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Blooming wildflowers in Pinnacles National Park.

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

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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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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

Fish assemblage shifts in the Powder River of Wyoming: an unregulated prairie river system previously considered to be relatively pristine.

Wyoming’s Powder River is considered an example of a pristine prairie river system. While the river hosts a largely native fish assemblage and remains unimpounded over its 1,146-km course to the Yellowstone River confluence, the hydrologic regime has been altered through water diversion for agriculture and natural gas extraction and there has been limited study of fish assemblage structure. We ana
Authors
Anna C. Senecal, Annika W. Walters, Wayne A. Hubert
By
Cooperative Research Units

Functional response of ungulate browsers in disturbed eastern hemlock forests

Ungulate browsing in predator depleted North American landscapes is believed to be causing widespread tree recruitment failures. However, canopy disturbances and variations in ungulate densities are sources of heterogeneity that can buffer ecosystems against herbivory. Relatively little is known about the functional response (the rate of consumption in relation to food availability) of ungulates i
Authors
Stephen DeStefano
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Cooperative Research Units

The effects of habitat, climate, and Barred Owls on long-term demography of Northern Spotted Owls

Estimates of species' vital rates and an understanding of the factors affecting those parameters over time and space can provide crucial information for management and conservation. We used mark–recapture, reproductive output, and territory occupancy data collected during 1985–2013 to evaluate population processes of Northern Spotted Owls (Strix occidentalis caurina) in 11 study areas in Washingto
Authors
Katie Dugger, Eric D. Forsman, Alan B. Franklin, Raymond J. Davis, Gary C. White, Carl J. Schwarz, Kenneth P. Burnham, James D. Nichols, James E. Hines, Charles B. Yackulic, Paul F. Doherty, Larissa Bailey, Darren A. Clark, Steven H. Ackers, Lawrence S. Andrews, Benjamin Augustine, Brian L. Biswell, Jennifer Blakesley, Peter C. Carlson, Matthew J. Clement, Lowell V. Diller, Elizabeth M. Glenn, Adam Green, Scott A. Gremel, Dale R. Herter, J. Mark Higley, Jeremy Hobson, Rob B. Horn, Kathryn P. Huyvaert, Christopher McCafferty, Trent McDonald, Kevin McDonnell, Gail S. Olson, Janice A. Reid, Jeremy Rockweit, Viviana Ruiz, Jessica Saenz, Stan G. Sovern
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Cooperative Research Units

Seasonal Distribution and Movements of Atlantic and Shortnose Sturgeon in the Penobscot River Estuary, Maine

Relatively little is known about the distribution and seasonal movement patterns of shortnose sturgeon Acipenser brevirostrum and Atlantic sturgeon Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus occupying rivers in the northern part of their range. During 2006 and 2007, 40 shortnose sturgeon (66–113.4 cm fork length [FL]) and 8 Atlantic sturgeon (76.2–166.2 cm FL) were captured in the Penobscot River, Maine, imp
Authors
Joseph D. Zydlewski, Stephen J. Fernandes, Gayle B. Zydlewski, Gail S. Wippelhauser, Michael T. Kinnison
By
Cooperative Research Units

Wildlife Habitat Restoration: Chapter 12

As the preceding chapters point out, many wildlife species and the habitat they depend on are in peril. However, opportunities exist to restore habitat for many imperiled wildlife species. But what is wildlife habitat restoration? We begin this chapter by defining habitat restoration and then provide recommendations on how to maximize success of future habitat restoration efforts for wildlife. Fin
Authors
Courtney J. Conway, Kathi L. Borgmann
By
Cooperative Research Units

Underwater videography outperforms above-water videography and in-person surveys for monitoring the spawning of Devils Hole Pupfish

The monitoring of threatened and endangered fishes in remote environments continues to challenge fisheries biologists. The endangered Devils Hole Pupfish Cyprinodon diabolis, which is confined to a single warm spring in Death Valley National Park, California–Nevada, has recently experienced record declines, spurring renewed conservation and recovery efforts. In February–December 2010, we investiga
Authors
Ambre L. Chaudoin, Olin Feuerbacher, Scott A. Bonar, Paul J. Barrett
By
Cooperative Research Units

Why are freshwater fish so threatened?

The huge diversity of freshwater fishes is concentrated into an area of habitat that covers only about 1% of the Earth's surface, and much of this limited area has already been extensively impacted and intensively managed to meet human needs (Dudgeon et al., 2006). As outlined in Chapter 1, the number and proportions of threatened species tend to rise wherever fish diversity coincides with dense h
Authors
Gerard P. Closs, Paul L. Angermeier, William R.T. Darwall, Stephen R. Balcombe
By
Cooperative Research Units

Evaluation of three aging techniques and back-calculated growth for introduced Blue Catfish from Lake Oconee, Georgia

Back-calculation of length-at-age from otoliths and spines is a common technique employed in fisheries biology, but few studies have compared the precision of data collected with this method for catfish populations. We compared precision of back-calculated lengths-at-age for an introducedIctalurus furcatus (Blue Catfish) population among 3 commonly used cross-sectioning techniques. We used gillnet
Authors
Michael D. Homer, James Peterson, Cecil A. Jennings
By
Cooperative Research Units

Management and the conservation of freshwater ecosystems

Riparian areas are the terrestrial environment adjacent to water that both influences and is influenced by the aquatic feature (Gregory et al., 1991; Naiman et al., 2010). Riparian areas along streams provide shade, sources of wood and organic matter, contribute to bank stability, filter sediments, take up excess nutrients from groundwater inputs, and other key processes that protect freshwaters (
Authors
Mark S. Wipfli, John S. Richardson
By
Cooperative Research Units

Water quality and fish dynamics in forested wetlands associated with an oxbow lake

Forested wetlands represent some of the most distinct environments in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley. Depending on season, water in forested wetlands can be warm, stagnant, and oxygen-depleted, yet may support high fish diversity. Fish assemblages in forested wetlands are not well studied because of difficulties in sampling heavily structured environments. During the April–July period, we s
Authors
Caroline S. Andrews, Leandro E. Miranda, Robert Kroger
By
Cooperative Research Units

Assessment of model estimates of land-atmosphere CO2 exchange across northern Eurasia

A warming climate is altering land-atmosphere exchanges of carbon, with a potential for increased vegetation productivity as well as the mobilization of permafrost soil carbon stores. Here we investigate land-atmosphere carbon dioxide (CO2) cycling through analysis of net ecosystem productivity (NEP) and its component fluxes of gross primary productivity (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (ER) and so
Authors
M.A. Rawlins, A. D. McGuire, J.S. Kimball, P. Dass, D. Lawrence, E. Burke, X. Chen, C. Delire, C. Koven, A. MacDougall, S. Peng, A. Rinke, K. Saito, W. Zhang, R. Alkama, T. J. Bohn, P. Ciais, B. Decharme, I. Gouttevin, T. Hajima, D. Ji, G. Krinner, D.P. Lettenmaier, P. Miller, J.C. Moore, B. Smith, T. Sueyoshi
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Cooperative Research Units

Quantifying the adaptive cycle

The adaptive cycle was proposed as a conceptual model to portray patterns of change in complex systems. Despite the model having potential for elucidating change across systems, it has been used mainly as a metaphor, describing system dynamics qualitatively. We use a quantitative approach for testing premises (reorganisation, conservatism, adaptation) in the adaptive cycle, using Baltic Sea phytop
Authors
David G. Angeler, Craig R. Allen, Ahjond S. Garmestani, Lance H. Gunderson, Olle Hjerne, Monika Winder
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Cooperative Research Units