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: 3655
Transforming Palmyra Atoll to native-tree dominance will increase net carbon storage and reduce dissolved organic carbon reef runoff
Native forests on tropical islands have been displaced by non-native species, leading to calls for their transformation. Simultaneously, there is increasing recognition that tropical forests can help sequester carbon that would otherwise enter the atmosphere. However, it is unclear if native forests sequester more or less carbon than human-altered landscapes. At Palmyra Atoll, efforts...
Authors
Kate Longley-Wood, Mary S. Engels, Kevin D. Lafferty, John P. McLaughlin, Alex Wegmann
Dermal denticle shedding rates vary between two captive shark species
Shark dermal scale (denticle) accumulation in the fossil record can provide information about the abundance and composition of past shark communities. Denticles are shed continuously, such that a single shark leaves a scattered composite of many isolated denticles in sediments. However, the rate of denticle shedding as well as how these rates vary among shark species with different life...
Authors
Erin M. Dillon, Anshika Bagla, Kiera D. Plioplys, Douglas J. McCauley, Kevin D. Lafferty, Aaron O'Dea
Distribution and abundance of Least Bell’s Vireos (Vireo bellii pusillus) and Southwestern Willow Flycatchers (Empidonax traillii extimus) at the San Antonio Dam, Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties, California—2021 Data summary
Executive SummaryWe surveyed for Least Bell’s Vireos (Vireo bellii pusillus; vireo) and Southwestern Willow Flycatchers (Empidonax traillii extimus; flycatcher) at the San Antonio Dam near Upland, California, in 2021. Four vireo surveys were conducted between April 16 and July 15, 2021, and three flycatcher surveys were conducted between May 27 and July 15, 2021.We detected one transient...
Authors
Scarlett L. Howell, Barbara Kus
Distribution and abundance of Least Bell’s Vireos (Vireo bellii pusillus) and Southwestern Willow Flycatchers (Empidonax traillii extimus) on the Middle San Luis Rey River, San Diego County, southern California—2021 Data summary
Executive SummaryWe surveyed for Least Bell’s Vireos (Vireo bellii pusillus; vireo) and Southwestern Willow Flycatchers (Empidonax traillii extimus; flycatcher) along the San Luis Rey River, between College Boulevard in Oceanside and Interstate 15 in Fallbrook, California (middle San Luis Rey River), in 2021. Surveys were conducted from April 13 to July 14 (vireo) and from May 18 to July...
Authors
Lisa D. Allen, Barbara Kus
Parasites in kelp-forest food webs increase food-chain length, complexity, and specialization, but reduce connectance
We explored whether parasites are important in kelp forests by examining their effects on a high-quality, high-resolution kelp-forest food web. After controlling for generic effects of network size, parasites affected kelp-forest food web structure in some ways consistent with other systems. Parasites increased the trophic span of the web, increasing top predator vulnerability and the...
Authors
Dana N. Morton, Kevin D. Lafferty
North American tree migration paced by climate in the West, lagging in the East
Tree fecundity and recruitment have not yet been quantified at scales needed to anticipate biogeographic shifts in response to climate change. By separating their responses, this study shows coherence across species and communities, offering the strongest support to date that migration is in progress with regional limitations on rates. The southeastern continent emerges as a fecundity...
Authors
Shubhi Sharma, Robert A. Andrus, Yves Bergeron, Michal Bogdziewicz, Don C. Bragg, Dale G. Brockway, Natalie L. Cleavitt, Benoit Courbaud, Adrian Das, Michael C. Dietze, Timothy J. Fahey, Jerry F. Franklin, Gilbert S. Gregory, Cathryn H. Greenberg, Qinfeng Guo, Janneke Hille Ris Lambers, Ines Ibáñez, Jill F. Johnstone, Christopher L. Kilner, Johannes MH Knops, Walter D. Koenig, Georges Kunstler, Jalene M. LaMontagne, Diana Macias, Emily V. Moran, Jonathan A. Myers, Robert R. Parmenter, Ian Pearse, Renata Poulton-Kamakura, Miranda D. Redmond, Chantal D. Reid, Kyle C. Rodman, C. Lane Scher, William H. Schlesinger, Michael A. Steele, Nathan L. Stephenson, Jennifer J. Swenson, Margaret Swift, Thomas T. Veblen, Amy V. Whipple, Thomas G. Whitham, Andreas Paul Wion, Christopher W. Woodall, Roman Zlotin, James S. Clark
Extensive species diversification and marked geographic phylogenetic structure in the Mesoamerican genus Stenopelmatus (Orthoptera: Stenopelmatidae: Stenopelmatinae) revealed by mitochondrial and nuclear 3RAD data
The Jerusalem cricket subfamily Stenopelmatinae is distributed from south-western Canada through the western half of the United States to as far south as Ecuador. Recently, the generic classification of this subfamily was updated to contain two genera, the western North American Ammopelmatus, and the Mexican, and central and northern South American Stenopelmatus. The taxonomy of the...
Authors
Jorge Gutierrez-Rodriguez, Alejandro Zaldívar-Riverón, David B. Weissman, Amy G. Vandergast
Pathways for avian influenza virus spread: GPS reveals wild waterfowl in commercial livestock facilities and connectivity with the natural wetland landscape
Zoonotic diseases are of considerable concern to the human population and viruses such as avian influenza (AIV) threaten food security, wildlife conservation and human health. Wild waterfowl and the natural wetlands they use are known AIV reservoirs, with birds capable of virus transmission to domestic poultry populations. While infection risk models have linked migration routes and AIV...
Authors
Fiona McDuie, Elliott Matchett, Diann Prosser, John Y. Takekawa, Maurice E. Pitesky, Austen Lorenz, Madeline M McCuen, Cory T. Overton, Josh T. Ackerman, Susan E.W. De La Cruz, Michael L. Casazza
Sea otters in a California estuary: Detecting temporal and spatial dynamics with volunteer monitoring
Volunteer monitoring can support conservation of imperiled wildlife, by providing higher resolution data in space and time than those available from professional scientists. However, concerns have been raised that data collected by amateurs are inaccurate or inconsistent and thus do not allow for robust detection of spatial or temporal trends. We evaluated the rigor and value of...
Authors
Ron Eby, Susan Rosso, John Copriviza, Robert Scoles, Yohn Gideon, Joseph Mancino, Karl A. Mayer, Julie L. Yee, Kerstin Wasson
Efficacy of manipulating reproduction of common ravens to conserve sensitive prey species: Three case studies
Expansion of human enterprise across western North America has resulted in an increase in availability of anthropogenic resource subsidies for generalist species. This has led to increases in generalists’ population numbers across landscapes that were previously less suitable for their current demographic rates. Of particular concern are growing populations of common ravens (Corvus corax...
Authors
Corina A. Sanchez, Brianne E. Brussee, Peter S. Coates, Kerry L. Holcomb, Seth M. Harju, Timothy M. Shields, Mercy Vaughn, Brian G. Prochazka, Steven R. Mathews, Steffen Cornell, Chad V. Olson, David J. Delehanty
Synthesis of nest predation impacts of common ravens on sensitive avian species
Decades of mounting scientific evidence have revealed that common raven (Corvus corax; raven) population numbers have been increasing across nearly all regions of their geographic range in North America. Concomitantly, numerous native wildlife species have experienced elevated predation rates from ravens as populations have increased and expanded their range. Managers are concerned that...
Authors
Peter S. Coates, William C. Webb, Seth J. Dettenmaier, Seth M. Harju, David J. Delehanty
A desert tortoise-common raven viable conflict threshold
Since 1966, common raven (Corvus corax; raven) abundance has increased throughout much of this species’ Holarctic distribution, fueled by an ever-expanding supply of anthropogenic resource subsidies (e.g., water, food, shelter, and nesting substrate) to ecoregion specific raven population carrying capacities. Consequently, ravens are implicated in declines of both avian and reptilian...
Authors
Kerry L. Holcomb, Peter S. Coates, Brian G. Prochazka, Timothy M. Shields, William III Boarman