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: 41756
Evaluation of breeding distribution and chronology of North American scoters
North America's scoter species are poorly monitored relative to other waterfowl. Black Melanitta americana, surf M. perspicillata, and white-winged M. deglandi scoter abundance and trend estimates are thus uncertain in many parts of these species' ranges. The most extensive source of waterfowl abundance and distribution data in North America is the Waterfowl breeding population and habitat survey
Authors
Kristin Bianchini, Scott G. Gilliland, Alicia Berlin, Timothy D. Bowman, W. Sean Boyd, Susan E. W. De La Cruz, Daniel Esler, Joseph R. Evenson, Paul L. Flint, Christine Lepage, Scott R. McWilliams, Dustin E. Meattey, Jason E. Osenkowski, Matthew Perry, Jean-François Poulin, Eric T. Reed, Christian Roy, Jean-Pierre L. Savard, Lucas Savoy, Jason L Schamber, Caleb S. Spiegel, John Takekawa, David H. Ward, Mark L. Mallory
Development of a Surface-Water Index of Permanence to assess surface-water availability for ecohydrological refugia
Surface-water availability has major implications for the environment and society in the 21st century. With climate change, increased drought severity, and altered water and land use, future water availability is predicted to continue to decline in many areas, including much of the western United States. An understanding of where and when water will be available at multiple scales is crucial for t
Authors
Alynn Martin, Roy Sando, Lindsey Thurman, Kyle McLean, Patrick Wurster, John Jones, Anteneh Sarbanes
Growth performance of Rainbow Trout in reservoir tributaries and implications for steelhead growth potential above Skagit River dams
ObjectiveIn the Pacific Northwest (USA), Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp. populations have been declining significantly for decades, prompting stakeholders to respond with a variety of conservation and restoration measures. One such measure being considered in the Skagit River basin (Washington, USA) is the introduction of steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss (anadromous Rainbow Trout) above the impassab
Authors
Benjamin Lorenz Jensen, Rachelle Carina Johnson, Jeffrey J. Duda, Carl Ostberg, Tessa Julianne Code, Jonathan H Mclean, Karl D. Stenberg, Kimberly Larsen, Marshal Hoy, David Beauchamp
Unraveling mechnisms underlying effects of wetting–drying cycles on soil respiration in a dryland
Rewetting of dry soils usually stimulates soil carbon (C) emission, a phenomenon known as the Birch effect. Soil C cycling in drylands, which store approximately one third of terrestrial soil organic C (SOC), is strongly affected by wetting–drying cycles. However, the physical, chemical, and biological mechanisms that link rewetting cycles with dryland soil C cycling have not been comprehensively
Authors
Guopeng Liang, Sasha C. Reed, John M. Stark, Bonnie G. Waring
Linking water use efficiency with water use strategy from leaves to communities
Limitations and utility of three measures of water use characteristics were evaluated: water use efficiency (WUE), intrinsic WUE and marginal water cost of carbon gain (aE/aA) estimated, respectively, as ratios of assimilation (A) to transpiration (E), of A to stomatal conductance (gs) and of sensitivities of E and A with variation in gs. Only the measure aE/aA estimates water use strategy in a wa
Authors
Jie Liang, Ken Krauss, John Finnigan, Hilary Stuart-Williams, Graham D. Farquhar, Marilyn C. Ball
Twenty-five years of change in forest structure and nesting behavior of Hawaiʻi ʻelepaio
Long-term ecological studies are invaluable for detecting changes over time. Forest restoration has been a conservation priority in Hawaiʻi, where invasive species have negatively impacted native bird habitat. During 1993–1994, a study was conducted of Hawaiʻi ʻelepaio (Chasiempis sandwichensis) nest site selection and forest composition in mesic montane forest along Mauna Loa Road in Hawaiʻi Volc
Authors
Kelly Jaenecke, Paul C. Banko, Robert W. Peck, Zee Sarr, Nicholas Shema
Geomorphic classification framework for assessing reproductive ecology of Scaphirhynchus albus (pallid sturgeon), Fort Peck segment, Upper Missouri River, Montana and North Dakota
The segment of the Upper Missouri River between Fort Peck Dam and the headwaters of Lake Sakakawea is home to a population of the endangered Scaphirhynchus albus (pallid sturgeon). Lack of population growth (recruitment failure) has been attributed to inadequate dispersal distance of larvae between spawning locations and the headwaters of Lake Sakakawea, where conventional wisdom holds that anoxic
Authors
Robert B. Jacobson, Caroline M. Elliott, Edward Bulliner
Application of the Stream Salmonid Simulator (S3) model to assess fall Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) production in the American River, California
Executive SummaryAnadromous fish returning to the lower American River are restricted to 36 kilometers of free-flowing river between Nimbus Dam and American River’s confluence with the Sacramento River, California. Salmon in the American River provide an important freshwater recreational fishery. However, annual salmon production in the American River in recent years has been low relative to the m
Authors
John M. Plumb, Russell W. Perry, Tyson W. Hatton, Collin D. Smith, John M. Hannon
Toward invasive mussel genetic biocontrol: Approaches, challenges, and perspectives
Invasive freshwater mussels, such as the zebra (Dreissena polymorpha), quagga (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis), and golden (Limnoperna fortunei) mussel have spread outside their native ranges throughout many regions of the North American, South American, and European continents in recent decades, damaging infrastructure and the environment. This review describes ongoing efforts by multiple groups
Authors
Victor H. Hernandez Elizarraga, Scott Ballantyne, Lindsey Gengelbach, Juliana A. Americo, Steven T. Suhr, Marie-Claude Senut, Ben Minerich, Christopher M. Merkes, Thea Margaret Edwards, Katy E. Klymus, Cathy A. Richter, Diane L. Waller, Yale J. Passamaneck, Mauro de F. Rebelo, Daryl M. Gohl
Using explainable machine learning methods to evaluate vulnerability and restoration potential of ecosystem state transitions
Ecosystem state transitions can be ecologically devastating or be a restoration success. State transitions are common within aquatic systems worldwide, especially considering human-mediated changes to land use and water use. We created a transferable conceptual framework to enable multiscale assessments of state resilience and early warnings of state transitions that can inform strategic restorati
Authors
John T. Delaney, Danelle M. Larson
Assay validation of saliva glucocorticoids in Columbia spotted frogs and effects of handling and marking
Non-invasive methods are important to the field of conservation physiology to reduce negative effects on organisms being studied. Glucocorticoid (GC) hormones are often used to assess health of individuals, but collection methods can be invasive. Many amphibians are imperiled worldwide, and saliva is a non- or semi-invasive matrix to measure GCs that has been partially validated for only four amph
Authors
Brian J. Tornabene, Blake R. Hossack, Creagh W. Breuner