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
Land use change influences ecosystem function in headwater streams of the Lowland Amazon Basin
Intensive agriculture alters headwater streams, but our understanding of its effects is limited in tropical regions where rates of agricultural expansion and intensification are currently greatest. Riparian forest protections are an important conservation tool, but whether they provide adequate protection of stream function in these areas of rapid tropical agricultural development has not been wel
Authors
Kathi Jo Jankowski, Linda A. Deegan, Christopher Neill, HIllary L. Sullivan, Paulo Ilha, Leonardo Maracahipes-Santos, Nubia C.S. Marques, Marcia N. Macedo
Sea otter population collapse in southwest Alaska: Assessing ecological covariates, consequences, and causal factors
Sea otter (Enhydra lutris) populations in southwest Alaska declined substantially between about 1990 and the most recent set of surveys in 2015. Here we report changes in the distribution and abundance of sea otters, and covarying patterns in reproduction, mortality, body size and condition, diet and foraging behavior, food availability, health profiles, and exposure to environmental contaminants
Authors
M. Tim Tinker, James L. Bodkin, Lizabeth Bowen, Brenda Ballachey, Gena Bentall, Alexander Burdin, Heather Coletti, George G. Esslinger, Brian B. Hatfield, Michael C. Kenner, Kimberly A. Kloecker, Brenda Konar, A. Keith Miles, Daniel Monson, Michael J. Murray, Ben Weitzman, James A. Estes
Is there an urban pesticide signature? Urban streams in five U.S. regions share common dissolved-phase pesticides but differ in predicted aquatic toxicity
Pesticides occur in urban streams globally, but the relation of occurrence to urbanization can be obscured by regional differences. In studies of five regions of the United States, we investigated the effect of region and urbanization on the occurrence and potential toxicity of dissolved pesticide mixtures. We analyzed 225 pesticide compounds in weekly discrete water samples collected during 6–12
Authors
Lisa H. Nowell, Patrick W. Moran, Laura M. Bexfield, Barbara Mahler, Peter C. Van Metre, Paul M. Bradley, Travis S. Schmidt, Daniel T. Button, Sharon L. Qi
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Contaminant Biology, Environmental Health Program, Toxic Substances Hydrology, California Water Science Center, Fort Collins Science Center, Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center, New Mexico Water Science Center, Oklahoma-Texas Water Science Center, Oregon Water Science Center, Pennsylvania Water Science Center, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC), Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, Upper Midwest Water Science Center, Washington Water Science Center
Effects of tidally varying river flow on entrainment of juvenile salmon into Sutter and Steamboat Sloughs
Survival of juvenile salmonids in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta (Delta) varies by migration route, and thus the proportion of fish that use each route affects overall survival through the Delta. Understanding factors that drive routing at channel junctions along the Sacramento River is therefore critical to devising management strategies that maximize survival. Here, we examine entrainment of a
Authors
Jason G. Romine, Russell Perry, Paul Stumpner, Aaron R. Blake, Jon R. Burau
Processing coastal imagery with Agisoft Metashape Professional Edition, version 1.6—Structure from motion workflow documentation
IntroductionStructure from motion (SFM) has become an integral technique in coastal change assessment; the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) used Agisoft Metashape Professional Edition photogrammetry software to develop a workflow that processes coastline aerial imagery collected in response to storms since Hurricane Florence in 2018. This report details step-by-step instructions to create three-dimen
Authors
Jin-Si R. Over, Andrew C. Ritchie, Christine J. Kranenburg, Jenna A. Brown, Daniel D. Buscombe, Tom Noble, Christopher R. Sherwood, Jonathan A. Warrick, Phillipe A. Wernette
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Southwest Biological Science Center, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Hurricane Florence, Hurricanes
Seasonal controls on sediment delivery and hydrodynamics in a vegetated tidally influenced interdistributary island
River deltas are maintained by a continuous supply of terrestrial sediments that provide critical land building material to help sustain and protect vulnerable ecological communities and serve as natural storm protection barriers. Local hydrodynamics are important in determining the degree to which fluvial sediments are removed from the water column and retained on the delta complex. During 2014,
Authors
Richard Styles, Gregg Snedden, S. Jarrell Smith, Duncan B. Bryant, Brandon M. Boyd, Joseph Z. Gailani, Brady Couvillion, Edward Race
Spatial Gaussian processes improve multi-species occupancy models when range boundaries are uncertain and nonoverlapping
Species distribution models enable practitioners to analyze large datasets of encounter records and make predictions about species occurrence at unsurveyed locations. In omnibus surveys that record data on multiple species simultaneously, species ranges are often nonoverlapping and misaligned with the administrative unit defining the spatial domain of interest (e.g., a state or province). Conseque
Authors
Wilson Wright, Kathryn M. Irvine, Tom Rodhouse, Andrea R. Litt
Identifying metabolic alterations associated with coral growth anomalies using 1H NMR metabolomics
Coral growth anomalies (GAs) are tumor-like protrusions that are detrimental to coral health, affecting both the coral skeleton and soft tissues. These lesions are increasingly found throughout the tropics and are commonly associated with high human population density, yet little is known about the molecular pathology of the disease. Here, we investigate the metabolic impacts of GAs through 1H nuc
Authors
Erik R. Andersson, Rusty D. Day, Thierry M. Work, Paul E. Anderson, Cheryl M. Woodley, Tracey B. Schock
Response of fish assemblages to restoration of rapids habitat in a Great Lakes connecting channel
Rapids habitats are critical spawning and nursery grounds for multiple Laurentian Great Lakes fishes of ecological importance such as lake sturgeon, walleye, and salmonids. However, river modifications have destroyed important rapids habitat in connecting channels by modifying flow profiles and removing large quantities of cobble and gravel that are preferred spawning substrates of several fish sp
Authors
A. Molina-Moctezuma, N. Godby, K. Kapuscinski, Edward F. Roseman, K. Skubik, A. Moerke
Integrating thermal infrared stream temperature imagery and spatial stream network models to understand natural spatial thermal variability in streams
Under a warmer future climate, thermal refuges could facilitate the persistence of species relying on cold-water habitat. Often these refuges are small and easily missed or smoothed out by averaging in models. Thermal infrared (TIR) imagery can provide empirical water surface temperatures that capture these features at a high spatial resolution (<1 m) and over tens of kilometers. Our study examine
Authors
Matthew R. Fuller, Joseph L. Ebersole, Naomi Detenbeck, Rochelle Labisoa, Peter Leinenbach, Christian E. Torgersen
Cohort strength and body size in co-occurring salmonids in a small stream network: Variation in space and time
Trout and salmon commonly coexist in stream networks. Exploring similarities and differences among species can help explain coexistence and invasive ability. Here, we describe spatial distribution, cohort strengths and size-at-age of three co-occurring species in a small stream network. Spatial distributions varied dramatically among species; native brook trout occupied all stream reaches, natural
Authors
Benjamin Letcher, Keith H. Nislow, Matthew O'Donnell, Andrew R. Whiteley, Jason A. Coombs, Todd L. Dubreuil
Experimental warming differentially affects vegetative and reproductive phenology of tundra plants
Rapid climate warming is altering Arctic and alpine tundra ecosystem structure and function, including shifts in plant phenology. While the advancement of green up and flowering are well-documented, it remains unclear whether all phenophases, particularly those later in the season, will shift in unison or respond divergently to warming. Here, we present the largest synthesis to our knowledge of ex
Authors
Courtney G. Collins, Sarah Claire Elmendorf, Robert D. Hollister, Greg Henry, Karin Clark, Anne Bjorkman, Isla H. Myers-Smith, Janet S. Prevéy, Isabel Ashton, Jakob J. Assmann, Juha Alatalo, Michele Carbognani, Chelsea Chisholm, Elisabeth J. Cooper, Forester Chiara, Ingibjorg Svala Jonsdottir, Kari Klanderud, Christopher Kopp, Carolyn Livensperger, Marguerite Mauritz, Jeremy May, Ulf Molau, Steven F. Oberbaeur, Emily Ogburn, Zoe Panchen, Alessandro Petraglia, Eric Post, Christian Rixen, Heidi Rodenhizer, Ted Schuur, Phillip Semenchuk, Jane G. Smith, Heidi Steltzer, Ørjan Totland, Marilyn Walker, Jeffrey Welker, Katharine N. Suding