Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Publications

These publications showcase the significant science conducted in our Science Centers.

Filter Total Items: 16780

Passive experimental warming decouples air and sediment temperatures in a salt marsh

Open top chambers (OTCs) are a commonly used passive warming technique in experimental warming studies. OTCs have been shown to be effective in multiple types of terrestrial systems, but their utility in wetland environments remains uncertain. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effectiveness of using OTCs to warm a temperate salt marsh across diurnal and seasonal cycles. We found that
Authors
Joanna C. Carey, Kevin D. Kroeger, Babak Zafari, Jianwu Tang

Necropsy-based wild fish health assessment

Anthropogenic influences from increased nutrients and chemical contaminants, to habitat alterations and climate change, can have significant effects on fish populations. Adverse effects monitoring, utilizing biomarkers from the organismal to the molecular level, can be used to assess the cumulative effects on fishes and other organisms. Fish health has been used worldwide as an indicator of aquati
Authors
Vicki S. Blazer, Heather L. Walsh, Ryan P. Braham, Cheyenne R. Smith

Modelling sound attenuation in heterogeneous environments for improved bioacoustic sampling of wildlife populations

Acoustic sampling methods are becoming increasingly important in biological monitoring. Sound attenuation is one of the most important dynamics affecting the utility of acoustic data as it directly affects the probability of detection of individuals by acoustic sensor arrays and especially the localization of acoustic signals necessary in telemetry studies. Therefore, models of sound attenuation a
Authors
J. Andrew Royle

Latitudinal limits to the predicted increase of the peatland carbon sink with warming

The carbon sink potential of peatlands depends on the balance of carbon uptake by plants and microbial decomposition. The rates of both these processes will increase with warming but it remains unclear which will dominate the global peatland response. Here we examine the global relationship between peatland carbon accumulation rates during the last millennium and planetary-scale climate space. A p
Authors
Angela Gallego-Sala, Dan Charman, Simon Brewer, Sue Page, I. Colin Prentice, Pierre Friedlingstein, Steven Morley, Matthew Amesbury, David Beilman, Svante Bjorck, Tatiana Blyakharchuk, Christopher Bochicchio, Robert K Booth, Joan Bunbury, Philip Camill, Donna Carless, Rodney A. Chimner, Michael Clifford, Elizabeth Cressey, Colin Courtney-Mustaphi, Francois De Vleeschouwer, Rixt de Jong, Barbara Fialkiawicz-Koziel, Sarah A Finkelstein, Michelle Garneau, Esther N. Githumbi, John Hribjlan, James Holmquist, Paul Hughes, Chris D. Jones, Miriam Jones, Edgar Karofeld, Eric S. Klein, Ulla Kokfelt, Atte Korhola, Terri Lacourse, Gael LeRoux, Mariusz Lamentowicz, David Large, Martin Lavoie, Julie Loisel, Helen MacKay, Glen M. MacDonald, Markku Makila, Gabriel Magnan, R. Marchant, Katarzyna Marcisz, Antonio Martinez-Cortizas, Charly Massa, Paul Mathijssen, Dmitri Mauquoy, Timothy Mighall, Fraser J.G. Mitchell, Patrick Moss, J. Nichols, P.O. Oksanen, L. Orme, Maara S. Packalen, Stephen Robinson, Thomas P. Roland, Nicole K. Sanderson, A. B. K. Sannel, Noemi Silva-Sanchez, Natasha Steinberg, Graeme T. Swindles, T. Edward Turner, Joanna Uglow, M. Valiranta, Simon van Bellen, Marjolein van der Linden, Guoping Wang, Zicheng Yu, Joana Zaragoza-Castells, Yan Zhao

Methods used to reconstruct historical daily streamflows in northern New Jersey and southeastern New York, water years 1922–2010

A study was conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, to reconstruct streamflows for use in the RiverWare model. Methods and data used to estimate daily reconstructed streamflows at 53 sites in selected subbasins in northern New Jersey and southeastern New York are presented in the report. These subbasins contain one or more
Authors
R. Edward Hickman, Amy R. McHugh

Isolation, characterization and molecular identification of a novel aquareovirus that infects the endangered fountain darter, Etheostoma fonticola

The fountain darter Etheostoma fonticola (FOD) is a federally endangered fish listed under the US Endangered Species Act. Here, we identified and characterized a novel aquareovirus isolated from wild fountain darters inhabiting the San Marcos River. This virus was propagated in Chinook salmon embryo (CHSE)-214, rainbow trout gonad-2 and fathead minnow cells at 15°C. The epithelioma papulosum cypri
Authors
Luke R. Iwanowicz, Deborah D. Iwanowicz, Cynthia R. Adams, Teresa Lewis, Tom Brandt, Lakyn R. Sanders, Robert S. Cornman

Health and disease treatment in captive and reintroduced Whooping Cranes

The principles and applications of medicine in Whooping Cranes (Grus americana) are similar to that for other crane species, though the necessity of managing Whooping Crane health across the captive, reintroduced, and remnant populations poses particular challenges. In this chapter, we review the important aspects of crane medicine relevant to managing Whooping Cranes in captive and reintroduced e
Authors
Glenn H. Olsen, Barry Hartup, Sandie Black

Advantages and limitations to the use of optical measurements to study sediment properties

Measurements of optical properties have been used for decades to study particle distributions in the ocean. They are useful for estimating suspended mass concentration as well as particle-related properties such as size, composition, packing (particle porosity or density), and settling velocity. Measurements of optical properties are, however, biased, as certain particles, because of their size, c
Authors
Emmanuel Boss, Christopher R. Sherwood, Paul Hill, Tim Milligan

Indicators of exposure to estrogenic compounds at Great Lakes Areas of Concern: Species and site comparisons

Adverse effects resulting from potential exposure of wild fishes to estrogenic endocrine disruptors was assessed at seven United States Great Lakes Areas of Concern using biomarkers ranging from organismal (gonadosomatic indices) to tissue/plasma (histology, plasma vitellogenin) and molecular (hepatic gene transcripts) levels. Biomonitoring was conducted on pelagic, top predator species, largemout
Authors
Vicki S. Blazer, Heather L. Walsh, Cassidy H. Shaw, Luke R. Iwanowicz, Ryan P. Braham, Patricia Mazik

Monitoring responses to variation in food supply for a migratory waterfowl: American Black Duck (Anas rubripes) in winter

Wintering Black Ducks (Anas rubripes) concentrate in wetlands along the Atlantic coast where natural and anthropogenic disturbances have increased over the last 50 years, a period in which the population of Black Ducks has declined. We studied the sensitivity of Black Ducks to perturbations in food supply that often result from disturbances by storms, predators, and people. In the paper, we charac
Authors
Perry S. Barboza, Dennis G. Jorde

High-water marks from Hurricane Sandy for coastal areas of Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts, October 2012

Because coastal areas in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts were heavily affected by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), under a mission agreement with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, collected storm tide high-water marks in those coastal areas. This effort was undertaken to better understand the areal extent and impact of storm tides resulting fr
Authors
Lance J. Ostiguy, Timothy C. Sargent, Brittney Izbicki, Gardner C. Bent

Neutral genetic and phenotypic variation within and among isolated headwater Brook Trout populations

Isolated populations are challenging to manage and conserve as they are particularly vulnerable to genetic drift, allelic fixation, inbreeding, and may express markedly reduced phenotypic variability. We sought to improve our understanding of how spatial isolation, occupancy range, and restricted gene flow influence contemporary phenotypic variation within and among native populations of Brook Tro
Authors
T. Casey Weathers, David C. Kazyak, Jay R. Stauffer, Matt A. Kulp, Steve E. Moore, Tim L. King, John E. Carlson