Publications
These publications showcase the significant science conducted in our Science Centers.
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An evaluation of transmitter effects on adult and juvenile Common Terns using leg-loop harness attachments
Marking birds with transmitters allows for the collection of data that are critical for fully understanding avian life history, but researchers must also be confident that performing such studies is as safe as possible for transmittered individuals. While much could be learned from tracking juveniles across dependency periods and first migration, doing so would require a harness-based attachment m
Authors
Evan J Buck, Jeffery D. Sullivan, Claire S. Teitelbaum, David F. Brinker, Peter C. McGowan, Diann Prosser
Modeled distribution shifts of North American birds over four decades based on suitable climate alone do not predict observed shifts
As climate change alters the global environment, it is critical to understand the relationship between shifting climate suitability and species distributions. Key questions include whether observed changes in population abundance are aligned with the velocity and direction of shifts predicted by climate suitability models and if the responses are consistent among species with similar ecological tr
Authors
Qiongyu Huang, Brooke L. Bateman, Nicole Michel, Anna M. Pidgeon, Voelker C. Radeloff, Patrician Heglund, Andrew J. Allstadt, Jesse Wong, John R. Sauer
Underwater hearing in sea ducks with applications for reducing gillnet bycatch through acoustic deterrence
As diving foragers, sea ducks are vulnerable to underwater anthropogenic activity, including ships, underwater construction, seismic surveys and gillnet fisheries. Bycatch in gillnets is a contributing source of mortality for sea ducks, killing hundreds of thousands of individuals annually. We researched underwater hearing in sea duck species to increase knowledge of underwater avian acoustic sens
Authors
Kathleen A. McGrew, Sara E. Crowell, Jonathan Fiely, Alicia Berlin, Glenn H. Olsen, Jennifer James, Heather Hopkins, Christopher J. Williams
Water-quality monitoring of the Merrimack River watershed in Massachusetts
The U.S. Geological Survey has been working in collaboration with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection on a project to collect water-quality data from the Merrimack River watershed since April 2020. Twelve locations in the Merrimack River watershed are being sampled for nutrients (such as nitrogen), metals (such as aluminum), Escherichia coli bacteria, and other measures.
Authors
Kaitlin Laabs, Natalie L. Roth, Laura K. Yates
Behavior of potentially toxic elements from stoker-boiler fly ash in Interior Alaska: Paired batch leaching and solid-phase characterization
Despite significant investigation of fly ash spills and mineralogical controls on the release of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) from fly ash, interactions with the surficial environment remain relatively poorly understood. We conducted 90-day batch leaching studies with paired analysis of supernatant and solid-phase mineralogy to assess the elemental release and transformation of fly ash upon r
Authors
Kyle P Milke, Kiana Mitchell, Sarah M. Hayes, Carlin J. Green, Jennifer Guerard
Higher temperature sensitivity of ecosystem respiration in low marsh compared to high elevation marsh ecosystems
Salt marsh habitats contain some of the highest quantities of soil organic carbon (C) per unit area, but increasing anthropogenic stressors threaten their ability to maintain themselves as large C reservoirs in some regions. We quantify rates of C gas exchange (methane [CH4] and carbon dioxide [CO2]) monthly across a 16-month period from a low nitrogen “reference” salt marsh on Cape Cod in New Eng
Authors
Joanna C. Carey, Kevin D. Kroeger, Jianwu Tang
Seasonal variability in macroinvertebrate assemblages in paired perennial and intermittent streams in Costa Rica
Ecological effects of flooding and drying events are relatively understudied in the Neotropics and less is known about these hydrological extremes in intermittent streams. Neotropical headwater streams in Costa Rica provide opportunities to evaluate the response of macroinvertebrate communities to seasonal changes in flow regime in relatively human undisturbed systems. We quantified the effects of
Authors
Darixa D Hernandez-Abrams, Scott Connelly, Mary Freeman, Pablo E. Gutierrez-Fonseca, Seth J. Wenger
Optical properties of dissolved organic matter in throughfall and stemflow vary across tree species and season in a temperate headwater forest
Tree-derived dissolved organic matter (DOM) comprises a significant carbon flux within forested watersheds. Few studies have assessed the optical properties of tree-derived DOM. To increase understanding of the factors controlling tree-derived DOM quality, we measured DOM optical properties, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and calcium concentrations in throughfall and stemflow for 17 individual rai
Authors
Kevin A Ryan, Thomas Adler, Ann T. Chalmers, Julia Perdrial, Stephen Sebestyen, James B. Shanley, Aron Stubbins
Embedded critical material flow: The case of niobium, the United States, and China
Niobium, often classified as critical, is typically embedded within steels essential for infrastructure and transportation. Most niobium-consuming countries are import-dependent on primary stage niobium, meaning traditional material flow analysis, which often excludes critical commodities embedded within products of large-scale industries, would miss important flows in the fabrication and manufact
Authors
Dalton Miles Mccaffrey, Nedal T. Nassar, Simon M. Jowitt, Abraham J. Padilla, Laurence R. Bird
Streamlined approach for assessing embedded consumption of lithium and cobalt in the United States
In today's complex global supply chains, time and data intensive analyses are required to understand global flows of mineral commodities from mine to consumer, particularly for mineral commodities in products (electronics, automobiles, etc.) that contain multiple parts with many mineral commodities. National and regional analyses require additional time and data to incorporate international trade
Authors
Elisa Alonso, David G. Pineault, Nedal T. Nassar
Negligible atmospheric release of methane from decomposing hydrates in mid-latitude oceans
Naturally occurring gas hydrates may contribute to a positive feedback for global warming because they sequester large amounts of the potent greenhouse gas methane in ice-like deposits that could be destabilized by increasing ocean/atmospheric temperatures. Most hydrates occur within marine sediments; gas liberated during the decomposition of seafloor hydrates or originating with other methane poo
Authors
DongJoo Joung, Carolyn D. Ruppel, John R. Southon, Thomas Weber, John D. Kessler
Mechanisms and magnitude of dissolved silica release from a New England salt marsh
Salt marshes are sites of silica (SiO2) cycling and export to adjacent coastal systems, where silica availability can exert an important control over coastal marine primary productivity. Mineral weathering and biologic fixation concentrate silica in these systems; however, the relative contributions of geologic versus biogenic silica dissolution to this export are not known. We collected water sam
Authors
Olivia Williams, Andrew C. Kurtz, Meagan J. Eagle, Kevin D. Kroeger, Joseph Tamborski, Joanna C. Carey