Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

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

Intercontinental convergence of stream fish community traits along geomorphic and hydraulic gradients

Community convergence across biogeographically distinct regions suggests the existence of key, repeated, evolutionary mechanisms relating community characteristics to the environment. However, convergence studies at the community level often involve only qualitative comparisons of the environment and may fail to identify which environmental variables drive community structure. We tested the hypoth
Authors
N. Lamouroux, N.L. Poff, P. L. Angermeier

Production and survival of elk (Cervus elaphus) calves in Michigan

We determined production and survival of elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) calves in Michigan using a variety of methods to index herd productivity. Calf production in Michigan was comparable with the highest rates ever recorded for North American elk. Calf survival averaged 0.90 (SD = 0.05), 0.97 (SD = 0.04) and 0.87 (SD = 0.05) for summer, winter and annually, 1987-1991. Calf survival rates in Michig
Authors
Louis C. Bender, E. Carlson, S. M. Schmitt, J.B. Haufler

Evaluation of a Mysis bioenergetics model

Direct approaches for estimating the feeding rate of the opossum shrimp Mysis relicta can be hampered by variable gut residence time (evacuation rate models) and non-linear functional responses (clearance rate models). Bioenergetics modeling provides an alternative method, but the reliability of this approach needs to be evaluated using independent measures of growth and food consumption. In this
Authors
Steven R. Chipps, David H. Bennett

Effects of colony relocation on diet and productivity of Caspian terns

We investigated the efficacy of management to reduce the impact of Caspian tern (Sterna caspia) predation on survival of juvenile salmonids (Oncorhynchus spp.) in the Columbia River estuary. Resource managers sought to relocate approximately 9,000 pairs of terns nesting on Rice Island (river km 34) to East Sand Island (river km 8), where terns were expected to prey on fewer juvenile salmonids. Eff
Authors
Daniel D. Roby, Ken Collis, Donald E. Lyons, D. P. Craig, Jessica Y. Adkins, Anne Mary Myers, Robert M. Suryan

Effects of depleted uranium on the health and survival of Ceriodaphnia dubia and Hyalella azteca

Depleted uranium (DU) has been used as a substitute for the fissionable enriched uranium component of atomic weapons tested at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) (Los Alamos, NM, USA) since the early 1950s, resulting in considerable concentrations of DU in the soils within the test sites. Although the movement of DU into major aquatic systems has been shown to be minimal, there are many small-o
Authors
W.W. Kuhne, C.A. Caldwell, W.R. Gould, P.R. Fresquez, S. Finger

Composition of cavity-nesting bird communities in montane aspen woodland fragments: The roles of landscape context and forest structure

We compared cavity-nesting bird communities in aspen (Populus tremuloides) woodland fragments classified on the basis of vegetation structure (tree density) and landscape context (surrounding vegetation). We found very few cavity nesters in fragments predominantly surrounded by forests. Fragments adjacent to meadows contained more species and a greater abundance of cavity nesters. Species richness
Authors
J.J. Lawler, T.C. Edwards

Carbon balance of the terrestrial biosphere in the twentieth century: analyses of CO2, climate and land use effects with four process-based ecosystem models

The concurrent effects of increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration, climate variability, and cropland establishment and abandonment on terrestrial carbon storage between 1920 and 1992 were assessed using a standard simulation protocol with four process-based terrestrial biosphere models. Over the long-term(1920–1992), the simulations yielded a time history of terrestrial uptake that is consistent
Authors
A. D. McGuire, S. Sitch, Joy S. Clein, R. Dargaville, G. Esser, J. Foley, Martin Heimann, F. Joos, J. Kaplan, D. W. Kicklighter, R.A. Meier, J. M. Melillo, B. Moore, I.C. Prentice, N. Ramankutty, T. Reichenau, A. Schloss, H. Tian, L.J. Williams, U. Wittenberg

Intraspecific variation in nutrient reserve use during clutch formation by Lesser Scaup

We studied nutrient reserve dynamics of female Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis) to identify sources of intraspecific variation in strategies of nutrient acquisition for meeting the high nutritional and energetic costs of egg formation. We collected data from interior Alaska and combined these with data for Lesser Scaup from midcontinent breeding areas (Afton and Ankney 1991), allowing a rangewide ana
Authors
Daniel Esler, J. Barry Grand, Alan D. Afton

Extinctions of marine mammals

No abstract available.
Authors
Glenn R. VanBlaricom, Leah R. Gerber, Robert L. Brownwell

Short-term variability and long-term change in the composition of the littoral zone fish community in Spirit Lake, Iowa

We assessed short-term variability and long-term change in the composition of the littoral fish community in Spirit Lake, Iowa. Fish were sampled in several locations at night with large beach seines during spring, summer and fall of 1995–1998. Long-term changes were inferred from comparison with a similar study conducted over 70 y earlier in Spirit Lake. We found 26 species in the littoral zone.
Authors
Clay Pierce, M. D. Sexton, M. E. Pelham, J. G. Larscheid

Moose, caribou, and grizzly bear distribution in relation to road traffic in Denali National Park, Alaska

Park managers are concerned that moose (Alces alces), caribou (Rangifer tarandus), and grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) may be avoiding areas along the 130 km road through Denali National Park as a result of high traffic volume, thus decreasing opportunities for visitors to view wildlife. A wildlife monitoring system was developed in 1996 that used 19 landscape level view sheds, stratified into four s
Authors
A. C. Yost, R. G. Wright