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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: 1216

Low prevalence of chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) in amphibians of U.S. headwater streams

Many declines of amphibian populations have been associated with chytridiomycosis, a disease caused by the aquatic fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). Despite the relatively high prevalence of chytridiomycosis in stream amphibians globally, most surveys in North America have focused primarily on wetland-associated species, which are frequently infected. To better understand the distributio
Authors
Blake R. Hossack, M. J. Adams, Evan H. Campbell Grant, Chistopher A. Pearl, James B. Bettaso, William J. Barichivich, Winsor H. Lowe, Kimberly True, Joy L. Ware, Paul Stephen Corn

Characterizing wet slab and glide slab avalanche occurrence along the Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park, Montana, USA

Wet slab and glide slab snow avalanches are dangerous and yet can be particularly difficult to predict. Both wet slab and glide slab avalanches are thought to depend upon free water moving through the snowpack but are driven by different processes. In Glacier National Park, Montana, both types of avalanches can occur in the same year and affect the Going-to-the-Sun Road (GTSR). Both wet slab and g
Authors
Erich H. Peitzsch, Jordy Hendrikx, Daniel B. Fagre, Blase Reardon

A practitioner's tool for assessing glide crack activity

Glide cracks can result in full-depth glide avalanche release. Avalanches from glide cracks are notoriously difficult to forecast, but are a reoccurring problem in a number of different avalanche forecasting programs across a range of snow climates. Despite this, there is no consensus for how to best manage, mitigate, or even observe glide cracks and the potential resultant avalanche activity. It
Authors
Jordy Hendrikx, Erich H. Peitzsch, Daniel B. Fagre

Climate and terrestrial ecosystem change in the U.S. Rocky Mountains and upper Columbia basin: Historical and future perspectives for natural resource management

No abstract available.
Authors
Gregory T. Pederson, David B. McWethy, Stephen T. Gray, Philip E. Higuera, Jeremy S. Littell, Andrea J. Ray

Bringing wisents back to the Caucasus Mountains: 70 years of a grand mission

We describe the history of mountain wisent restoration in the north-west Caucasus region. We review information on wisent during the 18th and 19th centuries, contemporary regional development and reasons for wisent extirpation. We emphasize the key role of the Kuban Hunting Reserve as a main factor in preserving wisent in this region between 1888 and 1909. The article provides information on the f
Authors
Taras Sipko, Sergei Trepet, Peter J. Gogan, Ivan Mizin

Potential economic benefits of adapting agricultural production systems to future climate change

Potential economic impacts of future climate change on crop enterprise net returns and annual net farm income (NFI) are evaluated for small and large representative farms in Flathead Valley in Northwest Montana. Crop enterprise net returns and NFI in an historical climate period (1960–2005) and future climate period (2006–2050) are compared when agricultural production systems (APSs) are adapted t
Authors
Daniel B. Fagre, Gregory Pederson, Lindsey E. Bengtson, Tony Prato, Zeyuan Qui, Jimmie R. Williams

Mapping brucellosis increases relative to elk density using hierarchical Bayesian models

The relationship between host density and parasite transmission is central to the effectiveness of many disease management strategies. Few studies, however, have empirically estimated this relationship particularly in large mammals. We applied hierarchical Bayesian methods to a 19-year dataset of over 6400 brucellosis tests of adult female elk (Cervus elaphus) in northwestern Wyoming. Management c
Authors
Paul C. Cross, Dennis M. Heisey, Brandon M. Scurlock, William H. Edwards, Angela Brennan, Michael R. Ebinger

Nodeomics: Pathogen detection in vertebrate lymph nodes using meta-transcriptomics

The ongoing emergence of human infections originating from wildlife highlights the need for better knowledge of the microbial community in wildlife species where traditional diagnostic approaches are limited. Here we evaluate the microbial biota in healthy mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) by analyses of lymph node meta-transcriptomes. cDNA libraries from five individuals and two pools of samples we
Authors
Nicola E. Wittekindt, Abinash Padhi, Stephan C. Schuster, Ji Qi, Fangqing Zhao, Lynn P. Tomsho, Lindsay R. Kasson, Michael Packard, Paul C. Cross, Mary Poss

Rejoinder: Sifting through model space

Observational data sets generated by complex processes are common in ecology. Traditionally these have been very challenging to analyze because of the limitations of available statistical tools. This seems to be changing, and these are exciting times to be involved with ecological statistics, not just because of the neo-Bayesian revival but also because of the proliferation of computationally inte
Authors
Dennis M. Heisey, Erik E. Osnas, Paul C. Cross, Damien O. Joly, Julia A. Langenberg, Michael W. Miller

Distribution of Pasteurella Trehalosi genotypes isolated from Bighorn Sheep in Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park

We studied the distribution of Pasteurella trehalosi genotypes isolated from oropharyngeal tissues of Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis canadensis) in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta, Canada and Glacier National Park, Montana, USA. A separate radio-telemetry study indicated the bighorn metapopulation consisted of at least three neighborhoods of multiple ewe and ram social groups,
Authors
Stephanie J. Ott, Heather S. Dobbin, Kim A. Keating, Glen C. Weisner

Use of models and observations to assess trends in the 1950–2005 water balance and climate of Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon

A 1‐dimensional surface energy balance model is applied to produce continuous simulations of daily lake evaporation of Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon (UKL) for the period 1950–2005. The model is implemented using observed data from land‐based sites and rafts collected during 2005–2006. Progressively longer, temporally overlapping simulations are produced using observed forcing data sets from sites nea
Authors
Steven W. Hostetler

Survey of ungulate abundance on Santa Rosa Island, Channel Islands National Park, California, March 2009

Reliable estimates of elk (Cervus elaphus) and deer (Odocoileus hemionus) abundance on Santa Rosa Island, Channel Islands National Park, California, are required to assess the success of management actions directed at these species. We conducted a double-observer aerial survey of elk on a large portion of Santa Rosa Island on March 19, 2009. All four persons on the helicopter were treated as obser
Authors
Paul C. Griffin, Kate A. Schoenecker, Peter J. Gogan, Bruce C. Lubow