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
Pregnancy rates in central Yellowstone bison
Plains bison (Bison b. bison) centered on Yellowstone National Park are chronically infected with brucellosis (Brucella abortus) and culled along the park boundaries to reduce the probability of disease transmission to domestic livestock. We evaluated the relationship between pregnancy rates and age, dressed carcass weight, and serological status for brucellosis among bison culled from the central
Authors
Peter J. Gogan, Robin E. Russell, Edward M. Olexa, Kevin M. Podruzny
Thermal controls of Yellowstone cutthroat trout and invasive fishes under climate change
We combine large observed data sets and dynamically downscaled climate data to explore historic and future (2050–2069) stream temperature changes over the topographically diverse Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (elevation range = 824–4017 m). We link future stream temperatures with fish growth models to investigate how changing thermal regimes could influence the future distribution and persistence
Authors
Robert K. Al-Chokhachy, Jay R. Alder, Steven W. Hostetler, Robert E. Gresswell, Bradley Shepard
A comparison of adaptive sampling designs and binary spatial models: A simulation study using a census of Bromus inermis
Commonly in environmental and ecological studies, species distribution data are recorded as presence or absence throughout a spatial domain of interest. Field based studies typically collect observations by sampling a subset of the spatial domain. We consider the effects of six different adaptive and two non-adaptive sampling designs and choice of three binary models on both predictions to unsampl
Authors
Kathryn M. Irvine, Jamie Thornton, Vickie M. Backus, Matthew G. Hohmann, Erik A. Lehnhoff, Bruce D. Maxwell, Kurt Michels, Lisa Rew
Factors influencing the movement biology of migrant songbirds confronted with an ecological barrier
Whether or not a migratory songbird embarks on a long-distance flight across an ecological barrier is likely a response to a number of endogenous and exogenous factors. During autumn 2008 and 2009, we used automated radio tracking to investigate how energetic condition, age, and weather influenced the departure timing and direction of Swainson’s thrushes (Catharus ustulatus) during migratory stopo
Authors
J. A. Smolinsky, Robert H. Diehl, T. A. Radzio, D. K. Delaney, F. R Moore
Female elk contacts are neither frequency nor density dependent
Identifying drivers of contact rates among individuals is critical to understanding disease dynamics and implementing targeted control measures. We studied the interaction patterns of 149 female elk (Cervus canadensis) distributed across five different regions of western Wyoming over three years, defining a contact as an approach within one body length (∼2 m). Using hierarchical models that accoun
Authors
Paul C. Cross, Tyler G. Creech, Michael R. Ebinger, Kezia R. Manlove, Kathryn M. Irvine, John C. Henningsen, Jared D. Rogerson, Brandon M. Scurlock, Scott Creely
The airspace is habitat
A preconception concerning habitat persists and has gone unrecognized since use of the term first entered the lexicon of ecological and evolutionary biology many decades ago. Specifically, land and water are considered habitats, while the airspace is not. This might at first seem a reasonable, if unintended, demarcation, since years of education and personal experience as well as limits to percept
Authors
Robert H. Diehl
U.S. Geological Survey water-resource monitoring activities in support of the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative
The quality of the Nation’s water resources are vital to the health and well-being of both our communities and the natural landscapes we value. The U.S. Geological Survey investigates the occurrence, quantity, quality, distribution, and movement of surface water and groundwater and provides this information to engineers, scientists, managers, educators, and the general public. This information als
Authors
Suzanna Soileau, Kirk Miller
Understanding relationships among abundance, extirpation, and climate at ecoregional scales
Recent research on mountain-dwelling species has illustrated changes in species’ distributional patterns in response to climate change. Abundance of a species will likely provide an earlier warning indicator of change than will occupancy, yet relationships between abundance and climatic factors have received less attention. We tested whether predictors of counts of American pikas (Ochotona princep
Authors
Erik A. Beever, A. Mysnberge, J. Long, Solomon Dubrowski, N. B. Piekielek
Environmental DNA as a new method for early detection of New Zealand mudsnails (Potamopyrgus antipodarum)
Early detection of aquatic invasive species is a critical task for management of aquatic ecosystems. This task is hindered by the difficulty and cost of surveying aquatic systems thoroughly. The New Zealand mudsnail (Potamopyrgus antipodarum) is a small, invasive parthenogenic mollusk that can reach very high population densities and severely affects ecosystem functioning. To assist in the early d
Authors
Caren S. Goldberg, Adam Sepulveda, Andrew Ray, Jeremy A. Baumgardt, Lisette P. Waits
Sediment accretion rates and sediment composition in Prairie Pothole wetlands under varying land use practices, Montana, United States
Increased sedimentation and nutrient cycle changes in Prairie Pothole Region wetlands associated with agriculture threaten the permanence and ecological functionality of these important resources. To determine the effects of land use on sedimentation and nutrient cycling, soil cores were analyzed for cesium-137 (137Cs), lead-210 (210Pb), and potassium-40 (40K) activities; textural composition; org
Authors
T.M. Preston, R.S. Sojda, R.A. Gleason
The continuum of hydroclimate variability in western North America during the last millennium
The distribution of climatic variance across the frequency spectrum has substantial importance for anticipating how climate will evolve in the future. Here we estimate power spectra and power laws (ß) from instrumental, proxy, and climate model data to characterize the hydroclimate continuum in western North America (WNA). We test the significance of our estimates of spectral densities and ß again
Authors
Toby R. Ault, Julia E. Cole, Jonathan T. Overpeck, Gregory T. Pederson, Scott St. George, Bette Otto-Bliesner, Connie A. Woodhouse, Clara Deser
Estimating thermal regimes of bull trout and assessing the potential effects of climate warming on critical habitats
Understanding the vulnerability of aquatic species and habitats under climate change is critical for conservation and management of freshwater systems. Climate warming is predicted to increase water temperatures in freshwater ecosystems worldwide, yet few studies have developed spatially explicit modelling tools for understanding the potential impacts. We parameterized a nonspatial model, a spatia
Authors
Leslie A. Jones, Clint C. Muhlfeld, Lucy A. Marshall, Brian L. McGlynn, Jeffrey L. Kershner