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
Keeping the heat on: Weighted surveillance for Chytrid fungus (Batrachochytirum dendrobatidis) in Dixie Valley toads (Anaxyrus [= Bufo] williamsi)
Introduced fungal pathogens have caused declines and extinctions of naïve wildlife populations across vertebrate classes. Consequences of introduced pathogens to hosts with small ranges might be especially severe because of limited redundancy to rescue populations and lower abundance that may limit the resilience of populations to perturbations like disease introduction. As a complement to biosecu
Authors
Matthew J. Forrest, Brian J. Halstead, Daniel A. Grear, Patrick M. Kleeman, Brian D. Todd, Oliver J. Miano, Kris D. Urquhart
Patterns, drivers, and a predictive model of dam removal cost in the United States
Given the burgeoning dam removal movement and the large number of dams approaching obsolescence in the United States, cost estimating data and tools are needed for dam removal prioritization, planning, and execution. We used the list of removed dams compiled by American Rivers to search for publicly available reported costs for dam removal projects. Total cost information could include component c
Authors
Jeffrey J. Duda, Suman Jumani, Daniel J. Wieferich, Desiree D. Tullos, S. Kyle McKay, Timothy J. Randle, Alvin Jansen, Susan Bailey, Benjamin Lorenz Jensen, Rachelle Carina Johnson, Ella J. Wagner, Kyla Breanne Richards, Seth J. Wenger, Eric J. Walther, Jennifer A. Bountry
Evaluating baits with lufenuron and nitenpyram for flea control on prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.) to mitigate plague
Plague, caused by Yersinia pestis, is a widespread threat to endangered black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes) and their primary prey, prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.). Wildlife biologists most commonly manage plague using insecticides to control fleas, the primary vectors of Y. pestis. We tested edible baits containing the insecticides lufenuron and/or nitenpyram in prairie dogs. During a laboratory
Authors
David A. Eads, Kevin T. Castle, Margaret A. Wild, Jeff Borchert, Travis Livieri, Marc R. Matchett, Phillip Dobesh, John Hughes-Clarke, Eddie Childers
Amino acid variation at the mitochondrial binding site of Antimycin A is proposed to reflect sensitivity and toxicity differences among fish species
To better understand differential sensitivities among fish species to the piscicidal compound Antimycin-A (ANT-A), we hypothesized that variations in amino acids at the ANT-A binding site may reflect toxicity differences. Protein sequences for six motifs comprising the ANT-A binding site were obtained and compared for invasive carp species (N = 515) and seven non-target species (N = 277); a consen
Authors
Brooke A. Baudoin, Bonnie L. Brown, Robin Calfee, Jill Jenkins
High-resolution thermal imagery reveals how interactions between crown structure and genetics shape plant temperature
Understanding interactions between environmental stress and genetic variation is crucial to predict the adaptive capacity of species to climate change. Leaf temperature is both a driver and a responsive indicator of plant physiological response to thermal stress, and methods to monitor it are needed. Foliar temperatures vary across leaf to canopy scales and are influenced by genetic factors, chall
Authors
Peter J. Olsoy, Andrii Zaiats, Donna M. Delparte, Matthew Germino, Bryce Richardson, Spencer Roop, Anna V. Roser, Jennifer S. Forbey, Megan E Cattau, Sven Buerki, Keith Reinhardt, Trevor Caughlin
Seed banks of rare Physostegia correllii (Lamiaceae) in Lady Bird Lake, Austin, Texas, U.S.A.
Rare species threatened by climate and land-use change may harbor seeds in soil seed banks for periods of time even if adults have disappeared from the site. Soil samples were collected from sites with current Phyostegia correllii populations and from sites with former populations in Lady Bird Lake (a reservoir of the Colorado River, Austin, Texas. A seedling emergence study was conducted under gr
Authors
Beth Middleton, Casey R. Williams
Selenium hazards in the Salton Sea environment—Summary of current knowledge to inform future wetland management
Quaternary marine and continental shales in the western United States are sources of selenium that can be loaded into the aquatic environment through mining, agricultural, and energy production processes. The mobilization of selenium from shales through agricultural irrigation has been recognized since the 1930s; however, discovery of deformities in birds and other wildlife using agricultural habi
Authors
Michael R. Rosen, Susan E.W. De La Cruz, Krishangi D. Groover, Isa Woo, Sarah A. Roberts, Melanie J. Davis, Cristiana Y. Antonino
PCB source assessment in the lower Clinton River, Clinton River Area of Concern, Mount Clemens, Michigan
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), some of the earliest “forever chemicals,” were used for decades in the United States before 1979 when PCB manufacturing was banned. High PCB concentrations were found recently in the lower Clinton River in the Great Lakes drainage. To determine the possible existence, location, and significance of a current source of PCBs, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) deploye
Authors
Barbara C. Scudder Eikenberry, Hayley Olds, Owen M. Stefaniak, David A. Alvarez
Adjacent and downstream effects of forest harvest on the distribution and abundance of larval headwater stream amphibians in the Oregon Coast Range
Forest harvest is a primary landscape-scale management action affecting riparian forests. Although concerns about impacts of forest harvest on stream amphibians is generally limited to areas adjacent to harvest, there is a paucity of information regarding potential downstream effects of forest harvest on these species. We designed a before-after, control-impact (BACI) experiment to quantify potent
Authors
Adam Duarte, Nathan Chelgren, Jennifer Rowe, Christopher Pearl, Sherri L Johnson, Michael J. Adams
Hidden Markov movement models reveal diverse seasonal movement patterns in two North American ungulates
Animal movement is the mechanism connecting landscapes to fitness, and understanding variation in seasonal animal movements has benefited from the analysis and categorization of animal displacement. However, seasonal movement patterns can defy classification when movements are highly variable. Hidden Markov movement models (HMMs) are a class of latent-state models well-suited to modeling movement
Authors
J. Terrill Paterson, Aaron N. Johnston, Anna Ortega, Cody F. Wallace, Matthew Kauffman
Turbulence near a sandbar island in the lower Missouri River
River turbulence is spatially variable due to interactions between morphology of rivers and physical mechanics of flowing water. Understanding the variation of turbulence in rivers is important for characterizing transport processes of soluble and particulate materials in these systems. We present an exploratory effort to understand ecologically relevant flow patterns using measurements of mean fl
Authors
Geng Li, Caroline M. Elliott, Bruce Call, Brandon James Sansom, R. B. Jacobson, Binbin Wang
Closing the gap between science and management of cold-water refuges in rivers and streams
Human activities and climate change threaten coldwater organisms in freshwater ecosystems by causing rivers and streams to warm, increasing the intensity and frequency of warm temperature events, and reducing thermal heterogeneity. Cold-water refuges are discrete patches of relatively cool water that are used by coldwater organisms for thermal relief and short-term survival. Globally, cohesive man
Authors
Francine H. Mejia, Valerie Ouellet, Martin Briggs, Stephanie M. Carlson, Rose Casas-Mulet, Mollie Chapman, Matthias J. Collins, Stephen J. Dugdale, Joseph L. Ebersole, Danielle M. Frechette, Aimee H. Fullerton, Carol-Anne Gillis, Zachary Johnson, Christa Kelleher, Barret L. Kurylyk, Rebecca Lave, Benjamin Letcher, Knut M. Myrvold, Tracie-Lynn Nadeau, Helen Neville, Herve Piégay, Kathryn E. Smith, Diego Tonolla, Christian E. Torgersen