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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

Species traits predict stream-fish invaders in an Appalachian (U.S.A.) river basin

We compared the influence of biological traits (morphology, physiology, reproduction, and life history), ecological traits (geographic distribution, habitat associations, food habits), and introduction attributes (propagule pressure, human use of a species, residence time) on invasion success of native and introduced stream fishes during the colonisation and spread stages in an Appalachian (U.S.A.
Authors
Joseph D. Buckwalter, Emmanuel A Frimpong, Paul L. Angermeier, Jacob N. Barney

Spatial and temporal behavioral differences between angler-access types

Recreational angler surveys typically collect information on how anglers access a fishery. Yet, it is unclear how this information is useful for fisheries management and conservation. The objective of this study was to compare behavior (e.g., party size, time fished, and numbers of fish released and harvested) of bank and boat anglers, representing two angler-access types. Bank and boat anglers we
Authors
D. S. Kane, Mark A Kaemingk, Christopher J. Chizinski, Kevin L. Pope

Reverberating effects of resource exchanges in stream–riparian food webs

Fluxes of materials or organisms across ecological boundaries, often termed “resource subsidies,” directly affect recipient food webs. Few studies have addressed how such direct responses in one ecosystem may, in turn, influence the fluxes of materials or organisms to other habitats or the potential for feedback relationships to occur among ecosystems. As part of a large-scale, multi-year experime
Authors
Scott F. Collins, Colden V. Baxter, Amy M. Marcarelli, Laura Felicetti, Scott Florin, Mark S. Wipfli, Gregg Servheen

Seasonal variation in environmental and behavioural drivers of annual-cycle habitat selection in a nearshore seabird

AimConservation of highly mobile species often requires identifying locations or time periods of elevated vulnerability. Since both extrinsic habitat conditions and intrinsic behavioural and energetic requirements contribute to habitat use at the landscape scale, identifying spatial or temporal foci for conservation intervention requires understanding how habitat needs and distributions vary acros
Authors
J. S. Lamb, Y. G. Satgé, Patrick Jodice

Conserving transboundary wildlife migrations: Recent insights from the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

Animal migrations are ecologically, culturally, and economically important. Ungulate populations in many parts of Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas migrate long distances to access seasonally available resources, traversing vast landscapes in large numbers. Yet some migrations are declining, raising concerns among scientists and natural resource managers. We synthesize recent advances in ungu
Authors
Arthur D. Middleton, Hall Sawyer, Jerod A. Merkle, Matthew Kauffman, Eric. K. Cole, Sarah R. Dewey, Justin A. Gude, David D. Gustine, Douglas E. McWhirter, Kelly Proffitt, P. J. White

Drift of larval darters (Family Percidae) in the upper Roanoke River basin, USA, characterized using phenotypic and DNA barcoding markers

Larval fish ecology is poorly characterized because sampling is difficult and tools for phenotypically identifying larvae are poorly developed. While DNA barcoding can help address the latter problem, ‘universal’ primers do not work for all fish species. The Roanoke River in the southeastern United States includes seven darters (Family Percide: Tribe Etheostomatini). We made 393 collections of lar
Authors
Joseph Buckwalter, Paul L. Angermeier, Jane Argentina, Skylar Wolf, Stephen Floyd, Eric M. Hallerman

Multi-scale habitat selection by Northern Goshawks (Accipiter gentilis) in a fire-prone forest

Increasing frequency and severity of wildfire may jeopardize persistence of large tracts of late seral forest, raising concerns over population viability of forest-dependent species like the Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis). We tracked 20 adult Northern Goshawks with GPS loggers over 4 years to investigate roosting (nocturnal) and foraging (diurnal) habitat selection in a heterogeneously burn
Authors
Rachel V. Blakely, Rodney B. Siegel, Elisabeth B. Webb, Colin P. Dillingham, Matthew Johnson, Dylan C. Kesler

Identifying and characterizing extrapolation in multivariate response data

Faced with limitations in data availability, funding, and time constraints, ecologists are often tasked with making predictions beyond the range of their data. In ecological studies, it is not always obvious when and where extrapolation occurs because of the multivariate nature of the data. Previous work on identifying extrapolation has focused on univariate response data, but these methods are no
Authors
Meridith L. Bartley, Ephraim M. Hanks, Erin M. Schliep, Patricia A. Soranno, Tyler Wagner

Assessment of the American woodcock singing-ground survey zone timing and coverage

The American woodcock (Scolopax minor; hereafter, woodcock) Singing-Ground Survey (SGS) was developed to inform management decisions by monitoring changes in the relative abundance of woodcock. The timing of the designated survey windows was designed to count resident woodcock while minimizing counting of migrating woodcock. Since the implementation of the SGS in 1968, concerns over survey protoco
Authors
J. D. Moore, Thomas R. Cooper, Rebecca D. Rau, David Andersen, J. P Duguay, C. Alan Stewart, David G. Krementz

Estimating density and effective area surveyed for American woodcock

The American Woodcock (Scolopax minor; hereafter, woodcock) Singing-ground Survey (SGS) is conducted annually during the woodcock breeding season, and survey points along survey routes are set 0.4 mile (0.65 km) apart to avoid counting individual birds from >1 listening location. The effective area surveyed (EAS) at a listening point is not known, and may vary as a function of land-cover type or o
Authors
Stefanie M. Bergh, David Andersen

Detection probability and occupancy of American woodcock during Singing-ground surveys

The Singing-ground Survey (SGS) was designed to exploit the conspicuous breeding-season display of male American woodcock (Scolopax minor; hereafter, woodcock) to monitor these otherwise inconspicuous birds. The SGS was standardized in 1968 and has since been conducted annually to derive an index of abundance and population trend. Counts of singing male woodcock on the SGS have generally declined
Authors
Stefanie M. Bergh, David Andersen

Using pointing dogs and hierarchical models to evaluate American woodcock winter occupancy and densities

Use of dogs has increased for multiple wildlife research purposes ranging from carnivore scat detection to estimation of reptile abundance. Use of dogs is not particularly novel for upland gamebird biologists, and pointing dogs have been long considered an important research tool. However, recent advances in Global Positioning System (GPS) technology and the development of hierarchical modeling ap
Authors
Daniel S. Sullins, Warren C. Conway, David A. Haukos, Christopher E. Comer