Publications
These publications showcase the significant science conducted in our Science Centers.
Filter Total Items: 16780
Metapopulation viability of an endangered shorebird depends on dispersal and human-created habitats: Piping plovers (Charadrius melodus) and prairie rivers
Background
Many species are distributed as metapopulations in dynamic landscapes, where habitats change through space and time. Individuals locate habitat through dispersal, and the relationship between a species and landscape characteristics can have profound effects on population persistence. Despite the importance of connectivity in dynamic environments, few empirical studies have examined tem
Authors
Daniel H. Catlin, Sara L. Zeigler, M. Bomberger Brown, Lauren R. Dinan, James D. Fraser, Kelsi L. Hunt, Joel G. Jorgensen
Hydrologic data and groundwater-flow simulations in the Brown Ditch Watershed, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, near Beverly Shores and Town of Pines, Indiana
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collected data and simulated groundwater flow to increase understanding of the hydrology and the effects of drainage alterations on the water table in the vicinity of Great Marsh, near Beverly Shores and Town of Pines, Indiana. Prior land-management practices have modified drainage and caused changes in the distribution of open water, streams and ditches, and grou
Authors
David C. Lampe
Hydrologic controls on nitrogen cycling processes and functional gene abundance in sediments of a groundwater flow-through lake
The fate and transport of inorganic nitrogen (N) is a critically important issue for human and aquatic ecosystem health because discharging N-contaminated groundwater can foul drinking water and cause algal blooms. Factors controlling N-processing were examined in sediments at three sites with contrasting hydrologic regimes at a lake on Cape Cod, MA. These factors included water chemistry, seepage
Authors
Deborah L. Stoliker, Deborah A. Repert, Richard L. Smith, Bongkeun Song, Denis R. LeBlanc, Timothy D. McCobb, Christopher Conaway, Sung Pil Hyun, Dong-Chan Koh, Hee Sun Moon, Douglas B. Kent
Application of effective discharge analysis to environmental flow decision-making
Well-informed river management decisions rely on an explicit statement of objectives, repeatable analyses, and a transparent system for assessing trade-offs. These components may then be applied to compare alternative operational regimes for water resource infrastructure (e.g., diversions, locks, and dams). Intra- and inter-annual hydrologic variability further complicates these already complex en
Authors
S. Kyle McKay, Mary Freeman, A.P. Covich
Study of biological communities subject to imperfect detection: Bias and precision of community N-mixture abundance models in small-sample situations
Community N-mixture abundance models for replicated counts provide a powerful and novel framework for drawing inferences related to species abundance within communities subject to imperfect detection. To assess the performance of these models, and to compare them to related community occupancy models in situations with marginal information, we used simulation to examine the effects of mean abundan
Authors
Yuichi Yamaura, Marc Kery, Andy Royle
Prebreeding survival of Roseate Terns Sterna dougallii varies with sex, hatching order and hatching date
Unequal sex ratios can reduce the productivity of animal populations and are especially prevalent among endangered species. A cohort of 333 Roseate Tern Sterna dougallii chicks at a site where the adult sex ratio was skewed towards females was sexed at hatching and followed through fledging and return to the breeding area, and subsequently during adulthood. The entire regional metapopulation was s
Authors
Ian C. T. Nisbet, David Monticelli, Jeffrey A. Spendelow, Patricia Szczys
Network global navigation satellite system surveys to harmonize American and Canadian datum for the Lake Champlain Basin
Historically high flood levels were observed during flooding in Lake Champlain and the Richelieu River from late April through May 2011. Flooding was caused by record spring precipitation and snowmelt from the third highest cumulative snowfall year on record, which included a warm, saturated late spring snowpack. Flood stage was exceeded for a total of 67 days from April 13 to June 19, 2011. Durin
Authors
Robert H. Flynn, Paul H. Rydlund, Daniel J. Martin
A hierarchical model of daily stream temperature using air-water temperature synchronization, autocorrelation, and time lags
Water temperature is a primary driver of stream ecosystems and commonly forms the basis of stream classifications. Robust models of stream temperature are critical as the climate changes, but estimating daily stream temperature poses several important challenges. We developed a statistical model that accounts for many challenges that can make stream temperature estimation difficult. Our model iden
Authors
Benjamin H. Letcher, Daniel Hocking, Kyle O'Neil, Andrew R. Whiteley, Keith H. Nislow, Matthew O'Donnell
Assessment of canyon wall failure process from multibeam bathymetry and Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) observations, U.S. Atlantic continental margin
Over the last few years, canyons along the northern U.S. Atlantic continental margin have been the focus of intensive research examining canyon evolution, submarine geohazards, benthic ecology and deep-sea coral habitat. New high-resolution multibeam bathymetry and Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) dives in the major shelf-breaching and minor slope canyons, provided the opportunity to investigate th
Authors
Jason D. Chaytor, Amanda W.J. Demopoulos, Uri S. ten Brink, Christopher D. P. Baxter, Andrea M. Quattrini, Daniel S. Brothers
The “Anthropocene” epoch: Scientific decision or political statement?
The proposal for the “Anthropocene” epoch as a formal unit of the geologic time scale has received extensive attention in scientific and public media. However, most articles on the Anthropocene misrepresent the nature of the units of the International Chronostratigraphic Chart, which is produced by the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) and serves as the basis for the geologic time sca
Authors
Stanley C. Finney, Lucy E. Edwards
Tarangire revisited: Consequences of declining connectivity in a tropical ungulate population
The hyper-abundance of migratory wildlife in many ecosystems depends on maintaining access to seasonally available resources. In Eastern and Southern Africa, land-use change and a loss of connectivity have coincided with widespread declines in the abundance and geographic range of ungulate populations. Using photographic capture-mark-recapture, we examine the historical pattern of loss of connecti
Authors
Thomas A. Morrison, William A. Link, William D. Newmark, Charles A.H. Foley, Douglas T. Bolger
Reevaluating the age of the Walden Creek Group and the kinematic evolution of the western Blue Ridge, southern Appalachians
An integrated synthesis of existing datasets (detailed geologic mapping, geochronologic, paleontologic, geophysical) with new paleontologic and geochemical investigations of rocks previously interpreted as part of the Neoproterozoic Walden Creek Group in southeastern Tennessee suggest a necessary reevaluation of the kinematics and structural architecture of the Blue Ridge Foothills. The western Bl
Authors
J. Ryan Thigpen, Robert D. Hatcher, Linda C. Kah, John E. Repetski