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
Opportunities and challenges of macrogenetic studies
The rapidly emerging field of macrogenetics focuses on analysing publicly accessible genetic datasets from thousands of species to explore large-scale patterns and predictors of intraspecific genetic variation. Facilitated by advances in evolutionary biology, technology, data infrastructure, statistics and open science, macrogenetics addresses core evolutionary hypotheses (such as disentangling en
Authors
Deborah M. Leigh, Charles B. van Rees, Katie L Millette, Martin F Breed, Chloé Schmidt, Laura D. Bertola, Brian K. Hand, Margaret Hunter, Evelyn L. Jensen, Francine Kershaw, Libby Liggins, Gordon Luikart, Stéphanie Manel, Joachim Mergeay, Joshua M. Miller, Gernot Segelbacher, Sean M. Hoban, Ivan Paz-Vinas
Incorporating antenna detections into abundance estimates of fish
Autonomous passive integrated transponder (PIT) tag antennas are commonly used to detect fish marked with PIT tags but cannot detect unmarked fish, creating challenges for abundance estimation. Here we describe an approach to estimate abundance from paired physical capture and antenna detection data in closed and open mark-recapture models. Additionally, for open models, we develop an approach tha
Authors
Maria C. Dzul, Charles Yackulic, William L. Kendall, Dana L. Winkelman, Mary M Conner, Michael D. Yard
Response to “Connectivity and pore accessibility in models of soil carbon cycling”
Here we respond to Baveye and colleagues' recent critique of our PROMISE model, describing how this new framework significantly advances our understanding of soil spatial heterogeneity and its influence on organic matter transformations.
Authors
Bonnie G. Waring, Benjamin N. Sulman, Sasha C. Reed, A. Peyton Smith, Colin Averill, Courtney Ann Creamer, Daniela F. Cusack, Steven J. Hall, Julie D. Jastrow, Andrea Jilling, Kenneth M. Kemner, Markus Kleber, Xiao-Jun Allen Liu, Jennifer Pett-Ridge, Marjorie S. Schulz
The ecology of river ice
Many of the world's rivers are ice-covered during winter months but increasing evidence indicates that the extent of river ice will shift substantially as winters warm. However, our knowledge of rivers during winter lags far behind that of the growing season, limiting our understanding of how ice loss will affect rivers. Physical, chemical, and biological processes change from headwaters to large
Authors
Audrey Thellman, Kathi Jo Jankowski, Brian Hayden, Xiao Yang, Wayana Dolan, Adrianne P Smits, Antoin M O'Sullivan
Warmer winters increase the biomass of phytoplankton in a large floodplain river
Winters are changing rapidly across the globe but the implications for aquatic productivity and food webs are not well understood. In addition, the degree to which winter dynamics in aquatic systems respond to large-scale climate versus ecosystem-level factors is unclear but important for understanding and managing potential changes. We used a unique winter data set from the Upper Mississippi Rive
Authors
Kathi Jo Jankowski, Jeffrey N. Houser, Mark D. Schuerell, Adrianne P Smits
An integrated population model for southern sea otters
Southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) have recovered slowly from their near extinction a century ago, and their continued recovery has been challenged by multiple natural and anthropogenic factors. Development of an integrated population model (IPM) for southern sea otters has been identified as a management priority, to help in evaluating the relative impacts of known threats and guide best
Authors
M. Tim Tinker, Lilian P. Carswell, Joseph A. Tomoleoni, Brian B. Hatfield, Michael D. Harris, Melissa A. Miller, Megan E. Moriarty, Christine K. Johnson, Colleen Young, Laird A. Henkel, Michelle M. Staedler, A. Keith Miles, Julie L. Yee
Biotic and abiotic treatments as a bet-hedging approach to restoring plant communities and soil functions
Two related concepts in restoration ecology include the relative interchangeability of biotic and abiotic restoration treatments for initiating recovery and bet hedging using multiple restoration approaches to increase the likelihood of favorable restoration outcomes. We used these concepts as a framework to implement a factorial experiment including biotic (outplanting greenhouse-grown individual
Authors
Audrey J Rader, Lindsay P. Chiquoine, James F. Weigand, Judy L Perkins, Seth M. Munson, Scott R Abella
Multiple coping strategies maintain stability of a small mammal population in a resource-restricted environment
In semi-arid environments, aperiodic rainfall pulses determine plant production and resource availability for higher trophic levels, creating strong bottom-up regulation. The influence of climatic factors on population vital rates often shapes the dynamics of small mammal populations in such resource-restricted environments. Using a 21-year biannual capture–recapture dataset (1993 to 2014), we exa
Authors
Anne Y Polyakov, William D Tietje, Arjun Srivathsa, Virginie Rolland, James E. Hines, Madan K. Oli
Climate change effects on North American fish and fisheries to inform adaptation strategies
Climate change is a global persistent threat to fish and fish habitats throughout North America. Climate-induced modification of environmental regimes, including changes in streamflow, water temperature, salinity, storm surges, and habitat connectivity can change fish physiology, disrupt spawning cues, cause fish extinctions and invasions, and alter fish community structure. Reducing greenhouse em
Authors
Craig Paukert, Julian D. Olden, Abigail Lynch, Dave Brashears, R. Christopher Chambers, Cindy Chu, Margaret Daly, Kimberly L. Dibble, Jeffrey A. Falke, Dan Issak, Peter C. Jacobson, Olaf P. Jensen, Daphne Munroe
PS3: The Pheno-Synthesis software suite for integration and analysis of multi-scale, multi-platform phenological data
Phenology is the study of recurring plant and animal life-cycle stages which can be observed across spatial and temporal scales that span orders of magnitude (e.g., organisms to landscapes). The variety of scales at which phenological processes operate is reflected in the range of methods for collecting phenologically relevant data, and the programs focused on these collections. Consideration of t
Authors
Jeffrey Morisette, Katharyn A Duffy, Jake Weltzin, Dawn M Browning, Lee R Marsh, Aaron Friesz, Luke J Zachmann, Kyle Enns, Vincent A. Landau, Katharine L. Gerst, Theresa M. Crimmins, Katherine D. Jones, Tony Chang, Brian W. Miller, Tom Maiersperger, Andrew D. Richardson
Genetic diversity of immature Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) sea turtles from the northern Gulf of Mexico
The Kemp’s ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) is the world’s most endangered sea turtle species. Predominately nesting at only one beach in Mexico, this species declined to an estimated 300 females in the mid-1980s. Conservation efforts in the United States and Mexico, including a head start programme in southern Texas in which hatchlings were reared in captivity for several months before being released
Authors
Margaret Lamont, Nickolas Moreno, Fatima Y. Camacho-Sanchez, H. Hugo Acosta-Sanchez, Scott Glaberman, Miguel A. Reyes-Lopez, Ylenia Chiari
Invasive Lake Trout reproduction in Yellowstone Lake under an active suppression program
In Yellowstone Lake, predation by invasive Lake Trout Salvelinus namaycush has caused significant abundance declines in native Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout Oncorhynchus clarkii bouvieri. Lake Trout suppression has been ongoing since 1995; assessment and simulation modeling are used to measure suppression effectiveness and guide efforts. Lake Trout reproduction demographics are linked to these model
Authors
Nicholas A. Heredia, Robert E. Gresswell, Molly A.H. Webb, Travis O. Brenden, Philip T. Sandstrom