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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

Hydrologic connectivity and residence time affect the sediment trapping efficiency and dissolved oxygen concentrations of the Atchafalaya River Basin

Little is known about water movement, volume, or residence time (RT), and how those characteristics affect sediment trapping efficiency (TE) and dissolved oxygen concentrations (DO) in the United States' largest remaining bottomland hardwood swamp, the Atchafalaya River Basin. To better understand these dynamics, this study used bathymetry, lidar, and stage records to determine volumes in the Basi
Authors
Daniel Kroes, Richard Day, Michael D. Kaller, Charles R. Demas, William E. Kelso, Tiffany Pasco, Raynie Harlan, Steven Roberts

Rapid SNP genotyping, sex identification, and hybrid-detection in threatened bull trout

We developed new bull trout genetic markers using Restriction-site Associated DNA sequencing (RAD-seq) to improve our ability to address questions important for their conservation and management. Samples from across the species range were sequenced and 5020 high quality single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci were discovered, including hundreds with high heterozygosity (H > 0.30). We developed 6
Authors
Stephen J. Amish, Shana Bernall, Patrick W. DeHaan, Michael A. Miller, Sean M. O'Rourke, Matthew Boyer, Clint C. Muhlfeld, Angela Lodmell, Robb F. Leary, Gordon Luikart

Avian influenza antibody prevalence increases with mercury contamination in wild waterfowl

Environmental contamination is widespread and can negatively impact wildlife health. Some contaminants, including heavy metals, have immunosuppressive effects, but prior studies have rarely measured contamination and disease simultaneously, which limits our understanding of how contaminants and pathogens interact to influence wildlife health. Here, we measured mercury concentrations, influenza inf
Authors
Claire Stewart Teitelbaum, Josh T. Ackerman, Mason A. Hill, Jaqueline M. Satter, Michael L. Casazza, Susan E. W. De La Cruz, Walter M. Boyce, Evan James Buck, John M. Eadie, Mark P. Herzog, Elliott Matchett, Cory T. Overton, Sarah H. Peterson, Magdalena Plancarte, Andrew M. Ramey, Jeffery D. Sullivan, Diann Prosser

Direct and indirect influences of macrophyte cover on abundance and growth of juvenile Atlantic salmon

1. The relationships between macrophytes and the physical and biological characteristics of the environments that aquatic organisms inhabit are complex. Previous studies have shown that the macrophytes, Ranunculus (subgenus Batrachium), which are dominant in lowland chalk streams and widespread across Europe, can enhance juvenile Atlantic salmon abundance and growth to a greater degree than other
Authors
Jessica E Marsh, J. Iwan Jones, Rasmus B. Lauridsen, James Grace, Pavel Kratina

Social effects of rabies infection in male vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus)

Rabies virus (RABV) transmitted by the common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus) poses a threat to agricultural development and public health throughout the Neotropics. The ecology and evolution of rabies host-pathogen dynamics are influenced by two infection-induced behavioral changes. RABV-infected hosts often exhibit increased aggression which facilitates transmission, and rabies also leads to red
Authors
Elsa M. Cárdenas-Canales, Sebastian Stockmaier, Eleanor Cronin, Tonie E. Rocke, Jorge E. Osorio, Gerald G. Carter

Landscape genetics of a sub-alpine toad: Climate change predicted to induce upward range shifts via asymmetrical migration corridors

Climate change is expected to have a major hydrological impact on the core breeding habitat and migration corridors of many amphibians in the twenty-first century. The Yosemite toad (Anaxyrus canorus) is a species of meadow-specializing amphibian endemic to the high-elevation Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. Despite living entirely on federal lands, it has recently faced severe extirpations,
Authors
Paul A. Maier, A. G. Vandergast, Steven M Ostoja, Andres Aguilar, Andrew J. Bohonak

Monitoring framework to evaluate effectiveness of aquatic and floodplain habitat restoration activities for native fish along the Willamette River, northwestern Oregon

Since 2008, large-scale restoration programs have been implemented along the Willamette River, Oregon, to address historical losses of floodplain habitats caused by dam construction, bank protection, large wood removal, land conversion, and other anthropogenic influences. The Willamette Focused Investment Partnership (WFIP) restoration initiative brings together more than 16 organizations to impro
Authors
Mackenzie K. Keith, J. Rose Wallick, Rebecca L. Flitcroft, Tobias J. Kock, Laura A. Brown, Rich Miller, Joan C. Hagar, Kathleen Guillozet, Krista L. Jones

Socioeconomic resilience to climatic extremes in a freshwater fishery

Heterogeneity is a central feature of ecosystem resilience, but how this translates to socioeconomic resilience depends on people’s ability to track shifting resources in space and time. Here, we quantify how climatic extremes have influenced how people (fishers) track economically valuable ecosystem services (fishing opportunities) across a range of spatial scales in rivers of the northern Rocky
Authors
Timothy Joseph Cline, Clint C. Muhlfeld, Ryan P. Kovach, Robert Al-Chokhachy, David Schmetterling, Diane Whited, Abigail Lynch

Using a vegetation index to assess wetland condition in the Prairie Pothole Region of North America

Wetlands deliver a suite of ecosystem services to society. Anthropogenic activities, such as wetland drainage, have resulted in considerable wetland loss and degradation, diminishing the intrinsic value of wetland ecosystems worldwide. Protecting remaining wetlands and restoring degraded wetlands are common management practices to preserve and reclaim wetland benefits to society. Accordingly, meth
Authors
Brian Tangen, Sheel Bansal, Seth Jones, Cami S. Dixon, Amanda M. Nahlik, Edward S. DeKeyser, Christina L. M. Hargiss, David M. Mushet

Long-term apparent survival of a cold-stunned subpopulation of juveniles green turtles

Understanding the effects of extreme weather on animal populations is fundamental to ecological and conservation sciences and species management. Climate change has resulted in both warm and cold temperature extremes, including an increased frequency of severe cold snaps at middle latitudes in North America. These unusually cold air masses cause rapid declines in nearshore ocean temperatures in co
Authors
Robert Michael Mollenhauer, Margaret Lamont, Allen M. Foley

Distribution and demography of coastal Cactus Wrens (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus) in southern San Diego County, California — 2021 Data summary

We surveyed for coastal Cactus Wren (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus) in 378 established plots in southern San Diego County in 2021, encompassing 3 genetic clusters (Otay, Lake Jennings, and Sweetwater/Encanto). Two surveys were completed at each plot between March 1 and July 31. Cactus Wrens were detected in 130 plots (34 percent of plots), remaining virtually the same as the percentage of plots
Authors
Suellen Lynn, Barbara E. Kus

Temporal mismatch in space use by a sagebrush obligate species after large-scale wildfire

The increase in size and frequency of wildfires in sagebrush steppe ecosystems has significant impacts on sagebrush obligate species. We modeled seasonal habitat use by female greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) in the Trout Creek Mountains of Oregon and Nevada, USA, to identify landscape characteristics that influenced sage-grouse habitat selection and to create predictive surfaces of
Authors
Elizabeth M. Schuyler, Christian A. Hagen, Christopher R. Anthony, Lee J. Foster, Katie Dugger