Publications
Below is a list of available NOROCK peer reviewed and published science. If you are in search of a specific publication and cannot find it below or through a search, please contact twojtowicz@usgs.gov.
Filter Total Items: 1211
Influence of climate drivers on colonization and extinction dynamics of wetland-dependent species
Freshwater wetlands are particularly vulnerable to climate change. Specifically, changes in temperature, precipitation, and evapotranspiration (i.e., climate drivers) are likely to alter flooding regimes of wetlands and affect the vital rates, abundance, and distributions of wetland-dependent species. Amphibians may be among the most climate-sensitive wetland-dependent groups, as many species rely
Authors
Andrew M. Ray, William R. Gould, Blake R. Hossack, Adam J. Sepulveda, David P. Thoma, Debra A. Patla, Rob Daley, Robert K. Al-Chokhachy
A framework for assessing the feasibility of native fish conservation translocations: Applications to threatened bull trout
There is an urgent need to consider more aggressive and direct interventions for the conservation of freshwater fishes that are threatened by invasive species, habitat loss, and climate change. Conservation introduction (moving a species outside its indigenous range to other areas where conditions are predicted to be more suitable) is one type of translocation strategy that fisheries managers can
Authors
Benjamin T. Galloway, Clint C. Muhlfeld, Christopher S. Guy, Christopher C. Downs, Wade A. Fredenberg
A goodness-of-fit test for occupancy models with correlated within-season revisits
Occupancy modeling is important for exploring species distribution patterns and for conservation monitoring. Within this framework, explicit attention is given to species detection probabilities estimated from replicate surveys to sample units. A central assumption is that replicate surveys are independent Bernoulli trials, but this assumption becomes untenable when ecologists serially deploy remo
Authors
Wilson Wright, Kathryn M. Irvine, Thomas J. Rodhouse
Infectious diseases of wolves in Yellowstone
The summer of 2005 began with such promise for wolves in Yellowstone. The population had been at an all-time high the last few years, and the wolves appeared to be in good condition. Several packs had been particularly busy during the breeding season, and early summer pup counts suggested another healthy crop of new wolves rising through the ranks.
Authors
Emily S. Almberg, Paul C. Cross, Peter J. Hudson, Andrew P. Dobson, Douglas W. Smith, Daniel R. Stahler
Effect of electric barrier on passage and physical condition of juvenile and adult rainbow trout
Electric barriers can inhibit passage and injure fish. Few data exist on electric barrier parameters that minimize these impacts and on how body size affects susceptibility, especially to nontarget fish species. The goal of this study was to determine electric barrier voltage and pulse-width settings that inhibit passage of larger bodied rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss (215–410 mm fork length) w
Authors
Megan J. Layhee, Adam J. Sepulveda, Amy Shaw, Matthew Smuckall, Kevin Kapperman, Alejandro Reyes
Reevaluating geographic variation in life-history traits of a widespread Nearctic amphibian
Animals from cold environments are usually larger than animals from warm environments, which often produce clines in body size. Because variation in body size can lead to trade-offs between growth and reproduction, life-history traits should also vary across climatic gradients. To determine if life-history traits of wood frogs Rana sylvatica vary with climate, we examined female and male body leng
Authors
Jon M. Davenport, Blake R. Hossack
Distribution of the Sonora Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma mavortium stebbinsi) in Mexico
The Sonoran Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma mavortium stebbinsi Lowe, 1954) was listed as federally endangered in the USA in 1997 (USFWS 1997). In the USA, the distribution of A. mavortium stebbinsi is limited to the San Rafael Valley (approximately 567 km2), between the Sierra San Antonio (called the Patagonia Mountains in Arizona) and Huachuca Mountains, and south of the Canelo Hills, Arizona (Fig.
Authors
Blake R. Hossack, Erin L. Muths, James C. Rorabaugh, Julio A. Lemos Espinal, Brent H. Sigafus, Thierry A. Chambert, Gerardo Carreon Arroyo, David Hurtado Felix, Daniel Toyos Martinez, Thomas R. Jones
Genetic reconstruction of a bullfrog invasion to elucidate vectors of introduction and secondary spread
Reconstructing historical colonization pathways of an invasive species is critical for uncovering factors that determine invasion success and for designing management strategies. The American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) is endemic to eastern North America, but now has a global distribution and is considered to be one of the worst invaders in the world. In Montana, several introduced populat
Authors
Pauline L. Kamath, Adam J. Sepulveda, Megan J. Layhee
Loss of genetic diversity and increased subdivision in an endemic Alpine Stonefly threatened by climate change
Much remains unknown about the genetic status and population connectivity of high-elevation and high-latitude freshwater invertebrates, which often persist near snow and ice masses that are disappearing due to climate change. Here we report on the conservation genetics of the meltwater stonefly Lednia tumana (Ricker) of Montana, USA, a cold-water obligate species. We sequenced 1530 bp of mtDNA fro
Authors
Steve Jordan, J. Joseph Giersch, Clint C. Muhlfeld, Scott Hotalling, Liz Fanning, Tyler H. Tappenbeck, Gordon Luikart
Gravel-bed river floodplains are the ecological nexus of glaciated mountain landscapes
Gravel-bed river floodplains in mountain landscapes disproportionately concentrate diverse habitats, nutrient cycling, productivity of biota, and species interactions. Although stream ecologists know that river channel and floodplain habitats used by aquatic organisms are maintained by hydrologic regimes that mobilize gravel-bed sediments, terrestrial ecologists have largely been unaware of the im
Authors
F. Richard Hauer, Harvey Locke, Victoria Dreitz, Mark Hebblewhite, Winsor Lowe, Clint C. Muhlfeld, Cara Nelson, Michael F. Proctor, Stewart B. Rood
Land cover changes associated with recent energy development in the Williston Basin; Northern Great Plains, USA
The Williston Basin in the Northern Great Plains has experienced rapid energy development since 2000. To evaluate the land cover changes resulting from recent (2000 – 2015) development, the area and previous land cover of all well pads (pads) constructed during this time was determined, the amount of disturbed and reclaimed land adjacent to pads was estimated, land cover changes were analyzed over
Authors
Todd M. Preston, Kevin Kim
Conservation of native Pacific trout diversity in western North America
Pacific trout Oncorhynchus spp. in western North America are strongly valued in ecological, socioeconomic, and cultural views, and have been the subject of substantial research and conservation efforts. Despite this, the understanding of their evolutionary histories, overall diversity, and challenges to their conservation is incomplete. We review the state of knowledge on these important issues, f
Authors
Brooke E. Penaluna, Alicia Abadía-Cardoso, Jason B. Dunham, Francisco J García de León, Robert E. Gresswell, Arturo Ruiz Luna, Eric B. Taylor, Bradley B. Shepard, Robert K. Al-Chokhachy, Clint C. Muhlfeld, Kevin R. Bestgen, Kevin H. Rogers, Marco A Escalante, Ernest R. Keeley, Gabriel Temple, Jack E. Williams, Kathleen Matthews, Ron Pierce, Richard L. Mayden, Ryan Kovach, John Carlos Garza, Kurt D. Fausch