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
A science and management partnership to restore coregonine diversity to the Laurentian Great Lakes
Similar to many freshwater ecosystems, the Laurentian Great Lakes of North America have undergone numerous anthropogenic stressors resulting in considerable loss of biodiversity and habitat. Among Great Lakes fishes, the coregonine sub-family has endured the most extensive declines, including extinction of several species (Coregonus johannae, C. alpenae, and C. kiyi orientalis) and at least 10 ins
Authors
David Bunnell, Amanda Susanne Ackiss, Karen M Alofs, Cory Brant, Charles R. Bronte, Randall M. Claramunt, John M. Dettmers, Andrew Edgar Honsey, Nicholas E. Mandrak, Andrew M. Muir, Victor Santucci, David R. Smith, Russell M. Strach, John A. Sweka, Brian C. Weidel, William Mattes, Kurt R. Newman
Invasion-mediated mutualism disruption is evident across heterogeneous environmental conditions and varying invasion intensities
The impact of a biological invasion on native communities is expected to be uneven across invaded landscapes due to differences in local abiotic conditions, invader abundance, and traits and composition of the native community. One way to improve predictive ability about the impact of an invasive species given variable conditions is to exploit known mechanisms driving invasive species' success. In
Authors
Morgan Roche, Ian Pearse, Helen Sofaer, Stephanie N Kivlin, Greg Spyreas, David N. Zaya, Susan Kalisz
Global responses to the COVID-19 pandemic by recreational anglers: Considerations for developing more resilient and sustainable fisheries
The global COVID-19 pandemic resulted in many jurisdictions implementing orders restricting the movements of people to inhibit virus transmission, with recreational angling often either not permitted or access to fisheries and/or related infrastructure being prevented. Following the lifting of restrictions, initial angler surveys and licence sales suggested increased participation and effort, and
Authors
J. Robert Britton, Adrian C. Pinder, Josep Alos, Robert Arlinghaus, Andy J. Danylchuk, Wendy Edwards, Katia M. F. Freire, Casper Gundelund, Kieran Hyder, Ivan Jaric, Robert J. Lennox, Wolf-Christian Lewin, Abigail Lynch, Stephen R. Midway, Warren M. Potts, Karina L. Ryan, Christian Skov, Harry V. Strehlow, Sean R. Tracey, Jun-ichi Tsuboi, Paul A. Venturelli, Jessica L. Weir, Marc Simon Weltersbach, Steven J. Cooke
Reconstructing missing data by comparing interpolation techniques: Applications for long-term water quality data
Missing data are typical yet must be addressed for proper inferences or expanding datasets to guide our limnological understanding and management of aquatic systems. Interpolation methods (i.e., estimating missing values using known values within the dataset) can alleviate data gaps and common problems. We compared seven popular interpolation methods for predicting substantial missingness in a lon
Authors
Danelle M. Larson, Wako Bungula, Amber Lee, Alaina Stockdill, Casey McKean, Frederick Miller, Killian Davis, Richard A. Erickson, Enrika Hlavacek
Where can managers effectively resist climate-driven ecological transformation in pinyon-juniper woodlands of the US Southwest?
Pinyon–juniper (PJ) woodlands are an important component of dryland ecosystems across the US West and are potentially susceptible to ecological transformation. However, predicting woodland futures is complicated by species-specific strategies for persisting and reproducing under drought conditions, uncertainty in future climate, and limitations to inferring demographic rates from forest inventory
Authors
Adam Roy Noel, Robert K. Shriver, Shelley D. Crausbay, John B. Bradford
Larval cisco and lake whitefish exhibit high distributional overlap within nursery areas
Coregonine fishes, including lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) and cisco (C. artedi), are socioecologically important in the Laurentian Great Lakes and of conservation concern, but the processes driving recruitment variability are unclear. In Lake Ontario, cisco and lake whitefish exhibit similar spawning behaviours and early life histories, but population trajectories are diverging. One hyp
Authors
Taylor A. Brown, Lars G. Rudstam, Jeremy P. Holden, Brian C. Weidel, Amanda Susanne Ackiss, Ann J. Ropp, Marc Chalupnicki, James E. McKenna, Suresh A. Sethi
Linking ecosystem processes to consumer growth rates: Gross primary productivity as a driver of freshwater fish somatic growth in a resource-limited river
Individual growth can exert strong controls on population dynamics and be constrained by resource acquisition rates. Difficulty in accurately quantifying resource availability over large spatial extents and at high temporal frequency often limits attempts to understand the extent that resources limit individual growth. Daily estimates of stream metabolism, including gross primary productivity (GPP
Authors
Lindsay Erika Hansen, Charles Yackulic, Brett G. Dickson, Bridget Deemer, Rebecca J. Best
Reproductive response of the Samoan swallowtail butterfly to variability in host plant and habitat characteristics
The Samoan swallowtail butterfly (Papilio godeffroyi) has become restricted to Tutuila Island, American Samoa. Factors driving its extirpation on other islands may be partly due to the availability and suitability of habitat, given the singular association we observed of P. godeffroyi with its host plant, Micromelum minutum. We expected that as a host plant specialist, P. godeffroyi might respond
Authors
Paul C. Banko, Robert W. Peck, Mark A. Schmaedick, Adam C. Miles, Niela Leifi, Kevin W. Brinck
Broadscale distribution, abundance and habitat associations of the invasive Asian clam (Corbicula fluminea) in the lower Columbia River, USA
The Asian clam, Corbicula fluminea, is an invasive freshwater bivalve that has established populations across the globe and is known to have deleterious effects on natural and human systems. Yet, despite being present in the Columbia River (CR) for nearly a century, little is known about this invader's basic biology and ecology in this large river system. Thus, we undertook a field study to assess
Authors
Salvador B. Robb-Chavez, Stephen M. Bollens, Gretchen Rollwagen-Bollens, Timothy D. Counihan
When are environmental DNA early detections of invasive species actionable?
Environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling provides sensitive early detection capabilities for recently introduced taxa. However, natural resource managers struggle with how to integrate eDNA results into an early detection rapid response program because positive eDNA detections are not always indicative of an eventual infestation. We used a structured decision making (SDM) framework to evaluate appropriat
Authors
Adam Sepulveda, Christine E. Dumoulin, Denise L. Blanchette, John Mcphedran, Colin Holme, Nathan Whalen, Maggie Hunter, Christopher M. Merkes, Catherine A. Richter, Matthew Neilson, Wesley M. Daniel, Devin Nicole Jones, David R. Smith
Susceptibility of Pallid Sturgeon to viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus genotype IVb
ObjectiveViral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) is an aquatic rhabdovirus causing severe disease in freshwater and saltwater fish species. The susceptibility of endangered Pallid Sturgeon Scaphirhynchus albus to VHSV genotype IVb (VHSV-IVb) infection was investigated.MethodsAn in vitro assessment using two Pallid Sturgeon cell lines derived from skin and spleen tissue and in vivo evaluation of
Authors
Lacey R. Hopper, Jolene A. Glenn, Elizabeth MacConnell, James Winton, Eveline J. Emmenegger
A retrospective assessment of fuel break effectiveness for containing rangeland wildfires in the sagebrush biome
Escalated wildfire activity within the western U.S. has widespread societal impacts and long-term consequences for the imperiled sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) biome. Shifts from historical fire regimes and the interplay between frequent disturbance and invasive annual grasses may initiate permanent state transitions as wildfire frequency outpaces sagebrush communities’ innate capacity to recover. The
Authors
Cali L. Weise, Brianne E. Brussee, Douglas J. Shinneman, Peter S. Coates, Michele R. Crist, Cameron L. Aldridge, Julie A. Heinrichs, Mark A. Ricca