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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: 41764

Variation in species composition, size and fitness of two multi-species sea turtle assemblages using different neritic habitats

The neritic environment is rich in resources and as such plays a crucial role as foraging habitat for multi-species marine assemblages, including sea turtles. However, this habitat also experiences a wide array of anthropogenic threats. To prioritize conservation funds, targeting areas that support multi-species assemblages is ideal. This is particularly important in the Gulf of Mexico where resto
Authors
Margaret M. Lamont, Darren Johnson

Creel surveys for social-ecological systems focused fisheries management

Recreational fisheries are social-ecological systems (SES), and knowledge of human dimensions coupled with ecology are critically needed to understand their system dynamics. Creel surveys, which typically occur in-person and on-site, serve as an important tool for informing fisheries management. Recreational fisheries creel data have the potential to inform large-scale understanding of social and
Authors
Chelsey L. Nieman, Carolyn Iwicki, Abigail Lynch, Greg G. Sass, Christopher T. Solomon, Ashley Trudeau, Brett van Poorten

Muted responses to chronic experimental nitrogen deposition on the Colorado Plateau

Anthropogenic nitrogen (N) deposition is significantly altering both community structure and ecosystem processes in terrestrial ecosystems across the globe. However, our understanding of the consequences of N deposition in dryland systems remains relatively poor, despite evidence that drylands may be particularly vulnerable to increasing N inputs. In this study, we investigated the influence of 7
Authors
Michala Lee Phillips, Daniel E. Winkler, Robin H. Reibold, Brooke Bossert Osborne, Sasha C. Reed

Coding-Complete Genome Sequence of Avian Orthoavulavirus 16, isolated from Emperor Goose (Anser canagica) feces, Alaska, USA

We sequenced the coding-complete genome of an avian orthoavulavirus serotype 16 (AOAV-16) isolate recovered from emperor goose (Anser canagicus) feces collected in Alaska. The detection of AOAV-16 in North America and genomic sequencing of the resultant isolate confirms that the geographic distribution of this virus extends beyond Asia.
Authors
Andrew B. Reeves, Mary Lea Killian, Michael E Tanner, Benjamin Joel Lagassé, Andrew M. Ramey, David E. Stallknecht, Rebecca L. Poulson

Modeling structural mechanics of oyster reef self-organization including environmental constraints and community interactions

Self-organization is a process of establishing and reinforcing local structures through feedbacks between internal population dynamics and external factors. In reef-building systems, substrate is collectively engineered by individuals that also occupy it and compete for space. Reefs are constrained spatially by the physical environment, and by mortality, which reduces production but exposes substr
Authors
Simeon Yurek, Mitchell Eaton, Romain Lavaud, R. Wilson Laney, Don DeAngelis, William E. Pine, Megan K. LaPeyre, Julien Martin, Peter C Frederick, Hongqing Wang, Michael R. Lowe, Fred Johnson, Edward V. Camp, Rua Mordecai

Pathology of mouse (Mus musculus) predation on Laysan albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge

Invasive rodents on islands have adverse effects on native birds in island ecosystems, and rats are the most common culprits. Recently, house mice (Mus musculus) in the South Atlantic were found preying on three species of albatross chicks. Here, we show that house mice can also prey on nesting adult Laysan Albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge (US). In contr
Authors
Thierry M. Work, Meg Duhr, Beth Flint

Genetic connectivity of the West Indian manatee in the southern range and limited evidence of hybridization with Amazonian manatees

The Antillean subspecies of the West Indian manatee is classified as endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. In Brazil, the manatee population is listed as endangered with an estimated population size of 500–1,000. Historic hunting, recent habitat degradation, and fisheries bycatch have decreased the population size. The Amazonian manatee is listed as
Authors
Fabia O. Luna, Caitlin Beaver, Coralie Nourisson, Robert Bonde, Fernanda L. N. Attademo, Adriana V. Miranda, Juan P. Torres-Florez, Glaucia P. de Sousa, Jose Z. Passavate, Maggie Hunter

Measuring U.S. Federal Agency progress toward implementation of alternative methods in toxicity testing

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommended to Congress that federal agencies establish a workgroup through ICCVAM to propose metrics for assessing progress on the development and promotion of alternative methods. This document describes the recommendations of the ICCVAM Metrics Workgroup.
Authors
John D. Gordon, Carol Clarke, Matthew Johnson, Emily N. Reinke, Barnett A. Rattner, Steve Hwang, Evisabel Craig, Anna Lowit, Paul Brown, Karen L. Davis-Bruno, Annabelle Crusan, Suzanne Fitzpatrick, Jueichuan Kang, Robin Levis, Donna L. Mendrick, Jill Merrill, Brian Berridge, Warren Casey, Nicole Kleinstreuer, Harold Watson

Monitoring the results of stream corridor restoration

Often overlooked and underfunded, ecological monitoring is an essential component of stream-restoration work. It helps practitioners to identify successful restoration practices, detect ineffective ones, and adjust their adaptive-management activities to improve efficacy (Bernhardt and Palmer 2011). Monitoring, along with research and modeling, are the three legs of the scientific stool that suppo
Authors
Daniel Bunting, Andrew M. Barton, Brooke M. Bushman, Barry Chernoff, Kelon Crawford, David Dean, Eduardo Gonzalez, Jeanmarie Haney, O. Hinojosa-Huerta, Helen M. Poulos, J Renfrow, Holly E. Richter, Carlos A. Sifuentes Lugo, Juliet C. Stromberg, Dale S. Turner, K. Urbanczyk, Mark K. Briggs

Broader impacts for ecologists: Biological soil crust as a model system for education

Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are a complex community of algae, cyanobacteria, lichens, bryophytes, and assorted bacteria, fungi, archaea, and bacteriophages that colonize the soil surface. Biocrusts are particularly common in drylands and are found in arid and semiarid ecosystems worldwide. While diminutive in size, biocrusts often cover large terrestrial areas, provide numerous ecosystem be
Authors
Alasha M. Faist, Anita J. Antoninka, Nichole N. Barger, Matthew A. Bowker, V. Bala Chaudhary, Caroline A. Havrilla, Elisabeth Huber-Saanwald, Sasha C. Reed, Bettina Weber

Drivers of realized satellite tracking duration in marine turtles

BackgroundSatellite tags have revolutionized our understanding of marine animal movements. However, tags may stop transmitting for many reasons and little research has rigorously examined tag failure. Using a long-term, large-scale, multi-species dataset, we evaluated factors influencing tracking duration of satellite tags to inform study design for future tracking studies.MethodsWe leveraged data
Authors
Kristen Hart, Jacquelyn C. Guzy, Brian J. Smith

Quantifying and securing environmental flow

No abstract available.
Authors
Amy McCoy, Patrick B. Shafroth, Mark Briggs, Karen Schlatter, Lindsay White, Francisco Zamora, Mauricio de la Maza Benignos, Jennifer Pitt, Paul Tashjian, Yamilette Carrillo