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
Influence of remediation on sediment toxicity within the Grand Calumet River, Indiana, USA
The Grand Calumet River (GCR), located in northern Indiana, is contaminated due to a wide range of historical industrial activities. This study was conducted to determine the influence of sediment remediation within the GCR on concentrations of chemical contaminants and toxicity to sediment-dwelling organisms. Between 2005 and 2016, sediments with high concentrations of metals and toxic organic co
Authors
Jeffery Steevens, John M. Besser, Rebecca A. Dorman, Daniel W. Sparks
Identification of management thresholds of urban development in support of aquatic biodiversity conservation
Urbanization degrades stream ecosystems and causes loss of bodiversity. Using benthic macroinvertebrates as a surragate for overall aquatic diversity, we conducted a series of analytical approaches to derive management thresholds of urban development designed to link ecological responses to the primary management goal of protecting aquatic diversity in streams within the Delaware Water Gap Nationa
Authors
Craig D. Snyder, John A. Young
Mortality of endangered juvenile Lost River Suckers associated with cyanobacteria blooms in mesocosms in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon
Unsustainably high mortality within the first 2 years of life prevents endangered Lost River Suckers Deltistes luxatus in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, from recruiting to spawning populations. Massive blooms of the cyanobacterium Aphanizomenon flos‐aquae and their subsequent death and decay in the lake (bloom‐crashes) are associated with high pH, low percent oxygen saturation, high total ammonia con
Authors
Summer M. Burdick, Danielle M Hereford, Carla M. Conway, Nathan V Banet, Rachel L. Powers, Barbara A. Martin, Diane G. Elliott
Differences in antibody responses against Chelonid Alphaherpesvirus 5 (ChHV5) suggest differences in virus biology in ChHV5-seropositive green turtles from Hawaii and ChHV5-seropositive green turtles from Florida
Fibropapillomatosis (FP) is a tumor disease associated with a herpesvirus (chelonid herpesvirus 5 [ChHV5]) that affects mainly green turtles globally. Understanding the epidemiology of FP has been hampered by a lack of robust serological assays to monitor exposure to ChHV5. This is due in part to an inability to efficiently culture the virus in vitro for neutralization assays. Here, we expressed t
Authors
Thierry M. Work, Julie Dagenais, Anna Willimann, George Balazs, Kate Mansfield, Mathias Ackermann
Expert bioblitzes facilitate non-native fish tracking and interagency partnerships
Documenting the distribution and composition of non-native species populations can be challenging, especially when species cross jurisdictional boundaries that require interagency coordination. Herein I report the development of three tools that have been used in Florida over the past seven years to assist with tracking of non-native fishes: 1) an overarching organization to increase coordination
Authors
Pamela J. Schofield
Habitat affinities and at-sea ranging behaviors among main Hawaiian Island seabirds: Breeding seabird telemetry, 2013–2016
Recent Hawaiʻi state clean energy policy mandates and federal interest in developing offshore renewable energy resources have prompted unsolicited lease requests for offshore wind energy infrastructure (OWEI) to be located in ocean waters off Hawaiʻi. This study describing at-sea ranging behaviors for five seabirds was intended to provide new information on Hawaiian breeding seabird distribution a
Authors
Josh Adams, Jonathan J. Felis, Max Czapanskiy
Throughfall reduction x fertilization: Deep soil water usage in a clay rich ultisol under loblolly pine in the Southeast USA
Forests in the Southeast USA are predicted to experience a moderate decrease in precipitation inputs over this century that may result in soil water deficiency during the growing season. The potential impact of a drier climate on the productivity of managed loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) plantations in the Southeast USA is uncertain. Access to water reserves in deep soil during drought periods may
Authors
Jiaguo Qi, Daniel M. Markewitz, Mary Ann McGuire, Lisa Samuelson, Eric Ward
Climate change vulnerability assessment for Pacific Lamprey in rivers of the Western United States
Pacific Lamprey (Entosphenus tridentatus) are a native anadromous species that, like salmon, historically returned to spawn in large numbers in watersheds along the west coast of the United States (U.S.). Lamprey play a vital role in river ecosystems and are one of the oldest vertebrates that have persisted over time likely influencing the evolution of many aquatic species. Pacific Lamprey have de
Authors
Christina J Wang, Howard A Shaller, Kelly C. Coates, Michael C. Hayes, Robert K Rose
Evaluation of survey methods for colonial waterbirds at Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota
Estimating the number of breeding pairs in a mixed-species waterbird colony is difficult because colonial waterbirds are vulnerable to human intrusion and their colonies are often in remote areas with limited access. We investigated methods to estimate the number of nests of waterbirds at a large, mixed-species colony at Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge in south-central North Dakota. The primar
Authors
Lawrence D. Igl, Alisa J. Bartos, Robert O. Woodward, Paulette Scherr, Marsha A. Sovada
Multi-decadal patterns of vegetation succession after tundra fire on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska
Alaska’s Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta (YKD) is one of the warmest parts of the
Arctic tundra biome and tundra fires are common in its upland areas. Here we combine
field measurements, Landsat observations, and quantitative cover maps for tundra plant
functional types (PFTs) to characterize multi-decadal succession and landscape change
after fire in lichen-dominated upland tundra of the YKD, where extensi
Authors
Gerald Frost, Rachel A. Loehman, Lisa Saperstein, Matthew J. Macander, Peter Nelson, David Paradis, Sue M. Natali
Hawaiian hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus semotus) acoustic monitoring at Hawaii Army National Guard (HIARNG) installations statewide
Acoustic sampling for occurrence of the endangered Hawaiian hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus semotus) was conducted at 18 “long-term” acoustic monitoring stations on 12 Hawai‘i Army National Guard (HIARNG) installations across the islands of Hawai‘i, Maui, Moloka‘i, O‘ahu, and Kaua‘i between 2012 and 2018. Bats were confirmed as present at 10 of these installations: Kealakekua Armory, Keaukaha Militar
Authors
Kristina Montoya-Aiona, Corinna Pinzari, Robert W. Peck, Kevin W. Brinck, Frank J Bonaccorso
Climate relationships with increasing wildfire in the southwestern US from 1984 to 2015
Over the last several decades in forest and woodland ecosystems of the southwestern United States, wildfire size and severity have increased, thereby increasing the vulnerability of these systems to type conversions, invasive species, and other disturbances. A combination of land use history and climate change is widely thought to be contributing to the changing fire regimes. We examined climate-f
Authors
Stephanie Mueller, Andrea E. Thode, Ellis Margolis, Larissa Yocom, Jesse M. Young, José M. Iniguez