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
Solutions in microbiome engineering: Prioritizing barriers to organism establishment
Microbiome engineering is increasingly being employed as a solution to challenges in health, agriculture, and climate. Often manipulation involves inoculation of new microbes designed to improve function into a preexisting microbial community. Despite, increased efforts in microbiome engineering inoculants frequently fail to establish and/or confer long-lasting modifications on ecosystem function.
Authors
Michaeline B.N. Albright, Stilianos Louca, Daniel E. Winkler, Kelli L. Feeser, Sarah-Jane Haig, Katrine L. Whiteson, Joanne B. Emerson, John M. Dunbar
Structured decision making and optimal bird monitoring in the northern Gulf of Mexico
The avian conservation community struggles to design and implement large scale, long-term coordinated bird monitoring programs within the northern Gulf of Mexico due to the complexity of the conservation enterprise in the region; this complexity arises from the diverse stakeholders, multiple jurisdictions, complex ecological processes, myriad habitats, and over 500 species of birds using the regio
Authors
Auriel M.V. Fournier, R. Randy Wilson, James E. Lyons, Jeffrey S. Gleason, Evan M. Adams, Laurel M. Barnhill, Janell M. Brush, Robert J. Cooper, Stephen J. DeMaso, Melanie J.L. Driscoll, Mitchell J. Eaton, Peter C. Frederick, Michael G. Just, Michael A. Seymour, John M. Tirpak, Mark S. Woodrey
National seed strategy progress report, 2015-2020
Native plants are the true green infrastructure we rely on for healthy, resilient, and biodiverse ecosystems. They protect us against climate change and natural disasters; create habitat for wildlife, rare species, and pollinators; and are vital for carbon sequestration. Without native plants, especially their seeds, we do not have the ability to restore functional ecosystems after natural disaste
Authors
Molly Lutisha Mccormick, Amanda N Carr, Patricia DeAngelis, Margaret Olwell, Regan Murray, Maggie Park
Assessing the ecological functionality and integrity of natural ponds, excavated ponds and stormwater basins for conserving amphibian diversity
Wetlands provide ecological functionality by maintaining and promoting regional biodiversity supporting quality habitat for aquatic organisms. Globally, habitat loss, fragmentation and degradation due to increases in agricultural activities and urban development have reduced or altered geographically isolated wetlands, thus reducing biodiversity. The objective of this study was to assess the relat
Authors
Kelly L. Smalling, Sara E. Breitmeyer, John F. Bunnell, Kim J Laidig, Patrick Burritt, Marilyn Sobel, Jonathan Cohl, Michelle Hladik, Kristin M. Romanok, Paul M. Bradley
Historical floods and geomorphic change in the lower Little Colorado River during the late 19th to early 21st centuries
The Little Colorado River is a major tributary to the Colorado River with a confluence at the boundary between Marble and Grand Canyons within Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. The bedrock gorge of the lower Little Colorado River is home to the largest known population of Gila cypha (humpback chub), an endangered fish endemic to the Colorado River Basin. Channel conditions might affect the spaw
Authors
Joel A. Unema, David J. Topping, Keith Kohl, Michael J. Pillow, Joshua J. Caster
COVID-19 influences on US recreational angler behavior
Recreational angling in the United States (US) is largely a personal hobby that scales up to a multibillion-dollar economic activity. Given dramatic changes to personal decisions and behaviors resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, we surveyed recreational anglers across the US to understand how the pandemic may have affected their fishing motivations and subsequent activities. Nearly a quarter mil
Authors
Stephen R. Midway, Abigail Lynch, Brandon K. Peoples, Michael A. Dance, Rex Caffey
Comparative effects of energy-related saline wastewaters and sodium chloride on hatching, survival, and fitness-associated traits of two amphibian species
Salinity (sodium chloride [NaCl]) is a prevalent and persistent contaminant that negatively affects freshwater ecosystems. Although most studies focus on effects of salinity from road salts (primarily NaCl), high-salinity wastewaters from energy extraction (wastewaters) could be more harmful because they contain NaCl and other toxic components. Many amphibians are sensitive to salinity, and their
Authors
Brian J. Tornabene, Creagh Breuner, Blake R. Hossack
Genetic sequencing of Attwater's prairie chicken avian poxvirus and evaluation of its potential role in reticuloendotheliosis virus outbreaks
Efforts to breed Attwater's prairie chickens (APC; Tympanuchus cupido attwateri) in captivity to supplement wild populations of this endangered bird have been negatively affected by infections with Avipoxvirus and reticuloendotheliosis virus (REV). Because REV can be integrated into the genome of fowlpox virus (FPV) and may be transmitted in that manner, identifying the source of avipox disease in
Authors
Erik K. Hofmeister, Fiona Antigoni Georgousi, Melissa Lund, Pam Ferro, Joe Flanagan, Holly Haefele, Mike Morrow
Annual recurrences of viral hemorrhagic septicemia epizootics in age 0 Pacific herring Clupea pallasii Valenciennes, 1847
Throughout a 20 year biosurveillance period, viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus was isolated in low titers from only 6/7355 opportunistically sampled adult Pacific herring, reflecting the typical endemic phase of the disease when the virus persists covertly. However, more focused surveillance efforts identified the presence of disease hot spots occurring among juvenile life history stages from cer
Authors
Paul Hershberger, Theodore R. Meyers, Jacob L. Gregg, Maya Groner, Sophie Amanda Hall, Hiruni T. Jayasekera, Ashley MacKenzie, Abigail S. Neat, Ella N. Piatt, Kyle A. Garver
Strandlines from large floods on the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
Strandlines of peak-stage indicators (such as driftwood logs, woody debris, and trash) provide valuable data for understanding the maximum stage and extent of inundation during floods. A series of seven strandlines have been preserved along the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, USA. A survey and analysis of these strandlines was completed from the Colorado River at Lees Ferry,
Authors
Thomas A. Sabol, Ronald E. Griffiths, David J. Topping, Erich R. Mueller, Robert B. Tusso, Joseph E. Hazel
Replacement of the typical artedi form of Coregonus artedi in Lake Huron by endemic shallow-water Ciscoes, including putative hybrids
Various ecomorphs of shallow-water Cisco Coregonus artedi were the dominant fish planktivores in each of the Great Lakes until invasive species and over fishing resulted in extirpations and extinctions. In this paper we describe the present morphological diversity and distribution of shallow-water Ciscoes in each of Lake Huron’s three basins: the main basin, Georgian Bay, and North Channel. Typica
Authors
Randy L. Eshenroder, Yu-Chun Kao, Timothy P. O'Brien, Chris M. Olds, Chris L. Davis, Alexander T. Duncan
Adaptive two-stage inverse sampling design to estimate density, abundance, and occupancy of rare and clustered populations
Sampling rare and clustered populations is challenging because of the effort required to find rare units. Heuristically, a practitioner would prefer to discontinue sampling in areas where rare units of interest are apparently extremely sparse or absent. We take advantage of the characteristics of inverse sampling to adaptively inform practitioners when it is efficient to move on to sample new area
Authors
Mohammad Salehi, David R. Smith