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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.

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Our Story

Blooming wildflowers in Pinnacles National Park.

The circular highlights how our research efforts fulfill larger USGS strategic goals.

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Our History

Tricolored Heron at Ding Darling National Park

This book is dedicated to those who are or have been associated with the unit program. 

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Our Research

Yellow-billed Loon on a lake in the northern area of Alaska.

This report provides abstracts of most of the ongoing and recently completed research.

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Filter Total Items: 3984

Regime shifts and panarchies in regional scale social-ecological water systems

In this article we summarize histories of nonlinear, complex interactions among societal, legal, and ecosystem dynamics in six North American water basins, as they respond to changing climate. These case studies were chosen to explore the conditions for emergence of adaptive governance in heavily regulated and developed social-ecological systems nested within a hierarchical governmental system. We
Authors
Lance Gunderson, Barbara Cosens, Brian C. Chaffin, Craig Anthony (Tony) Arnold, Alexander K. Fremier, Ahjond S. Garmestani, Robin Kundis Craig, Hannah Gosnell, Hannah E. Birge, Craig R. Allen, Melinda H. Benson, Ryan R. Morrison, Mark Stone, Joseph A. Hamm, Kristine T. Nemec, Edella Schlager, Dagmar Llewellyn
By
Cooperative Research Units

Balancing stability and flexibility in adaptive governance: An analysis of tools available in U.S. environmental law

Adaptive governance must work “on the ground,” that is, it must operate through structures and procedures that the people it governs perceive to be legitimate and fair, as well as incorporating processes and substantive goals that are effective in allowing social-ecological systems (SESs) to adapt to climate change and other impacts. To address the continuing and accelerating alterations that clim

Authors
Robin Kundis Craig, Ahjond S. Garmestani, Craig R. Allen, Craig Anthony (Tony) Arnold, Hannah E. Birge, Daniel A. DeCaro, Alexander K. Fremier, Hannah Gosnell, Edella Schlager
By
Cooperative Research Units

Is the impact of eutrophication on phytoplankton diversity dependent on lake volume/ecosystem size?

Research focusing on biodiversity responses to the interactions of ecosystem size and anthropogenic stressors are based mainly on correlative gradient studies, and may therefore confound size-stress relationships due to spatial context and differences in local habitat features across ecosystems. We investigated how local factors related to anthropogenic stressors (e.g.,eutrophication) interact wit
Authors
Didier L. Baho, Stina Drakare, Richard K. Johnson, Craig R. Allen, David G. Angeler
By
Cooperative Research Units

Accounting for imperfect detection of groups and individuals when estimating abundance

If animals are independently detected during surveys, many methods exist for estimating animal abundance despite detection probabilities <1. Common estimators include double-observer models, distance sampling models and combined double-observer and distance sampling models (known as mark-recapture-distance-sampling models; MRDS). When animals reside in groups, however, the assumption of independen
Authors
Matthew J. Clement, Sarah J. Converse, J. Andrew Royle
By
Cooperative Research Units

Landscape- and local-scale habitat influences on occupancy and detection probability of stream-dwelling crayfish: Implications for conservation

Crayfish are ecologically important in freshwater systems worldwide and are imperiled in North America and globally. We sought to examine landscape- to local-scale environmental variables related to occupancy and detection probability of a suite of stream-dwelling crayfish species. We used a quantitative kickseine method to sample crayfish presence at 102 perennial stream sites with eight surveys
Authors
Daniel D. Magoulick, Robert J. DiStefano, Emily M. Imhoff, Matthew S. Nolen, Brian K. Wagner
By
Cooperative Research Units

Urban forest management in New England: Towards a contemporary understanding of tree wardens in Massachusetts communities

In the New England states, tree wardens are local officials responsible for the preservation, maintenance and stewardship of municipal public trees. This study explores the emerging professional challenges, duties and responsibilities of tree wardens, from the subject’s point of view, by conducting in-person, semi-structured qualitative research interviews with 50 tree wardens throughout Massachus
Authors
Richard W. Harper, David V. Bloniarz, Stephen DeStefano, Craig Nicolson
By
Cooperative Research Units

Estimating age at a specified length from the von Bertalanffy growth function

Estimating the time required (i.e., age) for fish in a population to reach a specific length (e.g., legal harvest length) is useful for understanding population dynamics and simulating the potential effects of length-based harvest regulations. The age at which a population reaches a specific mean length is typically estimated by fitting a von Bertalanffy growth function to length-at-age data and t
Authors
Derek H. Ogle, Daniel A. Isermann
By
Cooperative Research Units

Screening of duplicated loci reveals hidden divergence patterns in a complex salmonid genome

A whole-genome duplication (WGD) doubles the entire genomic content of a species and is thought to have catalysed adaptive radiation in some polyploid-origin lineages. However, little is known about general consequences of a WGD because gene duplicates (i.e., paralogs) are commonly filtered in genomic studies; such filtering may remove substantial portions of the genome in data sets from polyploid
Authors
Morten T. Limborg, Wesley Larson, Lisa W. Seeb, James E. Seeb
By
Cooperative Research Units

Forestry best management practices relationships with aquatic and riparian fauna: A review

Forestry best management practices (BMPs) were developed to minimize water pollution from forestry operations by primarily addressing sediment and sediment transport, which is the leading source of pollution from silviculture. Implementation of water quality BMPs may also benefit riparian and aquatic wildlife, although wildlife benefits were not driving forces for BMP development. Therefore, we re
Authors
Brooke M. Warrington, W. Michael Aust, Scott M. Barrett, W. Mark Ford, C. Andrew Dolloff, Erik B. Schilling, T. Bently Wigley, M. Chad Bolding
By
Cooperative Research Units

Size selection from fishways and potential evolutionary responses in a threatened Atlantic salmon population

The evolutionary effects of harvest on wild fish populations have been documented around the world; however, sublethal selective pressures can also cause evolutionary changes in phenotypes. For migratory fishes, passage facilities may represent instances of nonlethal selective pressure. Our analysis of 6 years of passage data suggests that certain fish passage facilities on the Penobscot River hav
Authors
George A. Maynard, M.T. Kinnison, Joseph D. Zydlewski
By
Cooperative Research Units

Book review: Serendipity: An ecologist’s quest to understand nature

A common thought among graduate students is: “how do established scientists get where they are today?” In Serendipity: An Ecologist’s Quest to Understand Nature, James Estes offers a personal reflection on research experiences spanning his 50-year career, beginning as a Ph.D. student in 1970 and concluding with recognition as a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2014. Estes chronologica
Authors
E. E. Ball, D. M. Adams, J. N. Dupuie, M. M. Jones, P. G. McGovern, R. M. Ruden, S.R. Schmidt, G. J. Vaziri, J. S. Eeling, B. D. Kirk, A. L. McCombs, A. B. Rabinowitz, K. M. Thompson, Z. J. Hudson, Robert W. Klaver
By
Cooperative Research Units

A new parameterization for integrated population models to document amphibian reintroductions

Managers are increasingly implementing reintroduction programs as part of a global effort to alleviate amphibian declines. Given uncertainty in factors affecting populations and a need to make recurring decisions to achieve objectives, adaptive management is a useful component of these efforts. A major impediment to the estimation of demographic rates often used to parameterize and refine decision
Authors
Adam Duarte, Christopher Pearl, M. J. Adams, James Peterson
By
Cooperative Research Units