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: 3654
Distribution, abundance, and breeding activities of the Least Bell's Vireo at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California—2021 annual report
Executive SummaryThe purpose of this report is to provide the Marine Corps with an annual summary of abundance, breeding activity, demography, and habitat use of endangered Least Bell’s Vireos (Vireo bellii pusillus) at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton (MCBCP or “Base”). Surveys for the Least Bell's Vireo were completed at MCBCP, California, between April 5 and July 13, 2021. Core survey...
Authors
Suellen Lynn, Michelle Treadwell, Barbara Kus
Distribution, abundance, and breeding activities of the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California—2022 annual report
Executive SummarySurveys for the endangered Southwestern Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii extimus) were done at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton (MCBCP or “Base”), California, between May 9 and July 20, 2022. All of MCBCP’s historically occupied riparian habitat (core survey area) was surveyed for flycatchers in 2022. None of the non-core survey area was surveyed in 2022.Eight...
Authors
Scarlett L. Howell, Barbara Kus
Distribution, abundance, and breeding activities of the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California—2021 annual report
Executive SummaryThe purpose of this report is to provide the Marine Corps with an annual summary of abundance, breeding activity, demography, and habitat use of the endangered Southwestern Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii extimus) at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton (MCBCP). Surveys for the flycatcher were completed at MCBCP between May 5 and July 31, 2021. All of MCBCP’s...
Authors
Scarlett L. Howell, Barbara Kus
The relationship between maturation size and maximum tree size from tropical to boreal climates
The fundamental trade-off between current and future reproduction has long been considered to result in a tendency for species that can grow large to begin reproduction at a proportionately larger size. Due to the prolonged time required to reach maturity, estimates of tree maturation size remain unavailable and we lack a global view on the generality and the shape of this trade-off...
Authors
Valentin Journé, Michal Bogdziewicz, Benoit Courbaud, Georges Kunstler, Tong Qiu, Marie-Claire Aravena Acuna, Davide Ascoli, Yves Bergeron, Daniel Berveiller, Thomas Boivin, Raul Bonal, Thomas Caignard, Maxime Cailleret, Rafael Calama, J. Julio Camarero, Chia-Hao Chang-Yang, Jerome Chave, Francesco Chianucci, Thomas Curt, Andrea Cutini, Adrian Das, Evangelia Daskalakou, Hendrik Davi, Nicolas Delpierre, Sylvain Delzon, Michael C. Dietze, Sergio Donoso Calderon, Laurent Dormont, Josep Maria Espelta, William Farfan-Rios, Michael Fenner, Jerry F. Franklin, Catherine A. Gehring, Gregory S. Gilbert, Georg Gratzer, Cathryn H. Greenberg, Arthur Guignabert, Qinfeng Guo, Andrew Hacket-Pain, Arndt Hampe, Qingmin Han, Mick E. Hanley, Janneke Hille Ris Lambers, Jan Holík, Kazuhiko Hoshizaki, Ines Ibáñez, Jill F. Johnstone, Johannes MH Knops, Richard K. Kobe, Hiroko Kurokawa, Jonathan G. A. Lageard, Jalene M. LaMontagne, Mateusz Ledwon, François Lefèvre, Theodor Leininger, Jean-Marc Limousin, James A. Lutz, Diana Macias, Anders Mårell, Eliot J.B. McIntire, Emily V. Moran, Renzo Motta, Jonathan A. Myers, Thomas A. Nagel, Shoji Naoe, Mahoko Noguchi, Julian Norghauer, Michio Oguro, Jean-Marc Ourcival, Robert R. Parmenter, Ian Pearse, Ignacio M. Pérez-Ramos, Łukasz Piechnik, Tomasz Podgórski, John Poulsen, Miranda D. Redmond, Chantal D. Reid, Pavel Samonil, C. Lane Scher, William H. Schlesinger, Barbara Seget, Shubhi Sharma, Mitsue Shibata, Miles Silman, Michael A. Steele, Nathan L. Stephenson, Jacob N. Straub, Samantha Sutton, Jennifer J. Swenson, Margaret Swift, Peter C. Thomas, María Uriarte, Giorgio Vacchiano, Amy V. Whipple, Thomas G. Whitham, S. Joseph Wright, Kai Zhu, Jess K. Zimmerman, Magdalena Żywiec, James S. Clark
Least Bell's Vireos and Southwestern Willow Flycatchers—Breeding activities and habitat use—2023 annual report
Executive SummaryWe completed four protocol surveys for Least Bell’s Vireos (Vireo bellii pusillus; hereinafter vireo) during the breeding season, supplemented by weekly territory monitoring visits between April 6 and July 20 at the San Luis Rey Flood Risk Management Project Area (hereinafter Project Area). We identified a total of 136 territorial male vireos; 121 were confirmed as...
Authors
Alexandra Houston, Lisa D. Allen, Shannon M. Mendia, Barbara Kus
Climate and weather drivers in southern California Santa Ana Wind and non-Santa Wind fires
Background. Autumn and winter Santa Ana Winds (SAW) are responsible for the largest and most destructive wildfires in southern California. Aims. 1) To contrast fires ignited on SAW days vs non-SAW days, 2) evaluate the predictive ability of the Canadian Fire Weather Index (CFWI) for these two fire types, and 3) determine climate and weather factors responsible for the largest wildfires...
Authors
Jon E. Keeley, Michael D. Flannigan, Tim J. Brown, Tom Rolinski, Daniel Cayan, Alexandra Dunya Syphard, Janin Guzman-Morales, Alexander Gershunov
Foraging ecology of southern sea otters at the northern range extent informs regional population dynamics
Sea otters Enhydra lutris are vital keystone predators throughout the North Pacific that were nearly extirpated during the maritime fur trade. Recovery of southern sea otters E. l. nereis has proceeded slowly, with much of their historical range remaining unoccupied, resulting in reduced ecosystem functioning. Numerous studies have used foraging metrics to assess the population status of...
Authors
Sophia Lyon, Joseph A. Tomoleoni, Julie L. Yee, Jessica A. Fujii, Nicole M. Thometz
Effects of temporal hydrologic shifts on the population biology of an endangered freshwater fish in a dryland river ecosystem
Species occupying dryland river ecosystems often experience “boom-and-bust” demographic cycles that coincide with shifts in habitat availability. Knowing whether declines are within natural thresholds versus those caused by acute human disturbance is critical for managing protected species. We investigated temporal shifts in abundance and habitat use of an endangered population of the...
Authors
Jonathan Q. Richmond, Philip Robert Gould, Jennifer Pareti, Andrew Aitken, Eric Morrissette, Adam R. Backlin, Chris Dellith, Robert N. Fisher
Variation in dietary ecology of two invasive American Bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) populations in Southern California
Invasive American Bullfrogs (Lithobates catesbeianus) are a threat to native species in riparian ecosystems worldwide. They are indiscriminate predators consuming both vertebrate and invertebrate prey, negatively affecting biodiversity. Documenting the diet and feeding ecology of invasive L. catesbeianus can help management agencies identify affected species and facilitate eradication...
Authors
Nathan W. Smith, Ryan J. Hanscom, Jonathan Q. Richmond, Robert N. Fisher, Rulon W. Clark
Body mass changes of dabbling and diving ducks wintering in California
Bird body mass is often used as an index of body condition and fluctuates throughout the year in response to environmental conditions and avian life-history events. We examined the body mass of 59,572 ducks representing 13 species (7 dabbling duck species and 6 diving duck species) harvested within the 3 regions of the Central Valley in California, USA (Sacramento Valley, Suisun Marsh...
Authors
Mark P. Herzog, Josh T. Ackerman, Jeffrey D. Kohl, Brady Lynn Fettig, C. Alex Hartman, Sarah H. Peterson, Michael L. Casazza, Joseph P. Fleskes
Estimating traffic volume and road age in Wyoming to inform resource management planning: An application with wildlife-vehicle collisions
Road networks and their associated vehicular traffic disturb many terrestrial systems, but inventories of roads used to assess these effects often focus on the ‘where’ (e.g., local road type and density) and neglect the ‘when’ (e.g., temporal disturbance) or ‘how much’ (e.g., traffic volume disturbance). We developed annual estimates of the ‘when’ (road age) and ‘how much’ (vehicular...
Authors
Richard D. Inman, Benjamin Seward Robb, Michael S. O'Donnell, David R. Edmunds, Matthew James Holloran, Cameron L. Aldridge
Significant challenges to the sustainability of the California coast considering climate change
Climate change is an existential threat to the environmental and socioeconomic sustainability of the coastal zone and impacts will be complex and widespread. Evidence from California and across the United States shows that climate change is impacting coastal communities and challenging managers with a plethora of stressors already present. Widespread action could be taken that would...
Authors
Karen M. Thorne, Glen M. MacDonald, Francisco P. Chavez, Richard F. Ambrose, Patrick L. Barnard