Publications
Click below for access to more than 170,000 publications written by USGS scientists over the century-plus history of the bureau.
Filter Total Items: 756
Behavior of the Hawaiian Hawaiian Hoary Bat (Lasiurus cinereus semotus) at wind turbines and its distribution across the North Ko'olau Mountains, O'ahu
We studied the landscape distribution of endemic Hawaiian hoary bats (Lasiurus cinereus semotus) on the north Ko‘olau Mountains of O‘ahu, Hawai‘i, from May 2013 to May 2014, while simultaneously studying their behavior at wind turbines within the broader landscape. This research aimed to assess the risk that wind turbines pose to bats on the island and integrated a variety of methods, including ac
Authors
P. M. Gorresen, Paul M. Cryan, Manuela M.P. Huso, Cris D. Hein, Michael Schirmacher, Jessica H. Johnson, Kristina Montoya-Aiona, Kevin W. Brinck, Frank Bonaccorso
Climate trends and projections for Guam
The island of Guam experiences a tropical marine climate, which is warm and humid moderated by seasonal tradewinds and a wet and dry season. The dry season lasts from January to June, while the rainy months are from July to December. Annual rainfall totals 84-116 inches (2133-2946 mm), of which two-thirds fall during the rainy season. Seasonal temperatures and precipitation are also affected by th
Authors
Stephen B. Gingerich, Victoria Keener, Melissa L. Finucane
Global phylogeography of the avian malaria pathogen Plasmodium relictum based on MSP1 allelic diversity
Knowing the genetic variation that occurs in pathogen populations and how it is distributed across geographical areas is essential to understand parasite epidemiology, local patterns of virulence, and evolution of host-resistance. In addition, it is important to identify populations of pathogens that are evolutionarily independent and thus ‘free’ to adapt to hosts and environments. Here, we invest
Authors
Olof Hellgren, Carter T. Atkinson, Staffan Bensch, Tamer Albayrak, Dimitar Dimitrov, John G. Ewen, Kyeong Soon Kim, Marcos R. Lima, Lynn Martin, Vaidas Palinauskas, Robert Ricklefs, Ravinder N. M. Sehgal, Valkiunas Gediminas, Yoshio Tsuda, Alfonso Marzal
Foraging range movements of the endangered Hawaiian hoary bat, Lasiurus cinereus semotus (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae)
We documented nightly movements of Hawaiian hoary bats (Lasiurus cinereus semotus) on the island of Hawai’i. Based on data from 28 radiotagged individuals mean foraging range (FR) was 230.7±72.3 ha, core-use area (CUA) was 25.5±6.9 ha (or 11.1% of mean FR), and the mean long axis (LAX) across the FR was 3,390.8±754.3 m. There was almost no overlap in CUAs among 4 adult males having overlapping for
Authors
Frank J. Bonaccorso, Christopher M. Todd, Adam C. Miles, P. Marcos Gorresen
Peregrine falcon predation of endangered Laysan teal and Laysan Finches on remote Hawaiian atolls
We report the first records of Peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) predation on endangered Laysan teal (or duck; Anas laysanensis) and predation on endangered Laysan finches (Telespiza cantans). At Midway Atoll, vagrant Peregrine falcons killed ≥4% of a newly translocated Laysan teal population in 2006 and ≥2% in 2008. On Laysan Island during 2008–2009, remains of >76 Laysan finches (<1% of the po
Authors
Michelle H. Reynolds, Sarah A.B. Nash, Karen Courtot
Home range use and movement patterns of non-native feral goats in a tropical island montane dry landscape
Advances in wildlife telemetry and remote sensing technology facilitate studies of broad-scale movements of ungulates in relation to phenological shifts in vegetation. In tropical island dry landscapes, home range use and movements of non-native feral goats (Capra hircus) are largely unknown, yet this information is important to help guide the conservation and restoration of some of the world’s mo
Authors
Mark W. Chynoweth, Christopher A. Lepczyk, Creighton M. Litton, Steve C. Hess, James Kellner, Susan Cordell
Vegetation and non-native ungulate monitoring at the Big Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex 2010–2014.
The Hakalau Forest Unit (HFU) of Big Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex (BINWRC) has intensively managed feral cattle (Bos taurus) and pigs (Sus scrofa) and monitored non-native ungulate presence and distribution during surveys of all managed areas since 1988. We: 1) provide results from recent ungulate surveys at HFU to determine current feral pig abundance and distribution; 2) present resul
Authors
Steven C. Hess, Christina R. Leopold, Steven J. Kendall
Spring resource phenology and timing of songbird migration across the Gulf of Mexico
Migratory songbirds are advancing their arrival to breeding areas in response to climatic warming at temperate latitudes. Less is understood about the impacts of climate changes outside the breeding period. Every spring, millions of migrating songbirds that overwinter in the Caribbean and Central and South America stop to rest and refuel in the first available habitats after crossing the Gulf of M
Authors
Eben H. Paxton, Emily B. Cohen, Zoltan Németh, Theodore J. Zenzal, Kristina L. Paxton, Robert H. Diehl, Frank R. Moore
Farallon de Medinilla seabird and Tinian moorhen analyses
This report assesses the trends in brown booby (Sula leucogaster), masked booby (S. dactylatra), and red-footed booby (S. sula) counts collected on Farallon de Medinilla and Mariana common moorhen (Gallinula chloropus guami) counts on Tinian, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands to help elucidate patterns in bird numbers. During either monthly or quarterly surveys between 1997 and 2014 cou
Authors
Richard J. Camp, Christina R. Leopold, Kevin W. Brinck, Franz Juola
Baseline water-quality sampling to infer nutrient and contaminant sources at Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park, Island of Hawai‘i, 2009
Baseline water-quality sampling was conducted for dissolved nutrients and for chemical and isotopic tracers at Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park on the Island of Hawai'i. Existing and future urbanization in the surrounding areas have the potential to affect water quality in the Park, and so the National Park Service and the U.S. Geological Survey designed a water-sampling strategy to docum
Authors
Charles D. Hunt
Anatomy of an eradication effort: Removing Hawaii's illegally introduced axis deer
In February 2011, a rancher in the rural southern part of Hawaii Island reported a large mammal on her land. Her call mobilized several agencies led by the Big Island Invasive Species Committee (BIISC), a partnership to prevent, detect, and control the establishment and spread of invasive species, to sit up and take notice. Agency biologists installed camera traps to identify the animal, and a few
Authors
Steven C. Hess, Jake Muise, Jan Schipper
Microsatellite variation and rare alleles in a bottlenecked Hawaiian Islands endemic: implications for reintroductions
Conservation of genetic biodiversity in endangered wildlife populations is an important challenge to address since the loss of alleles and genetic drift may influence future adaptability. Reintroduction aims to re-establish species to restored or protected ecosystems; however, moving a subset of individuals may result in loss of gene variants during the management-induced bottleneck (i.e. transloc
Authors
Michelle H. Reynolds, John M. Pearce, Philip Lavretsky, Pedro P. Seixas, Karen Courtot