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
Sustaining transmission in different host species: The emblematic case of Sarcoptes scabiei
Some pathogens sustain transmission in multiple different host species, but how this epidemiologically important feat is achieved remains enigmatic. Sarcoptes scabiei is among the most host generalist and successful of mammalian parasites. We synthesize pathogen and host traits that mediate sustained transmission and present cases illustrating three transmission mechanisms (direct, indirect, and c
Authors
E Browne, MM Driessen, Paul C. Cross, L. E. Escobar, Janet E. Foley, JR López-Olvera, KD Niedringhaus, Liza Rossi, Scott Carver
Effects of sea ice decline and summer land use on polar bear home range size in the Beaufort Sea
Animals responding to habitat loss and fragmentation may increase their home ranges to offset declines in localized resources or they may decrease their home ranges and switch to alternative resources. In many regions of the Arctic, polar bears (Ursus maritimus) exhibit some of the largest home ranges of any quadrupedal mammal. Polar bears are presently experiencing a rapid decline in Arctic sea i
Authors
Anthony M. Pagano, George M. Durner, Todd C. Atwood, David C. Douglas
Sediment-ecological connectivity in a large river network
Sediment eroded from the headwaters of a large basin strongly influences channels and ecosystems far downstream, but the connection is often difficult to trace. Disturbance-dependent riparian trees are thought to rely primarily on floods for formation of the sand bars necessary for seedling establishment, but pulses of sediment should also promote formation of such features. In order to expand und
Authors
John T. Kemper, R. D. Thaxton, Sara L. Rathburn, J. M. Friedman, Erich R. Mueller, Michael L. Scott
Grassification and fast-evolving fire connectivity and risk in the Sonoran Desert, United States
In the southwestern United States, non-native grass invasions have increased wildfire occurrence in deserts and the likelihood of fire spread to and from other biomes with disparate fire regimes. The elevational transition between desertscrub and montane grasslands, woodlands, and forests generally occurs at ∼1,200 masl and has experienced fast suburbanization and an expanding wildland-urban inter
Authors
Benjamin T. Wilder, Catherine S. Jarnevich, Elizabeth Baldwin, Joseph S. Black, Kim A. Franklin, Perry Grissom, Katherine Hovanes, Aaryn Olsson, Jim Malusa, Abu S.M.G. Kibria, Yue M. Li, Aaron M. Lien, Alejandro Ponce, Julia A. Rowe, Jose Soto, Maya Stahl, Nicholas Young, Julio L. Betancourt
Next-generation lampricides: A three-stage process to develop improved control tools for invasive sea lamprey
Successful integrated management of the invasive predatory sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) in the Laurentian Great Lakes of North America is owed largely to the long history of beneficial use of two lampricides: 3-trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol (TFM) and 2′,5-dichloro-4′-nitrosalicylanilide (niclosamide). Ensuring continued successful sea lamprey control necessitates consideration of possible next
Authors
Steve Lantz, Bob Adair, Jon Amberg, Roger A. Bergstedt, Michael A. Boogaard, Ugo Bussy, Margaret F. Docker, Erin S. Dunlop, Alex Gonzalez, Terrance Hubert, Michael J. Siefkes, Paul Sullivan, Steve Whyard, Michael P. Wilkie, Bradley Young, Andrew M. Muir
The effects of management practices on grassland birds—Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum)
The key to Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum) management is providing large areas of contiguous grassland of intermediate height with moderately deep litter and low shrub density. Grasshopper Sparrows have been reported to use habitats with 8–166 centimeters (cm) average vegetation height, 4–80 cm visual obstruction reading, 12–95 percent grass cover, 4–40 percent forb cover, less than 35
Authors
Jill A. Shaffer, Lawrence D. Igl, Douglas H. Johnson, Marriah L. Sondreal, Christopher M. Goldade, Melvin P. Nenneman, Travis L. Wooten, Betty R. Euliss
Temperature-based modeling of incubation period to protect loggerhead hatchlings on an urban beach in Northwest Florida
Sea turtle hatchlings face many natural and anthropogenic threats during their short journey to the water after emerging from nests. Reducing hatchling mortality is critical to population recovery of imperiled sea turtle species; however, protecting hatchlings is particularly challenging on beaches degraded by human development and disturbances, including artificial lighting. Managers need practic
Authors
Kennard P. Watson, Margaret Lamont
Evaluation of a “trace” plant density score in LTRM vegetation monitoring
The Long Term Resource Monitoring (LTRM) element of the Upper Mississippi River Restoration program employs a harvest method for sampling submersed aquatic vegetation (SAV) whereby a rake is dragged ~1.5 m over the substrate and plant materials are retrieved. “Plant density” (PD) scores indicate SAV abundance and are based on the amount of plant material collected on the teeth of the rake. Stand
Authors
Deanne C. Drake, Eric Lund, Kyle Bales
Antimicrobial resistance: Wildlife as indicators of anthropogenic environmental contamination across space and through time
Prior assessments support wildlife as indicators of anthropogenically influenced antimicrobial resistance across the landscape. A ground-breaking new study suggests that wildlife may also provide information on antimicrobial resistance in the environment through time.
Authors
Andrew M. Ramey
Increased growth rates of stream salamanders following forest harvesting
Timber harvesting can influence headwater streams by altering stream productivity, with cascading effects on the food web and predators within, including stream salamanders. Although studies have examined shifts in salamander occupancy or abundance following timber harvest, few examine sublethal effects such as changes in growth and demography. To examine the effect of upland harvesting on growth
Authors
Jacquelyn C. Guzy, Brian J. Halstead, Kelly M. Halloran, Jessica A. Homyack, John D. Willson
Ontogeny of eDNA shedding during early development in Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)
Knowledge of the timing of major life history events in aquatic species is important for informing conservation and resource management planning. Accordingly, surveys of environmental DNA (eDNA) have been performed to determine the efficacy of eDNA for providing information on life history events, primarily focusing on the timing of events associated with spawning, and these studies have proved su
Authors
Carl Ostberg, Dorothy M. Chase
Evaluation of satellite imagery for monitoring Pacific walruses at a large coastal haulout
Pacific walruses (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) are using coastal haulouts in the Chukchi Sea more often and in larger numbers to rest between foraging bouts in late summer and autumn in recent years, because climate warming has reduced availability of sea ice that historically had provided resting platforms near their preferred benthic feeding grounds. With greater numbers of walruses hauling out
Authors
Anthony S. Fischbach, David C. Douglas