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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

The temperature-productivity squeeze: Constraints on brook trout growth along an Appalachian river continuum

We tested the hypothesis that brook trout growth rates are controlled by a complex interaction of food availability, water temperature, and competitor density. We quantified trout diet, growth, and consumption in small headwater tributaries characterized as cold with low food and high trout density, larger tributaries characterized as cold with moderate food and moderate trout density, and large m
Authors
J. Todd Petty, David Thorne, Brock M. Huntsman, Patricia M. Mazik

Incorporating detection probability into northern Great Plains pronghorn population estimates

Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) abundances commonly are estimated using fixed-wing surveys, but these estimates are likely to be negatively biased because of violations of key assumptions underpinning line-transect methodology. Reducing bias and improving precision of abundance estimates through use of detection probability and mark-resight models may allow for more responsive pronghorn manageme
Authors
Christopher N. Jacques, Jonathan A. Jenks, Troy W. Grovenburg, Robert W. Klaver, Christopher S. DePerno

Predicting impacts of future human population growth and development on occupancy rates of forest-dependent birds

Forest loss and fragmentation are among the largest threats to forest-dwelling wildlife species today, and projected increases in human population growth are expected to increase these threats in the next century. We combined spatially-explicit growth models with wildlife distribution models to predict the effects of human development on 5 forest-dependent bird species in Vermont, New Hampshire, a
Authors
Michelle L. Brown, Therese Donovan, W. Scott Schwenk, David M. Theobald

Retirement investment theory explains patterns in songbird nest-site choice

When opposing evolutionary selection pressures act on a behavioural trait, the result is often stabilizing selection for an intermediate optimal phenotype, with deviations from the predicted optimum attributed to tracking a moving target, development of behavioural syndromes or shifts in riskiness over an individual's lifetime. We investigated nest-site choice by female golden-winged warblers, and
Authors
Henry M. Streby, Jeanine M. Refsnider, Sean M. Peterson, David E. Andersen

Influence of variable rainbow smelt and gizzard shad abundance on walleye diets and growth

Prey availability influences growth and condition of walleye (Sander vitreus) in large systems. In Lake Oahe, South Dakota, rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) and gizzard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum) are primary prey of walleye, but their abundance varies substantially year to year. To evaluate the influence of gizzard shad and rainbow smelt on walleye diets and growth in Lake Oahe, we compared recent e
Authors
Mark J. Fincel, Daniel J. Dembkowski, Steven R. Chipps

Defining ecological and economical hydropoweroperations: a framework for managing dam releasesto meet multiple conflicting objectives

Hydroelectric dams are a flexible source of power, provide flood control, and contribute to the economic growth of local communities through real-estate and recreation. Yet the impoundment of rivers can alter and fragment miles of critical riverine habitat needed for other competing needs such as downstream consumptive water use, fish and wildlife population viability, or other forms of recreation
Authors
Elise R. Irwin

Impact of increasing market access on a tropical small-scale fishery

Small-scale fisheries have historically been marginalized in management and policy investments, and they often remain under-reported in national economic and fisheries statistics. Even so, small-scale fisheries are not entirely buffered from the impacts of globalization, such as the introduction and expansion of markets. This study measures the long-term impact of market-access on a coastal fisher
Authors
Kara Stevens, Brian J. Irwin, Daniel Kramer, Gerald Urquhart

Waterfowl in Cuba: Current status and distribution

Cuba and its satellite islands represent the largest landmass in the Caribbean archipelago and a major repository of the region’s biodiversity. Approximately 13.4% of the Cuban territory is covered by wetlands, encompassing approximately 1.48 million ha which includes mangroves, flooded savannas, peatlands, freshwater swamp forests and various types of managed wetlands. Here, we synthesise informa
Authors
Pedro Blanco Rodríquez, Francisco Vilella, Bárbara Sánchez Oria

Northern Pintail

This medium-sized dabbling duck of slender, elegant lines and conservative plumage coloration is circumpolar in distribution and abundant in North America, with core nesting habitat in Alaska and the Prairie Pothole Region of southern Canada and the northern Great Plains. Breeders favor shallow wetlands interspersed throughout prairie grasslands or arctic tundra. An early fall migrant, the species
Authors
Robert G. Clark, Joseph P. Fleskes, Karla L. Guyn, David A. Haukos, Jane E. Austin, Michael R. Miller

A new species of freshwater eel-tailed catfish of the genus Tandanus (Teleostei: Plotosidae) from the Wet Tropics Region of Eastern Australia

Tandanus tropicanus, new species, is described based on specimens from streams in the wet tropics region of northeast Queensland. Previously, two species were recognized in the genus Tandanus: T. tandanus of eastern Australia and T. bostocki of Western Australia. A combination of meristic and morphometric characters distinguishes the new species from all congeners. Further, taxonomic distinctness
Authors
Stuart A. Welsh, Dean R. Jerry, Damien Burrows

A comparison of two gears for quantifying abundance of lotic-dwelling crayfish

Crayfish (saddlebacked crayfish, Orconectes medius) catch was compared using a kick seine applied two different ways with a 1-m2 quadrat sampler (with known efficiency and bias in riffles) from three small streams in the Missouri Ozarks. Triplicate samples (one of each technique) were taken from two creeks and one headwater stream (n=69 sites) over a two-year period. General linear mixed models sh
Authors
Kristi Williams, Shannon K. Brewer, Mark R. Ellersieck

Carcass analog provides marine subsidies for macroinvertebrates and juvenile Atlantic 8 salmon in temperate oligotrophic streams

Anadromous fish populations entering freshwater ecosystems provide organic matter and marine-derived nutrients during spawning and subsequent mortalities of adults. Dams and other impediments to connectivity in rivers and streams have affected anadromous fish populations in many regions and prevented or reduced this influx of organic materials and nutrients. This study used historical data on the
Authors
Margaret Q. Guyette, Cynthia S. Loftin, Joseph D. Zydlewski, Richard Cunjak