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Publications

Browse more than 150,000 publications authored by our scientists over the past 100+ year history of the USGS.  Publications available are: USGS-authored journal articles, series reports, book chapters, other government publications, and more.

Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center Publications

Filter Total Items: 3223

Top-down effect of repatriating bald eagles hinder jointly recovering competitors

1. The recovery of piscivorous birds around the world is touted as one of the great conservation successes of the 21st century, but for some species, this success was short-lived. Bald eagles, ospreys, and great blue herons began repatriating Voyageurs National Park, USA, in the mid-20th century. However, after 1990, only eagles continued their recovery, while osprey and heron recovery failed for
Authors
Jennyffer Cruz, Steve K. Windels, Wayne E. Thogmartin, Shawn M. Crimmins, Leland H. Grim, James H. Larson, Benjamin Zuckerberg

Development of a quantitative PCR method for screening ichthyoplankton samples for bigheaded carps

Monitoring ichthyoplankton is useful for identifying reproductive fronts and spawning locations of bigheaded carps (Hypophthalmichthys spp.). Unfortunately, sorting and identifying ichthyoplankton to monitor for bigheaded carp reproduction is time consuming and expensive. Traditional methods require frequent egg-larvae sampling, sorting of all samples to obtain presumptively identified bigheaded c
Authors
Andrea K. Fritts, Brent C. Knights, James H. Larson, Jon Amberg, Christopher M. Merkes, Tariq Tajjioui, Steven E. Butler, Matthew J. Diana, David H. Wahl, Michael J. Weber, John D. Waters

Consequences of ignoring spatial variation in population trend when conducting a power analysis

Long-term, large-scale monitoring programs are becoming increasingly common to document status and trends of wild populations. A successful program for monitoring population trend hinges on the ability to detect the trend of interest. Power analyses are useful for quantifying the sample size needed for trend detection, given expected variation in the population. Four components of variation (withi
Authors
Emily L. Weiser, James E. Diffendorfer, Laura Lopez-Hoffman, Darius J. Semmens, Wayne E. Thogmartin

Environmental DNA as a tool to help inform zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha, management in inland lakes

Zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) are an aquatic invasive species that plague much of North America and are difficult to impossible to eradicate once they become established. Therefore, prevention and monitoring are key elements in the control of these organisms. Traditional microscopy is commonly used in monitoring but requires the presence of larval veligers. This limits the times when resour
Authors
Jon Amberg, Christopher M. Merkes, Wendylee Stott, Christopher B. Rees, Richard A. Erickson

Pesticides and pollinators: A socioecological synthesis

The relationship between pesticides and pollinators, while attracting no shortage of attention from scientists, regulators, and the public, has proven resistant to scientific synthesis and fractious in matters of policy and public opinion. This is in part because the issue has been approached in a compartmentalized and intradisciplinary way, such that evaluations of organismal pesticide effects re
Authors
Douglas B. Sponsler, Christina M. Grozinger, Claudia Hitaj, Maj Rundlof, Cristina Botias, Aimee Code, Eric V. Lonsdorf, Andony P. Melthapoulos, David J. Smith, Sainath Suryanarayanan, Wayne E. Thogmartin, Neal M. Williams, Minghua Zhang, Margaret R. Douglas

Biogeochemical and physical processes controlling mercury methylation and bioaccumulation in Lake Powell, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah and Arizona, 2014 and 2015

Mercury monitoring results from about 300 Morone saxatilis (striped bass) muscle tissue samples collected by the State of Utah from Lake Powell resulted in a Utah/Arizona fish consumption advisory issued in 2012 for approximately the lower 100 kilometers of the reservoir. Chemical, physical, and biological data were collected during two synoptic sampling cruises on Lake Powell during May/June 2014
Authors
David L. Naftz, Mark Marvin-DiPasquale, David P. Krabbenhoft, George Aiken, Eric S. Boyd, Christopher H. Conaway, Jacob M. Ogorek, Gregory M. Anderson

Spatial distribution of nutrients, chloride, and suspended sediment concentrations and loads determined by using different sampling methods in a cross section of the Trenton Channel of the Detroit River, Michigan, November 2014–November 2015

The Detroit River separates the United States and Canada as it flows from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie. The Trenton Channel is a 13-kilometer-long branch of the Detroit River that flows to the west of Grosse Ile before rejoining the Detroit River near its mouth, just before the Detroit River flows into Lake Erie. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has listed both the Trenton Channel and Detro
Authors
Alexander R. Totten, Joseph W. Duris

Patterns of mercury and selenium exposure in Minnesota common loons

Common loons (Gavia immer) are at risk of elevated dietary mercury (Hg) exposure in portions of their breeding range. To assess the level of risk among loons in Minnesota (USA), we investigated loon blood Hg concentrations in breeding lakes across Minnesota. Loon blood Hg concentrations were regressed on predicted Hg concentrations in standardized 12‐cm whole‐organism yellow perch (Perca flavescen
Authors
Kevin P. Kenow, Steven C. Houdek, Luke J. Fara, Richard A. Erickson, Brian R. Gray, Travis J. Harrison, Bruce Monson, Carrol L. Henderson

Adjudicating groundwater: A judge’s guide to understanding groundwater and modeling

Dividing the Waters offers this groundwater science bench book that cannot be matched by any other scientific or judicial publication.  Adjudicating Groundwater combines the expertise and experience of academic scientists (UC Davis/Stanford), federal scientists (U.S. Geological Survey), and judicial officers to create a resource that can fulfill the needs of judges tackling the most difficult grou
Authors
Thomas Harter, Tara Moran, Eric Wildman

Applying concepts of general resilience to large river ecosystems: A case study from the Upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers

Large floodplain-river ecosystems are often highly modified to provide services that society desires, yet these modifications can limit an ecosystem’s ability to adapt to changing conditions. The adaptive capacity of an ecosystem, its general resilience, is a conceptual framework for considering how a system will respond to such changes. We sought to apply aspects of three general resilience princ
Authors
Kristen L. Bouska, Jeffrey N. Houser, Nathan R. De Jager, Molly Van Appledorn, James T. Rogala

Estimating uncertainty of North American landbird population sizes

An important metric for many aspects of species conservation planning and risk assessment is an estimate of total population size. For landbirds breeding in North America, Partners in Flight (PIF) generates global, continental, and regional population size estimates. These estimates are an important component of the PIF species assessment process, but have also been used by others for a range of a
Authors
Jessica C. Stanton, Peter J. Blancher, Kenneth V. Rosenberg, Arvind O. Panjabi, Wayne E. Thogmartin

Water column nutrient processing rates in rivermouths of Green Bay (Lake Michigan)

Understanding the quantity and form of nutrient loads to large lakes is necessary to understand controls over primary production, phytoplankton community composition and the production of phytotoxins. Nutrient loading estimates to large lakes are primarily made at stream gages that are deliberately placed outside the direct influence of lake processes, but these estimates cannot take into account
Authors
James H. Larson, Mary Anne Evans, Faith A. Fitzpatrick, Paul C. Frost, Sean Bailey, Robert J. Kennedy, William F. James, William B. Richardson, Paul C. Reneau