Publications
These publications showcase the significant science conducted in our Science Centers.
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Sprinting performance of two Iberian fish: Luciobarbus bocagei and Pseudochondrostoma duriense in an open channel flume
This paper presents sprinting data from Iberian barbel (Luciobarbus bocagei) and northern straight-mouth nase (Pseudochondrostoma duriense), volitionally swimming against high velocity flows (1.5, 2.5 and 3 m s−1) in an open channel flume. Swimming endurance and speed greatly exceeded previously published observations with both species attaining swim speeds >20 body lengths s−1. Flow velocity was
Authors
Francisco Javier Sanz-Ronda, Jorge Ruiz-Legazpi, Francisco Javier Bravo-Cordoba, Sergio Makrakis, Theodore R. Castro-Santos
Response of plant productivity to experimental flooding in a stable and a submerging marsh
Recent models of tidal marsh evolution rely largely on the premise that plants are most productive at an optimal flooding regime that occurs when soil elevations are somewhere between mean sea level and mean high tide. Here, we use 4 years of manipulative “marsh organ” flooding experiments to test the generality of this conceptual framework and to examine how the optimal flooding frequency may cha
Authors
Matthew L. Kirwan, Glenn R. Guntenspergen
A comparison of auditory brainstem responses across diving bird species
There is little biological data available for diving birds because many live in hard-to-study, remote habitats. Only one species of diving bird, the black-footed penguin (Spheniscus demersus), has been studied in respect to auditory capabilities (Wever et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 63:676–680, 1969). We, therefore, measured in-air auditory threshold in ten species of diving birds, using the audit
Authors
Sara E. Crowell, Alicia Berlin, Catherine E. Carr, Glenn H. Olsen, Ronald E. Therrien, Sally E. Yannuzzi, Darlene R. Ketten
Screening tool to evaluate the vulnerability of down-gradient receptors to groundwater contaminants from uncapped landfills
A screening tool for quantifying levels of concern for contaminants detected in monitoring wells on or near landfills to down-gradient receptors (streams, wetlands and residential lots) was developed and evaluated. The tool uses Quick Domenico Multi-scenario (QDM), a spreadsheet implementation of Domenico-based solute transport, to estimate concentrations of contaminants reaching receptors under s
Authors
Ronald J. Baker, Timothy J. Reilly, Anthony R. Lopez, Kristin M. Romanok, Edward W Wengrowski
Combining waterfowl and breeding bird survey data to estimate wood duck breeding population size in the Atlantic Flyway
We combined data from the Atlantic Flyway Breeding Waterfowl Survey (AFBWS) and the North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) to estimate the number of wood ducks (Aix sponsa) in the United States portion of the Atlantic Flyway from 1993 to 2013. The AFBWS is a plot-based survey that covers most of the northern and central portions of the Flyway; when analyzed with adjustments for survey time of d
Authors
Guthrie S. Zimmerman, John R. Sauer, Kathy Fleming, William A. Link, Pamela R. Garrettson
Accommodation space, relative sea level, and the archiving of paleo-earthquakes along subduction zones
The spatial variability of Holocene relative sea-level (RSL) change influences the capacities of coastal environments to accommodate a sedimentary record of paleoenvironmental change. In this study we couch a specific investigation in more general terms in order to demonstrate the applicability of the relative sea-level history approach to paleoseismic investigations. Using subsidence stratigraphy
Authors
Harvey M. Kelsey, Simon E. Engelhart, Jessica E. Pilarczyk, Benjamin P. Horton, Charles Rubin, Mudrik Daryono, Nazli Ismail, Andrea D. Hawkes, Christopher E. Bernhardt, Niamh Cahill
Unifying research on the fragmentation of terrestrial and aquatic habitats: patches, connectivity and the matrix in riverscapes
While there is an increasing emphasis in terrestrial ecology on determining the influence of the area that surrounds habitat patches (the landscape ‘matrix’) relative to the characteristics of the patches themselves, research on these aspects in running waters is still rather underrepresented.
Here we outline conceptual foundations of matrix ecology for stream and river ecosystems (‘riverscapes’)
Authors
Tibor Eros, Evan H. Campbell Grant
Spread of the Rat Lungworm (Angiostrongylus cantonensis) in Giant African Land Snails (Lissachatina fulica) in Florida, USA
The rat lungworm (Angiostrongylus cantonensis) is a parasitic nematode that causes rat lungworm disease. It is the leading cause of eosinophilic meningitis and is a zoonotic health risk. We confirmed the presence of A. cantonensis using species-specific, quantitative PCR in 18 of 50 (36%) giant African land snails (Lissachatina fulica) collected from Miami, Florida in May 2013. These snails were c
Authors
Deborah D. Iwanowicz, Lakyn R. Sanders, W. Bane Schill, Maniphet V Xayavong, Alexandre J da Silva, Yvonne Qvarnstrom, Trevor Smith
Mapping surficial minerals at high latitudes: The USGS 2014 imaging spectrometer data collection in Alaska
Passive optical remote sensing of high latitude regions faces many challenges including a short acquisition season and poor illumination due to low solar elevation. Additional complications are encountered in the identification of surface minerals for mineral resource characterization because minerals of interest commonly are exposed on steep terrain, further challenging reflectance retrieval and
Authors
Raymond F. Kokaly, Todd M. Hoefen, Garth Graham, Karen Kelly, Michaela Johnson, Bernard Hubbard, Richard Goldfarb
Towards automating measurements and predictions of Escherichia coli concentrations in the Cuyahoga River, Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio, 2012–14
Nowcasts are systems that can provide estimates of the current bacterial water-quality conditions based on predictive models using easily-measured, explanatory variables; nowcasts can provide the public with the information to make informed decisions on the risk associated with recreational activities in natural water bodies. Previous studies on the Cuyahoga River within Cuyahoga Valley National P
Authors
Amie M.G. Brady, Meg B. Plona
Effects of high salinity wastewater discharges on unionid mussels in the Allegheny River, Pennsylvania
We examined the effect of high salinity wastewater (brine) from oil and natural gas drilling on freshwater mussels in the Allegheny River, Pennsylvania, during 2012. Mussel cages (N = 5 per site) were deployed at two sites upstream and four sites downstream of a brine treatment facility on the Allegheny River. Each cage contained 20 juvenile northern riffleshell mussels Epioblasma torulosa rangian
Authors
Kathleen A. Patnode, Elizabeth Hittle, Robert Anderson, Lora Zimmerman, John W. Fulton