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
Modeling resource selection of bobcats (Lynx rufus) and vertebrate species distributions in Orange County, southern California
For nature reserves in urban settings, wildlife and wildlife habitats may be affected by recreational activities and intensive, adjacent development. Sustaining biodiversity in such reserves is a challenge for land and natural resource managers, but identification of core areas and key resources for wildlife species may help in planning for current and emerging threats. To help identify core areas
Authors
Erin E. Boydston, Jeff A. Tracey
Spatial decision‐support tools to guide restoration and seed‐sourcing in the Desert Southwest
Altered disturbance regimes and shifting climates have increased the need for large‐scale restoration treatments across the western United States. Seed‐sourcing remains a considerable challenge for revegetation efforts, particularly on public lands where policy favors the use of native, locally sourced plant material to avoid maladaptation. An important area of emphasis for public agencies has bee
Authors
Daniel F. Shryock, Lesley A. DeFalco, Todd C. Esque
California Gull population growth and ecological impacts in the San Francisco Bay estuary, 1980–2016
The breeding population of California Gulls (Larus californicus) in the San Francisco
Bay estuary increased from 24 individuals in 1980 to a peak of over 53,000 in 2014, then
declined to 38,040 in 2016. The expansion of the breeding population may be related to
the availability of suitable nesting sites in close proximity to anthropogenic food subsidies
at landfills. Telemetry data indicate that C
Authors
Catherine E. Burns, Joshua T. Ackerman, Natalie B. Washburn, Jill Bluso-Demers, Caitlin Robinson-Nilsen, Cheryl Strong
Detecting southern California’s white sharks with environmental DNA
To improve ability to detect white sharks without the need for tags, or visual census, we developed a species-specific environmental DNA (eDNA) assay that targets a 163 bp fragment of the white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) mitochondrial cytochrome B gene on a digital droplet PCR (ddPCR) platform. We used this marker to detect white shark DNA in 250 ml water samples taken from across two sites in
Authors
Kevin D. Lafferty, Kasey C. Benesh, Andrew R. Mahon, Christopher L. Jerde, Christopher G. Lowe
Quantifying climate sensitivity and climate-driven change in North American amphibian communities
Changing climate will impact species’ ranges only when environmental variability directly impacts the demography of local populations. However, measurement of demographic responses to climate change has largely been limited to single species and locations. Here we show that amphibian communities are responsive to climatic variability, using >500,000 time-series observations for 81 species across 8
Authors
David A.W. Miller, Evan H. Campbell Grant, Erin L. Muths, Staci M. Amburgey, M. J. Adams, Maxwell B. Joseph, J. Hardin Waddle, Pieter T.J. Johnson, Maureen E. Ryan, Benedikt R. Schmidt, Daniel L. Calhoun, Courtney L. Davis, Robert N. Fisher, David M. Green, Blake R. Hossack, Tracy A.G. Rittenhouse, Susan C. Walls, Larissa L. Bailey, Sam S. Cruickshank, Gary M. Fellers, Thomas A. Gorman, Carola A. Haas, Ward Hughson, David S. Pilliod, Steven J. Price, Andrew M. Ray, Walter Sadinski, Daniel Saenz, William J. Barichivich, Adrianne B. Brand, Cheryl S. Brehme, Rosi Dagit, Katy S. Delaney, Brad M. Glorioso, Lee B. Kats, Patrick M. Kleeman, Christopher Pearl, Carlton J. Rochester, Seth P. D. Riley, Mark F. Roth, Brent Sigafus
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Species Management Research Program, Eastern Ecological Science Center, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Fort Collins Science Center, John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC), Southwest Biological Science Center, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC), Wetland and Aquatic Research Center
Drivers of chaparral type conversion to herbaceous vegetation in coastal Southern California
AimIn Southern California, native woody shrublands known as chaparral support exceptional biodiversity. However, large‐scale conversion of chaparral into largely exotic herbaceous cover is a major ecological threat and serious conservation concern. Due to substantial uncertainty regarding the causes and extent of this vegetation change, we aimed to quantify the primary drivers of and map potential
Authors
Alexandra D. Syphard, Teresa J. Brennan, Jon E. Keeley
California sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) census results, spring 2018
The 2018 census of southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) was conducted from late April to mid-May along the mainland coast of central California and in April at San Nicolas Island in southern California. The 3-year average of combined counts from the mainland range and San Nicolas Island was 3,128, a decrease of 58 sea otters from the previous year. The 5-year average trend in abundance, inc
Authors
Brian B. Hatfield, Julie L. Yee, Michael C. Kenner, Joseph A. Tomoleoni, M. Tim Tinker
El Niño increases high‐tide flooding in tidal wetlands along the U.S. Pacific coast.
Periodic oscillations between El Niño and La Niña conditions in the Pacific Basin affect oceanographic and meteorological phenomena globally, with impacts on the abundance and distribution of marine species. However, El Niño effects on estuarine hydrology and tidal wetland processes have seldom been examined rigorously. We used detailed wetland elevation and local inundation data from 10 tidal wet
Authors
Arianna Goodman, Karen M. Thorne, Kevin J. Buffington, Chase M. Freeman, Christopher N. Janousek
Integrated diet analyses reveal contrasting trophic niches for wild and hatchery juvenile Chinook Salmon in a large river delta
Hatchery programs have been used as a conservation tool to bolster declining populations of Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha along much of the North American Pacific coast. In many watersheds, hatchery stocks are released concurrently with the wild population, thus raising the potential for density‐dependent effects. Competition for prey resources during the critical period for early marine
Authors
Melanie J. Davis, Isa Woo, Christopher S. Ellings, Sayre Hodgson, David A. Beauchamp, Glynnis Nakai, Susan E.W. De La Cruz
Toward salt marsh harvest mouse recovery: A review
The salt marsh harvest mouse (SMHM, Reithrodontomys raviventris) is an endangered species, endemic to the San Francisco Estuary. Despite being protected for almost half a century and being included in a large number of recovery, restoration, and management plans, significant data gaps hinder conservation and management of the species, a challenge further complicated by developing threats such as c
Authors
Katherine R. Smith, Melissa K. Riley, Laureen Barthman-Thompson, Isa Woo, Mark J. Statham, Sarah Estrella, Douglas A. Kelt
The impact of surveillance and control on highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreaks in poultry in Dhaka division, Bangladesh
In Bangladesh, the poultry industry is an economically and socially important sector, but it is persistently threatened by the effects of H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza. Thus, identifying the optimal control policy in response to an emerging disease outbreak is a key challenge for policy-makers. To inform this aim, a common approach is to carry out simulation studies comparing plausible st
Authors
Edward Hill, Thomas House, Madhur S. Dhingra, Wantanee Kalpradvidh, Subhash Morzaria, Muzaffar G. Osmani, Eric Brum, Mat Yamage, Md A. Kalam, Diann J. Prosser, John Y. Takekawa, Xiangming Xiao, Marius Gilbert, Michael J. Tildesley
Collision and displacement vulnerability to offshore wind energy infrastructure among marine birds of the Pacific Outer Continental Shelf
Marine birds are vulnerable to collision with and displacement by offshore wind energy infrastructure (OWEI). Here we present the first assessment of marine bird vulnerability to potential OWEI in the California Current System portion of the U.S. Pacific Outer Continental Shelf (POCS). Using population size, demography, life history, flight heights, and avoidance behavior for 62 seabird and 19 mar
Authors
Emily C. Kelsey, Jonathan J. Felis, Max Czapanskiy, David M. Peresksta, Josh Adams