C. Boase, Robin L. DeBruyne, Edward F. Roseman, Richard Drouin