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: 1249
No long-term effect of black bear removal on elk calf recruitment in the southern Appalachians
In 2001 and 2002, 52 elk (Cervus canadensis; 21 males, 31 females), originally obtained from Elk Island National Park, Alberta, Canada, were transported and released into Cataloochee Valley in the northeastern portion of Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GRSM, Park), North Carolina, USA. The annual population growth rate (λ) was negative (0.996, 95% CI = 0.945–1.047) and predation by...
Authors
Joseph G. Yarkovich, Jessica L. Braunstein, Jennifer M. Mullinax, Joseph D. Clark
Vital sign monitoring is good medicine for parks
Nearly 70 years ago a young ranger naturalist working in Yellowstone National Park (YNP), Frederick B. Turner, became fascinated with the abundance of frogs next to his cabin at “Soldier Creek” (known as Lodge Creek today). This interest blossomed into Turner’s PhD research and his publication in 1960 about the local population of Columbia spotted frogs (shown to right) became a classic...
Authors
Andrew M. Ray, David P. Thoma, Kristin L. Legg, Robert H. Diehl, Adam Sepulveda, Mike Tercek, Robert Al-Chokhachy
Broad-scale assessment of methylmercury in adult amphibians
Mercury (Hg) is a toxic contaminant that has been mobilized and distributed worldwide and is a threat to many wildlife species. Amphibians are facing unprecedented global declines due to many threats including contaminants. While the biphasic life history of many amphibians creates a potential nexus for methylmercury (MeHg) exposure in aquatic habitats and subsequent health effects, the...
Authors
Brian J. Tornabene, Blake R. Hossack, Brian J. Halstead, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Michael J. Adams, Adam R. Backlin, Adrianne Brand, Colleen Emery, Robert N. Fisher, Jillian Elizabeth Fleming, Brad Glorioso, Daniel A. Grear, Evan H. Campbell Grant, Patrick M. Kleeman, David Miller, Erin L. Muths, Christopher Pearl, Jennifer Rowe, Caitlin Teresa Rumrill, J. Hardin Waddle, Megan Winzeler, Kelly L. Smalling
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Contaminant Biology, Toxic Substances Hydrology, 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
Mountain glaciers influence biogeochemical and ecological characteristics of high-elevation lakes across the northern Rocky Mountains, USA
Mountain glaciers are retreating rapidly due to climate change, leading to the formation of downstream lakes. However, little is known about the physical and biogeochemical conditions in these lakes across a range of glacial influence. We surveyed alpine lakes fed by both glacial and snowpack meltwaters and those fed by snowpack alone to compare nutrient concentrations, stoichiometry...
Authors
Joseph Vanderwall, Clint C. Muhlfeld, Tyler Tappenback, Joe Giersch, Ze Ren, Jim Elser
Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout recovery in Yellowstone Lake: Complex interactions among invasive species suppression, disease, and climate change
In Yellowstone Lake, Wyoming, the largest inland population of nonhybridized Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout Oncorhynchus clarkii bouvieri, hereafter Cutthroat Trout, declined throughout the 2000s because of predation from invasive Lake Trout Salvelinus namaycush, drought, and whirling disease Myxobolus cerebralis. To maintain ecosystem function and conserve Cutthroat Trout, a Lake Trout...
Authors
Hayley Corrine Glassic, David Chagaris, Christopher S. Guy, Lusha M. Tronstad, Dominique R. Lujan, Michelle A. Briggs, Lindsey K. Albertson, Travis O. Brenden, Timothy E. Walsworth, Todd M. Koel
Development of a Surface-Water Index of Permanence to assess surface-water availability for ecohydrological refugia
Surface-water availability has major implications for the environment and society in the 21st century. With climate change, increased drought severity, and altered water and land use, future water availability is predicted to continue to decline in many areas, including much of the western United States. An understanding of where and when water will be available at multiple scales is...
Authors
Alynn Martin, Roy Sando, Lindsey Thurman, Kyle McLean, Patrick Wurster, John Jones, Anteneh Sarbanes
Assay validation of saliva glucocorticoids in Columbia spotted frogs and effects of handling and marking
Non-invasive methods are important to the field of conservation physiology to reduce negative effects on organisms being studied. Glucocorticoid (GC) hormones are often used to assess health of individuals, but collection methods can be invasive. Many amphibians are imperiled worldwide, and saliva is a non- or semi-invasive matrix to measure GCs that has been partially validated for only...
Authors
Brian J. Tornabene, Blake R. Hossack, Creagh W. Breuner
Assessing snowpack stratigraphy accuracy based on different input data: Insights for operations avalanche forecasting
Avalanche forecasters and snow scientists use physically based snow stratigraphy models to fill spatial and temporal gaps in field-based snow profile observations. These models generate stratigraphy predictions using meteorological input from automated weather stations (AWS) or numerical weather prediction (NWP) models. The choice of input data is often determined by data availability or...
Authors
Ross T. Palomaki, Zachary Miller
Comparing snowpack meteorological inputs to support regional wet snow avalanche forecasting
Wet snow avalanches are predicted to increase in frequency with climate change and are often difficult to forecast. Improving our understanding of wet snow avalanche timing will help with current forecasting challenges. The onset of wet snow avalanching is closely tied to the temporal progression of liquid water flow through the seasonal snowpack. Measuring the flow of water through the...
Authors
Zachary Miller, Simon Horton, Christoph Mitterer, Erich Peitzsch
The relationship between whumpf observations and avalanche activity in Colorado, USA
Triggering whumpfs is a primary indicator of unstable snowpack conditions. Although backcountry travelers and avalanche forecasters rely on whumpfs as a warning sign of potential avalanches, there is little formal research to confirm this relationship. This study investigated the temporal correlation between whumpfs and avalanche activity in data from Colorado's Front Range and southern...
Authors
Jason Konigsberg, Ron Simenhois, Karl Birkeland, Erich Peitzsch, Doug Chabot, Ethan Greene
Mapping a glide avalanche with terrestrial lidar in Glacier National Park, USA
Thorough documentation of large avalanche events is important for forecasting efforts, infrastructure planning, and investigating the processes involved in avalanche formation and release. However, due in part to the isolated and dangerous nature of avalanche terrain, collecting in-situ, spatially continuous, and quantitative information surrounding avalanches remains difficult. Advances...
Authors
James W. Dillon, Zachary Miller, Erich Peitzsch, Kevin D. Hammonds
Temporal evolution of slab and weak layer properties during the transition from dry to wet snowpack conditions
Wet-snow slab avalanches are destructive and may become more prevalent in a warming climate. This type of avalanche remains challenging to forecast because the underlying processes leading to wet-snow slab avalanche release are poorly understood. In this study, we examine the temporal evolution of weak layer and slab liquid water content (LWC), critical cut length, and propagation saw...
Authors
Josh Lipkowitz, Erich Peitzsch, Jean Dixon, Marcus Kalb, Douglas McCabe, Griffin Ditmar, Christoph Mitterer