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: 1216
Quantifying stream thermal regimes at management-pertinent scales: combining thermal infrared and stationary stream temperature data in a novel modeling framework.
Accurately quantifying stream thermal regimes can be challenging because stream temperatures are often spatially and temporally heterogeneous. In this study, we present a novel modeling framework that combines stream temperature data sets that are continuous in either space or time. Specifically, we merged the fine spatial resolution of thermal infrared (TIR) imagery with hourly data from 10 stati
Authors
Shane J. Vatland, Robert E. Gresswell, Geoffrey C. Poole
Floristic similarity, diversity and endemism as indicators of refugia characteristics and needs in the West
The floras of mountain ranges, and their similarity, beta diversity and endemism, are indicative of processes of community assembly; they are also the initial conditions for coming disassembly and reassembly in response to climate change. As such, these characteristics can inform thinking on refugia. The published floras or approximations for 42 mountain ranges in the three major mountain systems
Authors
George P. Malanson, Dale L. Zimmerman, Daniel B. Fagre
Assessing the importance of terrain parameters on glide avalanche release
Glide snow avalanches are dangerous and difficult to predict. Despite recent research there is still a lack of understanding regarding the controls of glide avalanche release. Glide avalanches often occur in similar terrain or the same locations annually and observations suggest that topography may be critical. Thus, to gain an understanding of the terrain component of these types of avalanches we
Authors
Erich H. Peitzsch, Jordy Hendrikx, Daniel B. Fagre
Instream habitat restoration and stream temperature reduction in a whirling disease-positive Spring Creek in the Blackfoot River Basin, Montana
Anthropogenic warming of stream temperature and the presence of exotic diseases such as whirling disease are both contemporary threats to coldwater salmonids across western North America. We examined stream temperature reduction over a 15-year prerestoration and postrestoration period and the severity of Myxobolus cerebralisinfection (agent of whirling disease) over a 7-year prerestoration and pos
Authors
Ron Pierce, Craig Podner, Laurie B Marczak, Leslie A. Jones
A new species of in the Rhyacophila vagrita group (Trichoptera: Rhyacophilidae) from Olympic National Park, Washington, USA.
Rhyacophila vagrita Milne, 1936 was described from specimens collected in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada. Ross (1950), while examining R. vagrita paratypes from Alberta, discovered four males that did not fi t the R. vagrita description. These he described and named R. milnei Ross, 1950. Ross (1956) established the R. vagrita group for R. vagrita and R. milnei based primarily on the synapomo
Authors
Jonathan J Lee, J. Joseph Giersch
Dispersal and selection mediate hybridization between a native and invasive species
Hybridization between native and non-native species has serious biological consequences, but our understanding of how dispersal and selection interact to influence invasive hybridization is limited. Here, we document the spread of genetic introgression between a native (Oncorhynchus clarkii) and invasive (Oncorhynchus mykiss) trout, and identify the mechanisms influencing genetic admixture. In two
Authors
Ryan P. Kovach, Clint C. Muhlfeld, Matthew C. Boyer, Winsor H. Lowe, Fred W. Allendorf, Gordon Luikart
Climate-induced range contraction of a rare alpine aquatic invertebrate
Climate warming poses a serious threat to alpine-restricted species worldwide, yet few studies have empirically documented climate-induced changes in distributions. The rare stonefly, Zapada glacier (Baumann and Gaufin), endemic to alpine streams of Glacier National Park (GNP), Montana, was recently petitioned for listing under the US Endangered Species Act because of climate-change-induced glacie
Authors
J. Joseph Giersch, Steve Jordan, Gordon Luikart, Leslie A. Jones, F. Richard Hauer, Clint C. Muhlfeld
Observations of elk movement patterns on Fossil Butte National Monument
The elk herd that frequents Fossil Butte National Monument, a subset of the West Green River elk population, provides visitors with seasonal opportunities to view an iconic species of the western United States. Throughout the year, these elk range across a variety of private, State, and Federal lands within close proximity to the Monument. These lands are managed differently for various uses which
Authors
Edward M. Olexa, Suzanna Carrithers. Soileau, Leslie A. Allen
Whitebark pine, population density, and home-range size of grizzly bears in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem
Changes in life history traits of species can be an important indicator of potential factors influencing populations. For grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), recent decline of whitebark pine (WBP; Pinus albicaulis), an important fall food resource, has been paired with a slowing of population growth following two decades of robust population increase. These obs
Authors
Daniel D. Bjornlie, Frank T. van Manen, Michael R. Ebinger, Mark A. Haroldson, Daniel J. Thompson, Cecily M. Costello
Limitations to estimating bacterial cross-speciestransmission using genetic and genomic markers: Inferences from simulation modeling
Cross‐species transmission (CST) of bacterial pathogens has major implications for human health, livestock, and wildlife management because it determines whether control actions in one species may have subsequent effects on other potential host species. The study of bacterial transmission has benefitted from methods measuring two types of genetic variation: variable number of tandem repeats (VNTRs
Authors
Julio Andre Benavides, Paul C. Cross, Gordon Luikart, Scott Creel
Assembling evidence for identifying reservoirs of infection
Many pathogens persist in multihost systems, making the identification of infection reservoirs crucial for devising effective interventions. Here, we present a conceptual framework for classifying patterns of incidence and prevalence, and review recent scientific advances that allow us to study and manage reservoirs simultaneously. We argue that interventions can have a crucial role in enriching o
Authors
Mafalda Viana, Rebecca Mancy, Roman Biek, Sarah Cleaveland, Paul C. Cross, James O. Lloyd-Smith, Daniel T. Haydon
Prevalence of the amphibian chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) at Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, Arizona, USA
Information on disease presence can be of use to natural resource managers, especially in areas supporting threatened and endangered species that occur coincidentally with species that are suspected vectors for disease. Ad hoc reports may be of limited utility (Muths et al. 2009), but a general sense of pathogen presence (or absence) can inform management directed at T&E species, especially in reg
Authors
Brent H. Sigafus, Blake R. Hossack, Erin L. Muths, Cecil R. Schwalbe