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: 41771
Post-release survival of fallout Newell’s Shearwater fledglings from a rescue and rehabilitation program on Kauai, Hawaii
Light attraction impacts nocturnally active fledgling seabirds worldwide and is a particularly acute problem on Kaua‘i (the northern-most island in the main Hawaiian Island archipelago) for the Critically Endangered Newell’s shearwater Puffinus newelli. The Save Our Shearwaters (SOS) program was created in 1979 to address this issue and to date has recovered and released to sea more than 30500 fle
Authors
Andre F. Raine, Tracy Anderson, Megan Vynne, Scott Driskill, Helen Raine, Josh Adams
Wetland and hydric soils
Soil and the inherent biogeochemical processes in wetlands contrast starkly with those in upland forests and rangelands. The differences stem from extended periods of anoxia, or the lack of oxygen in the soil, that characterize wetland soils; in contrast, upland soils are nearly always oxic. As a result, wetland soil biogeochemistry is characterized by anaerobic processes, and wetland vegetation e
Authors
Carl Trettin, Randall Kolka, Anne Marsh, Sheel Bansal, Eric Lilleskov, Patrick Megonigal, Marla Stelk, Graeme Lockaby, David D'Amore, Richard A. MacKenzie, Brian Tangen, Rodney A. Chimner, James Gries
Possibility for reverse zoonotic transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to free-ranging wildlife: A case study of bats
The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the substantial public health, economic, and societal consequences of virus spillover from a wildlife reservoir. Widespread human transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) also presents a new set of challenges when considering viral spillover from people to naïve wildlife and other animal populations. The establishment of new wild
Authors
Kevin J. Olival, Paul M. Cryan, Brian R. Amman, Ralph S. Baric, David S. Blehert, Cara E. Brook, Charles H. Calisher, Kevin T. Castle, Jeremy T. H. Coleman, Peter Daszak, Jonathan H. Epstein, Hume Field, Winifred F. Frick, Amy T. Gilbert, David T. S. Hayman, Hon S. Ip, William B Karesh, Christine K. Johnson, Rebekah C. Kading, Tigga Kingston, Jeffrey M. Lorch, Ian H. Mendenhall, Alison J. Peel, Kendra L. Phelps, Raina K. Plowright, DeeAnn M. Reeder, Jonathan D. Reichard, Jonathan M. Sleeman, Daniel G. Streicker, Jonathan S. Towner, Lin-Fa Wang
Effects of a temperature rise on melatonin and thyroid hormones during smoltification of Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar
Smoltification prepares juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) for downstream migration. Dramatic changes characterize this crucial event in the salmon’s life cycle, including increased gill Na+/K+-ATPase activity (NKA) and plasma hormone levels. The triggering of smoltification relies on photoperiod and is modulated by temperature. Both provide reliable information, to which fish have adapted for
Authors
Laura G Nisembaum, Patrick Martin, Michael Fuentes, Laurence Besseau, Eloise Magnanou, Stephen D. McCormick, Jack Falcon
Resolving species boundaries in the critically imperiled freshwater mussel species, Fusconaia mitchelli (Bivalvia: Unionidae)
Species are a fundamental unit of biology, and defining accurate species boundaries is integral to effective conservation and management of imperiled taxa. Freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionidae) are among the most imperiled groups of organisms in North America, yet species boundaries remain uncertain for many taxa. The False Spike, Fusconaia mitchelli (Simpson in Dall, 1895), is a freshwater mus
Authors
Chase H. Smith, Nathan Johnson, Kaitlyn Havlik, Robert D. Doyle, Charles R. Randklev
Detecting population declines via monitoring the effective number of breeders (Nb)
Estimating the effective population size and effective number of breeders per year (Nb) can facilitate early detection of population declines. We used computer simulations to quantify bias and precision of the one-sample LDNe estimator of Nb in age-structured populations using a range of published species life history types, sample sizes, and DNA markers. Nb estimates were biased by ~5%–10% when u
Authors
Gordon Luikart, Tiago Antao, Brian K. Hand, Clint C. Muhlfeld, Matthew C. Boyer, Ted Corsart, Brian Trethewey, Robert K. Al-Chokhachy, Robin S. Waples
Mass mortality in freshwater mussels (Actinonaias pectorosa) in the Clinch River, USA, linked to a novel densovirus
Freshwater mussels (order Unionida) are among the world’s most biodiverse but imperiled taxa. Recent unionid mass mortality events around the world threaten ecosystem services such as water filtration, nutrient cycling, habitat stabilization, and food web enhancement, but causes have remained elusive. To examine potential infectious causes of these declines, we studied mussels in Clinch River, Vir
Authors
Jordon Richard, Eric Leis, Christopher D. Dunn, Rose Agbalog, Diane L. Waller, Susan Knowles, Joel G. Putnam, Tony Goldberg
Disease in Central Valley salmon: Status and lessons from other systems
Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) are increasingly vulnerable to anthropogenic activities and climate change, especially at their most southern species range in California’s Central Valley. There is considerable interest in understanding stressors that contribute to population decline and in identifying management actions that reduce the impacts of those stressors. Along the west coast of
Authors
Brendan M Lehman, Rachel C. Johnson, Mark Adkison, Oliver T Burgess, Richard E Connon, Nann A. Fangue, Scott J Foott, Sascha L Hallett, Beatriz Martínez-López, Kristina M. Miller, Maureen K. Purcell, Nicholas A. Som, Pablo Valdes-Donoso, Alison L Collins
Hemidactylus cf. platyurus (Asian flat-tailed house gecko)
No abstract available.
Authors
K. L. Kabat, D. V. Young, N. B. Van Ee, P. X. Xiong, D. R. Bradke, Melia G. Nafus, Eric Thomas Hileman
Canine distemper virus in the sea otter population (Enhydra lutris) in Washington State, USA
Before 2001, all serosurveys for morbilliviruses in sea otters (Enhydra lutris) in California, Washington, and Alaska, USA, documented a 0% seroprevalence. The first published serologic detections of morbillivirus in sea otters occurred in 2001–02 in live-captured Washington sea otters, with a documented 80% seroprevalence. We conducted a retrospective study of sea otter cases from 1989 to 2010 co
Authors
Nancy Thomas, C. LeAnn White, Jeremiah Saliki, Krysten L. Schuler, Deanna Lynch, Ole Nielsen, J.P. Dubey, Susan Knowles
Hemidactylus tenkatei (Spotted house gecko)
No abstract available.
Authors
N. B. Van Ee, P. X. Xiong, D. V. Young, K. L. Kabat, D. R. Bradke, Eric Thomas Hileman, Melia G. Nafus