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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: 4097

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

Effects of winter marsh burning on abundance and nesting activity of Louisiana seaside sparrows in the Gulf Coast Chenier Plain

Louisiana Seaside Sparrows (Ammodramus maritimus fisheri) breed and winter exclusively in brackish and saline marshes along the northern Gulf of Mexico. Many Gulf Coast marshes, particularly in the Chenier Plain of southwestern Louisiana and southeastern Texas, are burned intentionally in fall or winter as part of waterfowl management programs. Fire reportedly has negatively affected two Seaside S
Authors
Steven W. Gabrey, Alan D. Afton

Abiotic factors affecting summer distribution and movement of male paddlefish, Polyodon spathula, in a prairie reservoir

Six male paddlefish, Polyodon spathula, were implanted with ultrasonic temperature-sensing transmitters and tracked during June through August 1997 to quantify effects of physicochemical conditions on their distribution and movement in Keystone Reservoir, Oklahoma. Paddlefish moved about twice as much during night than day. Movement rate of paddlefish was related to reservoir water level, inflow,
Authors
C.P. Paukert, W.L. Fisher

Physiological status of naturally reared juvenile spring chinook salmon in the Yakima River: Seasonal dynamics and changes associated with smolting

Two year-classes of juvenile spring chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha from the Yakima River, Washington, were sampled from July (3-4 months postemergence) through May (yearling smolt out-migration). Physiological characters measured included liver glycogen, body lipid, gill Na+-K+ ATPase, plasma thyroxine (T4), and plasma insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I). Distinct physiological changes w
Authors
Brian R. Beckman, Donald A. Larsen, Cameron Sharpe, Beeda Lee-Pawlak, Carl B. Schreck, Walton W. Dickhoff

The swift fox in rangeland and cropland in western Kansas: Relative abundance, mortality, and body size

We assessed suitability of cropland and shortgrass rangeland for swift foxes (Vulpes velox) in western Kansas. Relative abundance and survival were similar for foxes in rangeland and cropland. Mortality resulting from non-traumatic causes, coyotes, and motor vehicles differed significantly between habitats. Predation by coyotes, motor vehicles, and non-traumatic causes were responsible for 45%, 36
Authors
R.S. Matlack, P. S. Gipson, D.W. Kaufman

Development of a grid-cell topographic surface for Okefenokee Swamp, Georgia

The Okefenokee Swamp is a 160,000 ha freshwater wetland in Southeast Georgia, USA that developed in a landscape basin. Hydrologic variability across the swamp suggests that water-surface elevations are not uniform across the swamp. The topographic surface map discussed herein was developed to describe the swamp topography at local to landscape scales and relate the swamp peat- and sand-surface ele
Authors
Cynthia S. Loftin, Wiley Rasberry, Wiley M. Kitchens

Patterns of change in tree islands in Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge from 1950 to 1991

Size, shape, orientation, and distribution of tree islands in a remnant of northern Everglades wetland were examined from 1950 and 1991 aerial photography. The objectives were to quantify the patterns of tree islands in Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, to determine if the patterns of tree islands had changed between the two dates, and to relate the tree island patterns to modeled pre- and pos
Authors
Laura A. Brandt, Kenneth M. Portier, Wiley M. Kitchens