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Publications

FORT scientists have produced more than 1,500 peer reviewed publications that are registered in the USGS Publications Warehouse, along with many others prior to their work at the USGS or in conjunction with other government agencies. 

Filter Total Items: 2225

Accuracy, accessibility, and institutional capacity shape the utility of habitat models for managing and conserving rare plants on western public lands

Public lands are often managed for multiple uses ranging from energy development to rare plant conservation. Habitat models can help land managers assess and mitigate potential effects of projects on rare plants, but it is unclear how models are currently being used. Our goal was to better understand how staff in the Bureau of Land Management currently use habitat models to inform their decisions,
Authors
Ella M. Samuel, Jennifer K. Meineke, Laine E. McCall, Lea B. Selby, Alison C. Foster, Zoe M. Davidson, Carol A. Dawson, Catherine S. Jarnevich, Sarah K. Carter

Living with wildfire in Stemilt Basin, Chelan County, Washington: 2022 Data report

Homeowner wildfire risk mitigation and preparedness are important components of community wildfire readiness. This report presents data collected via rapid wildfire risk assessments to describe the parcel-level wildfire risk of properties within the Stemilt basin, Chelan County, Washington study area. The report also describes household survey data collected from homeowners in the study area, incl
Authors
Julia Goolsby, Patricia A. Champ, Suzanne Wittenbrink, Colleen Donovan, Hilary Heard, Hannah Brenkert-Smith, James Meldrum, Christopher M. Barth, Carolyn Wagner, Chiara Forrester

Living with wildfire in Santa Fe: 2021 Data Report

The City of Santa Fe is well known for arts, food, and architecture, but it also faces significant risk of wildfire. In 2020, the City of Santa Fe partnered with the Wildfire Research (WiRē) team with the goal of better understanding the needs of residents within the study area and their level of support for wildfire risk mitigation programs. The resulting project centers on two types of property-
Authors
James Meldrum, Julia Goolsby, Colleen Donovan, Porfirio Chavarria, Hannah Brenkert-Smith, Patricia A. Champ, Christopher M. Barth, Carolyn Wagner, Chiara Forrester

Double take: Ingestion of two rats by a juvenile Burmese Python (Python bivittatus) in Big Cypress National Preserve, FL, USA

No abstract available.
Authors
Teah M. Evers, Andrea F. Currylow, Mark Robert Sandfoss, Lisa Marie McBride, Christina M. Romagosa, Wesley W. Boone, Jacquelyn C. Guzy, Gretchen Erika Anderson, Kristen Hart, Matthew McCollister, Amy A. Yackel Adams

Flooding-induced failure of an invasive Burmese Python nest in southern Florida

It is important to understand the factors affecting the reproductive success of an invasive species to estimate population size and develop management plans. There remains much we do not understand about the reproductive biology of invasive Burmese Pythons in both their native and invasive range. Oviposition site selection is an important factor in determining reproductive success as nesting is a
Authors
Mark Robert Sandfoss, Lisa Marie McBride, Gretchen Erika Anderson, Amanda Marie Kissel, Matthew McCollister, Christina M. Romagosa, Amy A. Yackel Adams

Seasonal and species-level water-use strategies and groundwater dependence in dryland riparian woodlands during extreme drought

Drought-induced groundwater decline and warming associated with climate change are primary threats to dryland riparian woodlands. We used the extreme 2012–2019 drought in southern California as a natural experiment to assess how differences in water-use strategies and groundwater dependence may influence the drought susceptibility of dryland riparian tree species with overlapping distributions. We
Authors
Jared Williams, John C. Stella, Michael Bliss Singer, Adam M. Lambert, Steven L. Voelker, John E. Drake, J. M. Friedman, Lissa Pelletier, Li Kui, Dar A. Roberts

Integrating social-ecological outcomes into invasive species management: The Tamarix case

Incorporating societal considerations into decisions related to invasive species management is desirable, but can be challenging because it requires a solid understanding of the ecological functions and socio-cultural and economic benefits and values of the invaded environment before and after invasion. The ecosystem service (ES) concept was designed to facilitate such decision-making by establish
Authors
Eduardo Gonzalez-Sargas, Patrick B. Shafroth, Francesc Baro

Rainfall reduces the potential for competitive suppression of a globally endangered ungulate by livestock

Protected areas often are too small to house populations of wide-ranging species. Viability of wildlife populations therefore depends on whether interactions with humans and their land uses are negative, neutral, or positive. In central Iran, we measured interactions between globally endangered onagers (Equus hemionus onager) and livestock by analyzing remotely-sensed vegetation metrics within liv
Authors
Saeideh Esmaeili, Mahmoud-Reza Hemami, Petra Kaczensky, Kathryn A. Schoenecker, Sarah R.B. King, Bahareh Shahriari, Chris Walzer, Jake Goheen

Quantifying and evaluating strategies to decrease carbon dioxide emissions generated from tourism to Yellowstone National Park

The tourism industry needs strategies to reduce emissions and hasten the achievement of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emission reduction targets. Using a case study approach, we estimated CO2 emissions related to park tourism in Yellowstone National Park (USA) generated from transit to and from the park, transit within the park, accommodations, and park operations. Results indicate tourism to Yellow
Authors
Emily J. Wilkins, Dani T. Dagan, Jordan W. Smith

Effects and perceptions of weather, climate, and climate change on outdoor recreation and nature-based tourism in the United States: A systematic review

Weather, climate, and climate change all effect outdoor recreation and tourism, and will continue to cause a multitude of effects as the climate warms. We conduct a systematic literature review to better understand how weather, climate, and climate change affect outdoor recreation and nature-based tourism across the United States. We specifically explore how the effects differ by recreational acti
Authors
Emily J. Wilkins, Lydia Horne

Range-wide genetic analysis of an endangered bumble bee (Bombus affinis, Hymenoptera: Apidae) reveals population structure, isolation by distance, and low colony abundance

Declines in bumble bee species range and abundances are documented across multiple continents and have prompted the need for research to aid species recovery and conservation. The rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis) is the first federally listed bumble bee species in North America. We conducted a range-wide population genetics study of B. affinis from across all extant conservation units to
Authors
John Mola, Ian Pearse, Michelle Boone, Elaine Evans, Mark Hepner, Robert Jean, Jade Kochanski, Cade Nordmeyer, Eric Runquist, Tamara A. Smith, Jaime Strange, Jay Watson, Jonathan B Koch

Comparing modern identification methods for wild bees: Metabarcoding and image-based morphological taxonomic assignment

With the decline of bee populations worldwide, studies determining current wild bee distributions and diversity are increasingly important. Wild bee identification is often completed by experienced taxonomists or by genetic analysis. The current study was designed to compare two methods of identification including: (1) morphological identification by experienced taxonomists using images of field-c
Authors
Cassandra Smith, Robert S. Cornman, Jennifer A. Fike, Johanna M. Kraus, Sara J. Oyler-McCance, Carrie E Givens, Michelle Hladik, Mark W. Vandever, Dana W. Kolpin, Kelly Smalling