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
Mapping Phragmites australis live fractional cover in the lower Mississippi River Delta, Louisiana
In response to a co-occurring non-native scale infestation and Phragmites australis dieback in southeast Louisiana, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) satellite mapping was implemented to track P. australis condition in the lower Mississippi River Delta. While the NDVI mapping successfully documented relative condition changes, identification of cause required a quantitative-biophysical
Authors
Amina Rangoonwala, Rebecca J. Howard, Elijah W. Ramsey III
Reptiles under the conservation umbrella of the greater sage‐grouse
In conservation paradigms, management actions for umbrella species also benefit co‐occurring species because of overlapping ranges and similar habitat associations. The greater sage‐grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) is an umbrella species because it occurs across vast sagebrush ecosystems of western North America and is the recipient of extensive habitat conservation and restoration efforts that
Authors
David Pilliod, Michelle Jeffries, Robert Arkle, Deanna H. Olson
Management of the brown-headed cowbird: Implications for endangered species and agricultural damage mitigation
The brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater; cowbird) is unique among North American blackbirds (Icteridae) because it is managed to mitigate the negative effects on endangered songbirds and economic losses in agricultural crops. Cowbird brood parasitism can further affect species that are considered threatened or endangered due to anthropogenic land uses. Historically, cowbirds have often been culle
Authors
Brian D Peer, Barbara E. Kus, Mary J. Whitfield, Linnea S. Hall, Stephen I Rothstein
Outside the box: Working with wildlife in biocontainment
Research with captive wildlife in Animal Biosafety Level 2 (ABSL2) and 3 (ABSL3) facilities is becoming increasingly necessary as emerging and re-emerging diseases involving wildlife have increasing impacts on human, animal, and environmental health. Utilizing wildlife species in a research facility often requires outside the box thinking with specialized knowledge, practices, facilities, and equi
Authors
Elizabeth Falendysz, Dana Marie Calhoun, Carrie Alison Smith, Jonathan M. Sleeman
Juvenile Coho and Chinook salmon growth, size, and condition linked to watershed-scale salmon spawner abundance
Anadromous Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp. are semelparous, and resource subsidies from spawning adult salmon (marine-derived nutrients [MDN]) benefit juvenile salmonids while they rear in freshwater. However, it is unclear if juvenile salmon populations respond predictably to the abundance of spawning salmon at the watershed scale. To address whether hypothesized benefits to rearing juveniles sc
Authors
Philip J. Joy, Craig A. Stricker, Renae Ivanoff, Shiao Y. Wang, Mark S. Wipfli, Andrew C. Seitz, Jiaqi Huang, Mathew B. Tyers
Decision context as an essential component of population viability analysis
Population viability analysis (PVA) is a widely used tool that applies demographic data in simulation frameworks to assess extinction risk for species or populations. It is used in diverse conservation applications, including evaluating management effectiveness, relative risk of threats, and potential changes to protective status (Beissinger & McCullough, 2002), and can be a critical tool for maki
Authors
Abigail Jean Lawson, Brian Folt, Anna Maureen Tucker, Francesca T. Erickson, Conor P. McGowan
Lampricide residues in sea lamprey larvae carcasses recovered after 3-trifluoromethyl-4- nitrophenol (TFM) or TFM/Bayluscide stream treatments
Lampricide concentrations in whole larval sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) carcasses collected after lampricide treatments were determined to support risk assessment for non-target organisms that may consume lampricide-laden carcasses. Dead larvae were collected by Sea Lamprey Control personnel following the Ford River (Delta County, Michigan) 4.1 mg·L-1 3-trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol (TFM) treat
Authors
Jeffry Bernardy, Nicholas A. Schloesser
Council monitoring and assessment program (CMAP) compilation of existing habitat and water quality monitoring and mapping assessments for the Gulf of Mexico Region
This report is a deliverable to the RESTORE Council for Task 7: Document the existing baseline habitat and water quality conditions prior to implementation of the restoration projects; these baseline conditions will serve as a basis for measuring change/progress after restoration. It is the second in a series of CMAP reports. The first report describes the process and development of the CMAP monit
Authors
Julie Bosch, Heidi Burkart, Bogdan Chivoiu, Randy Clark, Chris Clement, Nicholas Enwright, Steve Giordano, Chris Jeffrey, Ed Johnson, Rheannon M. Hart, Sarah Davidson Hile, Jacob Howell, Claudia Laurenzano, Michael T. Lee, Terrence A. McCloskey, Terry McTigue, Michelle B. Meyers, Scott V. Mize, Mark E. Monaco, Kevin Owen, Richard A. Rebich, Samuel H. Rendon, Ali Robertson, Thomas Sample, Gregory D. Steyer, Kevin J. Suir, Christopher M. Swarzenski, Katie Watson
Monitoring boreal avian populations: How can we estimate trends and trajectories from noisy data?
Substantial effort has been dedicated to developing reliable monitoring schemes for North American bird populations, but our ability to monitor bird populations in the boreal forest remains limited because of the sparsity of long-term data sets, particularly in northerly regions. Given the importance of the boreal forest for many migratory birds, we set out to (1) summarize the main challenges ass
Authors
Christian Roy, Nicole L Michel, Colleen M. Handel, Steven Van Wilgenburg, Curtis Burkhalter, Kirsty A B Gurney, David Messmer, Karine Prince, Clark S Rushing, James E Saracco, Richard Schuster, Adam C. Smith, Paul A Smith, Peter Solymos, Lisa A Venier, Benjamin Zuckerberg
Temporospatial shifts in Sandhill Crane staging in the Central Platte River Valley in response to climatic variation and habitat change
Over 80% of the Mid-Continent Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis) Population (MCP), estimated at over 660,000 individuals, stops in the Central Platte River Valley (CPRV) during spring migration from mid-February through mid-April. Research suggests that the MCP may be shifting its distribution spatially and temporally within the CPRV. From 2002 to 2017, we conducted weekly aerial surveys of Sand
Authors
Andrew J. Caven, Emma M. Brinley Buckley, Kelsey C King, Joshua D Wiese, David M. Baasch, Greg D. Wright, Mary J. Harner, Aaron T. Pearse, Matt Rabbe, Dana Varner, Brice Krohn, Nicole Arcilla, Kirk D Schroeder, Kenneth F Dinan
Applying circuit theory and landscape linkage maps to reintroduction planning for California condors
Conservation practitioners are increasingly looking to species translocations as a tool to recover imperiled taxa. Quantitative predictions of where animals are likely to move when released into new areas would allow managers to better address the social, institutional, and ecological dimensions of conservation translocations. Using >5 million California condor (Gymnogyps californianus) occurrence
Authors
Jesse D'Elia, Joe Brandt, LJ Burnett, Susan M. Haig, Jeffrey P Hollenbeck, S Kirkland, B G Marcot, A Punzalan, C J West, T Williams-Claussen, Rachel Wolstenholme, Richard Young
Envisioning a national invasive species information framework
With a view toward creating a national Early Detection and Rapid Response Program (EDRR) program, the United States National Invasive Species Council Management Plan for 2016–2018 calls for a series of assessments of federal EDRR capacities, including the evaluation of “relevant federal information systems to provide the data and other information necessary for risk analyses/horizon scanning, rapi
Authors
Jamie K Reaser, Annie Simpson, Gerald Guala, Jeffrey Morisette, Pam Fuller