Publications
These publications showcase the significant science conducted in our Science Centers.
Filter Total Items: 16780
Progress and challenges in coupled hydrodynamic-ecological estuarine modeling
Numerical modeling has emerged over the last several decades as a widely accepted tool for investigations in environmental sciences. In estuarine research, hydrodynamic and ecological models have moved along parallel tracks with regard to complexity, refinement, computational power, and incorporation of uncertainty. Coupled hydrodynamic-ecological models have been used to assess ecosystem processe
Authors
Neil K. Ganju, Mark J. Brush, Brenda Rashleigh, Alfredo L. Aretxabaleta, Pilar del Barrio, Jason S. Grear, Lora A. Harris, Samuel J. Lake, Grant McCardell, James O'Donnell, David K. Ralston, Richard P. Signell, Jeremy Testa, Jamie M. P. Vaudrey
Elevation dynamics in a restored versus a submerging salt marsh in Long Island Sound
Accelerated sea-level rise (SLR) poses the threat of salt marsh submergence, especially in marshes that are relatively low-lying. At the same time, restoration efforts are producing new low-lying marshes, many of which are thriving and avoiding submergence. To understand the causes of these different fates, we studied two Long Island Sound marshes: one that is experiencing submergence and mudflat
Authors
Shimon C. Anisfeld, Troy D. Hill, Donald R. Cahoon
Elastic stress transmission and transformation (ESTT) by confined liquid: A new mechanics for fracture in elastic lithosphere of the earth
We report on a new mechanical principle, which suggests that a confined liquid in the elastic lithosphere has the potential to transmit a maximum applied compressive stress. This stress can be transmitted to the internal contacts between rock and liquid and would then be transformed into a normal compressive stress with tangential tensile stress components. During this process, both effective comp
Authors
Xing-Wang Xu, Stephen Peters, Guang-He Liang, Bao-Lin Zhang
Physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of selected headwater streams along the Allegheny Front, Blair County, Pennsylvania, July 2011–September 2013
The Altoona Water Authority (AWA) obtains all of its water supply from headwater streams that drain western Blair County, an area underlain in part by black shale of the Marcellus Formation. Development of the shale-gas reservoirs will require new access roads, stream crossing, drill-pad construction, and pipeline installation, activities that have the potential to alter existing stream channel mo
Authors
Dennis J. Low, Robin A. Brightbill, Heather L. Eggleston, Jeffrey J. Chaplin
Distribution and diversity of tunicates utilizing eelgrass as substrate in the western North Atlantic between 39° and 47° north latitude (New Jersey to Newfoundland)
Seagrass meadows are ecologically important habitats that are declining globally at an accelerating rate due to natural and anthropogenic stressors. Their decline is a serious concern as this habitat provides many ecosystem services. Eelgrass (Zostera marina) is the dominant seagrass species in the western North Atlantic. It has recently been established that invasive tunicate species possibly thr
Authors
M R Carman, Phillip D Colarusso, Eric P Nelson, David W Grunden, Melisa C Wong, Cynthia McKenzie, Kyle Matheson, Jeffrey G. Davidson, Sophia Fox, Hilary A. Neckles, Holly Bayley, Stephen Schott, Jennifer A Dijkstra, Sarah Stewart-Clark
Arsenic in groundwater of Licking County, Ohio, 2012—Occurrence and relation to hydrogeology
Arsenic concentrations were measured in samples from 168 domestic wells in Licking County, Ohio, to document arsenic concentrations in a wide variety of wells and to identify hydrogeologic factors associated with arsenic concentrations in groundwater. Elevated concentrations of arsenic (greater than 10.0 micrograms per liter [µg/L]) were detected in 12 percent of the wells (about 1 in 8). The maxi
Authors
Mary Ann Thomas
The effectiveness of water-treatment systems for arsenic used in 11 homes in Southwestern and Central Ohio, 2013
In 2013, the U.S. Geological Survey and the Miami Conservancy District investigated the effectiveness of methods used to remove arsenic from drinking water at 11 homes in southwestern and central Ohio. The untreated (raw) ground-water had arsenic concentrations of 7.7–382 micrograms per liter (µg/L), and the median concentration was 30 µg/L. The pH was neutral to slightly alkaline, and redox condi
Authors
Mary Ann Thomas, Mike Ekberg
Spatial capture-recapture: a promising method for analyzing data collected using artificial cover objects
Spatial capture–recapture (SCR) is a relatively recent development in ecological statistics that provides a spatial context for estimating abundance and space use patterns, and improves inference about absolute population density. SCR has been applied to individual encounter data collected noninvasively using methods such as camera traps, hair snares, and scat surveys. Despite the widespread use o
Authors
Chris Sutherland, David Munoz, David A.W. Miller, Evan H. Campbell Grant
Baseline glucocorticoids are drivers of body mass gain in a diving seabird
Life-history trade-offs are influenced by variation in individual state, with individuals in better condition often completing life-history stages with greater success. Although resource accrual significantly impacts key life-history decisions such as the timing of reproduction, little is known about the underlying mechanisms driving resource accumulation. Baseline corticosterone (CORT, the primar
Authors
Holly Hennin, Alicia Berlin, Oliver P. Love
Mercury remediation in wetland sediment using zero-valent iron and granular activated carbon
Wetlands are hotspots for production of toxic methylmercury (MeHg) that can bioaccumulate in the food web. The objective of this study was to determine whether the application of zero-valent iron (ZVI) or granular activated carbon (GAC) to wetland sediment could reduce MeHg production and bioavailability to benthic organisms. Field mesocosms were installed in a wetland fringing Hodgdon Pond (Maine
Authors
Ariel S. Lewis, Thomas G. Huntington, Mark C. Marvin-DiPasquale, Aria Amirbahman
Integrating geological archives and climate models for the mid-Pliocene warm period
The mid-Pliocene Warm Period (mPWP) offers an opportunity to understand a warmer-than-present world and assess the predictive ability of numerical climate models. Environmental reconstruction and climate modelling are crucial for understanding the mPWP, and the synergy of these two, often disparate, fields has proven essential in confirming features of the past and in turn building confidence in p
Authors
Alan M. Haywood, Harry J. Dowsett, Aisling M. Dolan
Bioaccessibility tests accurately estimate bioavailability of lead to quail
Hazards of soil-borne Pb to wild birds may be more accurately quantified if the bioavailability of that Pb is known. To better understand the bioavailability of Pb to birds, we measured blood Pb concentrations in Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) fed diets containing Pb-contaminated soils. Relative bioavailabilities were expressed by comparison with blood Pb concentrations in quail fed a Pb aceta
Authors
W. Nelson Beyer, Nicholas T Basta, Rufus L. Chaney, Paula F. P. Henry, David Mosby, Barnett A. Rattner, Kirk G. Scheckel, Dan Sprague, John Weber