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: 41764
The devil is in the details: Variation in public acceptance of fuels treatments across western fire-prone communities
Implementation of broad landscape management goals to confront the wildfire crisis occurs at the project level and is subject to public scrutiny. Although the research literature demonstrates broad public acceptability of fuels treatments, a closer examination of the studies reveals notable variation in acceptance. Survey data from thirteen western U.S. communities using the same measures of accep
Authors
Hannah Brenkert-Smith, Julia Goolsby, Patricia A. Champ, James Meldrum, Colleen Donovan, Carolyn Wagner, Christopher M. Barth, Chiara Forrester, Suzanne Wittenbrink
Identifying predictors of translocation success in rare plant species
The fundamental goal of a rare plant translocation is to create self-sustaining populations with the evolutionary resilience to persist in the long-term. Yet most plant translocation syntheses focus on a few factors influencing short-term benchmarks of success (e.g., survival and reproduction). Short-term benchmarks can be misleading when trying to infer future growth and viability because the fac
Authors
Joe Bellis, Oyomoare L. Osazuwa-Peters, Joyce Maschinski, Matthew J. Keir, Elliott W. Parsons, Thomas N. Kaye, Michael Kunz, Jennifer Possley, Eric Menges, Stacy A. Smith, Daniela Roth, Debbie Brewer, William E. Brumback, James J. Lange, Christal Niederer, Jessica B. Turner-Skoff, Megan Bontrager, Richard Braham, Michelle Coppoletta, Karen D. Holl, Paula Williamson, Timothy J. Bell, Jayne L. Jonas, Kathryn McEachern, Kathy L. Robertson, Sandra J. Birnbaum, Adam Dattilo, John J. Dollard, Jeremie Fant, Wendy Kishida, Peter Lesica, Steven O. Link, Noel B. Pavlovic, Jackie Poole, Charlotte M. Reemts, Peter Stiling, David D. Taylor, Jonathan H. Titus, Priscilla J. Titus, Edith D. Adkins, Timothy Chambers, Mark W. Paschke, Katherine D. Heinman, Matthew A. Albrecht
Silver carp herding: A telemetry evaluation of efficacy and implications for design and application
Removal of invasive Silver Carp Hypophthalmichthys molitrix is a primary control action in North America. Strong avoidance responses to underwater sound and electricity have been shown to facilitate herding and mass removal of these fish. We conducted a telemetry study on a closed population of Silver Carp (i.e., 10 telemetered fish) to assess fine-scale movement responses to herding stimuli. Two
Authors
Josey Lee Ridgway, Matthew Ross Acre, Tyler Michael Hessler, Dustin Broaddus, Jessica Morris, Robin Calfee
Move it or lose it: Predicted effects of culverts and population density on Mojave desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) connectivity
Roadways and railways can reduce wildlife movements across landscapes, negatively impacting population connectivity. Connectivity may be improved by structures that allow safe passage across linear barriers, but connectivity could be adversely influenced by low population densities. The Mojave desert tortoise is threatened by habitat loss, fragmentation, and population declines. The tortoise conti
Authors
Kirsten E. Dutcher, Kenneth E. Nussear, Jill S. Heaton, Todd C. Esque, A. G. Vandergast
Temporal, environmental, and demographic correlates of Ichthyophonus sp. infections in mature Pacific herring populations
Causes of population collapse and failed recovery often remain enigmatic in marine forage fish like Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) that experience dramatic population oscillations. Diseases such as ichthyophoniasis are hypothesized to contribute to these declines, but lack of long-term datasets frequently prevents inference. Analysis of pathogen surveillance and population assessment datasets s
Authors
Maya Groner, Eliana D. Bravo-Mendosa, Ashley MacKenzie, Jacob L. Gregg, Carla M. Conway, John T. Trochta, Paul Hershberger
Thirteen years of turtle capture–mark–recapture in a small urban pond complex in Louisiana, USA
Turtles are one of the most imperiled vertebrate groups in the world. With habitat destruction unabated in many places, urban and suburban greenspaces may serve as refugia for turtles, at least those species able to tolerate heavily altered landscapes. In south-central Louisiana, we have conducted a turtle capture–mark–recapture effort in two ponds in an urban greenspace for 13 yr to understand sp
Authors
Brad Glorioso, Hardin Waddle, Doug P. Armstrong
Development of an integrated survey design to assess invasive round goby abundance and distribution across gradients in substrate and depth
No abstract available.
Authors
Peter C. Esselman, Darryl W. Hondorp, Edward F. Roseman, Meredith B. Nevers, Todd Wills, Stephen C. Riley
Vegetation change over 140 years in a sagebrush landscape of the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, New Mexico, USA
QuestionsBig sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) ecosystems across the western United States have experienced many changes in ecosystem dynamics and vegetation composition over the last century due to livestock grazing, non-native species, and changing climate and fire regimes. We conducted the first systematic investigation of historical vegetation composition and vegetation change in a sagebrush la
Authors
Kara Fox, Ellis Margolis, Manuel K. Lopez, Ella Kasten, J.T. Stevens
Survey optimization for invasive Burmese pythons informed by camera traps
The Burmese python (Python bivittatus) is an invasive predator responsible for broad mammal declines in South Florida, United States. Despite their large size, pythons remain cryptic and require multifaceted approaches for detection. We evaluated a novel technique by deploying camera traps at known locations of radiotagged pythons in the Florida Keys. We estimated daily detection probabilities of
Authors
Michael V. Cove, Jeremy Dixon, Katherine King, Matthew Willson, Kristen Hart
Temperature thresholds for leaf damage from two extreme freeze events (2018 and 2021) near the northern range limit of black mangroves (Avicennia germinans) in southeastern North America
Extreme winter temperatures govern the northern range limit of black mangroves (Avicennia germinans) in southeastern North America. There is a pressing need for studies that advance our understanding of how extreme cold temperature events affect mangroves near their range limits. However, such events are infrequent and challenging to study at regional scales. Here, we compared the damage to mangro
Authors
Simen Kaalstad, Michael Osland, Donna J. Devlin, C. Edward Proffitt, Laura Feher, Anna R. Armitage, Richard Day, Kathleen M. Swanson, Gordon Anderson, Brigid Berger, Just Cebrian, Karen L. Cummins, Kenneth H. Dunton, Ilka C. Feller, Alejandro Fierro-Cabo, Elena A. Flores, Andrew From, A. Randall Hughes, David A. Kaplan, Amy K. Langston, Melinda Martinez, Briana Martinez, Christopher J. Miller, Nathan G.F. Reaver, Colt R. Sanspree, Caitlin M. Snyder, Andrew P. Stetter, Jamie E. Thompson, Carlos Zamora-Tovar
Lessons learned from community and citizen science monitoring projects on the Elwha River Restoration Project
Community and citizen science (CCS) projects – initiatives that involve public participation in scientific research – can both sustain and expand long-term monitoring of large dam removal projects. In this article, we discuss our perspectives on CCS associated with the Elwha River dam removals. We summarize how the public has been or could be involved in monitoring and distill lessons learned for
Authors
M. V. Eitzel, Ryan Meyer, Sarah A. Morley, Ian M. Miller, Patrick B. Shafroth, Chelsea Behymer, Christopher Jadallah, David Parks, Anna Kagley, Anne Shaffer, Heidi L. Ballard
Synergistic behavioral antagonists of a sex pheromone reduce reproduction of invasive sea lamprey
Sex pheromones impart maximal attraction when their components are present at optimal ratios that confer balanced olfactory inputs in potential mates. Altering ratios or adding pheromone analogs to optimal mixtures may disrupt balanced olfactory antagonism and result in reduced attraction, however, tests in natural populations are lacking. We tested this hypothesis in sea lamprey (Petromyzon marin
Authors
Anne M. Scott, Nicholas S. Johnson, Michael J. Siefkes, Weiming Li