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Publications

Browse publications authored by our scientists.  Publications available are: USGS-authored journal articles, series reports, book chapters, other government publications, and more. **Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.

Filter Total Items: 3984

Shade-grown coffee in Puerto Rico: Opportunities to preserve biodiversity while reinvigorating a struggling agricultural commodity

Shade-grown coffee contributes to biodiversity conservation and has many ecological benefits. We reviewed historical trends in coffee production and interviewed 100 coffee growers in 1999 to determine current management practices and attitudes toward the cultivation of sun and shade coffee in Puerto Rico. We discuss the outlook for the coffee industry in the 21st century and implications for biodi
Authors
R. Borkhataria, Jaime A. Collazo, Martha J. Groom, A. Jordan-Garcia

Effects of suture material and ultrasonic transmitter size on survival, growth, wound healing, and tag expulsion in rainbow trout

We examined the effects of suture material (braided silk versus Monocryl) and relative ultrasonic transmitter size on healing, growth, mortality, and tag retention in rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss. In experiment 1, 40 fish (205–281 mm total length [TL], 106–264 g) were implanted with Sonotronics IBT‐96–2 (23 × 7 mm; weight in air, 4.4 g; weight in water, 2.4 g) or IBT 96–2E (30 × 7 mm; weight
Authors
Tomas J. Ivasauskas, Phillip William Bettoli, T. Holt

Can migration mitigate the effects of ecosystem change? Patterns of dispersal, energy acquisition and allocation in Great Lakes lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis)

Migration can be a behavioural response to poor or declining home range habitat quality and can occur when the costs of migration are overcome by the benefi ts of encountering higher-quality resources elsewhere. Despite dramatic ecosystem-level changes in the benthic food web of the Laurentian Great Lakes since the colonization of dreissenid mussels, coincident changes in condition and growth rate
Authors
Michael D. Rennie, Mark P. Ebener, Tyler Wagner

Assessing freshwater habitat of adult anadromous alewives using multiple approaches

After centuries of disturbance, environmental professionals now recognize the need to restore coastal watersheds for native fish and protect the larger ecosystems on which fish and other aquatic biota depend. Anadromous fish species are an important component of coastal ecosystems that are often adversely affected by human activities. Restoring native anadromous fish species is a common focus of b
Authors
Martha E. Mather, Holly J. Frank, Joseph M. Smith, Roxann D. Cormier, Robert M. Muth, John T. Finn

Estimating White-tailed Deer abundance at Gettysburg National Military Park and Eisenhower National Historic Site

The mission at Gettysburg National Military Park and Eisenhower National Historic Site (GNMP-ENHS) is to preserve the historic character of the parks to enable current and future generations to understand and interpret the events that took place at each park. Management objectives include maintaining the landscape as it existed during the historic 1863 Civil War battle (e.g., dense understory in w
Authors
David P. Stainbrook, Duane R. Diefenbach

Nest defense- Grassland bird responses to snakes

Predation is the primary source of nest mortality for most passerines; thus, behaviors to reduce the impacts of predation are frequently quantified to study learning, adaptation, and coevolution among predator and prey species. Video surveillance of nests has made it possible to examine real-time parental nest defense. During 1999-2009, we used video camera systems to monitor 518 nests of grasslan
Authors
Kevin S. Ellison, Christine Ribic

Bird productivity and nest predation in agricultural grasslands

Effective conservation strategies for grassland birds in agricultural landscapes require understanding how nesting success varies among different grassland habitats. A key component to this is identifying nest predators and how these predators vary by habitat. We quantified nesting activity of obligate grassland birds in three habitats [remnant prairie, cool-season grass Conservation Reserve Progr
Authors
Christine Ribic, Michael J. Guzy, Travis J. Anderson, David W. Sample, Jamie L. Nack

Now that you have great results, where should you submit your manuscript?

No abstract available.
Authors
Martha E. Mather, Donna L. Parrish, John M. Dettmers

Conducting fisheries investigations

No abstract available.
Authors
Alexander V. Zale, Donna L. Parrish, Trent M. Sutton

Exploring similarities among many species distributions

Collecting species presence data and then building models to predict species distribution has been long practiced in the field of ecology for the purpose of improving our understanding of species relationships with each other and with the environment. Due to limitations of computing power as well as limited means of using modeling software on HPC facilities, past species distribution studies have
Authors
Scott Simmerman, Jingyuan Wang, James Osborne, Kimberly Shook, Jian Huang, William Godsoe, Theodore R. Simons

Recent thermal history influences thermal tolerance in freshwater mussel species (Bivalvia: Unionoida)

Understanding species’ temperature tolerances in the context of concurrent environmental stressors is critical because thermal regimes of freshwater ecosystems are changing. We evaluated the critical thermal maximum (CTM) of 3 freshwater mussel species (Alasmidonta varicosa, Elliptio complanata, and Strophitus undulatus) acclimated to 2 temperatures (15 and 25°C) and exposed to 2 aeration treatmen
Authors
Heather S. Galbraith

Production and disposal of waste materials from gas and oil extraction from the Marcellus Shale Play in Pennsylvania

The increasing world demand for energy has led to an increase in the exploration and extraction of natural gas, condensate, and oil from unconventional organic-rich shale plays. However, little is known about the quantity, transport, and disposal method of wastes produced during the extraction process. We examined the quantity of waste produced by gas extraction activities from the Marcellus Shale

Authors
Kelly O. Maloney, David A. Yoxtheimer