Publications
Below is a list of available NOROCK peer reviewed and published science. If you are in search of a specific publication and cannot find it below or through a search, please contact twojtowicz@usgs.gov.
Filter Total Items: 1211
Strategic considerations for invasive species managers in the utilization ofenvironmental DNA (eDNA): Steps for incorporating this powerful surveillance tool
Invasive species surveillance programs can utilize environmental DNA sampling and analysis to provide information on the presence of invasive species. Wider utilization of eDNA techniques for invasive species surveillance may be warranted. This paper covers topics directed towards invasive species managers and eDNA practitioners working at the intersection of eDNA techniques and invasive species s
Authors
Jeffrey Morisette, Stanley Burgiel, Kelsey Brantley, Wesley M. Daniel, John Darling, Jeanette Davis, Thomas W. Franklin, Keith Gaddis, Maggie Hunter, Richard Lance, Tracy Leskey, Yale Passamaneck, Antoinette J. Piaggio, Brian Rector, Adam Sepulveda, Melissa Smith, Carol A Stepien, Taylor Wilcox
Amphibian population responses to mitigation: Relative importance of wetland age and design
Wetland creation is a common practice to mitigate for the loss of natural wetlands. However, there is still uncertainty about how effectively created wetlands replace habitat provided by natural wetlands. This uncertainty is due in part because post-construction monitoring of biological communities, and vertebrates especially, is rare and typically short-term (<5 years). We estimated occupancy of
Authors
Emily Bea Oja, Leah S Swartz, Erin L. Muths, Blake R. Hossack
Comparative effects of energy-related saline wastewaters and sodium chloride on hatching, survival, and fitness-associated traits of two amphibian species
Salinity (sodium chloride [NaCl]) is a prevalent and persistent contaminant that negatively affects freshwater ecosystems. Although most studies focus on effects of salinity from road salts (primarily NaCl), high-salinity wastewaters from energy extraction (wastewaters) could be more harmful because they contain NaCl and other toxic components. Many amphibians are sensitive to salinity, and their
Authors
Brian J. Tornabene, Creagh Breuner, Blake R. Hossack
Invasive Lake Trout reproduction in Yellowstone Lake under an active suppression program
In Yellowstone Lake, predation by invasive Lake Trout Salvelinus namaycush has caused significant abundance declines in native Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout Oncorhynchus clarkii bouvieri. Lake Trout suppression has been ongoing since 1995; assessment and simulation modeling are used to measure suppression effectiveness and guide efforts. Lake Trout reproduction demographics are linked to these model
Authors
Nicholas A. Heredia, Robert E. Gresswell, Molly A.H. Webb, Travis O. Brenden, Philip T. Sandstrom
Estimates of abundance and harvest rates of female black bears across a large spatial extent
American black bears (Ursus americanus) are an iconic wildlife species in the southern Appalachian highlands of the eastern United States and have increased in number and range since the early 1980s. Given an increasing number of human-bear conflicts in the region, many management agencies have liberalized harvest regulations to reduce bear populations to socially acceptable levels. Wildlife manag
Authors
Jacob Humm, Joseph D. Clark
Corticosterone mediates a growth-survival tradeoff for an amphibian exposed to increased salinity
Life-history tradeoffs are common across taxa, but growth-survival tradeoffs—usually enhancing survival at a cost to growth—are less frequently investigated. Increased salinity (NaCl) is a prevalent anthropogenic disturbance that may cause a growth-survival tradeoff for larval amphibians. Although physiological mechanisms mediating tradeoffs are seldom investigated, hormones are prime candidates.
Authors
BJ Tornabene, Blake R. Hossack, EJ Crespi, CW Breuner
Agent-based models for collective animal movement: Proximity-induced state switching
Animal movement is a complex phenomenon where individual movement patterns can be influenced by a variety of factors including the animal’s current activity, available terrain and habitat, and locations of other animals. Motivated by modeling grizzly bear movement in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, this article presents an agent-based model represented in a state-space framework for collective
Authors
Andrew B. Hoegh, Frank T. van Manen, Mark A. Haroldson
Physiological consequences of consuming low-energy foods: Herbivory coincides with a stress response in Yellowstone bears.
Meat, fruit, seeds and other high-energy bear foods are often highly localized and briefly available and understanding which factors influence bear consumption of these foods is a common focus of bear conservation and ecology. However, the most common bear foods, graminoids and forbs, are more widespread but of lower quality. We poorly understand how herbage consumption impacts bear physiology, su
Authors
David A Christianson, Tyler H Coleman, Quint Doan, Mark A. Haroldson
U.S. Geological Survey science for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative—2018 annual report
The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) was established in 2007 as a collaborative interagency partnership to develop and implement science-based conservation actions. During the past 11 years, partners from U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), State and Federal land management agencies, universities, and the public have collaborated to implement a long-term (more than 10 years) science-bas
Authors
Patrick J. Anderson, Cameron L. Aldridge, Jason S. Alexander, Timothy J. Assal, Steven Aulenbach, Zachary H. Bowen, Anna D. Chalfoun, Geneva W. Chong, Holly Copeland, David R. Edmunds, Steve Germaine, Tabitha Graves, Julie A. Heinrichs, Collin G. Homer, Christopher Huber, Aaron N. Johnston, Matthew J. Kauffman, Daniel J. Manier, Ryan R. McShane, Cheryl A. Eddy-Miller, Kirk A. Miller, Adrian P. Monroe, Michael S. O'Donnell, Anna Ortega, Annika W. Walters, Daniel J. Wieferich, Teal B. Wyckoff, Linda Zeigenfuss
Is the grass always greener? Land surface phenology reveals differences in peak and season-long vegetation productivity responses to climate and management
Vegetation phenology—the seasonal timing and duration of vegetative phases—is controlled by spatiotemporally variable contributions of climatic and environmental factors plus additional potential influence from human management. We used land surface phenology derived from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer and climate data to examine variability in vegetation productivity and phenologica
Authors
David J. A. Wood, Scott Powell, Paul C. Stoy, Lindsey Thurman, Erik A. Beever
Factors influencing distributional shifts and abundance at the range core of a climate-sensitive mammal
Species are frequently responding to contemporary climate change by shifting to higher elevations and poleward to track suitable climate space. However, depending on local conditions and species’ sensitivity, the nature of these shifts can be highly variable and difficult to predict. Here, we examine how the American pika (Ochotona princeps), a philopatric, montane lagomorph, responds to climatic
Authors
Peter D Billman, Erik A. Beever, Dave B. McWethy, Lindsey Thurman, Kenny C Wilson
Evaluating corticosterone as a biomarker for amphibians exposed to increased salinity and ambient corticosterone
Physiological biomarkers are commonly used to assess the health of taxa exposed to natural and anthropogenic stressors. Glucocorticoid (GC) hormones are often used as indicators of physiological stress in wildlife because they affect growth, reproduction and survival. Increased salinity from human activities negatively influences amphibians and their corticosterone (CORT; the main amphibian GC) ph
Authors
Brian J. Tornabene, Blake R. Hossack, Erica J Crespi, Creagh W Breuner