Publications
Find out more about Species Management Research Program through our publications. Browse the entire list below or by specific topics at the links below.
Filter Total Items: 653
Growth of juvenile steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss under size-selective pressure limited by seasonal bioenergetic and environmental constraints
Increased freshwater growth of juvenile steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss improved survival to smolt and adult stages, thus prompting an examination of factors affecting growth during critical periods that influenced survival through subsequent life stages. For three tributaries with contrasting thermal regimes, a bioenergetics model was used to evaluate how feeding rate and energy density of prey inf
Authors
Jamie N. Thompson, David A. Beauchamp
Predation by Northern Pikeminnow and tiger muskellunge on juvenile salmonids in a high–head reservoir: Implications for anadromous fish reintroductions
The feasibility of reintroducing anadromous salmonids into reservoirs above high-head dams is affected by the suitability of the reservoir habitat for rearing and the interactions of the resident fish with introduced fish. We evaluated the predation risk to anadromous salmonids considered for reintroduction in Merwin Reservoir on the North Fork Lewis River in Washington State for two reservoir use
Authors
Mark H. Sorel, Adam G. Hansen, Kristin A. Connelly, Andrew C. Wilson, Erin D. Lowery, David A. Beauchamp
Renewable energy and wildlife conservation
The renewable energy sector is rapidly expanding and diversifying the power supply of the country. Yet, as our Nation works to advance renewable energy and to conserve wildlife, some conflicts arise. To address these challenges, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is conducting innovative research and developing workable solutions to reduce impacts of renewable energy production on wildlife.
Authors
Mona Khalil
Piscivorous fish exhibit temperature-influenced binge feeding during an annual prey pulse
Understanding the limits of consumption is important for determining trophic influences on ecosystems and predator adaptations to inconsistent prey availability. Fishes have been observed to consume beyond what is sustainable (i.e. digested on a daily basis), but this phenomenon of hyperphagia (or binge-feeding) is largely overlooked. We expect hyperphagia to be a short-term (1-day) event that is
Authors
Nathan B. Furey, Scott G. Hinch, Matthew G. Mesa, David A. Beauchamp
Land-use change reduces habitat suitability for supporting managed honey bee colonies in the Northern Great Plains
Human reliance on insect pollination services continues to increase even as pollinator populations exhibit global declines. Increased commodity crop prices and federal subsidies for biofuel crops, such as corn and soybeans, have contributed to rapid land-use change in the US Northern Great Plains (NGP), changes that may jeopardize habitat for honey bees in a part of the country that supports >40%
Authors
Clint R.V. Otto, Cali L. Roth, Benjamin Carlson, Matthew Smart
Effects of microhabitat and large-scale land use on stream salamander occupancy in the coalfields of Central Appalachia
Large-scale coal mining practices, particularly surface coal extraction and associated valley fills as well as residential wastewater discharge, are of ecological concern for aquatic systems in central Appalachia. Identifying and quantifying alterations to ecosystems along a gradient of spatial scales is a necessary first-step to aid in mitigation of negative consequences to aquatic biota. In cent
Authors
Sara E. Sweeten, W. Mark Ford
A strategy for recovering continuous behavioral telemetry data from Pacific walruses
Tracking animal behavior and movement with telemetry sensors can offer substantial insights required for conservation. Yet, the value of data collected by animal-borne telemetry systems is limited by bandwidth constraints. To understand the response of Pacific walruses (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) to rapid changes in sea ice availability, we required continuous geospatial chronologies of foraging
Authors
Anthony S. Fischbach, Chadwick V. Jay
Shale gas development effects on the songbird community in a central Appalachian forest
In the last decade, unconventional drilling for natural gas from the Marcellus-Utica shale has increased exponentially in the central Appalachians. This heavily forested region contains important breeding habitat for many neotropical migratory songbirds, including several species of conservation concern. Our goal was to examine effects of unconventional gas development on forest habitat and breedi
Authors
Laura S. Farwell, Petra Wood, James Sheehan, Gregory A. George
Synthesis of common management concerns associated with dam removal
Managers make decisions regarding if and how to remove dams in spite of uncertainty surrounding physical and ecological responses, and stakeholders often raise concerns about certain negative effects, regardless of whether or not these concerns are warranted at a particular site. We used a dam-removal science database supplemented with other information sources to explore seven frequently-raised c
Authors
Desiree D. Tullos, Mathias J. Collins, J. Ryan Bellmore, Jennifer A. Bountry, Patrick J. Connolly, Patrick B. Shafroth, Andrew C. Wilcox
Behavior patterns and fates of adult steelhead, Chinook salmon, and coho salmon released into the upper Cowlitz River Basin, 2005–09 and 2012, Washington
A multiyear radiotelemetry evaluation was conducted to monitor adult steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss), Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha), and coho salmon (O. kisutch) behavior and movement patterns in the upper Cowlitz River Basin. Volitional passage to this area was eliminated by dam construction in the mid-1960s, and a reintroduction program began in the mid-1990s. Fish are transported around the d
Authors
Tobias J. Kock, Brian K. Ekstrom, Theresa L. Liedtke, John D. Serl, Mike Kohn
Seasonal variation exceeds effects of salmon carcass additions on benthic food webs in the Elwha River
Dam removal and other fish barrier removal projects in western North America are assumed to boost freshwater productivity via the transport of marine-derived nutrients from recolonizing Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.). In anticipation of the removal of two hydroelectric dams on the Elwha River in Washington State, we tested this hypothesis with a salmon carcass addition experiment. Our study wa
Authors
S.A. Morley, H.J. Coe, J.J. Duda, L.S. Dunphy, M.L. McHenry, B.R. Beckman, M. Elofson, E. M. Sampson, L. Ward
Differential wolf-pack-size persistence and the role of risk when hunting dangerous prey
Risk to predators hunting dangerous prey is an emerging area of research and could account for possible persistent differences in gray wolf (Canis lupus) pack sizes. We documented significant differences in long-term wolf-pack-size averages and variation in the Superior National Forest (SNF), Denali National Park and Preserve, Yellowstone National Park, and Yukon, Canada (p<0.01). The SNF differe
Authors
Shannon M. Barber-Meyer, L. David Mech, Wesley E. Newton, Bridget Borg