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
Spatial epidemiological patterns suggest mechanisms of land-sea transmission for Sarcocystis neurona in a coastal marine mammal
Sarcocystis neurona was recognised as an important cause of mortality in southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) after an outbreak in April 2004 and has since been detected in many marine mammal species in the Northeast Pacific Ocean. Risk of S. neurona exposure in sea otters is associated with consumption of clams and soft-sediment prey and is temporally associated with runoff events. We exam
Authors
Tristan Burgess, M. Tim Tinker, Melissa A. Miller, Woutrina A. Smith, James L. Bodkin, Michael J. Murray, Linda M. Nichol, Justin A. Saarinen, Shawn E. Larson, Joseph A. Tomoleoni, Patricia A. Conrad, Christine K. Johnson
Egg counts of Southern Leopard Frog, Lithobates sphenocephalus, egg masses from southern Louisiana, USA
Southern Leopard Frogs, Lithobates sphenocephalus (Cope, 1889), lay eggs year-round in their southern range, including Louisiana, but their peak breeding season is the cooler months from late fall through early spring (Mount, 1975; Caldwell, 1986; Dundee and Rossman, 1989). Double-enveloped eggs in globular masses are typically deposited in shallow water, but deeper waters are used when temperatur
Authors
Brad M. Glorioso, Lindy J. Muse, J. Hardin Waddle
Food and temperature stressors have opposing effects in determining flexible migration decisions in brown trout (Salmo trutta )
With rapid global change, organisms in natural systems are exposed to a multitude of stressors that likely co‐occur, with uncertain impacts. We explored individual and cumulative effects of co‐occurring environmental stressors on the striking, yet poorly understood, phenomenon of facultative migration. We reared offspring of a brown trout population that naturally demonstrates facultative anadromy
Authors
Louise C Archer, Stephen A. Hutton, Luke Harman, Stephen D. McCormick, Michael N O'Grady, Joseph P. Kerry, W Russel Poole, Patrick Gargan, Philip McGinnity, Thomas E Reed
Increased prespawning mortality threatens an integrated natural- and hatchery-origin sockeye salmon population in the Lake Washington Basin
The life cycle of diadromous fishes such as salmonids involves natural mortality in a series of distinct life history stages, occurring sequentially in different habitats. Decades of research have emphasized mortality at the embryo, juvenile, and sub-adult stages but it is increasingly clear that some adults that survive and return to freshwater habitats die during the final homeward migration or
Authors
Heidy K Barnett, Thomas P. Quinn, Mary Bhuthimethee, James Winton
Evidence for a growing population of eastern migratory monarch butterflies is currently insufficient
The eastern migratory population of monarch butterflies has experienced a multi-decadal decline, but a recent increase in abundance (to 6.05 ha in winter 2018) has led some observers to question whether the population has reversed its long-standing decline and embarked on a trajectory of increasing abundance. We examined this possibility through changepoint analyses, first assessing whether a chan
Authors
Wayne E. Thogmartin, Jennifer A Szymanski, Emily L. Weiser
Non-freezing cold event stresses can cause significant damage to mangrove seedlings: Assessing the role of warming and nitrogen enrichment in a mesocosm study
Mangroves are expanding poleward along coastlines globally as a response to rising temperatures and reduced incidence of freezing under climate change. Yet, knowledge of mangrove responses to infrequent cold events in the context of future global and regional environmental changes is limited. We initiated a mesocosm experiment in which the seedlings of two mangrove species were grown either at amb
Authors
Weimin Song, Jianxiang Feng, Ken W. Krauss, Yan Zhao, Zhonglei Wang, Yiqi Luo, Guanghui Lin
Spatial and temporal patterns in age structure of Golden Eagles wintering in eastern North America
The behavior of wildlife varies seasonally, and that variation can have substantial demographic consequences. This is especially true for long‐distance migrants where the use of landscapes varies by season and, sometimes, age cohort. We tested the hypothesis that distributional patterns of Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) wintering in eastern North America are age‐structured (i.e., birds of simil
Authors
Macy L Kenney, James R. Belthoff, Matthew Carling, Tricia A. Miller, Todd E. Katzner
How repeatable is CTmax within individual brook trout over short- and long-time intervals?
As stream temperatures increase due to factors such as heated runoff from impervious surfaces, deforestation, and climate change, fish species adapted to cold water streams are forced to move to more suitable habitat, acclimate or adapt to increased thermal regimes, or die. To estimate the potential for adaptation, a (within individual) repeatable metric of thermal tolerance is imperative. Critica
Authors
Matthew J. O'Donnell, Amy M. Regish, Stephen D. McCormick, Benjamin H. Letcher
Multi‐species occupancy models: Review, roadmap, and recommendations
Recent technological and methodological advances have revolutionized wildlife monitoring. Although most biodiversity monitoring initiatives are geared towards focal species of conservation concern, researchers are increasingly studying entire communities, specifically the spatiotemporal drivers of community size and structure and interactions among species. This has resulted in the emergence of mu
Authors
Kadambari Devarajan, Simone Tenan, Toni Lyn Morelli
Prioritizing water security in the management of vector borne diseases: Lessons from Oaxaca, Mexico
Changes in human water use, along with temperature and rainfall patterns, are facilitating habitat spread and distribution of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes, the primary vectors for the transmission of Dengue, Chikungunya, and Zika viruses in the Americas. Artificial containers and wetspots provide major sources of mosquito larval habitat in residential areas. Mosquito abatement and
Authors
Ali S Akanda, Kristine D. Johnson, Howard S. Ginsberg, Janelle Couret
Climate- and disturbance-driven changes in subsistence berries in coastal Alaska: Indigenous knowledge to inform ecological inference
Berry-producing plants are a key subsistence resource in Indigenous Alaskan
communities. High-latitude coastal regions are particularly impacted by global climate
change due to their location at the land-sea ecotone subjecting them to terrestrial
stressors as well as shifts in ocean dynamics. While vegetation changes have been
documented for the subarctic coastal region of Alaska, we know little a
Authors
Nicole M. Herman-Mercer, Rachel A. Loehman, Ryan C. Toohey, Cynthia Paniyak
Amphibian responses in the aftermath of extreme climate events
Climate change-induced extinctions are estimated to eliminate one in six known species by the end of the century. One major factor that will contribute to these extinctions is extreme climatic events. Here, we show the ecological impacts of recent record warm air temperatures and simultaneous peak drought conditions in California. From 2008–2016, the southern populations of a wide-ranging endemic
Authors
Gary M. Bucciarelli, Morgan Clark, Katy S. Delaney, Seth P D Riley, H. Bradley Shaffer, Robert N. Fisher, Rodney L Honeycutt, Lee B. Kats