Publications
Below is a list of WERC's peer-reviewed publications. If you are searching for a specific publication and cannot find it in this list, please contact werc_web@usgs.gov
Filter Total Items: 3618
Does translocation influence physiological stress in the desert tortoise?
Wildlife translocation is increasingly used to mitigate disturbances to animals or habitat due to human activities, yet little is known about the extent to which translocating animals causes stress. To understand the relationship between physiological stress and translocation, we conducted a multiyear study (2007–2009) using a population of desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) near Fort Irwin, Ca
Authors
K.K. Drake, K.E. Nussear, T. C. Esque, A.M. Barber, K.M. Vittum, P.A. Medica, C.R. Tracy, K.W. Hunter
Ecology and evolution of pine life histories
Introduction - Pinus is a diverse genus of trees widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Understanding pine life history is critical to both conservation and fire management.
Objectives - Here I lay out the different pathways of pine life history adaptation and a brief overview of pine evolution and the very significant role that fire has played.
Results - Pinus originated ~150 Ma i
Authors
Jon E. Keeley
Harvest and dynamics of duck populations
The role of harvest in the dynamics of waterfowl populations continues to be debated among scientists and managers. Our perception is that interested members of the public and some managers believe that harvest influences North American duck populations based on calls for more conservative harvest regulations. A recent review of harvest and population dynamics of North American mallard (Anas platy
Authors
James S. Sedinger, Mark P. Herzog
Fire in Mediterranean climate ecosystems-A comparative overview
Four regions of the world share a similar climate and structurally similar plant communities with the Mediterranean Basin. These five areas, known collectively as "mediterranean-type climate (MTC) regions", are dominated by evergreen sclerophyllous-leaved shrublands, semi-deciduous scrub, and woodlands, all of which are prone to widespread crown fires. Summer droughts produce an annual fire hazard
Authors
Jon E. Keeley
Resistance to invasion and resilience to fire in desert shrublands of North America
Settlement by Anglo-Americans in the desert shrublands of North America resulted in the introduction and subsequent invasion of multiple nonnative grass species. These invasions have altered presettlement fire regimes, resulted in conversion of native perennial shrublands to nonnative annual grasslands, and placed many native desert species at risk. Effective management of these ecosystems require
Authors
Matthew L. Brooks, Jeanne C. Chambers
Stage structure alters how complexity affects stability of ecological networks
Resolving how complexity affects stability of natural communities is of key importance for predicting the consequences of biodiversity loss. Central to previous stability analysis has been the assumption that the resources of a consumer are substitutable. However, during their development, most species change diets; for instance, adults often use different resources than larvae or juveniles. Here,
Authors
V. H. W. Rudolf, Kevin D. Lafferty
A nematomorph parasite explains variation in terrestrial subsidies to trout streams in Japan
Nematomorph parasites alter the behavior of their orthopteran hosts, driving them to water and creating a source of food for stream salmonids. We investigated whether nematomorphs could explain variation in terrestrial subsidies across several streams. In nine study streams, orthopterans comprise much of the stomach contents of trout (46 ± 31% on average). Total mass of ingested prey per trout bio
Authors
Takuya Sato, Katsutoshi Watanabe, Naoko Tokuchi, Hiromitsu Kamauchi, Yasushi Harada, Kevin D. Lafferty
Parasite transmission in social interacting hosts: Monogenean epidemics in guppies
BackgroundInfection incidence increases with the average number of contacts between susceptible and infected individuals. Contact rates are normally assumed to increase linearly with host density. However, social species seek out each other at low density and saturate their contact rates at high densities. Although predicting epidemic behaviour requires knowing how contact rates scale with host de
Authors
Mirelle B. Johnson, Kevin D. Lafferty, Cock van Oosterhout, Joanne Cable
Amphibian chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) in coastal and montane California, USA Anurans
We found amphibian chytrid fungus (Bd = Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) to be widespread within a coastalwatershed at Point Reyes National Seashore, California and within two high elevation watersheds at Yosemite NationalPark, California. Bd was associated with all six species that we sampled (Bufo boreas, B. canorus, Pseudacris regilla, Ranadraytonii, R. sierrae, and Lithobates catesbeianus). For
Authors
Gary M. Fellers, Rebecca A. Cole, David M. Reinitz, Patrick M. Kleeman
Factors affecting fuel break effectiveness in the control of large fires on the Los Padres National Forest, California
As wildfires have increased in frequency and extent, so have the number of homes developed in the wildland-urban interface. In California, the predominant approach to mitigating fire risk is construction of fuel breaks, but there has been little empirical study of their role in controlling large fires.We constructed a spatial database of fuel breaks on the Los Padres National Forest in southern Ca
Authors
Alexandra D. Syphard, Jon E. Keeley, Teresa J. Brennan
Food webs and fishing affect parasitism of the sea urchin Eucidaris galapagensis in the Galápagos
In the Galápagos Islands, two eulimid snails parasitize the common pencil sea urchin, Eucidaris galapagensis. Past work in the Galápagos suggests that fishing reduces lobster and fish densities and, due to this relaxation of predation pressure, indirectly increases urchin densities, creating the potential for complex indirect interactions between fishing and parasitic snails. To measure indirect e
Authors
Jorge I. Sonnenholzner, Kevin D. Lafferty, Lydia B. Ladah
Endogenous contributions to egg protein formation in lesser scaup Aythya affinis
Lesser scaup Aythya affinis populations have declined throughout the North American continent for the last three decades. It has been hypothesized that the loss and degradation of staging habitats has resulted in reduced female body condition on the breeding grounds and a concomitant decline in productivity. We explored the importance of body (endogenous) reserves obtained prior to arrival on the
Authors
Kyle A. Cutting, Keith A. Hobson, Jay J. Rotella, Jeffrey M. Warren, Susan E. Wainwright-de la Cruz, John Y. Takekawa