Publications
This list of publications includes peer-review journal articles, official USGS publications series, reports and more authored by scientists in the Ecosystems Mission Area. A database of all USGS publications, with advanced search features, can be accessed at the USGS Publications Warehouse.
Filter Total Items: 41894
Analytical assessments in support of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 3-bat species status assessment
Beginning in February of 2020, researchers and staff of the United States Geological Survey (USGS), Bat Conservation International (BCI), Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and Montana State University associated with the North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat) collaborated with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to provide technical assistance in support o
Stoneflies in the genus Lednia (Plecoptera: Nemouridae): Sentinels of climate change impacts on mountain stream biodiversity
Rapid recession of glaciers and snowfields is threatening the habitats of cold-water biodiversity worldwide. In many ice-sourced headwaters of western North America, stoneflies in the genus Lednia (Plecoptera: Nemouridae) are a prominent member of the invertebrate community. With a broad distribution in mountain streams and close ties to declining glacier cover, Lednia has emerged as a sentinel of
Authors
Matthew D. Green, Lusha M. Tronstad, J. Joseph Giersch, Alisha A. Shah, Candace E. Fallon, Emilie Blevins, Taylor Kai, Clint C. Muhlfeld, Debra S. Finn, Scott Hotaling
Examination of the interaction between age-specific predation and chronic disease in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
Predators may create healthier prey populations by selectively removing diseased individuals. Predators typically prefer some ages of prey over others, which may, or may not, align with those prey ages that are most likely to be diseased.The interaction of age-specific infection and predation has not been previously explored and likely has sizable effects on disease dynamics. We hypothesize that p
Authors
Ellen E. Brandell, Paul C. Cross, Douglas W. Smith, William J. Rogers, Nathan L. Galloway, Daniel R. MacNulty, Daniel R. Stahler, John J. Treanor, Peter J. Hudson
Protocol for installing and monitoring a RestoreNet restoration field trial network site
RestoreNet is an ecological restoration experiment that is networked across multiple sites, spanning dryland ecosystems in the southwestern United States. The experiment is organized and led by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Restoration Assessment and Monitoring Program for the Southwest (RAMPS). This protocol functions to provide guidance to additional partners on how to set up a RestoreNet site an
Authors
Katherine M. Laushman, Molly L. McCormick, Seth M. Munson, Kathleen R. Balazs, Bradley J. Butterfield
Introduction: Climate change in the mountains of Maine and the Northeast
No abstract available.
Authors
Sarah Nelson, Caitlin McDonough MacKenzie, Toni Lyn Morelli, Jay Wason, Bryan Wentzell, Rachel A. Hovel, Glenn A. Hodgkins, Abe J. Miller-Rushing, David Miller, Steve Tatko, Amanda Cross, Mike Pounch
Disease and secondary sexual traits: Effects of pneumonia on horn size of bighorn sheep
Secondary sexual traits (e.g., horns and antlers) have ecological and evolutionary importance and are of management interest for game species. Yet, how these traits respond to emerging threats like infectious disease remains underexplored. Infectious pneumonia threatens bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) populations across North America and we hypothesized it may also reduce horn growth in male sheep
Authors
Alynn Martin, John T. Hogg, Kezia R. Manlove, Tayler N LaSharr, Justin M. Shannon, Douglas E. McWhirter, Hollie Miyasaki, Kevin L. Monteith, Paul C. Cross
Multi-species amphibian monitoring across a protected landscape: Critical reflections on 15 years of wetland monitoring in Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks
Widespread amphibian declines were well documented at the end of the 20th century, raising concerns about the need to identify individual and interactive contributors to this global trend. At the same time, there was growing interest in the use of amphibians as ecological indicators. In the United States, wetland and amphibian monitoring programs were launched in some national parks as a necessary
Authors
Andrew M. Ray, Blake R. Hossack, William R. Gould, Debra A. Patla, Stephen Frank Spear, Robert W. Klaver, Paul E Bartelt, David P. Thoma, Kristin L Legg, Rob Daley, Charles R Peterson, P S Corn
Importance of nonindigenous harpacticoids (Crustacea: Copepoda) decrease with depth in Lake Ontario
Harpacticoid copepods can be a substantial component of the meiobenthic community in lakes and serve an ecological role as detritivores. Here we present the first species-level lake-wide quantitative assessment of the harpacticoid assemblage of Lake Ontario with emphasis on the status of nonindigenous species. Additionally, we provide COI-5P sequences of harpacticoid taxa through Barcode of Life D
Authors
Joe K. Connolly, Brian O'Malley, Patrick Hudson, James M. Watkins, Lyubov E. Burlakova, Lars G. Rudstam
Inter-nesting movements, migratory pathways, and resident foraging areas of green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) satellite-tagged in Southwest Florida
Globally, sea turtle research and conservation efforts are underway to identify important high-use areas where these imperiled individuals may be resident for weeks to months to years. In the southeastern Gulf of Mexico, recent telemetry studies highlighted post-nesting foraging sites for federally endangered green turtles (Chelonia mydas) around the Florida Keys. In order to delineate additional
Authors
Kelly A Sloan, David S. Addison, Andrew T. Glinsky, Allison Benscoter, Kristen Hart
Extensive species diversification and marked geographic phylogenetic structure in the Mesoamerican genus Stenopelmatus (Orthoptera: Stenopelmatidae: Stenopelmatinae) revealed by mitochondrial and nuclear 3RAD data
The Jerusalem cricket subfamily Stenopelmatinae is distributed from south-western Canada through the western half of the United States to as far south as Ecuador. Recently, the generic classification of this subfamily was updated to contain two genera, the western North American Ammopelmatus, and the Mexican, and central and northern South American Stenopelmatus. The taxonomy of the latter genus w
Authors
Jorge Gutiérrez-Rodríguez, Alejandro Zaldívar-Riverón, David B Weissman, A. G. Vandergast
Influence of anthropogenic subsidies on movements of common ravens
Anthropogenic subsidies can benefit populations of generalist predators such as common ravens (ravens; Corvus corax), which in turn may depress populations of many types of species at lower-trophic levels, including desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) or greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus). Management of subsidized ravens often has targeted local breeding populations that are presume
Authors
Adam E. Duerr, Peter H. Bloom, Kerry Ross, Tricia A. Miller, Melissa A. Braham, Amy L Fesnock, Todd E. Katzner
Watershed-scale risk to aquatic organisms from complex chemical mixtures in the Shenandoah River
River waters contain complex chemical mixtures derived from natural and anthropogenic sources. Aquatic organisms are exposed to the entire chemical composition of the water, resulting in potential effects at the organismal through ecosystem level. This study applied a holistic approach to assess landscape, hydrological, chemical, and biological variables. On-site mobile laboratory experiments were
Authors
Larry B. Barber, Kaycee E. Faunce, David Bertolatus, Michelle Hladik, Jeramy Roland Jasmann, Steffanie H. Keefe, Dana W. Kolpin, Michael T. Meyer, Jennifer L. Rapp, David A. Roth, Alan M. Vajda