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
Examining historical mercury sources in the Saint Louis River estuary: How legacy contamination influences biological mercury levels in Great Lakes coastal regions
Industrial chemical contamination within coastal regions of the Great Lakes can pose serious risks to wetland habitat and offshore fisheries, often resulting in fish consumption advisories that directly affect human and wildlife health. Mercury (Hg) is a contaminant of concern in many of these highly urbanized and industrialized coastal regions, one of which is the Saint Louis River estuary (SLRE)
Authors
Sarah E. Janssen, Joel C. Hoffman, Ryan F. Lepak, David P. Krabbenhoft, David Walters, Collin Eagles-Smith, Greg Peterson, Jacob M. Ogorek, John F. DeWild, Anne M Cotter, Mark Pearson, Michael T. Tate, Roger B. Yeardley, Marc A. Mills
Landscape level effects of invasive plants and animals on water infiltration through Hawaiian tropical forests
Watershed degradation due to invasion threatens downstream water flows and associated ecosystem services. While this topic has been studied across landscapes that have undergone invasive-driven state changes (e.g., native forest to invaded grassland), it is less well understood in ecosystems experiencing within-system invasion (e.g. native forest to invaded forest). To address this subject, we con
Authors
Lucas Fortini, Christina Leopold, Kimberlie Perkins, Oliver A. Chadwick, Stephanie G. Yelenik, James D. Jacobi, Kaiena Bishaw, Makani Gregg
Emergence and molecular characterization of pigeon Paramyxovirus-1 in non-native Eurasian collared doves (Streptopelia decaocto) in California, USA
Eurasian collared doves (Streptopelia decaocto) were introduced into Florida in the 1980s and have since established populations throughout the continental United States. Pigeon paramyxovirus-1 (PPMV-1), a species-adapted genotype VI Avian orthoavulavirus 1, has caused periodic outbreaks among collared doves in the U.S. since 2001 with outbreaks occasionally involving native doves. In California,
Authors
Krysta Rogers, Ash Mete, Hon S. Ip, Mia K. Torchetti, Mary L. Killian, Beate Crossley
Comparative morphology of freshwater sculpin inhabiting different environmental conditions in the Chesapeake Bay headwaters
We compared body morphology of two freshwater sculpin taxa that inhabit distinct environmental conditions in the Chesapeake Bay watershed of eastern North America: Potomac sculpin (C. girardi, Robins; PS) and checkered sculpin (C. sp. cf. girardi; CS). Both taxa are endemic to the study area, but PS are more broadly distributed than CS which are limited to karst groundwater-dominated streams in th
Authors
Nathaniel P. Hitt, Karmann G. Kessler, Hannah Eisemann Macmillan, Karli M Rogers, Richard L. Raesly
Developing common protocols to measure tundra herbivory across spatial scales
Understanding and predicting large-scale ecological responses to global environmental change requires comparative studies across geographic scales with coordinated efforts and standardized methodologies. We designed, applied and assessed standardized protocols to measure tundra herbivory at three spatial scales: plot, site (habitat), and study area (landscape). The plot and site-level protocols
Authors
Isabel C. Barrio, D. Ehrich, E. M. Soininen, V. T. Ravolainen, C. G. Bueno, O. Gilg, A. M. Koltz, J. D. M. Speed, D. S. Hik, M. Mörsdorf, J. M. Alatalo, A. Angerbjörn, J. Bêty, L. Bollache, N. Boulanger-Lapointe, G. S. Brown, I. Eischeid, Marie-Andree Giroux, T. Hájek, B. B. Hansen, S. P. Hofhuis, Jean-François Lamarre, J. R. Lang, C. Latty, N. Lecomte, P. Macek, L. Mckinnon, Isla H. Myers-Smith, Å. Ø. Pedersen, Janet S. Prevéy, J. D. Roth, Sarah T. Saalfeld, N. M. Schmidt, P. Smith, A. Sokolov, N. Sokolova, C. Stolz, R. van Bemmelen, Ø Varpe, P. F. Woodard, I. S. Jónsdóttir
Multiple-scale relationships between vegetation, the wildland–urban interface, and structure loss to wildfire in California
Recent increases in destructive wildfires are driving a need for empirical research documenting factors that contribute to structure loss. Existing studies show that fire risk is complex and varies geographically, and the role of vegetation has been especially difficult to quantify. Here, we evaluated the relative importance of vegetation cover at local (measured through the Normalized Difference
Authors
Alexandra D. Syphard, Heather Rustigian-Romsos, Jon Keeley
Connectivity and climate change toolkit
The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies’ Climate Adaptation Committee charged a small working group in September of 2019 to develop a toolkit focused on climate-informed landscape connectivity. The purpose is to provide state fish and wildlife agency planners and managers with the information necessary to ensure climate considerations are being accounted for and incorporated in the planning
Authors
Whitney Albright, Rob Ament, Renee Callahan, Mack W. Frantz, Matthew R. Grabau, Maggie Ernest Johnson, Todd Jones-Farrand, Kate Malpeli, Maureen Millmann, Nathan Muenks, Rebecca Quiñones, Beth Stys, Kimberly Tenggardjaja
Gulf Coast vicariance shapes phylogeographic history of a North American freshwater mussel species complex
AimFreshwater mussels share habitat and are parasites of freshwater fishes during the larval life stage. Therefore, models of fish biogeography may also explain the historical biogeography of freshwater mussels. We tested this assumption using predictions of three biogeographic models constructed for northern Gulf of Mexico drainages on a freshwater mussel species complex. Specifically, we tested
Authors
Sean M. Keogh, Nathan Johnson, James D. Williams, Charles R. Randklev, Andrew Simons
Reduced quality and synchronous collapse of forage species disrupts trophic transfer during a prolonged marine heatwave
The Gulf of Alaska forage fish community includes a few key species that differ markedly in their timing of spawning, somatic growth and lipid storage, and in their migration behavior. This diversity in life history strategies facilitates resilience in marine food webs because it buffers predators against the naturally high variance in abundance of pelagic forage fish populations by decreasing the
Authors
Mayumi L. Arimitsu, John F. Piatt, Scott Hatch, Rob Suryan, Sonia Batten, Mary Anne Bishop, Rob Campbell, Heather Coletti, Dan Cushing, Kristen Gorman, Stormy Haught, Russell Hopcroft, Kathy Kuletz, Caitlin Elizabeth Marsteller, Caitlin McKinstry, David McGowan, John Moran, R. Scott Pegau, Anne Schaefer, Sarah K. Schoen, Jan Straley, Vanessa R. von Biela
A study of marine temperature variations in the northern Gulf of Alaska across years of marine heatwaves and cold spells
We use over 100 in situ and remotely sensed temperature datasets to investigate thermal variability within and across the intertidal nearshore, coastal and offshore waters of the northern Gulf of Alaska. For the years 1970 through 2019 we document a warming trend of 0.24±0.10 °C per decade for the coastal northern shelf (0-250 m depth average) and a Gulf-wide sea surface temperature (SST) trend of
Authors
Seth L. Danielson, Tyler D. Hennon, Daniel Monson, Rob M. Suryan, Rob W. Campbell, Steven J. Baird, Kristine Holderied, Thomas Weingartner
A bright spot analysis of inland recreational fisheries in the face of climate change: Learning about adaptation from small successes
Inland recreational fisheries have social, economic, and ecological importance worldwide but these fisheries are increasingly challenged by the diverse effects of climate change. Coupled with other anthropogenic stressors, climate change has contributed to declines in freshwater biodiversity of greater severity than those observed across marine or terrestrial taxa. At a macro level, inland fisheri
Authors
A. L. Jeanson, Abigail Lynch, J. D. Thiem, W. M. Potts, T. Haapasalo, A. J. Danylchuk, T. Douglas Beard, R. Arlinghaus, L. Hunt, N. Young, S. J. Cooke
‘Unscrambling’ the drivers of egg production in Agassiz’s desert tortoise: Climate and individual attributes predict reproductive output
ABSTRACT: The ‘bet hedging’ life history strategy of long-lived iteroparous species reduces short-term reproductive output to minimize the risk of reproductive failure over a lifetime. For desert-dwelling ectotherms living in variable and unpredictable environments, reproductive output is further influenced by precipitation and temperature via effects on food availability and limits on activity. W
Authors
Corey I. Mitchell, Derek Friend, Lauren T. Phillips, Elizabeth A. Hunter, Jeffrey E. Lovich, Mickey Agha, Shellie R. Puffer, Kristy L. Cummings, Philip A. Medica, Todd C. Esque, Kenneth E. Nussear, Kevin T. Shoemaker