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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

Spatial and overwinter changes in clam populations of San Pablo Bay, a semiarid estuary with highly variable freshwater inflow

In many estuaries worldwide, climate trends together with human diversion of fresh water have dramatically impacted the benthos. Such impacts have sometimes been complicated by exotic species, whose invasion and persistence can be mediated by wide variations in freshwater inflow. Monitoring such changes usually involves periodic samples at a few sites; but sampling that does not recognize variatio
Authors
V.K. Poulton, J.R. Lovvorn, John Y. Takekawa

Does terrestrial epidemiology apply to marine systems?

Most of epidemiological theory has been developed for terrestrial systems, but the significance of disease in the ocean is now being recognized. However, the extent to which terrestrial epidemiology can be directly transferred to marine systems is uncertain. Many broad types of disease-causing organism occur both on land and in the sea, and it is clear that some emergent disease problems in marine
Authors
Hamish I. McCallum, Armand M. Kuris, C. Drew Harvell, Kevin D. Lafferty, Garriet W. Smith, James Porter

Fire effects on the Point Reyes Mountain Beaver at Point Reyes National Seashore, California

In October 1995, a wildlands fire burned 5,000 ha on the Point Reyes peninsula, California, USA. In most of the nonforested areas, the fire effectively cleared the ground of litter and vegetation and revealed thousands of Point Reyes mountain beaver (Aplodontia rufa phaea) burrow openings. In the first 6 months after the fire, we surveyed burned coastal scrub and riparian habitat to (1) count the
Authors
Gary M. Fellers, David Pratt, Jennifer L. Griffin

Evolution of trophic transmission in parasites: Why add intermediate hosts?

Although multihost complex life cycles (CLCs) are common in several distantly related groups of parasites, their evolution remains poorly understood. In this article, we argue that under particular circumstances, adding a second host to a single-host life cycle is likely to enhance transmission (i.e., reaching the target host). For instance, in several situations, the propagules of a parasite expl
Authors
Marc Choisy, Sam P. Brown, Kevin D. Lafferty, Frédéric Thomas

A characterization of vegetation in nesting and non-nesting plots for Southwestern Willow Flycatchers in central Arizona

No abstract available at this time
Authors
L.J. Allison, C.E. Paradizick, J.W. Rourke, T.D. McCarthey

The crisis discipline of conservation medicine

Review of: Conservation Medicine: Ecological Health in Practice. Aguirre, A. A., R. S. Ostfeld, G. M. Tabor, C. House, and M. C. Pearl, editors. 2002. Oxford University Press, New York. 431 pp. $45.00. ISBN 0–195–15093.
Authors
K. D. Lafferty

Are Mojave Desert annual species equal? Resource acquisition and allocation for the invasive grass Bromus madritensis subsp. rubens (Poaceae) and two native species

Abundance of invasive plants is often attributed to their ability ot outcompete native species. We compared resource acquisition and allocation of the invasive annual grass Bromus madritensis subsp. rubens with that of two native Mojave Desert annuals, Vulpia octoflora and Descurainia pinnata, in a glasshouse experiment. Each species was grown in monoculture at two densities and two levels of N av
Authors
Lesley A. DeFalco, David R. Bryla, Vickie Smith-Longozo, Robert S. Nowak

Long term productivity of canvasbacks (Aythya valisineria) in a snowpack-driven desert marsh

Ruby Lake, Nevada, is a large palustrine wetland that hosts the southern-most major breeding population of Canvasbacks (Aythya valisineria). That arid marsh, fed by springs derived from mountain snowpack, differs in climate and hydrology from glaciated potholes of the northern prairies where most Canvasbacks breed. Fourteen years of nesting data on Canvasbacks over a 31 year period (1970–2000) wer
Authors
Kammie L. Kruse, James R. Lovvorn, John Y. Takekawa, Jeffrey Mackay

Clinical disease and laboratory abnormalities in free-ranging desert tortoises in California (1990-1995)

Desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) populations have experienced precipitous declines resulting from the cumulative impact of habitat loss and human and disease-related mortality. Diagnosis of disease in live, free-ranging tortoises is facilitated by evaluation of clinical signs and laboratory test results but may be complicated by seasonal and environmental effects. The goals of this study were:
Authors
Mary M. Christopher, Kristin H. Berry, Brian T. Henen, Kenneth A. Nagy

Recommendations for cowbird management in recovery efforts for the southwestern willow flycatcher

Three generations of mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) were fed either a control diet or a diet containing 0.5 ppm mercury in the form of methylmercury. The levels of mercury in adult tissues and eggs remained about the same over 3 generations. The methylmercury diet had no effect on adult weights or weight changes during the reproductive season. Females fed a diet containing 0.5 ppm mercury l
Authors
S.I. Rothstein, B.E. Kus, M.J. Whitfield, S.J. Sferra