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: 1220
Extreme value-based methods for modeling elk yearly movements
Species range shifts and the spread of diseases are both likely to be driven by extreme movements, but are difficult to statistically model due to their rarity. We propose a statistical approach for characterizing movement kernels that incorporate landscape covariates as well as the potential for heavy-tailed distributions. We used a spliced distribution for distance travelled paired with a resour
Authors
Dhanushi A. Wijeyakulasuriya, Ephraim M. Hanks, Benjamin A. Shaby, Paul C. Cross
Keeping the crown of the continent connected: An interagency US2 connectivity workshop report
At over 2.5 million acres, Glacier National Park and the Bob Marshall Wilderness complex form one of the largest protected areas in the continental United States. Straddling the Continental Divide, these two areas form a vital linkage between vast areas of public land to the south towards Yellowstone, and contiguous protected areas north of the US-Canada border. However, US Highway 2 (US2) and the
Authors
John S. Waller, Tabitha Graves
Change in dominance determines herbivore effects on plant biodiversity
Herbivores alter plant biodiversity (species richness) in many of the world’s ecosystems, but the magnitude and the direction of herbivore effects on biodiversity vary widely within and among ecosystems. One current theory predicts that herbivores enhance plant biodiversity at high productivity but have the opposite effect at low productivity. Yet, empirical support for the importance of site prod
Authors
Sally E. Koerner, Melinda D. Smith, Deron E. Burkepile, Niall P. Hanan, Meghan L. Avolio, Scott L. Collins, Alan K. Knapp, Nathan P. Lemoine, Elisabeth J. Forrestel, Stephanie Eby, Dave I. Thompson, Gerardo A. Aguado-Santacruz, John P. Anderson, T. Michael Anderson, Ayana Angassa, Sumanta Bagchi, Elisabeth S. Bakker, Gary Bastin, Lauren E. Baur, Karen H. Beard, Erik A. Beever, Patrick J. Bohlen, Elizabeth H. Boughton, Don Canestro, Ariela Cesa, Enrique Chaneton, Jimin Cheng, Carla M. D'Antonio, Claire Deleglise, Fadiala Dembélé, Josh Dorrough, David J. Eldridge, Barbara Fernandez-Going, Silvia Fernández-Lugo, Lauchlan H. Fraser, Bill Freedman, Gonzalo García-Salgado, Jacob R. Goheen, Liang Guo, Sean Husheer, Moussa Karembé, Johannes M. H. Knops, Tineke Kraaij, Andrew Kulmatiski, Minna-Maarit Kytöviita, Felipe Lezama, Gregory Loucougaray, Alejandro Loydi, Daniel G. Milchunas, Suzanne J. Milton, John W. Morgan, Claire Moxham, Kyle C. Nehring, Han Olff, Todd M. Palmer, Salvador Rebollo, Corinna Riginos, Anita C. Risch, Marta Rueda, Mahesh Sankaran, Takehiro Sasaki, Kathryn A. Schoenecker, Nick L. Schultz, Martin Schütz, Angelika Schwabe, Frances Siebert, Christian Smit, Karen A. Stahlheber, Christian Storm, Dustin J. Strong, Jishuai Su, Yadugiri V. Tiruvaimozhi, Claudia Tyler, James Val, Martijn L. Vandegehuchte, Kari E. Veblen, Lance Vermeire, David Ward, Jianshuang Wu, Truman P. Young, Qiang Yu, Tamara J. Zelikova
Estimating the risk of elk-to-livestock brucellosis transmission in Montana
Wildlife reservoirs of infectious disease are a major source of human-wildlife conflict because of the risk of potential spillover associated with commingling of wildlife and livestock. In Montana, the presence of brucellosis (Brucella abortus) in free-ranging elk (Cervus canadensis) populations is of significant management concern because of the risk of disease transmission from elk to livestock.
Authors
Nathaniel D. Rayl, Kelly Proffitt, Emily S. Almberg, Jennifer D. Jones, Jerod Merkle, Justin A. Gude, Paul C. Cross
Hidden cost of disease in a free‐ranging ungulate: brucellosis reduces mid‐winter pregnancy in elk
Demonstrating disease impacts on the vital rates of free‐ranging mammalian hosts typically requires intensive, long‐term study. Evidence for chronic pathogens affecting reproduction but not survival is rare, but has the potential for wide‐ranging effects. Accurately quantifying disease‐associated reductions in fecundity is important for advancing theory, generating accurate predictive models, and
Authors
Gavin G. Cotterill, Paul C. Cross, Arthur D. Middleton, Jared D. Rogerson, Brandon Scurlock, Johan T. Du Toit
Effects of climate-related stream factors on patterns of individual summer growth of Cutthroat Trout
Coldwater fishes are sensitive to abiotic and biotic stream factors, which can be influenced by climate. Distributions of inland salmonids in North America have declined significantly, with many of the current strongholds located in small headwater systems that may serve as important refugia as climate change progresses. We investigated the effects of discharge, stream temperature, trout biomass,
Authors
Patrick Uthe, Robert K. Al-Chokhachy, Bradley Shepard, Alexander V. Zale, Jeffrey L. Kershner
Estimating apparent survival of songbirds crossing the Gulf of Mexico during autumn migration
Many migratory bird species are declining, and the migratory period may limit populations because of the risk in traversing large geographical features during passage. Using automated radio-telemetry, we tracked 139 Swainson's thrushes (Catharus ustulatus) departing coastal Alabama, USA and crossing the Gulf of Mexico to arrive in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico during autumn. We estimated apparent
Authors
Michael P. Ward, Thomas J. Benson, JIll Deppe, Theodore J. Zenzal, Robert H. Diehl, Antonio Celis-Murillo, Rachel T Bolus, Frank R. Moore
Forecasting for dry and wet avalanches during mixed rain and snow storm events
Natural wet slab avalanches release when rain or melt water decreases snowpack strength, and natural dry slab avalanches release when an increased load overcomes snowpack strength. This study investigates avalanche activity resulting from mixed rain and snow falling on a faceted snowpack. This scenario produced an extensive slab avalanche cycle in March 2018 in the mountains near Ketchum, Idaho, w
Authors
Scott Savage, Erich Peitzsch, Simon Trautman, Benjamin VandenBos
Detecting snow depth change in avalanche path starting zones using uninhabited aerial systems and structure from motion photogrammetry
Understanding snow depth distribution and change is useful for avalanche forecasting and mitigation, runoff forecasting, and infrastructure planning. Advances in remote sensing are improving the ability to collect snow depth measurements. The development of structure from motion (SfM), a photogrammetry technique, combined with the use of uninhabited aerial systems (UASs) allows for high resolution
Authors
Erich H. Peitzsch, Daniel B. Fagre, Jordy Hendrikx, Karl W. Birkeland
Changing station coverage impacts temperature trends in the Upper Colorado River Basin
Over the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB), temperatures in widely used gridded data products do not warm as much as mean temperatures from a stable set of U.S. Historical Climatology Network (USHCN) stations, located at generally lower elevations, in most months of the year. This is contrary to expectations of elevation-dependent warming, which suggests that warming increases with elevation. Thes
Authors
Stephanie A. McAfee, Gregory J. McCabe, Stephen Gray, Gregory T. Pederson
Identifying management-relevant research priorities for responding to disease-associated amphibian declines
A research priority can be defined as a knowledge gap that, if resolved, identifies the optimal course of conservation action. We (a group of geographically distributed and multidisciplinary research scientists) used tools from nominal group theory and decision analysis to collaboratively identify and prioritize information needs within the context of disease-associated amphibian decline, in order
Authors
Evan H. Campbell Grant, M. J. Adams, Robert N. Fisher, Daniel A. Grear, Brian J. Halstead, Blake R. Hossack, Erin L. Muths, Katherine L. D. Richgels, Robin E. Russell, Kelly L. Smalling, J. Hardin Waddle, Susan C. Walls, C. LeAnn White
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Biological Threats and Invasive Species Research Program, Species Management Research Program, Eastern Ecological Science Center, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Fort Collins Science Center, National Wildlife Health Center, New Jersey Water Science Center, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC), Wetland and Aquatic Research Center
Conservation challenges emerging from free-roaming horse management: a vexing social-ecological mismatch
Horses have been associated with human societies for millennia, and for many have come to symbolize wildness, power, resilience, and freedom. Although equids were extirpated from North America 10 000-12 000 years ago, descendants of domestic horses now roam freely in the USA and 17 other countries across six continents. In landscape-scale and experimental investigations, free-roaming horses (Equus
Authors
Erik A. Beever, Lynn Huntsinger, Steven L. Petersen