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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

Kittlitz’s murrelet seasonal distribution and post-breeding migration from the Gulf of Alaska to the Arctic Ocean

Kittlitz’s Murrelets (Brachyramphus brevirostris) nest during summer in glaciated or recently deglaciated (post-Wisconsin) landscapes. They forage in adjacent marine waters, especially those influenced by glacial meltwater. Little is known of their movements and distribution outside the breeding season. To identify post-breeding migrations of murrelets, we attached satellite transmitters to birds
Authors
John F. Piatt, David C. Douglas, Mayumi L. Arimitsu, Michelle Kissling, Erica N. Madison, Sarah K. Schoen, Kathy J. Kuletz, Gary S. Drew

Reconnecting the Elwha River: Spatial patterns of fish response to dam removal

The removal of two large dams on the Elwha River was completed in 2014 with a goal of restoring anadromous salmonid populations. Using observations from ongoing field studies, we compiled a timeline of migratory fish passage upstream of each dam. We also used spatially continuous snorkeling surveys in consecutive years before (2007, 2008) and after (2018, 2019) dam removal during summer baseflow t
Authors
Jeffrey J. Duda, Christian E. Torgersen, Samuel J. Brenkman, Roger J. Peters, Kathryn T. Sutton, Heidi A. Connor, Philip R. Kennedy, Stephen C. Corbett, Ethan Z. Welty, Anna Geffre, Josh Geffre, Patrick Crain, Dave Shreffler, John R. McMillan, Mike McHenry, George R. Pess

What are the toxicological effects of mercury in Arctic biota?

No abstract available.
Authors
Rune Dietz, Robert J. Letcher, Josh T. Ackerman, Benjamin D. Barst, Niladri Basu, Olivier Chastel, John Chételat, Sam Dastnai, Jean-Pierre Desforges, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Igor Eulaers, Jérôme Fort, Jacob Nabe-Nielsen, Feiyue Wang, Simon Wilson

Agkistrodon conanti (Florida Cottonmouth) and Python bivittatus (Burmese Python). Diet and Predation

Python bivittatus is established in the Greater Everglades Ecosystem in southern Florida, USA. Documented predators on pythons in Florida include Alligator mississippiensis (American Alligator; Snow et al. 2006. Herpetol. Rev. 37:81–81), Drymarchon couperi (Gulf Coast Indigo Snake; Andreadis et al. 2018. Herpetol. Rev. 49:341–342), Lynx rufus (Bobcat; McCollister et al. 2021. Southeast. Nat. 20:N5
Authors
Ian A. Bartoszek, Gretchen Erika Anderson, Ian Easterling, Jillian Maureen Josimovich, Alex Furst, Frank N. Ridgley, Austin Lee Fitzgerald, Amy A. Yackel Adams, Andrea Faye Currylow

Emerging control strategies for integrated pest management of invasive carps

Invasive carps are ecologically and economically problematic fish species in many large river basins in the United States and pose a threat to aquatic ecosystems throughout much of North America. Four species of invasive carps: black carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus), grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella), silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) and bighead carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis), are part
Authors
Aaron R. Cupp, Marybeth K. Brey, Robin Calfee, Duane Chapman, Richard A. Erickson, Jesse Robert Fischer, Andrea K. Fritts, Amy E. George, P. Ryan Jackson, Brent C. Knights, Gavin Nicholas Saari, Patrick Kočovský

A quantitative soil-geomorphic framework for developing and mapping ecological site groups

Land management decisions need context about how landscapes will respond to different circumstances or actions. As ecologists’ understanding of nonlinear ecological dynamics has evolved into state-and-transition models (STMs), they have put more emphasis on defining and mapping the soil, geomorphological, and climate parameters that mediate these dynamics. The US Department of Agriculture Natural
Authors
Travis W. Nauman, Samuel S Burch, Joel T. Humphries, Anna C Knight, Michael C. Duniway

Demographic response of brown treesnakes to extended population suppression

From a management perspective, reptiles are relatively novel invasive taxa. Few methods for reptile control have been developed and very little is known about their effectiveness for reducing reptile populations, particularly when the goal is eradication. Many reptiles, and especially snakes, are cryptic, secretive, and undergo extended periods of inactivity, traits that decrease detection probabi
Authors
Melia G. Nafus, Shane R. Siers, Brenna A. Levine, Zachary C. Quiogue, Amy A. Yackel Adams

Optimization of salt marsh management at the Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge, 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, Maurice Mills, Raymond E. Brown, Keith Ramos

Effects of salinity and a glucocorticoid antagonist, RU486, on waterborne aldosterone and corticosterone of northern leopard frog larvae

Increased salinity is an emerging contaminant of concern for aquatic taxa. For amphibians exposed to salinity, there is scarce information about the physiological effects and changes in osmoregulatory hormones such as corticosterone (CORT) and aldosterone (ALDO). Recent studies have quantified effects of salinity on CORT physiology of amphibians based on waterborne hormone collection methods, but
Authors
Brian J. Tornabene, Creagh W Breuner, Blake R. Hossack, Erica J Crespi

Phytoplankton community interactions and cyanotoxin mixtures in three recurring surface blooms within one lake

Cyanobacteria can produce numerous secondary metabolites (cyanotoxins) with various toxicities, yet data on cyanotoxins in many lakes are limited. Moreover, little research is available on complex relations among cyanobacteria that produce toxins. Therefore, we studied cyanobacteria and 19 cyanotoxins at three sites with recurring blooms in Kabetogama Lake (USA). Seven of 19 toxins were detected i
Authors
Victoria Christensen, Hayley T. Olds, Jack E. Norland, Eakalak Khan

Foraging movements and colony attendance of Least Terns (Sternula antillarum) on the central Platte River, Nebraska, USA

Least Terns (Sternula antillarum) are known to forage away from nesting colonies, yet little information is available about movement rates and distances. We used VHF transmitters and a network of datalogging receivers to monitor movements of 23 Least Terns on the central Platte River, Nebraska, USA. We typically detected incubating and brood-rearing birds within 8 km of colonies during daylight ho
Authors
Mark H. Sherfy, Megan Ring, Jennifer H. Stucker, Michael J. Anteau, Terry L. Shaffer, Marsha A. Sovada

Climate change and expanding invasive species drive widespread declines of native trout in the northern Rocky Mountains, USA

Climate change and invasive species are major threats to native biodiversity, but few empirical studies have examined their combined effects at large spatial and temporal scales. Using 21,917 surveys collected over 30 years, we quantified the impacts of climate change on the past and future distributions of five interacting native and invasive trout species throughout the northern Rocky Mountains,
Authors
Donovan A. Bell, Ryan P. Kovach, Clint C. Muhlfeld, Robert Al-Chokhachy, Timothy Joseph Cline, Diane C. Whited, David Schmetterling, Paul M Lukacs, Andrew R. Whiteley