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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

Identification of Acara (Cichlidae: Cichlasoma) established in Florida, USA

The Black Acara, Cichlasoma bimaculatum (Linnaeus, 1758), was first reported as introduced to Florida in 1965. Native to Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, western French Guiana, and northern Brazil, the species is now distributed throughout Florida’s southern peninsula. Examination of live and preserved acara from Central Florida, heretofore identified as Black Acara, reveal the presence of an addition
Authors
Robert H Robins, Mary E. Brown, Ryan A Crutchfield

Field observations of wind waves in Upper Delaware Bay with living shorelines

Constructed oyster reefs (CORs) provide shore protections and habitats for fish and shellfish communities via wave energy attenuation. However, the processes and mechanism of CORs on wave attenuation remain unclear, thus limiting the effective assessment of CORs for shoreline protection. This paper presents results of a field investigation on wave characteristics and wave spectral variations along
Authors
Ling Zhu, Q. Chen, Hongqing Wang, William D. Capurso, L.M. Niemoczynski, Kelin Hu, Gregg Snedden

Simulation modeling of complex climate, wildfire, and vegetation dynamics to address wicked problems in land management

Complex, reciprocal interactions among climate, disturbance, and vegetation dramatically alter spatial landscape patterns and influence ecosystem dynamics. As climate and disturbance regimes shift, historical analogs and past empirical studies may not be entirely appropriate as templates for future management. The need for a better understanding of the potential impacts of climate changes on ecosy
Authors
Rachel A. Loehman, Robert E. Keane, Lisa M. Holsinger

Associations between riparian plant morphological guilds and fluvial sediment dynamics along the regulated Colorado River in Grand Canyon

Effects of riparian vegetation on fluvial sediment dynamics depend on morphological traits of the constituent species. Determining the effects of different morphological guilds on sedimentation rates, as influenced by multiple aspects of dam operations, can help identify viable strategies for streamflow and vegetation management to achieve riparian resource goals. Plants of increasing size and bra
Authors
Bradley J. Butterfield, Paul Grams, Laura E. Durning, Joseph Hazel, Emily C. Palmquist, Barbara Ralston, Joel B. Sankey

Impacts of seagrass dynamics on the coupled long-term evolution of barrier-marsh-bay systems

Seagrass provides a wide range of economically and ecologically valuable ecosystem services, with shoreline erosion control often listed as a key service, but can also alter the sediment dynamics and waves within back-barrier bays. Here we incorporate seagrass dynamics into an existing barrier-marsh exploratory model, GEOMBEST++, to examine the coupled interactions of the back-barrier bay with bot
Authors
Ian Reeves, Laura Moore, Evan Goldstein, Brad Murray, Joel A. Carr, Matthew Kirwan

Fatty acid-based diet estimates suggest ringed seal remain the main prey of southern Beaufort Sea polar bears despite recent use of onshore food resources

Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) from the southern Beaufort Sea (SB) subpopulation have traditionally fed predominantly upon ice‐seals; however, as the proportion of the subpopulation using onshore habitat has recently increased, foraging on land‐based resources, including remains of subsistence‐harvested bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) and colonial nesting seabirds has been observed. Adipose tis
Authors
Jennifer Bourque, Todd C. Atwood, George J. Divoky, Connie Stewart, Melissa A. McKinney

Paired stated preference methods for valuing management of white pine blister rust: order effects and outcome uncertainty

The literature on nonmarket valuation includes many examples of stated and revealed preference comparisons. However, comparisons within stated preference methods are sparse. Specifically, the literature provides few examples of pairing both a discrete choice experiment (CE) and a contingent valuation (CV) question within a single survey. This paper presents results of a nonmarket valuation study t
Authors
James Meldrum, Patricia A. Champ, Craig A. Bond, Anna Schoettle

Rapid peat development beneath created, maturing mangrove forests: Ecosystem changes across a 25-year chronosequence

Mangrove forests are among the world’s most productive and carbon‐rich ecosystems. Despite growing understanding of factors controlling mangrove forest soil carbon stocks, there is a need to advance understanding of the speed of peat development beneath maturing mangrove forests— especially in created and restored mangrove forests that are intended to compensate for ecosystem functions lost during
Authors
Michael J. Osland, Laura C. Feher, Amanda C. Spivak, Janet A. Nestlerode, Alejandro E. Almario, Nicole Cormier, Andrew From, Ken W. Krauss, Marc J. Russell, Federico Alvarez, Darrin D. Dantin, James E. Harvey, Camille L. Stagg

Revealing migration and reproductive habitat of invasive fish under an active population suppression program

Endemic species face a variety of threats including predation from non‐native invaders. In some cases, however, invasive species can be managed by directly suppressing populations, and tracking technologies that allow researchers to identify movement patterns and aggregations representative of the population can facilitate suppression activities. In Yellowstone Lake (Yellowstone National Park, Wyo
Authors
Lee F. G. Gutowsky, Jason G. Romine, Nicholas A. Heredia, Patricia E. Bigelow, Michael J. Parsley, Philip T. Sandstrom, Cory D. Suski, Andy J. Danylchuk, Steven J. Cooke, Robert E. Gresswell

Does the virus cross the road? Viral phylogeographic patterns among bobcat populations reflect a history of urban development

Urban development has major impacts on connectivity among wildlife populations and is thus likely an important factor shaping pathogen transmission in wildlife. However, most investigations of wildlife diseases in urban areas focus on prevalence and infection risk rather than potential effects of urbanization on transmission itself. Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) is a directly transmitted ret
Authors
Christopher P. Kozakiewicz, Christopher P. Burridge, W. Chris Funk, Meggan E. Craft, Kevin R. Crooks, Robert N. Fisher, Nicholas M. Fountain-Jones, Megan K. Jennings, Simona J Kraberger, Justin S. Lee, Lisa M. Lyren, Seth P D Riley, Laurel E K Serieys, Sue VandeWoude, Scott Carver

Spatiotemporal patterns of mineral and organic matter deposition across two San Francisco Bay-Delta tidal marshes

Sediment deposition in tidal wetlands is a critical process that determines whether vertical growth will keep pace with sea-level rise. However, more information is needed on how sediment deposition varies spatially and temporally across wetlands, including the effects of elevation, tidal inundation, vegetation, and weather. We investigated variation in sediment deposition due to season, distance
Authors
Kevin J. Buffington, Christopher N. Janousek, Karen M. Thorne, Bruce D. Dugger

Catalogue of polar bear (Ursus maritimus) maternal den locations in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas and nearby areas, 1910–2018

This report presents data on the approximate locations and methods of discovery of 530 polar bear (Ursus maritimus) maternal dens observed in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas and neighboring areas from 1910 to 2018, and archived partly by the U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center, and partly by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Marine Mammals Management, in Anchorage, Alaska. A description
Authors
George M. Durner, Steven C. Amstrup, Todd C. Atwood, David C. Douglas, Anthony S. Fischbach, Jay W. Olson, Karyn D. Rode, Ryan H. Wilson