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

Filter Total Items: 16780

Coding conventions and principles for a National Land-Change Modeling Framework

This report establishes specific rules for writing computer source code for use with the National Land-Change Modeling Framework (NLCMF). These specific rules consist of conventions and principles for writing code primarily in the C and C++ programming languages. Collectively, these coding conventions and coding principles create an NLCMF programming style. In addition to detailed naming conventio
Authors
David I. Donato

Sand ridge morphology and bedform migration patterns derived from bathymetry and backscatter on the inner-continental shelf offshore of Assateague Island, USA

The U.S. Geological Survey and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration conducted geophysical and hydrographic surveys, respectively, along the inner-continental shelf of Fenwick and Assateague Islands, Maryland and Virginia over the last 40 years. High resolution bathymetry and backscatter data derived from surveys over the last decade are used to describe the morphology and p
Authors
Elizabeth A. Pendleton, Laura L. Brothers, E. Robert Thieler, Edward Sweeney

Allowable take of a population of red-winged blackbirds in the northern Great Plains

Red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA), which has provisions against take. Blackbirds may be taken legally without a Federal permit, however, under an existing Depredation Order (50 CFR 21.43), which allows for take of blackbirds that are in the process of doing, or about to do, agricultural damage. Modeling the effect of take on blackb
Authors
Michael C. Runge, John R. Sauer

Water quality and quantity and simulated surface-water and groundwater flow in the Laurel Hill Creek Basin, southwestern Pennsylvania, 1991–2007

Laurel Hill Creek is considered one of the most pristine waterways in southwestern Pennsylvania and has high recreational value as a high-quality cold-water fishery; however, the upper parts of the basin have documented water-quality impairments. Groundwater and surface water are withdrawn for public water supply and the basin has been identified as a Critical Water Planning Area (CWPA) under the
Authors
Daniel G. Galeone, Dennis W. Risser, Lee W. Eicholtz, Scott A. Hoffman

Fifty-eighth supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union: Check-list of North American Birds

This is the 17th supplement since publication of the 7th edition of the Check-list of North American Birds (American Ornithologists' Union [AOU] 1998). It summarizes decisions made between April 15, 2016, and April 15, 2017, by the AOS's Committee on Classification and Nomenclature—North and Middle America. The Committee has continued to operate in the manner outlined in the 42nd Supplement
Authors
Terry Chesser, Kevin J Burns, Carla Cicero, Jon L. Dunn, Andrew W. Kratter, Irby J. Lovette, Pamela C. Rasmussen, J.V. Remsen, James D. Rising, Douglas F. Stotz, Kevin Winker

Acquisition of Borrelia burgdorferi infection by larval Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) associated with engorgement measures

Measuring rates of acquisition of the Lyme disease pathogen, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato Johnson, Schmid, Hyde, Steigerwalt & Brenner, by the larval stage of Ixodes scapularis Say is a useful tool for xenodiagnoses of B. burgdorferi in vertebrate hosts. In the nymphal and adult stages of I. scapularis, the duration of attachment to hosts has been shown to predict both body engorgement during b
Authors
Janelle Couret, M.C. Dyer, T.N. Mather, S. Han, J.I. Tsao, R.A. LeBrun, Howard S. Ginsberg

Cambrian origin of the CYP27C1-mediated vitamin A1-to-A2 switch, a key mechanism of vertebrate sensory plasticity

The spectral composition of ambient light varies across both space and time. Many species of jawed vertebrates adapt to this variation by tuning the sensitivity of their photoreceptors via the expression of CYP27C1, an enzyme that converts vitamin A1 into vitamin A2, thereby shifting the ratio of vitamin A1-based rhodopsin to red-shifted vitamin A2-based porphyropsin in the eye. Here, we show that
Authors
Ala Morshedian, Matthew B. Toomery, Gabriel E. Pollock, Rikard Frederiksen, Jennifer Enright, Stephen D. McCormick, M. Carter Cornwall, Gordon L. Fain, Joseph C. Corbo

Novel, continuous monitoring of fine‐scale movement using fixed‐position radiotelemetry arrays and random forest location fingerprinting

Radio‐tag signals from fixed‐position antennas are most often used to indicate presence or absence of individuals, or to estimate individual activity levels from signal strength variation within an antenna's detection zone. The potential of such systems to provide more precise information on tag location and movement has not been explored in great detail in an ecological setting.By reversing the r
Authors
Andrew B. Harbicht, Theodore R. Castro-Santos, William R. Ardren, Dimitry Gorsky, Dylan Fraser

Integration of vegetation community spatial data into a prescribed fire planning process at Shenandoah National Park, Virginia (USA)

Many eastern forest communities depend on fire for regeneration or are enhanced by fire as a restoration practice. However, the use of prescribed fire in the mesic forested environments and the densely populated regions of the eastern United States has been limited. The objective of our research was to develop a science-based approach to prioritizing the use of prescribed fire in appropriate fores
Authors
John A. Young, Carolyn G. Mahan, Melissa Forder

Borates, 2016

No abstract available.
Authors
Robert Crangle

Gypsum, 2016

No abstract available.
Authors
Robert Crangle

Landform features and seasonal precipitation predict shallow groundwater influence on temperature in headwater streams

Headwater stream responses to climate change will depend in part on groundwater‐surface water exchanges. We used linear modeling techniques to partition likely effects of shallow groundwater seepage and air temperature on stream temperatures for 79 sites in nine focal watersheds using hourly air and water temperature measurements collected during summer months from 2012 to 2015 in Shenandoah Natio
Authors
Zachary C. Johnson, Craig D. Snyder, Nathaniel P. Hitt