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: 41763
Range-wide trends in tiger conservation landscapes, 2001 - 2020
Of all the ways human beings have modified the planet over the last 10,000 years, habitat loss is the most important for other species. To address this most critical threat to biodiversity, governments, non-governmental actors, and the public need to know, in near real-time, where and when habitat loss is occurring. Here we present an integrated habitat modelling system at the range-wide scale for
Authors
Eric W. Sanderson, Dale G. Miquelle, Kim Fisher, Abishek Harihar, Chris Clark, Jesse Moy, Peter V. Potapov, Nathaniel P. Robinson, Lucinda Royte, Dustin Sampson, Jamie S Sanderlin, Charles Yackulic, Michael Belecky, Urs Breitenmoser, Christine Breitenmoser-Würsten, Pranav Chanchani, Stuart Chapman, Arpit Deomurari, Somphot Duangchantrasiri, Elisa Facchini, Thomas N.E. Gray, John Goodrich, Luke Hunter, Matthew Linkie, Willy Marthy, Akchousanh Rasphone, Sogoto Roy, Detrit Sittibal, Tshering Tempa, Mayuree Umponjan, Karen Wood
Understanding fatality patterns and sex ratios of Brazilian free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) at wind energy facilities in western California and Texas
BackgroundOperation of wind turbines has resulted in collision fatalities for several bat species, and one proven method to reduce these fatalities is to limit wind turbine blade rotation (i.e., curtail turbines) when fatalities are expected to be highest. Implementation of curtailment can potentially be optimized by targeting times when females are most at risk, as the proportion of females limit
Authors
Sarah Licari, Amanda Hale, Sara Weaver, Sarah R. Fritts, Todd E. Katzner, David H. Nelson, Dean Williams
Conclusions of evaluation of restoration for avian species at Caminada Headland and Whiskey Island, Louisiana
We conducted various analyses to determine the impact of coastal restoration on several focal avian species at Caminada Headland and Whiskey Island, Louisiana. We assessed if restoration affected avian use of restored sites by determining overall habitat changes, occupancy trends, and impacts of construction activities. Here, we summarize our findings from Chapters 2-9. For more details and additi
Authors
Darin L. Lee, Amanda Nicole Anderson, Paul Leberg, Nicholas Enwright, J. Hardin Waddle, Delaina LeBlanc, Theodore J. Zenzal
Mapping habitats and shorelines pre-, during, and post-restoration on Caminada Headland and Whiskey Island, Louisiana, 2012–2020
Barrier islands and headlands provide ecological services that are integral to economic and environmental interests. Adaptive management may help in ensuring their resilience and the continued provision of ecosystems goods and services over time. The dynamic nature of these environments makes evaluating the impacts from restoration and extreme events an important part of adaptively managing these
Authors
Hana R. Thurman, Nicholas Enwright, Wyatt C Cheney, Jason Dugas, Darin M. Lee, William Jones
An introduction to the evaluation of restoration for avian species at Caminada Headland and Whiskey Island in Louisiana
Barrier islands are crucial for protecting Louisiana’s coastal communities and ecosystems as they reduce coastal erosion and help safeguard native flora and fauna. Along the Louisiana shoreline, these islands are mostly long and thin, running parallel to the shoreline. The islands typically consist of the following components: 1) a sandy beach facing the Gulf of Mexico; 2) vegetated and non-vegeta
Authors
Delaina LeBlanc, Amanda Nicole Anderson, Paul Leberg, Hardin Waddle, Nicholas Enwright, Hana R. Thurman, Theodore J. Zenzal
Adult mosquito and butterfly exposure to permethrin and relative risk following ULV sprays from a truck-mounted sprayer
Ground applications of adulticides via a specialized truck-mounted sprayer are one of the most common practices for control of flying adult mosquitoes. Aerosols released to drift through a targeted area persist in the air column to contact and kill flying mosquitoes, but may also drift into adjacent areas not targeted by the applications where it may affect nontarget insects such as imperiled butt
Authors
Timothy Bargar, Yongxing Jiang
Differential heat shock protein responses in two species of Pacific salmon and their utility in identifying heat stress
Rapid and accelerating warming of salmon habitat has the potential to lower productivity of Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus species) populations. Heat stress biomarkers can indicate where warming is most likely affecting fish populations; however, we often lack clear classifications that separate individuals with and without heat stress needed to make these tools operational. We conducted a heat expo
Authors
Vanessa R. von Biela, Amy M. Regish, Lizabeth Bowen, Ashley E. Stanek, Shannon C. Waters, Michael P. Carey, Christian E. Zimmerman, Jonathon Gerken, Daniel Rinella, Stephen D. McCormick
Oil and gas reclamation—Operations, monitoring methods, and standards
This publication provides broad guidance for surface management of oil and gas development with a focus on promoting successful reclamation. Successful reclamation depends on sound best management practices, clear standards and expectations, defensible monitoring for effectiveness, and management of production facilities to minimize surface disturbance. This publication provides specific guideline
Authors
Randi C. Lupardus, Janna Simonsen, Gordon Toevs, Barbara Sterling, Zachary H. Bowen, Zoe Davidson, Steve E. Hanser, Emily Kachergis, Alexander Laurence-Traynor, Nika Lepak, Rebecca K. Mann, Aleta Nafus, David S. Pilliod, Michael C. Duniway
Chromosome-level genome assembly of the blacktail brush lizard, Urosaurus nigricaudus, reveals dosage compensation in an endemic lizard
Urosaurus nigricaudus is a phrynosomatid lizard endemic to the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. This work presents a chromosome-level genome assembly and annotation from a male individual. We used PacBio long reads and HiRise scaffolding to generate a high-quality genomic assembly of 1.87 Gb distributed in 327 scaffolds, with an N50 of 279 Mb and an L50 of 3. Approximately 98.4% of the genome
Authors
Elizabeth Davalos-Dehullu, Sarah M. Baty, Robert N. Fisher, Peter A. Scott, Greer A. Dolby, Adrian Munguia-Vega, Diego Cortez
Reservoir stratification modulates the influence of impoundments on fish mercury concentrations along an arid land river system
Impoundment is among the most common hydrologic alterations with impacts on aquatic ecosystems that can include effects on mercury (Hg) cycling. However, landscape-scale differences in Hg bioaccumulation between reservoirs and other habitats are not well characterized nor are the processes driving these differences. We examined total Hg (THg) concentrations of Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu
Authors
James Willacker, Collin Eagles-Smith, Jim Chandler, Jesse Naymik, Ralph Myers, David P. Krabbenhoft
A review of natural and managed revegetation responses in two de-watered reservoirs after large dam removals on the Elwha River, Washington, USA
Large dam removals are increasing in frequency and the response of natural and managed revegetation is a critical consideration for managed restoration of dewatered reservoir landscapes post dam removal. The removal of two large dams on the Elwha River in 2011-2014 provides insight into reservoir revegetation. We review literature and datasets from 2012 through 2018, 1-6 years since reservoir dewa
Authors
Joshua Chenoweth, Patrick B. Shafroth, Rebecca L. Brown, James M. Helfield, Jenise M. Bauman, Sara Cendejas-Zarelli, Chhaya M. Werner, Jarrett L. Schuster, Olivia A. Morgan
Selection of microhabitats, plants, and plant parts eaten by a threatened tortoise: Observations during a superbloom
Populations of the threatened desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) continue to decline throughout the geographic range, in part because of degraded and fragmented habitats in the Mojave and western Sonoran deserts. The species is herbivorous and highly selective in choice of plant species. To increase options for recovery, we analyzed behaviors, patterns of movements while foraging, and parts of p
Authors
W. Bryan Jennings, Kristin H. Berry