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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

Book Review: Wilson, E. O. 2013. Letters to a young scientist

No abstract available.Book info: Wilson E. O. 2013. Letters to a young scientist . Liveright Publishing Corporation, W. W. Norton and Company, New York, 244 pp. ISBN 978-0-87140-377-3.
Authors
David M. Leslie

Genetic structuring of northern myotis (Myotis septentrionalis) at multiple spatial scales

Although groups of bats may be genetically distinguishable at large spatial scales, the effects of forest disturbances, particularly permanent land use conversions on fine-scale population structure and gene flow of summer aggregations of philopatric bat species are less clear. We genotyped and analyzed variation at 10 nuclear DNA microsatellite markers in 182 individuals of the forest-dwelling no
Authors
Joshua B. Johnson, James H. Roberts, Tim L. King, John W. Edwards, W. Mark Ford, David A. Ray

Identifying legal, ecological and governance obstacles and opportunities for adapting to climate change

Current governance of regional scale water management systems in the United States has not placed them on a path toward sustainability, as conflict and gridlock characterize the social arena and ecosystem services continue to erode. Changing climate may continue this trajectory, but it also provides a catalyst for renewal of ecosystems and a window of opportunity for change in institutions. Resili
Authors
Barbara Cosens, Lance Gunderson, Craig R. Allen, Melinda H. Benson

American shad migratory behavior, weight loss, survival, and abundance in a North Carolina River following dam removals

Despite extensive management and research, populations of American Shad Alosa sapidissima have experienced prolonged declines, and uncertainty about the underlying mechanisms causing these declines remains. In the springs of 2007 through 2010, we used a resistance board weir and PIT technology to capture, tag, and track American Shad in the Little River, North Carolina, a tributary to the Neuse Ri
Authors
Joshua K. Raabe, Joseph E. Hightower

Snowshoe hares display limited phenotypic plasticity to mismatch in seasonal camouflage

As duration of snow cover decreases owing to climate change, species undergoing seasonal colour moults can become colour mismatched with their background. The immediate adaptive solution to this mismatch is phenotypic plasticity, either in phenology of seasonal colour moults or in behaviours that reduce mismatch or its consequences. We observed nearly 200 snowshoe hares across a wide range of snow
Authors
Marketa Zimova, L. Scott Mills, Paul M. Lukacs, Michael S. Mitchell

Multibeam sonar (DIDSON) assessment of American shad (Alosa sapidissima) approaching a hydroelectric dam

We investigated the fish community approaching the Veazie Dam on the Penobscot River, Maine, prior to implementation of a major dam removal and river restoration project. Multibeam sonar (dual-frequency identification sonar, DIDSON) surveys were conducted continuously at the fishway entrance from May to July in 2011. A 5% subsample of DIDSON data contained 43 793 fish targets, the majority of whic
Authors
Ann B. Grote, Michael M. Bailey, Joseph D. Zydlewski, Joseph E. Hightower

Controls on methane released through ebullition in peatlands affected by permafrost degradation

Permafrost thaw in peat plateaus leads to the flooding of surface soils and the formation of collapse scar bogs, which have the potential to be large emitters of methane (CH4) from surface peat as well as deeper, previously frozen, permafrost carbon (C). We used a network of bubble traps, permanently installed 20 cm and 60 cm beneath the moss surface, to examine controls on ebullition from three c
Authors
Sara J. Klapstein, Merritt R. Turetsky, A. David McGuire, Jennifer W. Harden, C.I. Czimczik, Xiaomei Xu, J. P. Chanton, James Michael Waddington

Transmission of chronic wasting disease in Wisconsin white-tailed deer: Implications for disease spread and management

Few studies have evaluated the rate of infection or mode of transmission for wildlife diseases, and the implications of alternative management strategies. We used hunter harvest data from 2002 to 2013 to investigate chronic wasting disease (CWD) infection rate and transmission modes, and address how alternative management approaches affect disease dynamics in a Wisconsin white-tailed deer populati
Authors
Christopher S. Jennelle, Viviane Henaux, Gideon Wasserberg, Bala Thiagarajan, Robert E. Rolley, Michael D. Samuel

Social-ecological resilience and law

Environmental law envisions ecological systems as existing in an equilibrium state, reinforcing a rigid legal framework unable to absorb rapid environmental changes and innovations in sustainability. For the past four decades, “resilience theory,” which embraces uncertainty and nonlinear dynamics in complex adaptive systems, has provided a robust, invaluable foundation for sound environmental mana

Retrospective analysis of associations between water quality and toxic blooms of golden alga (Prymnesium parvum) in Texas reservoirs: Implications for understanding dispersal mechanisms and impacts of climate change

Toxic blooms of golden alga (GA, Prymnesium parvum) in Texas typically occur in winter or early spring. In North America, they were first reported in Texas in the 1980s, and a marked range expansion occurred in 2001. Although there is concern about the influence of climate change on the future distribution of GA, factors responsible for past dispersals remain uncertain. To better understand the fa
Authors
Reynaldo Patiño, D. Dawson, Matthew M. VanLandeghem

Survival and behaviour of juvenile unionid mussels exposed to thermal stress and dewatering in the presence of a sediment temperature gradient

Freshwater mussels (Unionidae) are a highly imperilled faunal group. One critical threat is thermal sensitivity, because global climate change and other anthropogenic activities contribute to increasing stream temperature and altered hydrologic flow that may be detrimental to freshwater mussels. We incorporated four benthic environmental components - temperature, sediment, water level (a surrogat
Authors
L. Archambault, W. Gregory Cope, Thomas J. Kwak

Fishing for resilience

Management approaches that focus on social–ecological systems—systems comprised of ecosystems, landscapes, and humans—are needed to secure the sustainability of inland recreational fisheries without jeopardizing the integrity of the underlying social and ecological components. Resilience management can be useful because it focuses on providing recreational capacity for fishermen under a variety of
Authors
Kevin L. Pope, Craig R. Allen, David G. Angeler