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Publications

This list of publications includes peer-review journal articles, official USGS publications series, reports and more authored by scientists in the Ecosystems Mission Area. A database of all USGS publications, with advanced search features, can be accessed at the USGS Publications Warehouse.  

Filter Total Items: 41657

Climatic variability as a principal driver of primary production in the southernmost subalpine Rocky Mountain lake

Mountain lakes are sensitive indicators of anthropogenically driven global change, with lake sediment records documenting increased primary production during the twentieth century. Atmospheric nutrient deposition and warming have been attributed to changes in other Western mountain lakes, however, the intensity of these drivers varies. We analyzed a sediment core representing a 270-year record fro
Authors
Anna Shampain, Jill Baron, Peter R. Leavitt, Sarah Spaulding

Growth, survival, and cohort formation of juvenile Lost River (Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose suckers (Chasmistes brevirostris) in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, and Clear Lake Reservoir, California—2021–22 monitoring report

Executive SummaryThe work reported in this publication provides updated data and interpretation for sampling years 2015 and 2022 of the juvenile monitoring project. The study objectives, background, study area, species description, and methods remained the same or similar throughout the years, while the executive summary, results, and discussion were updated each year. Therefore much of this paper
Authors
Barbara A. Martin, John M. Caldwell, Jacob R. Krause, Alta C. Harris

Too simple, too complex, or just right? Advantages, challenges, and guidance for indicators of genetic diversity

Measuring genetic diversity of wild species using DNA-based data remains resource intensive and time consuming for nearly all species. However, genetic assessments are needed for global conservation commitments, including the Convention on Biological Diversity, and for governments and managers to evaluate conservation progress, as well as prioritizing species and populations to preserve and recove
Authors
Sean M. Hoban, Jessica M. da Silva, Alice C. Hughes, Maggie Hunter, Belma Kalamujić Stroil, Linda Laikre, Alicia Mastretta-Yanes, Katie L Millette, Ivan Paz-Vinas, Lucia Ruiz Bustos, Robyn E. Shaw, Cristiano Vernesi, the Coalition for Conservation Genetics

The decision maker’s lament: If I only had some science!

Environmental decision makers lament instances in which the lack of actionable science limits confident decision-making. Their reaction when the needed scientific information is of poor quality, uninformative, unintelligible, or altogether absent is often to criticize scientists, their work, or science in general. The considerations offered here encourage decision makers to explore alternative app
Authors
Gustavo A. Bisbal

Summary of data collected during field efficacy trials of florfenicol and oxytetracycline dihydrate in controlling mortality in walleye (Sander vitreus) because of motile Aeromonad infections

Motile Aeromonad septicemia is a substantial concern during fish propagation and can be catastrophic for fish hatcheries. We tested the efficacy of two different drugs (florfenicol and oxytetracycline) offered with feed as possible treatment options to control mortality because of motile Aeromonad infection. We offered top-coated medicated feeds to hatchery-reared Sander vitreus (walleye) that wer
Authors
Christopher M. Merkes, Maren T. Tuttle-Lau, Susan M. Schleis, Aaron R. Cupp

A gender and social vulnerability assessment approach

The report on an approach for gender and social vulnerability assessment is a supporting tool – or a guiding note – to assist the MRC to conduct the gender and vulnerability assessment in the Lower Mekong Basin. While the approach focuses on floods, droughts, and extreme storm events for the MRC’s future application, the overall gender and vulnerability framework described in this report could be
Authors
Saira Haider, Kathryn Powlen, Nina Burkardt, Matthew E. Andersen

Aligning renewable energy expansion with climate-driven range shifts

Fossil fuel dependence can be reduced, in part, by renewable energy expansion. Increasingly, renewable energy siting seeks to avoid significant impacts on biodiversity but rarely considers how species ranges will shift under climate change. Here we undertake a systematic literature review on the topic and overlay future renewable energy siting maps with the ranges of two threatened species under f
Authors
Uzma Ashraf, Toni Lyn Morelli, Adam B Smith, Rebecca Hernandez

Consumer isoscapes reveal heterogeneous food webs in deep-sea submarine canyons and adjacent slopes

The deep sea is the largest biome on earth, but one of the least studied despite its critical role in global carbon cycling and climate buffering. Deep-sea organisms largely rely on particulate organic matter from the surface ocean for energy – these organisms in turn play critical roles in energy transport, transformation, storage, and sequestration of carbon. Within the deep sea, submarine canyo
Authors
Amanda Demopoulos, Brian J. Smith, Jill Bourque, Jason Chaytor, Jennifer McClain Counts, Nancy G. Prouty, Steve W. Ross, Sandra Brooke, Gerard Duineveld, Furu Mienis

Fine-resolution land cover mapping over large and mountainous areas for Lāna‘i, Hawaii using posterior probabilities, and expert knowledge

The task of accurately mapping species-specific vegetation cover in remote and topographically complex regions like those found in Hawaiʻi presents unique challenges. This study leverages a machine learning approach to accurately classify vegetation into fine species-specific classes across the island of Lāna‘i, Hawaii, offering a novel methodology for tackling such challenges. Utilizing high-reso
Authors
Lucas Fortini, Qiuming Cheng, Yoko Uyehara, Kari Bogner, Jonathan Sprague, Rachel Sprague

Temperature impacts on dengue incidence are nonlinear and mediated by climatic and socioeconomic factors: A meta-analysis

Temperature can influence mosquito-borne diseases like dengue. These effects are expected to vary geographically and over time in both magnitude and direction and may interact with other environmental variables, making it difficult to anticipate changes in response to climate change. Here, we investigate global variation in temperature–dengue relationship by analyzing published correlations betwee
Authors
Devin Kirk, Samantha Straus, Marissa L. Childs, Mallory Harris, Lisa Couper, T. Jonathan Davies, Coreen Forbes, Alyssa-Lois Gehman, Maya L. Groner, Christopher Harley, Kevin D. Lafferty, Van Savage, Eloise Skinner, Mary I. O'Connor, Erin A. Mordecai

When to target control efforts? Using novel GPS telemetry to quantify drivers of invasive Argentine black and white tegu (Salvator merianae) movement

In South Florida, the Argentine black and white tegu (Salvator merianae), a large, omnivorous lizard, has become a recent threat to the Everglades ecosystem. The increase in tegu observations, especially near ecologically sensitive areas such as Everglades National Park, makes informed management critical to contain the tegu population. Using Very High Frequency (VHF) and Global Positioning System
Authors
Brittany M. Mason, Sergio A. Balaguera-Reina, Adam Benjamin, Frank J. Mazzotti, Hartwig H. Hochmair, Hardin Waddle

Integrative phylogenetic, phylogeographic and morphological characterisation of the Unio crassus species complex reveals cryptic diversity with important conservation implications

The global decline of freshwater mussels and their crucial ecological services highlight the need to understand their phylogeny, phylogeography and patterns of genetic diversity to guide conservation efforts. Such knowledge is urgently needed for Unio crassus, a highly imperilled species originally widespread throughout Europe and southwest Asia. Recent studies have resurrected several species fro
Authors
Manuel Lopes-Lima, Juergen Geist, Sarah Egg, Luboš Beran, Ani Bikashvili, Bert Van Bocxlaer, Arthur E. Bogan, Ivan N. Bolotov, O. A. Chelpanovskaya, Karel Douda, Vasco Fernandes, André Gomes-dos-Santos, Duarte V. Gonçalves, Mustafa E. Gürlek, Nathan Johnson, Ioannis Karaouzas, Ümit Kebapçı, Alexander V. Kondakov, Ralph Kuehn, Jasna Lajtner, Levan Mumladze, Karl-Otto Nagel, Eike Neubert, Martin Österling, John M. Pfeiffer, Vincent Prié, Nicoletta Riccardi, Jerzy Sell, Lea D. Schneider, Spase Shumka, Ioan Sirbu, Grita Skujienė, Chase H. Smith, Ronaldo Sousa, Katharina Stöckl, Jouni Taskinen, Amílcar Teixeira, Milcho Todorov, Teodora Trichkova, Maria Urbanska, Santtu Välilä, Simone Varandas, Joana Veríssimo, Ilya V. Vikhrev, G. Woschitz, Katarzyna Zając, Tadeusz Zając, David T. Zanatta, Alexandra Zieritz, Stamatis Zogaris, Elsa Froufe