Publications
Explore scientific publications from the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center.
Filter Total Items: 938
Assessing the water quality impacts of two Category-5 hurricanes on St. Thomas, Virgin Islands
Managing waterborne and water-related diseases is one of the most critical factors in the aftermath of hurricane-induced natural disasters. The goal of the study was to identify water-quality impairments in order to set the priorities for post-hurricane relief and to guide future decisions on disaster preparation and relief administration. Field investigations were carried out on St...
Authors
Sunny Jiang, Muyue Han, Srikiran Chandrasekaran, Yingcong Fang, Christina A. Kellogg
Colony-forming unit spreadplate assay versus liquid culture enrichment-polymerase chain reaction assay for the detection of Bacillus Endospores in soils
A liquid culture enrichment-polymerase chain reaction (E-PCR) assay was investigated as a potential tool to overcome inhibition by chemical component, debris, and background biological impurities in soil that were affecting detection assay performance for soil samples containing Bacillus atrophaeus subsp. globigii (a surrogate for B. anthracis). To evaluate this assay, 9 g of matched...
Authors
Dale Griffin, John T. Lisle, David Feldhake, Erin E. Silvestri
A pragmatic approach for comparing species distribution models to increasing confidence in managing piping plover habitat
Conservation management often requires decision-making without perfect knowledge of the at-risk species or ecosystem. Species distribution models (SDMs) are useful but largely under-utilized due to model uncertainty. We provide a case study that utilizes an ensemble modeling approach of two independently derived SDMs to explicitly address common modeling impediments and to directly...
Authors
Brooke Maslo, Sara Lynn Zeigler, Evan Drake, Todd Pover, Nathaniel G. Plant
Morphodynamic modelling of the wilderness breach, Fire Island, New York. Part I: Model set-up and validation
On October 29, 2012, storm surge and large waves produced by Hurricane 13 Sandy resulted in the formation of a breach in eastern Fire Island, NY. The goals of this study 14 are to gain a better understanding of the physical processes that govern breach behavior and 15 to assess whether process-based models can be used to forecast the evolution of future 16 breaches. The Wilderness Breach...
Authors
Maarten van Ormondt, Timothy Nelson, Cheryl Hapke, Dano Roelvink
An overview of bioaerosol load and health impacts associated with dust storms: A focus on the Middle East
Dust storms are an important environmental problem worldwide. The main sources of dust storms include the Sahara, the Middle East, and central and northeastern Asia. Dust storms originating from these regions can be dispersed across oceans and in some cases globally. They occur throughout the year and vary in frequency and intensity. The biological agents (e.g., fungi, bacteria and...
Authors
Zahra Soleimani, Pari Teymouri, Ali Darvishi Boloorani, Alireza Mesdaghinia, Nick Middleton, Dale Griffin
Heat accumulation on coral reefs mitigated by internal waves
Coral reefs are among the most species-rich, productive and economically valuable ecosystems on Earth but increasingly frequent pantropical coral bleaching events are threatening their persistence on a global scale. The 2015–2016 El Niño led to the hottest sea surface temperatures on record and widespread bleaching of shallow-water corals. However, the causes of spatial variation in...
Authors
Alex S. J. Wyatt, James J Leichter, Lauren Toth, Toshihiro Miyajima, Richard B. Aronson, Toshi Nagata
Science questions and knowledge gaps to study microbial transport and survival in Asian and African dust plumes reaching North America
The Sahara in North Africa and the Gobi and Taklamakan deserts in Asia are the primary sources of mobilized dust in the atmosphere, with regional or global airborne transport estimated at 2 to 5 billion tonnes per year. Annual Asian dust plumes take about 7 to 10 d to cross the Pacific Ocean, and often reach the northwest USA between late February and May. In contrast, the peak season...
Authors
Andrew C. Schuerger, David R. Smith, Dale Griffin, Daniel A. Jaffe, B. Wawrik, Susannah M. Burrows, Brent Christner, Cristina Gonzalez-Martin, Erin K. Lipp, David G. Schmale, Hongbin Yu
Hurricane Matthew: Predictions, observations, and an analysis of coastal change
Hurricane Matthew, the strongest Atlantic hurricane of the 2016 hurricane season, made land-fall south of McClellanville, S.C., around 1500 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) on October 8, 2016. Hurricane Matthew affected the States of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina along the U.S. Atlantic coastline. Numerous barrier islands were breached, and the erosion of beaches...
Authors
Justin J. Birchler, Kara S. Doran, Joseph W. Long, Hilary F. Stockdon
Late Quaternary evolution and stratigraphic framework influence on coastal systems along the north-central Gulf of Mexico, USA
Coastal systems in the Gulf of Mexico are threatened by reduced sediment supply, storm impacts and relative sea-level rise (RSLR). The geologic record provides insight into geomorphic evolution thresholds to these forcing mechanisms to help predict future barrier evolution in response to climate change. This study synthesizes ∼2100 km of geophysical data, 700 + sediment cores, and 62...
Authors
Robert S Hollis, Davin J Wallace, Michael L. Miner, Nina S Gal, Clayton H Dike, James G. Flocks
An integrative GIS approach to analyzing the impacts of septic systems on the coast of Florida, USA
An estimated 2.7 million septic systems in Florida, USA are potential ground and surface water contaminant sources that may affect environmental and human health. This study examined the spatial distribution of septic systems, coastal surface water contamination, and related environmental factors of coastal Florida watersheds at the 8-digit hydrologic unit code level. Hydrology, in situ...
Authors
Kyle Flanagan, Barnali Dixon, Tess Rivenbark, Dale Griffin
Comparison of methods for modeling fractional cover using simulated satellite hyperspectral imager spectra
Remotely sensed data can be used to model the fractional cover of green vegetation (GV), non-photosynthetic vegetation (NPV), and soil in natural and agricultural ecosystems. NPV and soil cover are difficult to estimate accurately since absorption by lignin, cellulose, and other organic molecules cannot be resolved by broadband multispectral data. A new generation of satellite...
Authors
Philip E. Dennison, Yi Qi, Susan K. Meerdink, Raymond F. Kokaly, David M. Thompson, Craig S.T. Daughtry, Miguel Quemada, Dar A. Roberts, Paul Gader, Erin Wetherley, Izaya Numata, Keely L. Roth
US Costal Research Program: Fostering academic research
The US Coastal Research Program (USCRP) was founded in 2016 through a grassroots initiative of scientists, researchers, and practitioners to address nearshore coastal research priorities of greatest relevance to coastal communities and build a skilled US coastal workforce. The USCRP supports academic research to address challenges identified through thematic workshops and pair academic...
Authors
Julie Dean Rosati, Nicole A. Elko, Hilary F. Stockdon, Jeff W. Lillycrop, Mary A. Cialone