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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

Where the buffalo roam: The role of history and genetics in the conservation of bison on U.S. federal lands

As an emblem of the Great Plains, American Indians, and wildlife conservation, the American bison (Bison bison) is one of the most visible and well-known of wildlife species in North America (fig. 1, above). Species of the genus Bison originally entered the continent via the Bering land bridge from northern Eurasia in the Illinoian glacial period of the Pleistocene epoch (125,000–500,000 years ago
Authors
Natalie D. Halbert, Peter J. Gogan, Ron Hiebert, James N. Derr

Effects of supplemental feeding on gastrointestinal parasite infection in Rocky Mountain Elk (Cervus elaphus): Preliminary observations

The effects of management practices on the spread and impact of parasites and infectious diseases in wildlife and domestic animals are of increasing concern worldwide, particularly in cases where management of wild species can influence disease spill-over into domestic animals. In the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, USA, winter supplemental feeding of Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus) may enhance
Authors
Alicia M. Hines, Vanessa O. Ezenwa, Paul C. Cross, Jared D. Rogerson

Hydrology and geomorphology of the Snake River in Grand Teton National Park

The influence of significant tributaries that join the Snake River within 10 km of Jackson Lake Dam (JLD) mitigate some impacts resulting from nearly 100 years of flow regulation in Grand Teton National Park. I analyzed measured and estimated unregulated flow data for all segments of the study area by accounting for tributary flows. The magnitude of the 2-yr recurrence flood immediately downstream
Authors
Nicholas C. Nelson, John C. Schmidt

Sustaining Rocky Mountain landscapes: Science, policy and management for the Crown of the Continent ecosystem

Prato and Fagre offer the first systematic, multi-disciplinary assessment of the challenges involved in managing the Crown of the Continent Ecosystem ( CCE), an area of the Rocky Mountains that includes northwestern Montana, southwestern Alberta, and southeastern British Columbia. The spectacular landscapes, extensive recreational options, and broad employment opportunities of the CCE have made it

Modeling the biophysical impacts of global change in mountain biosphere reserves

Mountains and mountain societies provide a wide range of goods and services to humanity, but they are particularly sensitive to the effects of global environmental change. Thus, the definition of appropriate management regimes that maintain the multiple functions of mountain regions in a time of greatly changing climatic, economic, and societal drivers constitutes a significant challenge. Manageme
Authors
H.K.M. Bugmann, F. Ewert Bjornsen, W. Haeberli, Antoine Guisan, Daniel B. Fagre, A. Kaab

LoCoH: Non-parameteric kernel methods for constructing home ranges and utilization distributions

Parametric kernel methods currently dominate the literature regarding the construction of animal home ranges (HRs) and utilization distributions (UDs). These methods frequently fail to capture the kinds of hard boundaries common to many natural systems. Recently a local convex hull (LoCoH) nonparametric kernel method, which generalizes the minimum convex polygon (MCP) method, was shown to be more
Authors
Wayne M. Getz, Scott Fortmann-Roe, Paul C. Cross, Andrew J. Lyons, Sadie J. Ryan, Christopher C. Wilmers

CCE Fire regimes and their management

No abstract available.
Authors
R.E. Keane, C.H. Key

Second chance for the plains bison

Before European settlement the plains bison (Bison bison bison) numbered in the tens of millions across most of the temperate region of North America. Within the span of a few decades during the mid- to late-1800s its numbers were reduced by hunting and other factors to a few hundred. The plight of the plains bison led to one of the first major movements in North America to save an endangered spec
Authors
Curtis H. Freese, K. Aune, D. Boyd, James N. Derr, Steven C. Forrest, C. Cormack Gates, Peter J. Gogan, Shaun M. Grassel, Natalie D. Halbert, Kyran Kunkel, Kent Redford

A simple solar radiation index for wildlife habitat studies

Solar radiation is a potentially important covariate in many wildlife habitat studies, but it is typically addressed only indirectly, using problematic surrogates like aspect or hillshade. We devised a simple solar radiation index (SRI) that combines readily available information about aspect, slope, and latitude. Our SRI is proportional to the amount of extraterrestrial solar radiation theoretica
Authors
Kim A. Keating, Peter J. Gogan, John N. Vore, Lynn R. Irby

The art and science of weed mapping

Land managers need cost-effective and informative tools for non-native plant species management. Many local, state, and federal agencies adopted mapping systems designed to collect comparable data for the early detection and monitoring of non-native species. We compared mapping information to statistically rigorous, plot-based methods to better understand the benefits and compatibility of the two
Authors
David T. Barnett, Thomas J. Stohlgren, Catherine S. Jarnevich, Geneva W. Chong, Jenny A. Ericson, Tracy R. Davern, Sara E. Simonson

Evaluating estimators for numbers of females with cubs-of-the-year in the Yellowstone grizzly bear population

Current management of the grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) population in Yellowstone National Park and surrounding areas requires annual estimation of the number of adult female bears with cubs-of-the-year. We examined the performance of nine estimators of population size via simulation. Data were simulated using two methods for different combinations of population size, sample size, and coefficient of
Authors
S. Cherry, G.C. White, K.A. Keating, Mark A. Haroldson, Charles C. Schwartz