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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

Temporal variations of de facto wastewater reuse and disinfection by-products in public water systems in the Shenandoah River watershed, USA

Temporal variations of de facto wastewater reuse are relevant to public drinking water systems (PWSs) that obtain water from surface sources. Variations in wastewater discharge flows, streamflow, de facto reuse, and disinfection by-products (DBPs – trihalomethane-4 [THM4] and haloacetic acid-5 [HAA5]) over an 18-year period were examined at 11 PWSs in the Shenandoah River watershed, using more tha
Authors
Richard J Weisman, Larry B. Barber, Kaycee E. Faunce, Jennifer Rapp, Celso M Ferreira

Exposure and transport of alkaloids and phytoestrogens from soybeans to agricultural soils and streams in the Midwestern United States

Phytotoxins are naturally produced toxins with potencies similar/higher than many anthropogenic micropollutants. Nevertheless, little is known regarding their environmental fate and off-field transport to streams. To fill this research gap, a network of six basins in the Midwestern United States with substantial soybean production was selected for the study. Stream water (n = 110), soybean plant t
Authors
J. R. Hama, Dana W. Kolpin, G. H. LeFevre, Laura E. Hubbard, M. M. Powers, B. W. Strobel

Gapeworm (Syngamus spp.) prevalence in Wisconsin greater prairie chickens (Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus)

Under Wisconsin state law, the greater prairie chicken (GRPC; Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus) has been listed as a threatened species since 1976. In 2014–15, we conducted a pilot study to determine the prevalence and intensity of gapeworms (Syngamus spp.) in female Wisconsin GRPCs collected from 2 monitored populations. We captured 62 female GRPCs using walk-in-style traps for females and night light
Authors
Jacob A Shurba, Rebecca A. Cole, Matthew Broadway, Constance Roderick, Jason D. Riddle, Shelli A. Dubay, Scott D. Hull

Invader removal triggers competitive release in a threatened avian predator

Invasive species can cause extinctions of native species and widespread biodiversity loss. Invader removal is a common management response, but the use of long-term field experiments to characterize effectiveness of removals in benefitting impacted native species is rare. We used a large-scale removal experiment to investigate the demographic response of a threatened native species, the northern s
Authors
David Wiens, Katie Dugger, J. Mark Higley, Damon B. Lesmeister, Alan B. Franklin, Keith A. Hamm, Gary C. White, Krista E. Dilione, David C. Simon, Robin R. Bown, Peter C. Carlson, Charles Yackulic, James D. Nichols, James E. Hines, Raymond J. Davis, David W. Lamphear, Christopher McCafferty, Trent L. McDonald, Stan G. Sovern

Post-wildfire hydrologic recovery in Mediterranean climates: A systematic review and case study to identify current knowledge and opportunities

Post-fire hydrologic research typically focuses on the first few years after a wildfire, leading to substantial uncertainty regarding the longevity of impacts. The time needed for hydrologic function to return to pre-fire conditions is critical information for post-fire land and water management decisions. This is particularly true in Mediterranean climates, where water is scarce and in high deman
Authors
Joseph W. Wagenbrenner, Brian A. Ebel, Kevin D. Bladon, Alicia M. Kinoshita

Forest area to support landbird population goals for the Mississippi Alluvial Valley

Historically, the Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV) (Partners in Flight Bird Conservation Region #26) was predominantly bottomland hardwood forest, but natural vegetation has been cleared from about 80 percent of this ecoregion and converted primarily to agriculture. Because most bird species that are of conservation concern in this region are dependent on forested wetlands, bottomland hardwood fo
Authors
Daniel J. Twedt, Anne Mini

Chronic exposure to glyphosate in Florida manatee

Florida manatees depend on freshwater environments as a source of drinking water and as warm-water refuges. These freshwater environments are in direct contact with human activities were glyphosate-based herbicides are being used. Glyphosate is the most used herbicide worldwide and it is intensively used in Florida as a sugarcane ripener and to control invasive aquatic plants. The objective of the
Authors
Maite De María, Cecilia Silva-Sanchez, Kevin J. Kroll, Michael T. Walsh, Mohammad-Zaman Nouri, Margaret E. Hunter, Monica Ross, Tonya M. Clauss, Nancy D. Denslow

Research, monitoring, and evaluation of emerging issues and measures to recover the Snake River Fall Chinook salmon ESU

The portion of the Snake River fall Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha evolutionary significant unit (ESU) that spawns upstream of Lower Granite Dam transitioned from low to high abundance during 1992–2020 in response to U.S. Endangered Species Act recovery efforts and other federally mandated actions. This annual report focuses on changes in population abundance and habitat use by natural- a
Authors
Kenneth Tiffan, Peter H. Barry, Dalton Hance, John Plumb, Brad Bickford, Tobyn Rhodes, Kenneth G. King, Dalton Dirk Lebeda, Rulon J. Hemingway, John Hargrove

Coastal observations of alligator snapping turtles in the Florida Panhandle

The genus Macrochelys (alligator snapping turtles) inhabits river systems that empty into the Gulf of Mexico from Florida to Texas and contains the largest freshwater turtles in North America (Pritchard 2006). This paper details observations of Macrochelys on the coast and barrier islands in Franklin and Gulf counties, Florida, that contribute to our knowledge of their movements in brackish or sal
Authors
Kevin M. Enge, Bradley S. Smith, Brooke L. Talley, Terri Cannon, Travis M. Thomas, Daniel J. Catizone

Modeling at-sea density of marine birds to support renewable energy planning on the Pacific outer continental shelf of the contiguous United States

This report describes the at-sea spatial distributions of marine birds in Pacific OCS waters off the contiguous U.S. (Figure 1.1) to inform marine spatial planning in the region. The goal was to estimate long-term average spatial distributions for marine bird species using all available science-quality transect survey data and numerous bathymetric, oceanographic, and atmospheric predictor variable
Authors
Jeffery Leirness, Josh Adams, Lisa T Ballance, Michael Coyne, Jonathan J. Felis, Trevor Joyce, David M. Pereksta, Arliss J Winship, Christopher F G Jeffrey, David G. Ainley, Donald Croll, Joseph R. Evenson, Jaime Jahncke, William McIver, Peter I Miller, Scott Pearson, Craig Strong, William J. Sydeman, Jeannette E Waddell, Jeannette E. Zamon, John D. Christensen

Simulating the effort necessary to detect changes in northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) populations using passive acoustic monitoring

Passive acoustic monitoring is a promising method for monitoring rare and nocturnal species, and for tracking changes in forest wildlife biodiversity. We conducted simulations to compare and evaluate various passive acoustic sampling designs effectiveness for monitoring spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) population trends. We found that each design was effective for detecting a decline (or s
Authors
Damon B. Lesmeister, Cara L. Appel, Raymond J. Davis, Charles Yackulic, Zachary J. Ruff