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
Water temperature and availability shape the spatial ecology of a hot springs endemic toad
Desert amphibians are limited to exploiting ephemeral resources and aestivating or to inhabiting scarce refuges of permanent water, such as springs. Understanding how amphibians use these resources is essential for their conservation. Dixie Valley Toads (Anaxyrus williamsi) are precinctive to a small system of cold and hot springs in the Dixie Valley, Nevada, USA. The toads have been petitioned fo
Authors
Brian J. Halstead, Patrick M. Kleeman, Jonathan P. Rose, Kristen J Fouts
Using bottom trawls to monitor subsurface water clarity in marine ecosystems
Biophysical processes that affect subsurface water clarity play a key role in ecosystem function. However, subsurface water clarity is poorly monitored in marine ecosystems because doing so requires in-situ sampling that is logistically difficult to conduct and sustain. Novel solutions are thus needed to improve monitoring of subsurface water clarity. To that end, we developed a sampling method an
Authors
Sean K. Rohan, Stan Kotwicki, Kelly A. Kearney, Jennifer A Schulien, Edward A. Laman, Edward D. Cokelet, David Beauchamp, Lyle L. Britt, Kerim Y. Aydin, Stephani G. Zador
Multiple-scale relationships between vegetation, the wildland–urban interface, and structure loss to wildfire in California
Recent increases in destructive wildfires are driving a need for empirical research documenting factors that contribute to structure loss. Existing studies show that fire risk is complex and varies geographically, and the role of vegetation has been especially difficult to quantify. Here, we evaluated the relative importance of vegetation cover at local (measured through the Normalized Difference
Authors
Alexandra D. Syphard, Heather Rustigian-Romsos, Jon Keeley
‘Unscrambling’ the drivers of egg production in Agassiz’s desert tortoise: Climate and individual attributes predict reproductive output
ABSTRACT: The ‘bet hedging’ life history strategy of long-lived iteroparous species reduces short-term reproductive output to minimize the risk of reproductive failure over a lifetime. For desert-dwelling ectotherms living in variable and unpredictable environments, reproductive output is further influenced by precipitation and temperature via effects on food availability and limits on activity. W
Authors
Corey I. Mitchell, Derek Friend, Lauren T. Phillips, Elizabeth A. Hunter, Jeffrey E. Lovich, Mickey Agha, Shellie R. Puffer, Kristy L. Cummings, Philip A. Medica, Todd C. Esque, Kenneth E. Nussear, Kevin T. Shoemaker
Continent-wide tree fecundity driven by indirect climate effects
Indirect climate effects on tree fecundity that come through variation in size and growth (climate-condition interactions) are not currently part of models used to predict future forests. Trends in species abundances predicted from meta-analyses and species distribution models will be misleading if they depend on the conditions of individuals. Here we find from a synthesis of tree species in North
Authors
James S. Clark, Robert A. Andrus, Melaine Aubry-Kientz, Yves Bergeron, Michal Bogdziewicz, Don C. Bragg, Dale G. Brockway, Natalie L. Cleavitt, Susan Cohen, Benoit Courbaud, Robert Daley, Adrian Das, Michael Dietze, Timothy J. Fahey, Istem Fer, Jerry F. Franklin, Catherine A. Gehring, Gregory S. Gilbert, Catheryn H Greenberg, Qinfeng Guo, Janneke Hille Ris Lambers, Ines Ibanez, Jill F. Johnstone, Christopher L. Kilner, Johannes MH Knops, Walter D. Koenig, Georges Kunstler, Jalene M. LaMontagne, Kristin L Legg, Jordan Luongo, James A. Lutz, Diana Macias, Eliot J. B. McIntire, Yassine Messaoud, Christopher M. Moore, Emily V. Moran, Orrin B Myers, Chase Nunez, Robert Parmenter, Scott Pearson, Renata Poulton Kamakura, Ethan Ready, Miranda D. Redmond, Chantal D. Reid, Kyle C. Rodman, C. Lane Scher, Wiliam H Schlesinger, Amanda M Schwantes, Erin Shanahan, Shubhi Sharma, Michael A. Steele, Nathan L. Stephenson, Samantha Sutton, Jennifer J. Swenson, Margaret Swift, Thomas T. Veblen, Amy V. Whipple, Thomas G. Whitham, Andreas P. Wion, Kai Zhu, Roman Zlotin
When introduced prey violates trophic hierarchy: Conservation of an endangered predator
Introduced species often disrupt established food webs, but some native predators can come to rely on introduced prey. Understanding the net effects of the non-natives on imperiled predators is crucial for planning conservation measures. The invasive American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) can be prey, predator, and competitor for the critically endangered San Francisco garter snake (Thamnophi
Authors
Richard Kim, Brian J. Halstead, Eric J. Routman, Julie Anderson
Causes of delayed outbreak responses and their impacts on epidemic spread
Livestock diseases have devastating consequences economically, socially and politically across the globe. In certain systems, pathogens remain viable after host death, which enables residual transmissions from infected carcasses. Rapid culling and carcass disposal are well-established strategies for stamping out an outbreak and limiting its impact; however, wait-times for these procedures, i.e. re
Authors
Y Tao, William J. M. Probert, Katriona Shea, Michael C. Runge, Kevin D. Lafferty, Michael J. Tildesley, Matthew J. Ferrari
Global political responsibility for the conservation of albatrosses and large petrels
Migratory marine species cross political borders and enter the high seas, where the lack of an effective global management framework for biodiversity leaves them vulnerable to threats. Here, we combine 10,108 tracks from 5775 individual birds at 87 sites with data on breeding population sizes to estimate the relative year-round importance of national jurisdictions and high seas areas for 39 specie
Authors
Martin Beal, Maria P. Dias, Richard A. Phillips, Steffen Oppel, Carolina Hazin, Elizabeth J. Pearmin, Josh Adams, David J Anderson, Michelle Antolos, Javier A Arata, José Manuel Arcos, John P. Y. Arnould, Jill Awkerman, Elizabeth Bell, Mike Bell, Mark Carey, Ryan Carle, Thomas A Clay, Jaimie Cleeland, Valentina Colodro, Melinda G. Conners, Marta Cruz-Flores, Richard Cuthbert, Karine Delord, Lorna Deppe, Ben J Dilley, Herculano A. Dinis, Graeme Elliot, Fernanda de Felipe, Jonathan J. Felis, Manuela G. Forero, Amanda Freeman, Akira Fukuda, Jacob González-Solís, José Pedro Granadeiro, April Hedd, Peter Hodum, José Manuel Igual, Audrey Jaeger, Todd J Landers, Le Corre Matthieu, Azwianewi Makhado, Benjamin Metzger, Teresa Militão, William A Montevecchi, Virginia Morera-Pujol, Leia Navarro-Herrero, Deon Nel, David Nicholls, Daniel Oro, Ridha Ouni, Kiyoaki Ozaki, Flavio Quintana, Raül Ramos, Tim Reid, José Manuel Reyes-González, Christopher Robertson, Graham Robertson, Mohamed Salah Romdhane, Peter G. Ryan, Paul Sagar, Fumio Sato, Stefan Schoombie, R. Paul Scofield, Scott A. Shaffer, Nirmal Jivan Shah, Kim L Stevens, Christopher Surman, Robert M. Suryan, Akinori Takahashi, Vikash Tatayah, Graeme Taylor, David R. Thompson, Leigh Torres, Kath Walker, Ross M. Wanless, Susan M. Waugh, Henri Weimerskirch, Takashi Yamamoto, Zuzana Zajkova, Laura Zango, Paulo Catry
Why is tree drought mortality so hard to predict?
Widespread tree mortality following droughts has emerged as an environmentally and economically devastating ‘ecological surprise’. It is well established that tree physiology is important in understanding drought-driven mortality; however, the accuracy of predictions based on physiology alone has been limited. We propose that complicating factors at two levels stymie predictions of drought-driven
Authors
Anna T Trugman, Leander D.L. Anderegg, William RL Anderegg, Adrian Das, Nathan L. Stephenson
Egg morphometrics and egg shape coefficients for White-faced Ibis (Plegadis chihi)
Egg size is a useful metric for maternal investment, offspring quality, and contaminant studies. Yet these values and the egg shape coefficients required to estimate egg size are not available for many species, including White-faced-Ibis (Plegadis chihi). We provide egg morphometrics derived from 319 White-faced Ibis eggs sampled at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Great Salt Lake, Utah, from 201
Authors
Mark P. Herzog, Josh T. Ackerman, C. Alex Hartman
Tarentola annularis (white-spotted wall gecko)
USA: CALIFORNIA: Orange Co.: San Juan Capistrano (33.51°N,117.66°W; WGS 84). 25 August 2020. Samuel Fisher, Chelsea Martin, Robert Fisher. Verified by Gregory B. Pauly. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (LACM 191974). New county record. One juvenile (33 mm SVL) was collected, and another juvenile was seen 40 m away. Another juvenile was also observed during a second visit to the site on
Authors
Samuel R Fisher, Chelsea E Martin, Robert N. Fisher
The influence of species life history and distribution characteristics on species responses to habitat fragmentation in an urban landscape
Fragmentation within urbanized environments often leads to a loss of native species diversity; however, variation exists in responses among-species and among-populations within species.We aimed to identify patterns in species biogeography in an urbanized landscape to understand anthropogenic effects on vertebrate communities and identify species that are more sensitive or resilient to landscape ch
Authors
Staci M. Amburgey, David A. W. Miller, Carlton J. Rochester, Katy S. Delaney, Seth P. D. Riley, Cheryl S. Brehme, Stacie A. Hathaway, Robert N. Fisher