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New York Water Science Center publications

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Filter Total Items: 683

Chronic and episodic acidification of streams along the Appalachian Trail corridor, eastern United States

Acidic atmospheric deposition has adversely affected aquatic ecosystems globally. As emissions and deposition of sulfur (S) and nitrogen (N) have declined in recent decades across North America and Europe, ecosystem recovery is evident in many surface waters. However, persistent chronic and episodic acidification remain important concerns in vulnerable regions. We evaluated acidification in 269 he
Authors
Douglas A. Burns, Todd McDonnell, Karen C. Rice, Gregory B. Lawrence, Timothy Sullivan

Declining aluminum toxicity and the role of exposure duration on brook trout mortality in acidified streams of the Adirondack Mountains, New York, USA

Mortality of brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis and water chemistry were characterized in 6 headwater streams in the western Adirondacks of New York during spring 2015, 2016, and 2017 and compared with results from analogous tests done between 1980 and 2003 in many of the same streams, to assess temporal changes in toxicity and inorganic monomeric aluminum (Ali) concentrations, and the role of Ali 
Authors
Barry P. Baldigo, Scott George, Gregory B. Lawrence, Eric A. Paul

Slug-test analysis of selected wells at an earthen dam site in southern Westchester County, New York

In 2005, the U.S. Geological Survey began a cooperative study with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection to characterize the local groundwater-flow system and identify potential sources of seeps on the southern embankment of the Hillview Reservoir in southern Westchester County, New York. The earthen embankment comprises low-permeability glacial clays that were excavated from th
Authors
Michael L. Noll, Anthony Chu, William D. Capurso

Recovery of soils from acidic deposition may exacerbate nitrogen export from forested watersheds

Effects of ambient decreases in N deposition on forest N cycling remain unclear as soils recover from acidic deposition. To investigate, repeated soil sampling data were related to deposition, vegetation, and stream data, for 2000–2015 in North and South Buck Creek watersheds, in the Adirondack region of New York, USA. In 63 other Adirondack streams, NO3− concentrations were also compared between
Authors
Gregory B. Lawrence, Sara E. Scanga, Robert D. Sabo

Water for Long Island: Now and for the future

Do you ever wonder where your water comes from? If you live in Nassau or Suffolk County, the answer is, groundwater. Groundwater is water that started out as precipitation (rain and snow melt) and seeped into the ground. This seepage recharges the freshwater stored underground, in the spaces between the grains of sand and gravel in what are referred to as aquifers. Long Island has three primary aq

Authors
John P. Masterson, Robert F. Breault

Chemical and physical controls on mercury source signatures in stream fish from the northeastern United States

Streams in the northeastern U.S. receive mercury (Hg) in varying proportions from atmospheric deposition and legacy point sources, making it difficult to attribute shifts in fish concentrations directly back to changes in Hg source management. Mercury stable isotope tracers were utilized to relate sources of Hg to co-located fish and bed sediments from 23 streams across a forested to urban-industr
Authors
Sarah E. Janssen, Karen Riva-Murray, John F. DeWild, Jacob M. Ogorek, Michael T. Tate, Peter C. Van Metre, David P. Krabbenhoft, James F. Coles

Drinking water quality in the glacial aquifer system, northern USA

Groundwater supplies 50% of drinking water worldwide, but compromised water quality from anthropogenic and geogenic contaminants can limit usage of groundwater as a drinking water source. Groundwater quality in the glacial aquifer system, USA (GLAC), is presented in the context of a hydrogeologic framework that divides the study area into 17 hydrogeologic terranes. Results are reported at aquifer-
Authors
Melinda L. Erickson, Richard M. Yager, Leon J. Kauffman, John T. Wilson

Cross-scale interactions dictate regional lake carbon flux and productivity response to future climate

Lakes support globally important food webs through algal productivity and contribute significantly to the global carbon cycle. However, predictions of how broad-scale lake carbon flux and productivity may respond to future climate are extremely limited. Here, we used an integrated modeling framework to project changes in lake-specific and regional primary productivity and carbon fluxes under 21st
Authors
Jacob Aaron Zwart, Zachary J Hanson, Jordan Read, Michael N. Fienen, Alan F. Hamlet, Diogo Bolster, Stuart E. Jones

Widespread diminishing anthropogenic effects on calcium in freshwaters

Calcium (Ca) is an essential element for almost all living organisms. Here, we examined global variation and controls of freshwater Ca concentrations, using 440 599 water samples from 43 184 inland water sites in 57 countries. We found that the global median Ca concentration was 4.0 mg L−1 with 20.7% of the water samples showing Ca concentrations ≤ 1.5 mg L−1, a threshold considered critical for t
Authors
Gesa A. Weyhenmeyer, Jens Hartmann, Dag O. Hessen, Jiří Kopáček, Josef Hejzlar, Stéphan Jacquet, Stephen K. Hamilton, Piet Verburg, Taylor H. Leach, Martin Schmid, Giovanna Flaim, Tiina Nõges, Peeter Nõges, Valerie C. Wentzky, Michela Rogora, James A. Rusak, Sarian Kosten, Andrew M. Paterson, Katrin Teubner, Scott N. Higgins, Gregory B. Lawrence, Külli Kangur, Ilga Kokorite, Leonardo Cerasino, Clara Funk, Rebecca G. Harvey, Florentina Moatar, Heleen de Wit, Thomas Zechmeister

The presence of antibiotic resistance genes in coastal soil and sediment samples from the eastern seaboard of the USA

Infections from antibiotic resistant microorganisms are considered to be one of the greatest global public health challenges that result in huge annual economic losses. While genes that impart resistance to antibiotics (AbR) existed long before the discovery and use of antibiotics, anthropogenic uses of antibiotics in agriculture, domesticated animals, and humans are known to influence the prevale
Authors
Dale W. Griffin, William Benzel, Shawn C. Fisher, Michael J. Focazio, Luke R. Iwanowicz, Keith A. Loftin, Timothy J. Reilly, Daniel Jones

Response of water chemistry and young-of-year brook trout to channel and watershed liming in streams showing lagging recovery from acidic deposition

Reductions in sulfur emissions have initiated chemical recovery of surface waters impacted by acidic deposition in the Adirondack region of New York State. However, acidified streams remain common in the region, which limits recovery of brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) populations. To investigate liming as a method to accelerate recovery of brook trout, the channels of two acidified streams wer
Authors
Daniel C Josephson, Gregory B. Lawrence, Scott D. George, Jason Siemion, Barry P. Baldigo, Clifford E. Kraft

Groundwater quality in the Delaware, Genesee, and St. Lawrence River Basins, New York, 2015

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, collected groundwater samples from 5 production wells and 5 domestic wells in the Delaware River Basin, 8 production wells and 7 domestic wells in the Genesee River Basin, and 1 municipal well, 7 production wells, and 13 domestic wells in the St. Lawrence River Basin in New York. All sample
Authors
Tia-Marie Scott, Elizabeth A. Nystrom, James E. Reddy