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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: 41758

Assessing tradeoffs between current and desired vegetation condition in a National Park using historical maps and high resolution lidar data

In the United States, National Park Service Civil War battlefield units are managed for both historical accuracy (i.e., to represent landscape conditions at the time of the conflict for historical interpretation), and for natural resource protection. However, managing for both goals can create conflicts as many battlefields were largely open or in second growth forests historically, but now harbor
Authors
John A. Young, Carolyn Mahan

The invasive plant data landscape: A synthesis of spatial data and applications for research and management in the United States

ContextAn increase in the number and availability of datasets cataloging invasive plant distributions offers opportunities to expand our understanding, monitoring, and management of invasives across spatial scales. These datasets, created using on-the-ground observations and modeling techniques, are made both for and by researchers and managers.ObjectivesThe large number and variety of data types
Authors
Emily J. Fusco, Evelyn M. Beaury, Bethany A. Bradley, Michelle Cox, Catherine S. Jarnevich, Adam L. Mahood, R. Chelsea Nagy, Ty Nietupski, Jessica E. Halofsky

Mercury bioaccumulation and cortisol interact to influence endocrine and immune biomarkers in a free-ranging marine mammal

Mercury bioaccumulation from deep-ocean prey and the extreme life history strategies of adult female northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris) provide a unique system to assess the interactive effects of mercury and stress on animal health by quantifying blood biomarkers in relation to mercury (skeletal muscle and blood mercury) and cortisol concentrations. The thyroid hormone thyroxine (t
Authors
Sarah H. Peterson, Josh T. Ackerman, Rachel R. Holser, Birgitte I. McDonald, Daniel P. Costa, Daniel E. Crocker

I Am A...Science careers book for kids

This activity book is an illustrative guide designed to introduce young minds about the exciting world of science careers. From ichthyologists to wildlife biologists, this book showcases a variety of science-based professions through fun and engaging activities. Each section of the book features a different science career and includes information about how the job got its name and what a typical d
Authors
Steven Sobieszczyk, Suzanna C. Soileau, Annie Scott

A research agenda for the science of actionable knowledge: Drawing from a review of the most misguided to the most enlightened claims in the science-policy interface literature

Linking science with action affords a prime opportunity to leverage greater societal impact from research and increase the use of evidence in decision-making. Success in these areas depends critically upon processes of producing and mobilizing knowledge, as well as supporting and making decisions. For decades, scholars have idealized and described these social processes in different ways, resultin
Authors
Kripa Jagannathan, Geniffer Emmanuel, James Arnott, Katharine Mach, Aparna Bamzai-Dodson, Kristen Goodrich, Ryan Meyer, Mark Neff, Dana Sjostrom, Kristin Timm, Esther Turnhout, Gabrielle Wong-Parodi, Angela Bednarek, Alison Meadow, Art Dewulf, Christine J. Kirchhoff, Richard C. Moss, Leah Nichols, Eliza Oldach, Maria Carmen Lemos, Nicole Klenk

Land cover differentially affects abundance of common and rare birds

While rare species are vulnerable to global change, large declines in common species (i.e., those with large population sizes, large geographic distributions, and/or that are habitat generalists) also are of conservation concern. Understanding if and how commonness mediates species' responses to global change, including land cover change, can help guide conservation strategies. We explored avian p
Authors
Kristin P. Davis, Paul C. Banko, Liba Pejchar

Diverse portfolios: Investing in tributaries for restoration of large river fishes in the Anthropocene

Rehabilitation of large Anthropocene rivers requires engagement of diverse stakeholders across a broad range of sociopolitical boundaries. Competing objectives often constrain options for ecological restoration of large rivers whereas fewer competing objectives may exist in a subset of tributaries. Further, tributaries contribute toward building a “portfolio” of river ecosystem assets through phys
Authors
Kristen L. Bouska, Brian Daniel Healy, Michael James Moore, Corey Garland Dunn, Jonathan J Spurgeon, Craig Paukert

Forage fish species prefer habitat within designated offshore wind energy areas on the US Northeast Shelf ecosystem

As the world develops sources of renewable energy, there is an intensifying interest in offshore wind energy production. The Northeast U.S. Continental Shelf (NES) ecosystem has favorable wind dynamics, with active development of wind energy. In this study, we present species distribution models that consider both occupancy and biomass responses for a broad spectrum of fish and macroinvertebrate t
Authors
Kevin Friedland, Evan M. Adams, Chandra Goetsch, Julia Gulka, Damien Brady, Everett Rzeszowski, Daniel Crear, Sarah Gaichas, Andrew Gill, M. Conor McManus, Elizabeth T. Methratta, Janelle L. Morano, Michelle Staudinger

Nitrifying microorganisms linked to biotransformation of perfluoroalkyl sulfonamido precursors from legacy aqueous film forming foams

Drinking water supplies across the United States have been contaminated by firefighting and fire-training activities that use aqueous film-forming foams (AFFF) containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Much of the AFFF is manufactured using electrochemical fluorination by 3M. Precursors with six perfluorinated carbons (C6) and non-fluorinated amine substituents make up approximately o
Authors
Bridger J. Ruyle, Lara Schultes, Denise M. Akob, Cassandra Rashan Harris, Michelle Lorah, Simon Vojta, Jitka Becanova, Shelly McCann, Heidi M. Pickard, Ann Pearson, Rainer Lohmann, Chad D. Vecitis, Elsie M. Sunderland

Uptake of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances by fish, mussel, and passive samplers in mobile laboratory exposures using groundwater from a contamination plume at a historical fire training area, Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Aqueous film-forming foams historically were used during fire training activities on Joint Base Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and created an extensive per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) groundwater contamination plume. The potential for PFAS bioconcentration from exposure to the contaminated groundwater, which discharges to surface water bodies, was assessed with mobile-laboratory experiments u
Authors
Larry B. Barber, Heidi M. Pickard, David Alvarez, Jitka Becanova, Steffanie H. Keefe, Denis R. LeBlanc, Rainer Lohmann, Jeffery Steevens, Alan M. Vajda

Compensatory recruitment unlikely in high-elevation amphibian populations challenged with disease

Understanding the causes of population variation in host response to disease, and the mechanisms of persistence, can serve as vital information for species conservation. One such mechanism of population persistence that has gained support is the demographic process of compensatory recruitment. Host populations may persist by increasing recruitment to compensate for reduced survival due to infectio
Authors
Bennett Hardy, Erin L. Muths, Bradley Lambert, Scott C. Schneider, W. C. Funk, Larissa L. Bailey

Drought survival strategies differ between coastal and montane conifers in northern California

Increasingly severe and prolonged droughts are contributing to tree stress and forest mortality across western North America. However, in many cases, we currently have poor information concerning how drought responses in forests vary in relation to competition, climate, and site and tree characteristics. We used annual tree ring evidence of 13C discrimination (Δ13C) and growth metrics to assess dr
Authors
Wallis Robinson, Lucy P. Kerhoulas, Rosemary L. Sherriff, Gabriel Roletti, Phillip J. van Mantgem