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
Nutrient identity modifies the destabilising effects of eutrophication in grasslands
Nutrient enrichment can simultaneously increase and destabilise plant biomass production, with co-limitation by multiple nutrients potentially intensifying these effects. Here, we test how factorial additions of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium with essential nutrients (K+) affect the stability (mean/standard deviation) of aboveground biomass in 34 grasslands over 7 years. Destabilisatio
Authors
Oliver Carroll, Evan Batzer, Siddharth Bharath, Elizabeth T. Borer, Sofía Campana, Ellen Esch, Yann Hautier, Timothy Ohlert, Eric W. Seabloom, Peter B. Adler, Jonathan D. Bakker, Lori A. Biederman, Miguel N. Bugalho, Maria Caldeira, Qingqing Chen, Kendi F. Davies, Philip A. Fay, Johannes M. H. Knops, Kimberly Komatsu, Jason P. Martina, Kevin S. McCann, Joslin L. Moore, John W. Morgan, Taofeek O. Muraina, Brooke Bossert Osborne, Anita C. Risch, Carly J. Stevens, Peter A. Wilfahrt, Laura Yahdjian, Andrew S. MacDougall
Evaluating the effect of expert elicitation techniques on population status assessment in the face of large uncertainty
Population projection models are important tools for conservation and management. They are often used for population status assessments, for threat analyses, and to predict the consequences of conservation actions. Although conservation decisions should be informed by science, critical decisions are often made with very little information to support decision-making. Conversely, postponing decision
Authors
Jennifer F. Moore, Julien Martin, Hardin Waddle, Evan H. Campbell Grant, Jillian Elizabeth Fleming, Eve Bohnett, Thomas S.B. Akre, Donald J. Brown, Michael T. Jones, Jessica R. Meck, Kevin J. Oxenrider, Anthony Tur, Lisabeth L. Willey, Fred A Johnson
Increasing the uptake of ecological model results in policy decisions to improve biodiversity outcomes
Models help decision-makers anticipate the consequences of policies for ecosystems and people; for instance, improving our ability to represent interactions between human activities and ecological systems is essential to identify pathways to meet the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. However, use of modeling outputs in decision-making remains uncommon. We share insights from a multidisciplinary
Authors
Sarah R. Weiskopf, Zuzana Harmáčková, Ciara G. Johnson, Maria Cecilia Londoño-Murcia, Brian W. Miller, Bonnie J.E. Myers, Laura Pereira, Maria Isabel Arce-Plata, Julia L. Blanchard, Simon Ferrier, Elizabeth A. Fulton, Mike Harfoot, Forest Isbell, Justin A. Johnson, Akira S. Mori, Ensheng Weng, Isabel M.D. Rosa
The impact of future climate on wetland habitat in a critical migratory waterfowl corridor of the Prairie Pothole Region
Depressional wetlands are extremely sensitive to changes in temperature and precipitation, so understanding how wetland inundation dynamics respond to changes in climate is essential for describing potential effects on wildlife breeding habitat. Millions of depressional basins make up the largest wetland complex in North America known as the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR). The wetland ecosystems tha
Authors
Owen P. McKenna
Assessment of native fish passage through Brandon Road Lock and Dam, Des Plaines River, Illinois, using fin ray microchemistry
This study examined evidence of native fish passage through Brandon Road Lock and Dam (BRLD) on the Des Plaines River, Illinois, in light of proposed modifications to prevent the upstream passage of invasive carps. Direct evidence of upstream passage by native fishes at BRLD is lacking and could help to inform assessment of the impacts of barrier technology installation. Fin ray microchemistry was
Authors
Claire E. Snyder, Devon C. Oliver, Brent C. Knights, Stephen M. Pescitelli, Gregory W. Whitledge
Reconciling models and measurements of marsh vulnerability to sea level rise
Tidal marsh survival in the face of sea level rise (SLR) and declining sediment supply often depends on the ability of marshes to build soil vertically. However, numerical models typically predict survival under rates of SLR that far exceed field-based measurements of vertical accretion. Here, we combine novel measurements from seven U.S. Atlantic Coast marshes and data from 70 additional marshes
Authors
Daniel J. Coleman, Mark Schuerch, Stijn Temmerman, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, Christopher G. Smith, Matthew L. Kirwan
Distinct gut microbiomes in two polar bear subpopulations inhabiting different sea ice ecoregions
Gut microbiomes were analyzed by 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding for polar bears (Ursus maritimus) from the southern Beaufort Sea (SB), where sea ice loss has led to increased use of land-based food resources by bears, and from East Greenland (EG), where persistent sea ice has allowed hunting of ice-associated prey nearly year-round. SB polar bears showed a higher number of total (940 vs. 742) and uni
Authors
Megan Franz, Lyle White, Todd C. Atwood, Kristin L. Laidre, Denis Roy, Sophie Watson, Esteban Gongora, Melissa McKinney
Highly pathogenic avian influenza is an emerging disease threat to wild birds in North America
Prior to the emergence of the A/goose/Guangdong/1/1996 (Gs/GD) H5N1 influenza A virus, the long-held and well-supported paradigm was that highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreaks were restricted to poultry, the result of cross-species transmission of precursor viruses from wild aquatic birds that subsequently gained pathogenicity in domestic birds. Therefore, management agencies typicall
Authors
Andrew M. Ramey, Nichola J. Hill, Thomas J. DeLiberto, Samantha E. J. Gibbs, M. Camille Hopkins, Andrew S. Lang, Rebecca L. Poulson, Diann Prosser, Jonathan M. Sleeman, David E. Stallknecht, Xiu-Feng Wan
Distribution and abundance of Least Bell’s Vireos (Vireo bellii pusillus) and Southwestern Willow Flycatchers (Empidonax traillii extimus) on the Middle San Luis Rey River, San Diego County, southern California—2021 Data summary
Executive SummaryWe surveyed for Least Bell’s Vireos (Vireo bellii pusillus; vireo) and Southwestern Willow Flycatchers (Empidonax traillii extimus; flycatcher) along the San Luis Rey River, between College Boulevard in Oceanside and Interstate 15 in Fallbrook, California (middle San Luis Rey River), in 2021. Surveys were conducted from April 13 to July 14 (vireo) and from May 18 to July 13 (flyca
Authors
Lisa D. Allen, Barbara E. Kus
Parasites in kelp-forest food webs increase food-chain length, complexity, and specialization, but reduce connectance
We explored whether parasites are important in kelp forests by examining their effects on a high-quality, high-resolution kelp-forest food web. After controlling for generic effects of network size, parasites affected kelp-forest food web structure in some ways consistent with other systems. Parasites increased the trophic span of the web, increasing top predator vulnerability and the longest chai
Authors
Dana N. Morton, Kevin D. Lafferty
North American tree migration paced by climate in the West, lagging in the East
Tree fecundity and recruitment have not yet been quantified at scales needed to anticipate biogeographic shifts in response to climate change. By separating their responses, this study shows coherence across species and communities, offering the strongest support to date that migration is in progress with regional limitations on rates. The southeastern continent emerges as a fecundity hotspot, but
Authors
Shubhi Sharma, Robert Andrus, Yves Bergeron, Michal Bogdziewicz, Don C. Bragg, Dale G. Brockway, Natalie L. Cleavitt, Benoit Courbaud, Adrian Das, Michael Dietze, Timothy J. Fahey, Jerry F. Franklin, Gilbert S. Gregory, Cathryn H. Greenberg, Qinfeng Guo, Janneke Hille Ris Lambers, Ines Ibanez, Jill F. Johnstone, Christopher L. Kilner, Johannes M. H. Knops, Walter D. Koenig, Georges Kunstler, Jalene M. LaMontagne, Diana Macias, Emily V. Moran, Jonathan A. Myers, Robert Parmenter, Ian Pearse, Renata Poulton-Kamakura, Miranda D. Redmond, Chantal D. Reid, Kyle C. Rodman, C. Lane Scher, William H. Schlesinger, Michael A. Steele, Nathan L. Stephenson, Jennifer J. Swenson, Margaret Swift, Thomas T. Veblen, Amy V. Whipple, Thomas G. Whitham, Andreas P. Wion, Christopher W. Woodall, Roman Zlotin, James S. Clark
Biocrusts mediate a new mechanism for land degradation under a changing climate
Global concerns for desertification have focused on the slow recovery of extensive and expanding drylands following disturbance, which may be exacerbated by climate change. Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are photosynthetic soil communities found in drylands worldwide, which are central to the stability and resilience of dryland ecosystems, but vulnerable to global change. Here we use multiple
Authors
Michala Lee Phillips, Brandon E McNellis, Armin J. Howell, Cara Marie Lauria, Jayne Belnap, Sasha C. Reed