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: 41772
Examining the mechanisms of species responses to climate change: Are there biological thresholds?
Climate-change-driven shifts in distribution and abundance have been documented in many species. However, in order to better predict species responses, managers are seeking to understand the mechanisms that are driving these changes, including any thresholds that might soon be crossed. Leveraging the research that has already been supported by the Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center and i
Authors
William DeLuca, Thomas W. Bonnot, Alexej P. K. Siren, Radley M. Horton, Curtice R. Griffin, Toni Lyn Morelli
Identifying research needs to inform white-nose syndrome management decisions
Ecological understanding of host–pathogen dynamics is the basis for managing wildlife diseases. Since 2008, federal, state, and provincial agencies and tribal and private organizations have collaborated on bat and white‐nose syndrome (WNS) surveillance and monitoring, research, and management programs. Accordingly, scientists and managers have learned a lot about the hosts, pathogen, and dynamics
Authors
Riley Bernard, Jonathan D. Reichard, Jeremy T. H. Coleman, Julie C. Blackwood, Michelle L. Verant, Jordi Segers, Jeffery M. Lorch, John Paul White, M.S. Moore, Amy L. Russell, Rachel A. Katz, Daniel L. Linder, Rick S. Toomey, Gregory G. Turner, Winifred F. Frick, Maarten J. Vonhof, Craig K. R. Willis, Evan H. Campbell Grant
Erratum: Seismic survey design and effects on maternal polar bear dens
Since the publication of this manuscript, readers have noted two errors in our analysis. The first is that we inadvertently stated that the forward looking infrared (FLIR) survey simulations only represented a single FLIR survey. In reality, the analysis assumed two independent FLIR surveys occurred prior to simulated seismic activity occurring. To evaluate the results for a single FLIR survey,
Authors
Ryan H. Wilson, George M. Durner
Trends in oyster populations in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico: An assessment of river discharge and fishing effects over time and space
Within the Big Bend region of the northeastern Gulf of Mexico, one of the least developed coastlines in the continental USA, intertidal and subtidal populations of eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica (hereafter referred to as “oyster”) are a critical ecosystem and important economic constituent. We assessed trends in intertidal oyster populations, river discharge, and commercial fishing activity
Authors
J. F Moore, W. E Pine, P. C Frederick, Sarah Becker, Marcos Moreno, Michael Dodrill, Matthew Boone, L Sturmer, Simeon Yurek
A revised classification of the Xolmiini (Aves: Tyrannidae: Fluvicolinae), including a new genus for Muscisaxicola fluviatilis
Recent studies using molecular phylogenetics have provided new insight into the composition of and relationships among species in the avian tribe Xolmiini. Key findings include the paraphyly of Xolmis, including the exclusion of X. dominicanus from the Xolmiini, and the apparent paraphyly of Muscisaxicola. We provide a revised classification of the Xolmiini, including a new genus for Muscisaxicola
Authors
R. Terry Chesser, Michael G Harvey, Robb T Brumfield, Elizabeth P Derryberry
Recognition of typical antibiotic residues in environmental media related to groundwater in China (2009−2019)
The potential adverse environmental and health-related impacts of antibiotics are becoming more and more concerning. China is globally the largest antibiotic producer and consumer, possibly resulting in the ubiquity and high detection levels of antibiotics in environmental compartments. Clear status on the concentration levels and spatial distribution of antibiotic contamination in China's environ
Authors
Fuyang Huang, Ziyi An, Michael J. Moran, Fei Liu
Decadal-scale decoupling of soil phosphorus and molybdenum cycles by temperate nitrogen-fixing trees
Symbiotic nitrogen- (N) fixing trees can influence multiple biogeochemical cycles by fixing atmospheric N, which drives net primary productivity and soil carbon (C) and N accumulation, as well as by mobilizing soil phosphorus (P) and other nutrients to support growth and metabolism. The soil micronutrient molybdenum (Mo) is essential to N-fixation, yet surprisingly little is known of whether N-fix
Authors
Katherine A Dynarski, Julie C. Pett-Ridge, Steven Perakis
Capture of environmental DNA (eDNA) from water samples by flocculation
The analysis of environmental DNA (eDNA) has become a widely used approach to problem solving in species management. The detection of cryptic species including invasive and (or) species at risk is the goal, typically accomplished by testing water and sediment for the presence of characteristic DNA signatures. Reliable and efficient procedures for the capture of eDNA are required, especially those
Authors
W. Bane Schill
Pervasive shifts in forest dynamics in a changing world
Forest dynamics arise from the interplay of environmental drivers and disturbances with the demographic processes of recruitment, growth, and mortality, subsequently driving biomass and species composition. However, forest disturbances and subsequent recovery are shifting with global changes in climate and land use, altering these dynamics. Changes in environmental drivers, land use, and disturban
Authors
Nate G. McDowell, Craig D. Allen, Kristina J. Anderson-Teixeira, Brian H. Aukema, Ben Bond-Lamberty, Louise Chini, James S. Clark, Michael Dietze, Charlotte Grossiord, Adam Hanbury-Brown, George C. Hurtt, Robert B. Jackson, Daniel J. Johnson, Lara Kueppers, Jeremy W. Lichstein, Kiona Ogle, Benjamin Poulter, Thomas A. M. Pugh, Rupert Seidl, Monica G. Turner, María Uriarte, Anthony P. Walker, Chonggang Xu
Extreme arsenic and antimony uptake and tolerance in toad tadpoles during development in highly contaminated wetlands
The effects of extreme concentrations of toxic metalloids, such as arsenic (As) and antimony (Sb), on larval amphibians are not well-understood. We sampled Western Toad tadpoles (Anaxyrus boreas) living in As- and Sb-contaminated wetlands throughout their development. Although the tadpoles completed metamorphosis, they accumulated among the highest concentrations of As and Sb ever reported for a l
Authors
Meghan A. Dovick, Thomas R Kulp, Robert Arkle, David Pilliod
Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (ARMI) 20th anniversary postcard
The Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (ARMI) was established within the U.S. Geological Survey in 2000 as a result of Congressional funding for Department of the Interior agencies to study amphibians and provide information to help manage amphibians and address threats. As the research arm of the Department of the Interior, the U.S. Geological Survey is providing scientific leadership f
Authors
Lianne C. Ball
Scaling responses of leaf nutrient stoichiometry to the lakeshore flooding duration gradient across different organizational levels
Most wetlands have been subject to changes in flooding regimes by climate change and human activities, resulting in widespread alteration of wetland plants at different organizational levels. However, scaling the responses of wetland plants to changes in flooding regimes is still challenging, because flooding could indirectly affect wetland plants through affecting environment factors (e.g. soil p
Authors
Yasong Chen, Camille Stagg, Yongjiu Cai, Xiaotao Lü, Xiaolong Wang, Ruichang Shen, Zhichun Lan