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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

Early detection of nonnative alleles in fish populations: When sample size actually matters

Reliable detection of nonnative alleles is crucial for the conservation of sensitive native fish populations at risk of introgression. Typically, nonnative alleles in a population are detected through the analysis of genetic markers in a sample of individuals. Here we show that common assumptions associated with such analyses yield substantial overestimates of the likelihood of detecting nonnative
Authors
Patrick Della Croce, Geoffrey C. Poole, Robert A. Payne, Robert E. Gresswell

Inferring infection hazard in wildlife populations by linking data across individual and population scales

Our ability to infer unobservable disease-dynamic processes such as force of infection (infection hazard for susceptible hosts) has transformed our understanding of disease transmission mechanisms and capacity to predict disease dynamics. Conventional methods for inferring FOI estimate a time-averaged value and are based on population-level processes. Because many pathogens exhibit epidemic cyclin
Authors
Kim M. Pepin, Shannon L. Kay, Ben D. Golas, Susan A. Shriner, Amy T. Gilbert, Ryan S. Miller, Andrea L. Graham, Steven Riley, Paul C. Cross, Michael D. Samuel, Mevin Hooten, Jennifer A. Hoeting, James O. Lloyd-Smith, Colleen T. Webb, Michael G. Buhnerkempe

Yellowstone grizzly bear investigations — Annual report of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team 2016

This Annual Report summarizes results of grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) monitoring and research conducted in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team (IGBST) during 2016. The report also contains a summary of grizzly bear management actions to address conflict situations. 

Species account: Sylvilagus nuttallii (Mountain cottontail)

No abstract available.
Authors
Erik A. Beever, Eveline A. Larrucea

Species account: Ochotona princeps (American pika)

No abstract available.
Authors
Erik A. Beever, Chittaranjan Ray, Andrew T. Smith

The waterfall paradox: How knickpoints disconnect hillslope and channel processes, isolating salmonid populations in ideal habitats

Waterfalls create barriers to fish migration, yet hundreds of isolated salmonid populations exist above barriers and have persisted for thousands of years in steep mountainous terrain. Ecological theory indicates that small isolated populations in disturbance-prone landscapes are at greatest risk of extirpation because immigration and recolonization are not possible. On the contrary, many above-ba
Authors
Christine May, Joshua J. Roering, Kyle Snow, Kitty Griswold, Robert E. Gresswell

Extending the habitat concept to the airspace

Habitat is one of the most familiar and fundamental concepts in the fields of ecology, animal behavior, and wildlife conservation and management. Humans interact with habitats through their senses and experiences and education to such a degree that their perceptions of habitat have become second nature. For this reason, it may be difficult at first to accept the airspace as habitat, an area that i
Authors
Robert H. Diehl, Anna C. Peterson, Rachel T. Bolus, Douglas H. Johnson

Space use and habitat selection by resident and transient red wolves (Canis rufus)

Recovery of large carnivores remains a challenge because complex spatial dynamics that facilitate population persistence are poorly understood. In particular, recovery of the critically endangered red wolf (Canis rufus) has been challenging because of its vulnerability to extinction via human-caused mortality and hybridization with coyotes (Canis latrans). Therefore, understanding red wolf space u
Authors
Joseph W. Hinton, Christine Proctor, Marcella J. Kelly, Frank T. van Manen, Michael R. Vaughan, Michael J. Chamberlain

Predictors of current and longer-term patterns of abundance of American pikas (Ochotona princeps) across a leading-edge protected area

American pikas (Ochotona princeps) have been heralded as indicators of montane-mammal response to contemporary climate change. Pikas no longer occupy the driest and lowest-elevation sites in numerous parts of their geographic range. Conversely, pikas have exhibited higher rates of occupancy and persistence in Rocky Mountain and Sierra Nevada montane ‘mainlands’. Research and monitoring efforts on
Authors
Lucas Moyer-Horner, Erik A. Beever, Douglas H. Johnson, Mark Beil, Jami Belt

Survival estimates for reintroduced populations of the Chiricahua Leopard Frog (Lithobates chiricahuensis)

Global amphibian declines have been attributed to a number of factors including disease, invasive species, habitat degradation, and climate change. Reintroduction is one management action that is commonly used with the goal of recovering imperiled species. The success of reintroductions varies widely, and evaluating their efficacy requires estimates of population viability metrics, such as underly
Authors
Paige E. Howell, Blake R. Hossack, Erin L. Muths, Brent H. Sigafus, Richard B. Chandler