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Publications

This list of publications includes peer-review journal articles, official USGS publications series, reports and more authored by scientists in the Ecosystems Mission Area. A database of all USGS publications, with advanced search features, can be accessed at the USGS Publications Warehouse.  

Filter Total Items: 41772

Extending the Stream Salmonid Simulator to accommodate the life history of coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in the Klamath River Basin, Northern California

In this report, we apply the stream salmonid simulator (S3) to coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in the Klamath River Basin by extending the original model to account for life history and disease dynamics specific to coho salmon. This version of S3 includes tracking of three separate life-history strategies representing the different time periods and ages at which fish leave natal tributaries suc
Authors
Michael J. Dodrill, Russell W. Perry, Nicholas A. Som, Christopher V. Manhard, Julie D. Alexander

Automating sandhill crane counts from nocturnal thermal aerial imagery using deep learning

Population monitoring is essential to management and conservation efforts for migratory birds, but traditional low-altitude aerial surveys with human observers are plagued by individual observer bias and risk to flight crews. Aerial surveys that use remote sensing can reduce bias and risk, but manual counting of wildlife in imagery is laborious and may be cost-prohibitive. Therefore, automated met
Authors
Emilio Luz-Ricca, Kyle Lawrence Landolt, Bradley A. Pickens, Mark D. Koneff

One Health in action: Flea control and interpretative education at Badlands National Park

One Health involves interdisciplinary collaboration to improve, protect, and preserve the health of humans, wildlife, and ecosystems, and advocates for unified approaches to One Health challenges (Buttke et al. 2015). Here, we focus on a One Health challenge of nearly global distribution: Yersinia pestis, the flea-borne bacterial agent of plague. The bacterium poses a significant risk to humans an
Authors
David A. Eads, Lindsey Buehler, Anne Esbenshade, Jason Fly, Evan Miller, Holly Redmond, Emily Ritter, Caitlyn Tynes, Sasha Wittmann, Paul Roghair, Eddie Childers

Ophidiomycosis is related to seasonal patterns of reproduction, ecdysis, and thermoregulatory behavior in a free-living snake species

Informed and effective management of emerging infectious diseases can be improved by a clear understanding of host–pathogen–environment interactions. Impacts of the seasonal environment on pathogen dynamics and host responses are poorly described in most reptile host–fungal pathogen systems. Here, we describe seasonal patterns of ophidiomycosis, a disease caused by the fungus Ophidiomyces ophidiic
Authors
C. M. Lind, J. Agugliaro, Jeffrey M. Lorch, T. M. Farrell

The Grand Caddis hatch of JASM 2022: Trichoptera natural history observations at the Joint Aquatic Sciences Meeting in Grand Rapids, Michigan (USA)

In a stroke of good luck for aquatic scientists and insect enthusiasts, the May 2022 Joint Aquatic Sciences Meeting (JASM) in Grand Rapids, Michigan coincided with a spectacular hatch of hydropsychid caddisflies. To estimate density, we enumerated caddisflies on 12 polarized window panels on the western face of the DeVos Place, which faced the Grand River. We found an average of 57.8 caddisflies p
Authors
Anya Metcalfe, Angelika L. Kurthen, Jared Freedman, Alexander B. Orfinger

Lessons learned from wetlands research at the Cottonwood Lake Study Area, Stutsman County, North Dakota, 1967–2021

Depressional wetlands in the Prairie Pothole Region of North America have a long history of investigation owing to their importance in maintaining migratory-bird populations, especially waterfowl. One area of particularly intensive study is the Cottonwood Lake study area in Stutsman County, North Dakota. Studies at the Cottonwood Lake study area began in 1967 and continue through the present (2022
Authors
David M. Mushet, Ned H. Euliss, Donald O. Rosenberry, James W. LaBaugh, Sheel Bansal, Zeno F. Levy, Owen P. McKenna, Kyle McLean, Christopher T. Mills, Brian P. Neff, Richard D. Nelson, Matthew J. Solensky, Brian Tangen

Melanism in a Common Murre Uria aalge in Kachemak Bay, Alaska

In accord with melanism being uncommon in birds, we could find only six published records of completely melanistic Common Murres Uria aalge, one of the most widely and intensively studied of all seabirds. We added to the record by observing a Common Murre in completely dark, melanistic alternate plumage every summer from 2017 to 2021 at Gull Island in Kachemak Bay, Alaska, USA. In 2017, the bird f
Authors
Sarah K. Schoen, Mayumi L. Arimitsu, Caitlin Elizabeth Marsteller, Brielle M. Heflin

Summer 2022 edition

No abstract available.
Authors
Molly L. McCormick, Seth M. Munson, John B. Bradford

Peer review by and for non-native English speakers: Interacting across international limnology societies

Scholarly peer review is critical to the scientific process, yet there are limited resources available for students, postdocs, and other early career researchers (ECRs) to learn how to perform effective and time-efficient review. The ASLO Raelyn Cole Editorial Fellows have developed several peer review training resources, including a webinar (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utntl1VGy5g), editorial
Authors
Mary R. Gradoville, Bridget Deemer, Renee M. van Dorst

Global dissemination of Influenza A virus is driven by wild bird migration through arctic and subarctic zones

Influenza A viruses (IAV) circulate endemically among many wild aquatic bird populations that seasonally migrate between wintering grounds in southern latitudes to breeding ranges along the perimeter of the circumpolar arctic. Arctic and subarctic zones are hypothesized to serve as ecologic drivers of the intercontinental movement and reassortment of IAVs due to high densities of disparate populat
Authors
Jonathan D. Jr. Gass, Robert J. Dusek, Jeffrey S. Hall, Gunnar Thor Hallgrimsson, Halldór Pálmar Halldórsson, Solvi Runar Vignisson, Sunna Bjork Ragnarsdottir, Jón Einar Jónsson, Scott Krauss, Wong. Sook-San, Xiu-Feng Wan, Sadia Akter, Srinand Sreevatsan, Nidia S. Trovão, Felicia B. Nutter, Jonathan A. Runstadler, Nichola J. Hill

Migration and energetics model predicts delayed migration and likely starvation in oiled waterbirds

Oil spills can inflict mortality and injury on bird populations; many of these deaths involve starvation resulting from thermoregulatory costs incurred by oiling of birds’ feathers. However, the fates and responses of sublethally oiled birds are poorly known. Due to this knowledge gap and the potential for birds to die far from the spill site, resource risk and injury assessors need tools to make
Authors
Benjamin M West, Mark L. Wildhaber, Kevin J. Aagaard, Wayne E. Thogmartin, Adrian Parr Moore, Michael J. Hooper

Where land and sea meet: Brown bears and sea otters

In Katmai National Park, Alaska, USA, we have seen changes in the number of brown bears and sea otters. The number of animals of a species a habitat can support is called carrying capacity. Even though bears live on land and sea otters live in the ocean, these two mammals share coastal habitats. Bears eat salmon, other fish, plants, clams, and beached whales. Sea otters feed on clams and other mar
Authors
Heather Coletti, Grant Hilderbrand, James L. Bodkin, Brenda E. Ballachey, Joy Erlenbach, George G. Esslinger, Michael Hannam, Kimberly A. Kloecker, Buck Mangipane, Amy Miller, Daniel Monson, Benjamin Pister, K. Griffin, K. Bodkin, Tom Smith