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
Fatty acid profiles of feeding and fasting bears: Estimating calibration coefficients, the timeframe of diet estimates, and selective mobilization during hibernation
Accurate information on diet composition is central to understanding and conserving carnivore populations. Quantitative fatty acid signature analysis (QFASA) has emerged as a powerful tool for estimating the diets of predators, but ambiguities remain about the timeframe of QFASA estimates and the need to account for species-specific patterns of metabolism. We conducted a series of feeding experime
Authors
Gregory W. Thiemann, Karyn D. Rode, Joy A Erlenbach, Suzanne Budge, Charles T. Robbins
Protocol for route restoration in California’s desert renewable energy conservation plan area
In the deserts of the Southwestern United States, increased off-highway vehicle use can lead to widespread vehicular damage to desert ecosystems. As the popularity and intensity of vehicle use on public lands continues, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is challenged to manage the routes used by recreationists while minimizing activity beyond designated routes and mitigating environmental impact
Authors
Todd C. Esque, Ka-Voka R. Jackson, Alexandrea M. Rice, Jeffery K. Childers, Caroline S. Woods, Amy Fesnock-Parker, Andrew C. Johnson, Lauren J. Price, Kristin E. Forgrave, Sara J. Scoles-Sciulla, Lesley A. DeFalco
Offspring of translocated individuals drive the successful reintroduction of Columbian Sharp-tailed Grouse in Nevada, USA
Translocations of North American prairie-grouse (genus Tympanuchus) present a conservation paradox wherein they are performed to augment, restore, or reintroduce populations, but translocated individuals exhibit a diminished ability to contribute to population restoration. For reintroduced populations without immigration, persistence can only be achieved through reproductive contributions by trans
Authors
Steven R. Mathews, Peter S. Coates, Brian G. Prochazka, Shawn P. Espinosa, David J. Delehanty
Biodiversity–productivity relationships in a natural grassland community vary under diversity loss scenarios
Understanding the biodiversity–productivity relationship and underlying mechanisms in natural ecosystems under realistic diversity loss scenarios remains a major challenge for ecologists despite its importance for predicting impacts of rapid loss of biodiversity worldwide. Here we report the results of a plant functional group (PFG) removal experiment conducted on the Mongolian Plateau, the larges
Authors
Qingmin Pan, Amy Symstad, Yongfei Bai, Jianhui Huang, Jianguo Wu, Shahid Naeem, Dima Chen, Dashuan Tian, Qibing Wang, Xingguo Han
Novel insights into the genetic population connectivity of transient whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) in Pacific Panama provide crucial data for conservation efforts
The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is an endangered and highly migratory species, of which solitary individuals or aggregations are observed in oceans worldwide and for which conservation efforts are hindered by a lack of comprehensive data on genetic population connectivity. Tissue samples were collected from wandering whale sharks in Pacific Panama to determine genetic diversity, phylogeographic
Authors
Héctor M. Guzmán, Caitlin Beaver, Edgardo Díaz-Ferguson
A greener future for the Galapagos: Forecasting ecosystem productivity by finding climate analogs in time
Forecasting ecosystem response to climate change is critical for guiding policymaking but challenging due to: complicated relationships between microclimates and regional climates; species’ responses that are driven by extremes rather than averages; the multifaceted nature of species’ interactions; and the lack of historical analogs to future climates. Given these challenges, even model systems su
Authors
Noah D. Charney, Guillaume Bastille-Rousseau, Charles Yackulic, Stephen Blake, James P. Gibbs
Challenges in updating habitat suitability models: An example with the lesser prairie-chicken
Habitat loss from land-use change is one of the top causes of declines in wildlife species of concern. As such, it is critical to assess and reassess habitat suitability as land cover and anthropogenic features change for both monitoring and developing current information to inform management decisions. However, there are obstacles that must be overcome to develop consistent assessments through ti
Authors
Catherine S. Jarnevich, Pairsa Nicole Belamaric, Kent Fricke, Mike Houts, Liza Rossi, Grant M. Beauprez, Brett Cooper, Russell Martin
Incorporation of uncertainty to improve projections of tidal wetland elevation and carbon accumulation with sea-level rise
Understanding the rates and patterns of tidal wetland elevation changes relative to sea-level is essential for understanding the extent of potential wetland loss over the coming years. Using an enhanced and more flexible modeling framework of an ecosystem model (WARMER-2), we explored sea-level rise (SLR) impacts on wetland elevations and carbon sequestration rates through 2100 by considering plan
Authors
Kevin Buffington, Christopher N. Janousek, Bruce D. Dugger, John C. Callaway, Lisa Schile-Beers, Evyan Borgnis Sloane, Karen M. Thorne
Are Cisco and Lake Whitefish competitors? An analysis of historical fisheries in Michigan waters of the Upper Laurentian Great Lakes
Historically, Cisco Coregonus artedi and Lake Whitefish Coregonus clupeaformis were abundant throughout the Laurentian Great Lakes, but overharvest, habitat degradation, and interactions with exotic species caused most populations to collapse by the mid-1900s. Strict commercial fishery regulations and improved environmental and ecological conditions allowed Cisco to partially recover only in Lake
Authors
Benjamin J. Rook, Michael J. Hansen, Charles R. Bronte
From site to system: Approaches for producing system-wide estimates of fish habitat in large rivers
Worldwide, many productive rivers are dam-regulated and rely on flow management strategies that must balance support of ecological processes with human water use. One component of evaluating this balance is to understand ecological consequences of alternative flow management strategies, which has often been accomplished by coupling population dynamics models with models that relate streamflow to h
Authors
H. E. Robinson, Mark J. Henderson, Russell Perry, Damon H. Goodman, Nicholas A. Som
Resource selection functions based on hierarchical generalized additive models provide new insights into individual animal variation and species distribution
Habitat selection studies are designed to generate predictions of species distributions or inference regarding general habitat associations and individual variation in habitat use. Such studies frequently involve either individually indexed locations gathered across limited spatial extents and analyzed using resource selection functions (RSFs) or spatially extensive locational data without individ
Authors
Jennifer D McCabe, John Clare, Tricia A. Miller, Todd E. Katzner, Jeff Cooper, Scott G. Somershoe, David Hanni, Christine A. Kelly, Robert Sargent, Eric C. Soehren, Carrie Threadgill, Mercedes Maddox, Jonathan Stober, Mark S. Martell, Thomas Salo, Andrew Berry, Michael J. Lanzone, Melissa A. Braham, Christopher J.W. McClure
Changes in vegetation structure and gopher tortoise population structure after 17 years of restoration management
We examined a study plot sampled in the Conecuh National Forest of southern Alabama in 1999 and again in 2016 after stand thinning and persistent prescribed fire were used to improve habitat quality. These management activities were designed, in part, to enhance habitat quality for the gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus), a species considered for protection under the Endangered Species Act becau
Authors
Rebecca C. Pudner, Hardin Waddle, Suzi P. Mersmann, John S. Kush, Craig Guyer, Sharon M. Hermann