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: 41908
Assessing wave attenuation with rising sea levels for sustainable oyster reef-based living shorelines
In densely populated coastal areas with sea-level rise (SLR), protecting the shorelines against erosion due to the wave impact is crucial. Along with many engineered structures like seawalls and breakwaters, there are also green structures like constructed oyster reefs (CORs) that can not only attenuate the incident waves but also grow and maintain pace with SLR. However, there is a lack of data a
Authors
Reza Salatin, Hongqing Wang, Q. Chen, Ling Zhu
Hidden in plain sight: Migration routes of the elusive Anadyr bar-tailed godwit revealed by satellite tracking
Satellite and GPS tracking technology continues to reveal new migration patterns of birds which enables comparative studies of migration strategies and distributional information useful in conservation. Bar-tailed godwits in the East Asian–Australasian Flyway Limosa lapponica baueri and L. l. menzbieri are known for their long non-stop flights, however these populations are in steep decline. A thi
Authors
Ying-Chi Chan, T. Lee Tibbitts, Dmitry Dorofeev, Chris J. Hassell, Theunis Piersma
Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI): An emerging disease threat in North America
Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) is an ecologically and economically significant avian disease that is quickly spreading among wild and domestic birds throughout North America. In this blog post, we provide information and resources that can help you to be informed, be prepared, and be ready to take appropriate action should you observe wild birds that may be affected by HPAI.
Authors
Andrew M. Ramey, Colleen M. Handel
Reference values and comparison of blood chemistry and plasma protein values between gold standard analyzers and four point-of-care devices in free-ranging canvasbacks (Aythya valisineria)
Accurate, timely, and cost-effective blood chemistry analysis is an essential tool for directing emergency treatment, monitoring the health status of captive and free-ranging individuals and flocks, and improving the efficacy of conservation actions. Blood samples were obtained from 52 canvasbacks (Aythya valisineria) that were captured on San Francisco Bay, California, during December 2017 as par
Authors
Nancy L. Anderson, Susan E. W. De La Cruz, Maris Brenn-White, Greg Frankfurter, Michael H. Ziccardi, Beatriz Martínez-López
Computed tomography for measuring body fat reserves in threatened Mohave desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii)
Noninvasive methods for measuring fat reserves in both captive and free-ranging animals are important for monitoring individual and population health, but chelonian anatomy and physiology present challenges to accurate measurements. Standard field-based methods for assessing body condition in Mojave desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) involve the qualitative body condition score, which relies on
Authors
M A Walden, Rachel Jania, Matthew E Kinney, Anne Devan-Song, K. Kristina Drake, Todd C. Esque, Kevin T. Shoemaker
Statistical assessment on determining local presence of rare bat species
Surveying cryptic, sparsely distributed taxa using autonomous recording units, although cost-effective, provides imperfect knowledge about species presence. Summertime bat acoustic surveys in North America exemplify the challenges with characterizing sources of uncertainty: observation error, inability to census populations, and natural stochastic variation. Statistical uncertainty, if not conside
Authors
Kathryn M. Irvine, Katharine M. Banner, Christian Stratton, W. Mark Ford, Brian Reichert
The consequences of climate change for dryland biogeochemistry
Drylands, which cover more than 40% of Earth’s terrestrial surface, are dominant drivers of global biogeochemical cycling and home to more than one third of the human population. Climate projections predict warming, drought frequency and severity, and evaporative demand will increase in drylands at faster rates than global means. Due to extreme temperatures and high biological dependency on limite
Authors
Brooke Bossert Osborne, Brandon T. Bestelmeyer, Courtney M. Currier, Peter M Homyak, Heather L. Throop, Kristina E Young, Sasha C. Reed
Resist, accept, and direct responses to biological invasions: A social–ecological perspective
Biological invasions represent an important and unique case of ecological transformation that can strongly influence species and entire ecosystems. Challenges in managing invasions arise on multiple fronts, ranging from diverse and often divergent values associated with native and introduced species, logistical constraints, and transformation via other change agents (e.g., climate and land-use cha
Authors
Jason B. Dunham, Joseph R. Benjamin, David J. Lawrence, Katherine Clifford
A haploid pseudo-chromosome genome assembly for a keystone sagebrush species of western North American rangelands
Increased ecological disturbances, species invasions, and climate change are creating severe conservation problems for several plant species that are widespread and foundational. Understanding the genetic diversity of these species and how it relates to adaptation to these stressors are necessary for guiding conservation and restoration efforts. This need is particularly acute for big sagebrush (A
Authors
Anthony E. Melton, Andrew W. Child, Richard S. Beard, Carlos Dave C. Dumaguit, Jennifer S. Forbey, Matthew Germino, Marie-Anne de Graaff, Andrew Kliskey, Ilia J. Leitch, Peggy Martinez, Stephen J. Novak, Jaume Pellicer, Bryce A. Richardson, Desiree Self, Marcelo D. Serpe, Sven Buerki
How do accuracy and model agreement vary with versioning, scale, and landscape heterogeneity for satellite-derived vegetation maps in sagebrush steppe?
Maps of the distribution and abundance of dominant plants derived from satellite data are essential for ecological research and management, particularly in the vast semiarid shrub-steppe. Appropriate application of these maps requires an understanding of model accuracy and precision, and how it might vary across space, time, and different vegetation types. For a 113 k Ha burn area, we compared mod
Authors
Cara Applestein, Matthew J. Germino
Dammed water quality — Longitudinal stream responses below beaver ponds in the Umpqua River Basin, Oregon
Beaver-related restoration (BRR) has gained popularity as a means of improving stream ecosystems, but the effects are not fully understood. Studies of dissolved oxygen (DO) and water temperature, key water quality metrics for salmonids, have demonstrated improved conditions in some cases, but warming and decreased DO have been more commonly reported in meta-analyses. These results point to the con
Authors
John R. Stevenson, Jason B. Dunham, Steve M. Wondzell, Jimmy D. Taylor
Management and environmental factors associated with simulated restoration seeding barriers in sagebrush steppe
Adverse weather conditions, particularly freezing or drought, are often associated with poor seedling establishment following restoration seeding in drylands like the Great Basin sagebrush steppe (USA). Management decisions such as planting date or seed source could improve restoration outcomes by reducing seedling exposure to weather barriers. We simulated the effects of management and environmen
Authors
Stella M. Copeland, John B. Bradford, Stuart P. Hardegree, Daniel Rodolphe Schlaepfer, Kevin J Badik