Publications
These publications showcase the significant science conducted in our Science Centers.
Filter Total Items: 16780
Seasonal weather patterns drive population vital rates and persistence in a stream fish
Climate change affects seasonal weather patterns, but little is known about the relative importance of seasonal weather patterns on animal population vital rates. Even when such information exists, data are typically only available from intensive fieldwork (e.g., mark–recapture studies) at a limited spatial extent. Here, we investigated effects of seasonal air temperature and precipitation (fall,
Authors
Yoichiro Kanno, Benjamin Letcher, Nathaniel P. Hitt, David A. Boughton, John E. B. Wofford, Elise Zipkin
Concentration and flux of total and dissolved phosphorus, total nitrogen, chloride, and total suspended solids for monitored tributaries of Lake Champlain, 1990-2012
Annual and daily concentrations and fluxes of total and dissolved phosphorus, total nitrogen, chloride, and total suspended solids were estimated for 18 monitored tributaries to Lake Champlain by using the Weighted Regressions on Time, Discharge, and Seasons regression model. Estimates were made for 21 or 23 years, depending on data availability, for the purpose of providing timely and accessible
Authors
Laura Medalie
Systematics of Vampyressa melissa Thomas, 1926 (Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae), with descriptions of two new species of Vampyressa
Vampyressa melissa is a poorly known phyllostomid bat listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Since its description in 1926, fewer than 40 V. melissa have been reported in the literature, and less than half of these may have been correctly identified. During revisionary studies of Vampyressa, we uncovered two previously unrecognized species related to V.
Authors
Valéria da C. Tavares, Alfred L. Gardner, Héctor E. Ramírez-Chaves, Paúl M. Velazco
Capture-recapture of white-tailed deer using DNA from fecal pellet-groups
Traditional methods for estimating white-tailed deer population size and density are affected by behavioral biases, poor detection in densely forested areas, and invalid techniques for estimating effective trapping area. We evaluated a noninvasive method of capture—recapture for white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) density estimation using DNA extracted from fecal pellets as an individual ma
Authors
Matthew J Goode, Jared T Beaver, Lisa I Muller, Joseph D. Clark, Frank T. van Manen, Craig T Harper, P Seth Basinger
Carbonate margin, slope, and basin facies of the Lisburne Group (Carboniferous-Permian) in northern Alaska
The Lisburne Group (Carboniferous-Permian) consists of a carbonate platform that extends for >1000 km across northern Alaska, and diverse margin, slope, and basin facies that contain world-class deposits of Zn and Ba, notable phosphorites, and petroleum source rocks. Lithologic, paleontologic, isotopic, geochemical, and seismic data gathered from outcrop and subsurface studies during the past 20 y
Authors
Julie A. Dumoulin, Craig A. Johnson, John F. Slack, Kenneth J. Bird, Michael T. Whalen, Thomas E. Moore, Anita G. Harris, Paul B. O'Sullivan
Minimal role of eastern fence lizards in Borrelia burgdorferi transmission in central New Jersey oak/pine woodlands
The Eastern fence lizard, Sceloporus undulatus, is widely distributed in eastern and central North America, ranging through areas with high levels of Lyme disease, as well as areas where Lyme disease is rare or absent. We studied the potential role of S. undulatus in transmission dynamics of Lyme spirochetes by sampling ticks from a variety of natural hosts at field sites in central New Jersey, an
Authors
Eric L. Rulison, Kaetlyn T Kerr, Megan C Dyer, Seungeun Han, Russell L. Burke, Jean I. Tsao, Howard S. Ginsberg
Mineral resource of the month: vermiculite
Vermiculite comprises a group of hydrated, laminar magnesium-aluminum-iron silicate minerals resembling mica. They are secondary minerals, typically altered biotite, iron-rich phlogopite or other micas or clay-like minerals that are themselves sometimes alteration products of amphibole, chlorite, olivine and pyroxene. Vermiculite deposits are associated with volcanic ultramafic rocks rich in magne
Authors
Arnold O. Tanner
Preliminary monitoring protocol for the tidal freshwater wetland restoration herbivory study in national capital parks--east: Appendix B
Four tidal freshwater wetland restoration projects have been undertaken within Anacostia Park on lands managed by the National Park Service since 1993. Monitoring the impacts of Canada goose (Branta canadensis) herbivory on the wetland vegetation will play a key role in determining the long-term health of these tidal freshwater wetland restorations. This Implementation Plan lays out monitoring for
Authors
Cairn Krafft, Jeffrey S. Hatfield
Accounting for false-positive acoustic detections of bats using occupancy models
1. Acoustic surveys have become a common survey method for bats and other vocal taxa. Previous work shows that bat echolocation may be misidentified, but common analytic methods, such as occupancy models, assume that misidentifications do not occur. Unless rare, such misidentifications could lead to incorrect inferences with significant management implications.
2. We fit a false-positive occupan
Authors
Matthew J. Clement, Thomas J. Rodhouse, Patricia C. Ormsbee, Joseph M. Szewczak, James D. Nichols
Photoperiod control of downstream movements of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar smolts
This study provides the first direct observations that photoperiod controls the initiation of downstream movement in Atlantic salmon Salmo salar smolts. Under simulated natural day length (LDN) conditions and seasonal increases in temperature, smolts increased their downstream movements five-fold for a period of 1 month in late spring. Under the same conditions, parr did not show changes in downst
Authors
Gayle B. Zydlewski, Daniel S. Stich, Stephen D. McCormick
Migratory patterns of hatchery and stream-reared Atlantic salmon Salmo salar smolts in the Connecticut River, U.S.A.
The timing of downstream migration and detection rates of hatchery-reared Atlantic salmon Salmo salar smolts and stream-reared smolts (stocked 2 years earlier as fry) were examined in the Connecticut River (U.S.A.) using passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags implanted into fish and then detected at a downstream fish bypass collection facility at Turners Falls, MA (river length 192 km). In two
Authors
Stephen D. McCormick, Alexander Haro, Darren T. Lerner, Michael F. O'Dea, Amy M. Regish
Development of intestinal ion-transporting mechanisms during smoltification and seawater acclimation in Atlantic salmon Salmo salar
This study investigated the expression of ion transporters involved in intestinal fluid absorption and presents evidence for developmental changes in abundance and tissue distribution of these transporters during smoltification and seawater (SW) acclimation of Atlantic salmonSalmo salar. Emphasis was placed on Na+, K+-ATPase (NKA) and Na+, K+, Cl− co-transporter (NKCC) isoforms, at both transcript
Authors
Henrik Sundh, Tom O. Nilsen, Jenny Lindström, Linda Hasselberg-Frank, Sigurd O. Stefansson, Stephen D. McCormick, K. Sundell