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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: 41778

Niche partitioning among native ciscoes and nonnative Rainbow Smelt in Lake Superior

Several species of ciscoes Coregonus, subgenus Leucichthys that are native to the Laurentian Great Lakes are rare or extirpated. The restoration of Coregonus fishes is being actively pursued through stocking, and success may depend on the availability of unoccupied niche space. We described the spring–summer habitat occupancy and diets of three native cisco species (Bloater Coregonus hoyi, Cisco C
Authors
Caroline Lynn Rosinski, Mark Vinson, Daniel Yule

Wind River subbasin restoration: Annual report of US..Geological Survey activities, January 2018 through December 2018

We sampled juvenile wild Steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss in headwater streams of the Wind River, WA, to characterize populations and investigate life-history metrics, particularly migratory patterns. We used Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT)-tagging and a series of instream PIT-tag interrogation systems (PTISs) to track juveniles. The Wind River subbasin is considered a wild Steelhead refuge by W
Authors
Ian G. Jezorek

Interaction of bacterial communities and indicators of water quality in shoreline sand, sediment, and water of Lake Michigan

Shoreline sand harbors high concentrations of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) that may be resuspended into the water column through washing and resuspension. Studies have explored coastal processes that influence this sand-water flux for FIB, but little is known about how microbial markers of contamination or the bacterial community interact in the sand-water interface. In this study, we take a thr
Authors
Meredith B. Nevers, Muruleedhara Byappanahalli, Cindy H. Nakatsu, Julie L. Kinzelman, Mantha S. Phanikumar, Dawn Shively, Ashley Spoljaric

Testing the interactive effects of flooding and salinity on tidal marsh plant productivity

Tidal wetlands support plant communities that facilitate carbon storage, accrete soil, and provide habitat for terrestrial and aquatic species. Climate change is likely to alter estuaries through sea-level rise and changing precipitation patterns, although the ecological responses are uncertain. We were interested in plant responses to physiological stress induced by elevated water salinity and fl
Authors
Kevin J. Buffington, Arianna C Goodman, Chase M. Freeman, Karen M. Thorne

The first occurrence of the Australian redclaw crayfish Cherax quadricarinatus (von Martens, 1868) in the contiguous United States

The Australian redclaw crayfish, Cherax quadricarinatus, is a popular aquaculture crayfish that has been introduced around the world. Here we report the first occurrence of the species in the United States in Lake Balboa, Los Angeles, California. The impacts of this species are largely unknown, and further research is needed to determine the species’ effects on native ecosystems. Sampling is neede
Authors
Cayla Morningstar, Wesley M. Daniel, Matthew Neilson, Ara K. Yazaryan

Estimating abiotic thresholds for sagebrush condition class in the western United States

Sagebrush ecosystems of the western United States can transition from extended periods of relatively stable conditions to rapid ecological change if acute disturbances occur. Areas dominated by native sagebrush can transition from species-rich native systems to altered states where non-native annual grasses dominate, if resistance to annual grasses is low. The non-native annual grasses provide rel
Authors
Stephen P. Boyte, Bruce K. Wylie, Yingxin Gu, Donald J. Major

A primer of fishery studies in Grand Canyon: The nonnative fish removal story

Globally, rivers have become the most altered of ecosystems, chiefly due to pollution, water withdrawals, and dams that have modified their former function, and led to large and unforeseen impacts, particularly for fish populations. Extensive research is directed at studying impacts of dams because they sever migration routes and change the physical template (flow, temperature, and sediment and or
Authors
Mike Yard

Clinical presentation and serological responses to natural outbreaks of rabies in a captive colony of common vampire bats

We report mortality events in a group of 123 common vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus) captured in México and housed for a rabies vaccine efficacy study in Madison, Wisconsin. Bat mortalities occurred in México and Wisconsin, but rabies cases reported herein are only those that occurred after arrival in Madison (n = 15). Bats were confirmed positive for rabies virus (RABV) by the direct fluorescent
Authors
Elsa M. Cárdenas-Canales, Crystal M. Gigante, Lauren A. Greenberg, Andres Velasco-Villa, James A. Ellison, Panayampalli S. Satheshkumar, Lex G Medina-Magües, Richard Griesser, Elizabeth Falendysz, Ignacio Amezcua, Jorge E. Osorio, Tonie E. Rocke

The right trait in the right place at the right time: Matching traits to environment improves restoration outcomes

(Munson) The challenges of restoration in dryland ecosystems are growing due to a rise in anthropogenic disturbance and increasing aridity. Plant functional traits are often used to predict plant performance and can offer a window into the potential outcomes of restoration efforts across environmental gradients. We tracked 15 years of seeding outcomes across 150 sites on the Colorado Plateau, a co
Authors
Kathleen R. Balazs, Andrea T. Kramer, Seth M. Munson, Nora Talkington, Shannon Still, Bradley J. Butterfield

Acute and chronic toxicity of sodium nitrate and sodium sulfate to several freshwater organisms in water-only exposures

Elevated nitrate (NO3) and sulfate (SO4) in surface water are of global concern, and studies are needed to generate toxicity data to develop environmental guideline values for NO3 and SO4. The present study was designed to fill existing gaps in toxicity databases by determining the acute and/or chronic toxicity of NO3 (tested as NaNO3) to a unionid mussel (Lampsilis siliquoidea), a midge (Chironom
Authors
Ning Wang, Rebecca A. Dorman, Chris D. Ivey, David J. Soucek, Amy Dickinson, Bethany K. Kunz, Jeffery Steevens, Edward J. Hammer, Candice R. Bauer

A need for speed in Bayesian population models: A practical guide to marginalizing and recovering discrete latent states

Bayesian population models can be exceedingly slow due, in part, to the choice to simulate discrete latent states. Here, we discuss an alternative approach to discrete latent states, marginalization, that forms the basis of maximum likelihood population models and is much faster. Our manuscript has two goals: 1) to introduce readers unfamiliar with marginalization to the concept and provide worked
Authors
Charles B. Yackulic, Michael J. Dodrill, Maria C. Dzul, Jamie S. Sanderlin, Janice A. Reid

Application of airborne LiDAR and GIS in modeling trail erosion along the Appalachian Trail, New Hampshire, USA

Recreational activities can negatively affect protected area landscapes and resources and soil erosion is frequently cited as the most significant long-term impact to recreational trails. Comprehensive modeling of soil loss on trails can identify influential factors that managers can manipulate to design and manage more sustainable trails. Field measurements assessed soil loss as the mean vertica
Authors
Holly Eagleston, Jeffrey L. Marion