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
Scenario-Based Decision Analysis: Integrated scenario planning and structured decision making for resource management under climate change
Managing resources under climate change is a high-stakes and daunting task, especially because climate change and associated complex biophysical responses engender sustained directional changes as well as abrupt transformations. This environmental non-stationarity challenges assumptions and expectations among scientists, managers, rights holders, and stakeholders. These challenges are anything but
Authors
Brian W. Miller, Mitchell Eaton, Amy Symstad, Gregor W. Schuurman, Imtiaz Rangwala, William R. Travis
A novel approach to assessing natural resource injury with Bayesian networks
Quantifying the effects of environmental stressors on natural resources is problematic because of complex interactions among environmental factors that influence endpoints of interest. This complexity, coupled with data limitations, propagates uncertainty that can make it difficult to causally associate specific environmental stressors with injury endpoints. The Natural Resource Damage Assessment
Authors
Freya Elizabeth Rowland, Christopher James Kotalik, Bruce G. Marcot, Jo Ellen Hinck, David Walters
Long-term changes in concentrations and yield of riverine dissolved silicon from the poles to the tropics
Riverine exports of silicon (Si) influence global carbon cycling through the growth of marine diatoms, which account for ∼25% of global primary production. Climate change will likely alter river Si exports in biome-specific ways due to interacting shifts in chemical weathering rates, hydrologic connectivity, and metabolic processes in aquatic and terrestrial systems. Nonetheless, factors driving l
Authors
Kathi Jo Jankowski, Keira Johnson, Lienne R. Sethna, Paul Julian, Adam S. Wymore, Arial J. Shogren, Patrick Thomas, Pamela L. Sullivan, Diane M. McKnight, William H. McDowell, Ruth C. Heindel, Jeremy B. Jones, Wilfred M. Wollheim, Benjamin Abbott, Linda A. Deegan, Joanna C. Carey
Predation of invasive silver carp by native largemouth bass is size-selective in the Illinois River
Silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) are a nonnative, planktivorous, and highly invasive species of cyprinid located throughout the Mississippi River Basin. Although they co-occur with largemouth bass (Micropterus nigricans), an abundant native predatory fish, their predator–prey relationship is poorly understood. This potential relationship warrants investigation as largemouth bass are large
Authors
Eli G. Lampo, Jonathan M. Vallazza, Cory A. Anderson, Levi E. Solomon, Richard M. Pendleton, Toby J. Holda, James T. Lamer
Scale-dependent tradeoffs between habitat and time in explaining Alligator Gar (Atractosteus spatula) movement
Ecological theory predicts that movement by riverine fishes at the population level is characterized by both stationary and mobile individuals together creating a leptokurtic distribution of movement distances. However, studies testing this theory typically ignore spatial heterogeneity in riverscapes, and the theory has not been tested using Alligator Gar (Atractosteus spatula), a species of growi
Authors
Johnathan K. Ellard, Hayden C. Roberts, Daniel J. Daugherty, Paul B. Fleming, Matthew Ross Acre, Joshuah S. Perkin
Long-term demographic analysis of the Cape Sable seaside sparrow (1992–2021)
The Cape Sable seaside sparrow (Ammospiza maritima mirabilis) is an endangered species that has experienced a population decline of more than 60% since 1981. Despite its critical population status, a statistically robust analysis of the species’ demographic rates utilizing all data has yet to be completed (Benscoter et al. 2021). Furthermore, long-term population processes in response to hydrologi
Authors
Marisa Takada Martinez, Laura D'Acunto, Stephanie Romanach
Comparing reintroduction strategies for the endangered San Francisco gartersnake (Thamnophis sirtalis tetrataenia) using demographic models
For endangered species persisting in a few populations, reintroductions to unoccupied habitat are a popular conservation action to increase viability in the long term. Identifying the reintroduction strategy that is most likely to result in viable founder and donor populations is essential to optimally use resources available for conservation. The San Francisco gartersnake (Thamnophis sirtalis tet
Authors
Jonathan P. Rose, Richard Kim, Elliot James Schoenig, Patrick C. Lien, Brian J. Halstead
The sands of time: Predicting sea level rise impacts to barrier island habitats
Coastal beach ecosystems support critical habitat for numerous species and are vulnerable to sea level rise. Sand beaches are spatially and temporally dynamic, making it difficult to accurately predict future habitat loss – estimates that are crucial as species are being assessed for protection. We mapped sand beach habitat on 12 focal barrier islands and low-lying beaches off the Gulf Coast of Fl
Authors
Erin L. Koen, William Barichivich, Susan Walls
Reimagining large river management using the Resist–Accept–Direct (RAD) framework in the Upper Mississippi River
BackgroundLarge-river decision-makers are charged with maintaining diverse ecosystem services through unprecedented social-ecological transformations as climate change and other global stressors intensify. The interconnected, dendritic habitats of rivers, which often demarcate jurisdictional boundaries, generate complex management challenges. Here, we explore how the Resist–Accept–Direct (RAD) fra
Authors
Nicole K. Ward, Abigail Lynch, Erik A. Beever, Joshua Booker, Kristen L. Bouska, Holly Susan Embke, John F. Kocik, Joshua Kocik, Mary Grace T. Lemon, David J. Lawrence, Douglas Limpinsel, Madeline Magee, Bryan M. Maitland, Owen P. McKenna, Andrew R. Meier, John M. Morton, Jeffrey Muehlbauer, Robert Newman, Devon C. Oliver, Heidi M. Rantala, Greg G. Sass, Aaron D. Shultz, Laura Thompson, Jennifer L. Wilkening
Spatial variation in density of American black bears in northern Yellowstone National Park
The quality and availability of resources are known to influence spatial patterns of animal density. In Yellowstone National Park, relationships between the availability of resources and the distribution of grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) have been explored but have yet to be examined in American black bears (Ursus americanus). We conducted non-invasive genetic sampling during 2017–2018 (mid-May to m
Authors
Nathaniel R. Bowersock, Andrea R. Litt, Michael A. Sawaya, Kerry A. Gunther, Frank T. van Manen
Predatory impacts of invasive Blue Catfish in an Atlantic coast estuary
ObjectivePredatory invasive fishes may consume species of management interest and alter food webs. Blue Catfish Ictalurus furcatus is a large-bodied, salinity-tolerant species that exhibits broad diet breadth and preys on species of both conservation concern and fisheries management interest. To better understand the ecological consequences of the establishment of Blue Catfish fisheries, estimates
Authors
Corbin David Hilling, Joseph Schmitt, Yan Jiao, Donald J. Orth
Interactions among rainfall, fire, forbs and non-native grasses predict occupancy dynamics for the endangered Pacific pocket mouse (Perognathus longimembris pacificus) in a Mediterranean-type ecosystem
It is important to understand species-habitat relationships to implement effective adaptive management for rare species. However, it can be challenging to assess habitat associations and their relationships to abiotic stressors in dynamic habitats without the insights that can be gained from long-term monitoring. We report results from the first six years of extensive track tube monitoring of the
Authors
Cheryl S. Brehme, Sarah Kay Thomsen, Devin T. Adsit-Morris, Robert N. Fisher