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
Experimental flights using a small unmanned aircraft system for mapping emergent sandbars
The US Geological Survey and Parallel Inc. conducted experimental flights with the Tarantula Hawk (T-Hawk) unmanned aircraft system (UAS ) at the Dyer and Cottonwood Ranch properties located along reaches of the Platte River near Overton, Nebraska, in July 2013. We equipped the T-Hawk UAS platform with a consumer-grade digital camera to collect imagery of emergent sandbars in the reaches and used
Authors
Paul J. Kinzel, Mark A. Bauer, Mark R. Feller, Christopher Holmquist-Johnson, Todd Preston
Risk assessment of brine contamination to aquatic resources from energy development in glacial drift deposits: Williston Basin, USA
Contamination to aquatic resources from co-produced water (brine) associated with energy development has been documented in the northeastern portion of the Williston Basin; an area mantled by glacial drift. The presence and magnitude of brine contamination can be determined using the contamination index (CI) value from water samples. Recently, the U.S. Geological Survey published a section (~ 2.59
Authors
Todd M. Preston, Tara L. Chesley-Preston
Landscape community genomics: understanding eco-evolutionary processes in complex environments
Extrinsic factors influencing evolutionary processes are often categorically lumped into interactions that are environmentally (e.g., climate, landscape) or community-driven, with little consideration of the overlap or influence of one on the other. However, genomic variation is strongly influenced by complex and dynamic interactions between environmental and community effects. Failure to consider
Authors
Brian K. Hand, Winsor H. Lowe, Ryan P. Kovach, Clint C. Muhlfeld, Gordon Luikart
Population genetic structure and disease in montane boreal toads: More heterozygous individuals are more likely to be infected with amphibian chytrid
Amphibians are more threatened than any other vertebrate group, with 41 % of species classified as threatened. The causes of most declines are not well understood, though many declines have been linked to disease. Additionally, amphibians are physiologically constrained to moist habitats and considered poor dispersers; thus, they may suffer genetic consequences of population isolation. To understa
Authors
Brett Addis, Winsor Lowe, Blake R. Hossack, Fred Allendorf
Glacier-derived August runoff in northwest Montana
The second largest concentration of glaciers in the U.S. Rocky Mountains is located in Glacier National Park (GNP), Montana. The total glacier-covered area in this region decreased by ∼35% over the past 50 years, which has raised substantial concern about the loss of the water derived from glaciers during the summer. We used an innovative weather station design to collect in situ measurements on f
Authors
Adam Clark, Joel T. Harper, Daniel B. Fagre
Genomics and introgression: Discovery and mapping of thousands of species-diagnostic SNPs using RAD sequencing
Invasive hybridization and introgression pose a serious threat to the persistence of many native species. Understanding the effects of hybridization on native populations (e.g., fitness consequences) requires numerous species-diagnostic loci distributed genome-wide. Here we used RAD sequencing to discover thousands of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that are diagnostic between rainbow trout
Authors
Brian K. Hand, Tyler D Hether, Ryan P. Kovach, Clint C. Muhlfeld, Stephen J. Amish, Matthew C. Boyer, Sean M. O’Rourke, Michael R. Miller, Winsor H. Lowe, Paul A. Hohenlohe, Gordon Luikart
Status and conservation of interior Redband Trout in the western United States
In this article we describe the current status and conservation of interior (potamodromous) Redband Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss sspp. throughout its range in the western United States using extant data and expert opinion provided by fish managers. Redband Trout historically occupied 60,295 km of stream habitat and 152 natural lakes. Currently, Redband Trout occupy 25,417 km of stream habitat (42% of
Authors
Clint C. Muhlfeld, Shannon E. Albeke, Stephanie L Gunckel, Benjamin J Writer, Bradley B. Shepard, Bruce E May
Multiscale hydrogeomorphic influences on bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) spawning habitat
We investigated multiscale hydrogeomorphic influences on the distribution and abundance of bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) spawning in snowmelt-dominated streams of the upper Flathead River basin, northwestern Montana. Within our study reaches, bull trout tended to spawn in the finest available gravel substrates. Analysis of the mobility of these substrates, based on one-dimensional hydraulic
Authors
Jared R Bean, Andrew C. Wilcox, William W. Woessner, Clint C. Muhlfeld
Yellowstone grizzly bear investigations — Annual report of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team 2014
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 2014. The report also contains a summary of grizzly bear management actions to address conflict situations.
The shifting climate portfolio of the Greater Yellowstone Area
Knowledge of climatic variability at small spatial extents (< 50 km) is needed to assess vulnerabilities of biological reserves to climate change. We used empirical and modeled weather station data to test if climate change has increased the synchrony of surface air temperatures among 50 sites within the Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA) of the interior western United States. This important biologica
Authors
Adam J. Sepulveda, Mike T Tercek, Robert K. Al-Chokhachy, Andrew Ray, David P. Thoma, Blake R. Hossack, Gregory T. Pederson, Ann Rodman, Tom Olliff
Invasion of American bullfrogs along the Yellowstone River
The American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) is a globally distributed invasive species that was introduced to the Yellowstone River floodplain of Montana. Knowledge about floodplain habitat features that allow for bullfrog persistence and spread will help identify effective control strategies. We used field surveys in 2010, 2012 and 2013 to describe bullfrog spread in the Yellowstone River flo
Authors
Adam J. Sepulveda, Megan J. Layhee, Dave Stagliano, Jake Chaffin, Allison Begley, Bryce A. Maxell
Evaluation of a fine sediment removal tool in spring-fed and snowmelt driven streams
The accumulation of fine-grained sediments impairs the structure and function of streams, so removing fine sediments may be required to achieve restoration objectives. There has been little work on methods of removing excess sediment or on the efficacy of the methods. We used a 4-year before-after-control-impact design in southeastern Idaho streams to test a fine sediment removal system (FSRS) man
Authors
Adam J. Sepulveda, Megan J. Layhee, Zach Sutphin, Juddson D. Sechrist