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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: 41758

Spatial distribution of elevation change monitoring in coastal wetlands across protected lands of the lower 48 United States

IntroductionTidally influenced coastal wetlands, both saline and fresh, appear where terrestrial and marine environments meet and are considered important ecosystems for identifying the impacts of climate change. Coastal wetlands provide valuable benefits to society and the environment in the form of flood protection, water-quality improvements, and shoreline erosion reduction, making them one of
Authors
Justine Annaliese Neville, Glenn R. Guntenspergen

USGS READI-Net: A FY23 end-of-year update

No abstract available.
Authors
Adam Sepulveda

Critical stakeholder engagement: The road to actionable science Is paved with scientists’ good intentions

To help stakeholders such as planners, resource managers, policymakers, and decision makers address environmental challenges in the Anthropocene, scientists are increasingly creating actionable science—science that is useful, usable, and used. Critical physical geography encourages the engagement of stakeholders in the creation of scientific knowledge to conduct actionable science and produce outp
Authors
Aparna Bamzai-Dodson, Amanda E. Cravens, Renee A. McPherson

Evaluating the utility of effective breeding size estimates for monitoring sea lamprey spawning abundance

Sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) is an invasive species that is a significant source of mortality for populations of valued fish species across the North American Great Lakes. Large annual control programs are needed to reduce the species' impacts; however, the number of successfully spawning adults cannot currently be accurately assessed. In this study, effective breeding size (Nb) and the minimu
Authors
Ellen M. Weise, Kim T Scribner, Olivia Boeberitz, Gale Bravener, Nicholas S. Johnson, John D Robinson

Responses of juvenile mussels to metals in sediment and water of the Tri-State Mining District

The U.S. Geological Survey and collaborators from EcoAnalysts, Inc., completed field and laboratory studies during 2016–19 to evaluate the toxicity of metals to freshwater mussels in streams draining the Tri-State Mining District. This project consisted of (1) sampling and analysis of metals in water and sediment, (2) surveys of mussel assemblages at sites with suitable mussel habitat, (3) toxicit
Authors
John M. Besser, Chris D. Ivey, James L. Kunz, Nile E. Kemble, Danielle M. Cleveland, Jeffery Steevens, Heidi Dunn, Ryan Foley

A nontarget, disturbance-resilient native species influences post-fire recovery and multiphasic herbicide-seeding outcomes in drylands threatened by exotic annual grasses

Native species that are abundant and persistent across disturbance-succession cycles can affect recovery and restoration of plant communities, especially in drylands. In the sagebrush-steppe deserts of North America, restoring deep-rooted perennial bunchgrasses (DRPBGs) is key to the strategy for breaking an increasingly problematic cycle of wildfire promoted by exotic annual grasses (EAGs) and di
Authors
Chad Raymond Kluender, Matthew Germino

Developing satellite-estimated precipitation monthly reports for selected locations in the Republic of the Marshall Islands

The Republic of the Marshall Islands (also known as the Marshall Islands) is a nation of more than 30 low-lying atolls and islands, most of which are inhabited, dispersed across an Exclusive Economic Zone over 770,000 square miles in the tropical central north Pacific Ocean. Monitoring environmental conditions for potential drought risk is challenging in such a dispersed island nation, and current
Authors
Gabriel B. Senay, David A. Helweg, Stefanie Kagone, John B. Taylor, Thomas Cecere, Tiare Eastmond, Amy Koch, Kurtis Nelson, Lajikit Rufus

Strategic monitoring to minimize misclassification errors from conservation status assessments

Classifying species into risk categories is a ubiquitous process in conservation decision-making affecting regulatory procedures, conservation actions, and guiding resource allocation at global, national, and regional scales. However, monitoring programs often do not provide data required for accurate species classification decisions. Misclassification can lead to otherwise preventable species ext
Authors
Kylee Denise Dunham, Patrick K. Devers, Abigail Jean Lawson, James E. Lyons, Conor P. McGowan, Andy Royle

Intramolecular carbon isotope geochemistry of butane isomers from laboratory maturation and Monte-Carlo simulations of kerogen types I, II, and III

Position-specific (PS) carbon isotope compositions of light hydrocarbons such as propane and butane isomers (n-butane and i-butane) can provide a wealth of information on the history of natural gases in the subsurface reservoirs and other environments. For PS carbon isotope analysis of butane isomers, we have established a GC-pyrolysis-GC-isotope ratio mass spectrometry method with demonstrated ac
Authors
Xiaoqiang Li, Hao Xie, Justin E. Birdwell, Gregory McGovern, Juske Horita

Social and biological perspectives to investigate and address illegal shooting of raptors

Humans have shot raptors for centuries. However, in many countries these actions have been illegal since the mid-twentieth century. Despite this history, there is not a comprehensive understanding of the characteristics of this activity, its frequency, and why it occurs. We used literature review and principles drawn from ecology, sociology, and criminology to understand this problem. First, we re
Authors
Eve C. Thomason, Kenneth Wallen, Todd E. Katzner

Characteristics of a sea louse (Caligus clemensi) epizootic in wild Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii)

We characterized a natural sea louse epizootic of Caligus clemensi and the effects of parasitism on Pacific herring Clupea pallasii in Port Angeles Harbor, WA, USA. Infestation prevalence on newly metamorphosed age 0 Pacific herring reached 100% prevalence by mid-August. At this time, the mean louse intensity was 4.6 lice/fish, and a positive correlation occurred between louse intensity and herrin
Authors
David James Páez, Jacob L. Gregg, Ashley MacKenzie, Sophie Amanda Hall, Paul Hershberger