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: 41778
INHABIT: A web-based decision support tool for invasive plant species habitat visualization and assessment across the contiguous United States
Narrowing the communication and knowledge gap between producers and users of scientific data is a longstanding problem in ecological conservation and land management. Decision support tools (DSTs), including websites or interactive web applications, provide platforms that can help bridge this gap. DSTs can most effectively disseminate and translate research results when producers and users collabo
Authors
Peder Engelstad, Catherine S. Jarnevich, Terri Hogan, Helen Sofaer, Ian Pearse, Jennifer Sieracki, Neil Frakes, Julia Sullivan, Nicholas E. Young, Janet S. Prevéy, Pairsa Nicole Belamaric, Jillian Marie Laroe
Elevations of mangrove forests of Pohnpei, Micronesia
Mangrove surface elevation is the crux of mangrove vulnerability to sea level rise. Local topography influences critical periods of tidal inundation that govern distributions of mangrove species and dictates future distributions. This study surveyed ground surface elevations of the extensive mangroves of Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia, integrating four survey technologies to solve issues
Authors
Joanna C Ellison, Kevin J. Buffington, Karen M. Thorne, Dean B. Gesch, Jeffrey Irwin, Jeffrey J. Danielson
Exploring genetic variation and population structure in a threatened species, Noturus placidus, with whole-genome sequence data
The Neosho madtom (Noturus placidus) is a small catfish, generally less than 3 inches in length, unique to the Neosho-Spring River system within the Arkansas River Basin. It was federally listed as threatened in 1990, largely due to habitat loss. For conservation efforts, we generated whole-genome sequence data from 10 Neosho madtom individuals originating from 3 geographically separated populatio
Authors
Lynsey K. Whitacre, Mark L. Wildhaber, Gary S. Johnson, Harly J. Durbin, Troy N. Rowan, Robert D. Schnabel, Tendai Mhlanga-Mutangadura, Vernon M. Tabor, Daniel Fenner, Jared E. Decker
Kelp-forest dynamics controlled by substrate complexity
The factors that determine why ecosystems exhibit abrupt shifts in state are of paramount importance for management, conservation, and restoration efforts. Kelp forests are emblematic of such abruptly shifting ecosystems, transitioning from kelp-dominated to urchin-dominated states around the world with increasing frequency, yet the underlying processes and mechanisms that control their dynamics r
Authors
Zachary Randell, Michael C. Kenner, Joseph A. Tomoleoni, Julie L. Yee, Mark Novak
Classifying behavior from short-interval biologging data: An example with GPS tracking of birds
Recent advances in digital data collection have spurred accumulation of immense quantities of data that have potential to lead to remarkable ecological insight, but that also present analytic challenges. In the case of biologging data from birds, common analytical approaches to classifying movement behaviors are largely inappropriate for these massive data sets.We apply a framework for using K-mea
Authors
Silas Bergen, Manuela Huso, A. Duerr, Missy A Braham, Todd E. Katzner, Sara Schmuecker, Tricia A. Miller
Hypotheses and lessons from a native moth outbreak in a low-diversity, tropical rainforest
Outbreaks of defoliating insects in low-diversity tropical forests occur infrequently but provide valuable insights about outbreak ecology in temperate environments and in general. We investigated an extensive outbreak of the endemic koa moth (Scotorythra paludicola), which defoliated endemic koa trees (Acacia koa) over a third of their range on Hawai‘i Island during 2013 and 2014. At Hakalau Fore
Authors
Paul C. Banko, Robert W. Peck, Stephanie G. Yelenik, Eben H. Paxton, Frank Bonaccorso, Kristina Montoya-Aiona, R. Flint Hughes, Steven Perakis
Multi-species, multi-country analysis reveals North Americans are willing to pay for transborder migratory species conservation
Migratory species often provide ecosystem service benefits to people in one country while receiving habitat support in other countries. The multinational cooperation that could help ensure continued provisioning of these benefits by migration may be informed by understanding the economic values people in different countries place on the benefits they derive from migratory wildlife.We conducted con
Authors
Wayne E. Thogmartin, Michelle A. Haefele, James E. Diffendorfer, Darius J. Semmens, Jonathan J. Derbridge, Aaron M. Lien, Ta-Ken Huang, Laura López-Hoffman
Demographic implications of lead poisoning for eagles across North America
Lead poisoning occurs worldwide in populations of predatory birds, but exposure rates and population impacts are known only from regional studies. We evaluated the lead exposure of 1210 bald and golden eagles from 38 US states across North America, including 620 live eagles. We detected unexpectedly high frequencies of lead poisoning of eagles, both chronic (46 to 47% of bald and golden eagles, as
Authors
Vincent A. Slabe, James T. Anderson, Brian A. Millsap, Jeffrey L. Cooper, Alan R. Harmata, Marco Restani, Ross H. Crandall, Barbara Bodenstein, Peter H. Bloom, Travis L. Booms, John Buchweitz, Renee C. E. Culver, Kim Dickerson, Robert Domenech, Ernesto Dominguez-Villegas, Daniel Driscoll, Brian W. Smith, Michael J. Lockhart, David McRuer, Tricia A. Miller, Patricia Ortiz, Krysta Rogers, Matt Schwarz, Natalie Turley, Brian Woodbridge, Myra E. Finkelstein, Christian A. Triana, Christopher R. DeSorbo, Todd E. Katzner
Least Bell's Vireos and Southwestern Willow Flycatchers at the San Luis Rey flood risk management project area in San Diego County, California: Breeding activities and habitat use—2021 Annual report
Executive SummarySurveys and monitoring for the endangered Least Bell’s Vireo (Vireo bellii pusillus; vireo) were done at the San Luis Rey Flood Risk Management Project Area (Project Area) in the city of Oceanside, San Diego County, California, between April 4 and August 4, 2021. We completed four protocol surveys during the breeding season, supplemented by weekly territory monitoring visits. We i
Authors
Alexandra Houston, Lisa D. Allen, Ryan E. Pottinger, Barbara E. Kus
Effects of weather variation on waterfowl migration: Lessons from a continental-scale generalizable avian movement and energetics model
We developed a continental energetics-based model of daily mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) movement during the non-breeding period (September to May) to predict year-specific migration and overwinter occurrence. The model approximates movements and stopovers as functions of metabolism and weather, in terms of temperature and frozen precipitation (i.e., snow). The model is a Markov process operating a
Authors
Kevin Aagaard, Eric V. Lonsdorf, Wayne E. Thogmartin
Contaminant fluxes across ecosystems mediated by aquatic insects
Metals and organic contaminants in aquatic systems affect the coupling of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems through two pathways: contaminant-induced effects on insect emergence and emergence-induced contaminant transfer. Consequently, the impact of aquatic contaminants on terrestrial ecosystems can be driven by modifications in the quantity and quality of adult aquatic insects serving as prey or
Authors
Mirco Bundschuh, Sebastian Pietz, Alexis P. Roodt, Johanna M. Kraus
Forbs included in conservation seed mixes exhibit variable blooming detection rates and cost-effectiveness: Implications for pollinator habitat design
Although forb-rich plantings for pollinator habitat are becoming more common, natural resource managers lack insight on the cost-effectiveness of forbs seeded in private land conservation programs. Additional information on the possible benefits of including more forb species in a mix may help guide the design of future pollinator habitat. We examined the detection of blooming forbs from seed mixe
Authors
Stacy C. Simanonok, Clint R.V. Otto, Rich Iovanna