Publications
Below is a list of WERC's peer-reviewed publications. If you are searching for a specific publication and cannot find it in this list, please contact werc_web@usgs.gov
Filter Total Items: 3617
Integrated science and interdisciplinary research for parks and protected areas
This paper summarizes presentations and discussion that focused on integrated science
and the use of interdisciplinary research during a panel session held at the George Wright Society
Meeting in New Orleans, March 14, 2011. The panel brought together nationally recognized
members from the social and biological scientific communities, along with decision-makers and
managers of parks and protected
Authors
Charles van Riper, Robert Powell, Jan W. van Wagtendonk, Gary Machlis, Russell Galipeau, Carena J. van Riper, Eick von Ruschkowski
Will inundation and salinity levels associated with projected sea level rise reduce the survival, growth, and reproductive capacity of Sarcocornia pacifica (pickleweed)?
In the San Francisco Bay Estuary, CA, USA, sea level rise (SLR) is projected to increase by 1.4 m during the next 90 years resulting in increased inundation and salt water intrusion up-estuary. Since inundation and salinity are critical factors that drive vegetation structure and composition in coastal wetlands, we asked whether inundation and salinity levels associated with SLR would reduce the s
Authors
I. Woo, John Y. Takekawa
Translocation as a conservation tool for Agassiz's desert tortoises: survivorship, reproduction, and movements
We translocated 120 Agassiz's desert tortoises to 5 sites in Nevada and Utah to evaluate the effects of translocation on tortoise survivorship, reproduction, and habitat use. Translocation sites included several elevations, and extended to sites with vegetation assemblages not typically associated with desert tortoises in order to explore the possibility of moving animals to upper elevation areas.
Authors
K.E. Nussear, C.R. Tracy, P.A. Medica, D.S. Wilson, R.W. Marlow, P. S. Corn
Trajectory of early tidal marsh restoration: elevation, sedimentation and colonization of breached salt ponds in the northern San Francisco Bay
Tidal marsh restoration projects that cover large areas are critical for maintaining target species, yet few large sites have been studied and their restoration trajectories remain uncertain. A tidal marsh restoration project in the northern San Francisco Bay consisting of three breached salt ponds (≥300 ha each; 1175 ha total) is one of the largest on the west coast of North America. These diked
Authors
L. Arriana Brand, Lacy M. Smith, John Y. Takekawa, Nicole D. Athearn, Karen Taylor, Gregory Shellenbarger, David H. Schoellhamer, Renee Spenst
The paradox of extreme high-altitude migration in bar-headed geese Anser indicus
Bar-headed geese are renowned for migratory flights at extremely high altitudes over the world's tallest mountains, the Himalayas, where partial pressure of oxygen is dramatically reduced while flight costs, in terms of rate of oxygen consumption, are greatly increased. Such a mismatch is paradoxical, and it is not clear why geese might fly higher than is absolutely necessary. In addition, direct
Authors
L.A. Hawkes, S. Balachandran, N. Batbayar, P.J. Butler, B. Chua, David C. Douglas, P.B. Frappell, Y. Hou, W.K. Milsom, S. H. Newman, D.J. Prosser, P. Sathiyaselvam, G. R. Scott, John Y. Takekawa, T. Natsagdorj, M. Wikelski, M.J. Witt, B. Yan, C.M. Bishop
The effect of size and competition on tree growth rate in old-growth coniferous forests
Tree growth and competition play central roles in forest dynamics. Yet models of competition often neglect important variation in species-specific responses. Furthermore, functions used to model changes in growth rate with size do not always allow for potential complexity. Using a large data set from old-growth forests in California, models were parameterized relating growth rate to tree size and
Authors
Adrian Das
Report on the reptiles of Upland Savai’i
The reptile team conducted a 21 kilometre transect from the coast east of Asau to the uplands ending near Mauga Silisili at over 1720 m elevation. This transect covered the main habitats on Savai’i and allowed the team to determine where various reptile species and invasive species occurred across this elevational gradient. No previous reptile research had taken place on Savai’i above the elevatio
Authors
Robert N. Fisher, Moeumu Uili
The role of spatial and temporal heterogeneity and competition in structuring trematode communities in the great pond snail, Lymnaea stagnalis (L.)
We assessed how spatial and temporal heterogeneity and competition structure larval trematode communities in the pulmonate snail Lymnaea stagnalis. To postulate a dominance hierarchy, mark-release-recapture was used to monitor replacements of trematode species within snails over time. In addition, we sampled the trematode community in snails in different ponds in 3 consecutive years. A total of 7,
Authors
Miroslava Soldánová, Armand M. Kuris, Tomáš Scholz, Kevin D. Lafferty
Tools for quantifying isotopic niche space and dietary variation at the individual and population level.
Ecologists are increasingly using stable isotope analysis to inform questions about variation in resource and habitat use from the individual to community level. In this study we investigate data sets from 2 California sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) populations to illustrate the advantages and potential pitfalls of applying various statistical and quantitative approaches to isotopic data. We ha
Authors
Seth D. Newsome, Justin D. Yeakel, Patrick V. Wheatley, M. Tim Tinker
Variations of transcript profiles between sea otters Enhydra lutris from Prince William Sound, Alaska, and clinically normal reference otters
Development of blood leukocyte gene transcript profiles has the potential to expand condition assessments beyond those currently available to evaluate wildlife health, including sea otters Enhydra lutris, both individually and as populations. The 10 genes targeted in our study represent multiple physiological systems that play a role in immuno-modulation, inflammation, cell protection, tumor suppr
Authors
A. Keith Miles, Lizabeth Bowen, Brenda E. Ballachey, James L. Bodkin, M. Murray, J.L. Estes, Robin A. Keister, J.L. Stott
Range-wide patterns of migratory connectivity in the western sandpiper Calidris mauri
Understanding the population dynamics of migratory animals and predicting the consequences of environmental change requires knowing how populations are spatially connected between different periods of the annual cycle. We used stable isotopes to examine patterns of migratory connectivity across the range of the western sandpiper Calidris mauri. First, we developed a winter isotope basemap from sta
Authors
Samantha E. Franks, D. Ryan Norris, T. Kurt Kyser, Guillermo Fernández, Birgit Schwarz, Roberto Carmona, Mark A. Colwell, Jorge Correa Sandoval, Alexey Dondua, H. River Gates, Ben Haase, David J. Hodkinson, Ariam Jiménez, Richard B. Lanctot, Brent Ortego, Brett K. Sandercock, Felicia J. Sanders, John Y. Takekawa, Nils Warnock, Ron C. Ydenberg, David B. Lank
Postfire chaparral regeneration under mediterranean and non-mediterranean climates
This study compares postfire regeneration and diversity patterns in fire-prone chaparral shrublands from mediterranean (California) and non-mediterranean-type climates (Arizona). Vegetation sampling was conducted in tenth hectare plots with nested subplots for the first two years after fire. Floras in the two regions were compared with Jaccard's Index and importance of families and genera compared
Authors
Jon E. Keeley, Connie J. Fotheringham, Philip W. Rundel