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These publications showcase the significant science conducted in our Science Centers.

Filter Total Items: 16782

Dead wood relative to slope severity in mesic loess bluff hardwood forests

To aid in identification of land within Vicksburg National Military Park that was subjected to forest restoration during the 1930s, I evaluated the hypothesized relationships between maximum live tree diameter or dead wood (standing and down) and severity of slope. Disproportionate mortality among early-successional, pioneer tree species suggested maturation of pioneer upland hardwood forests. As
Authors
Daniel J. Twedt

Streamflow and water-quality monitoring in response to young-of-year smallmouth bass (micropterus dolomieu) mortality in the Susquehanna River and major tributaries, with comparisons to the Delaware and Allegheny Rivers, Pennsylvania, 2008-10

Since 2005, spring hatched young-of-year (YOY) smallmouth bass in Pennsylvania reaches of the Susquehanna River have experienced above-normal mortality when summertime streamflows are near or lower than normal. Stress factors include, but are not limited to, low dissolved oxygen and elevated water temperatures during times critical for survival and development (critical period is May 1 through Jul
Authors
Jeffrey J. Chaplin, J. Kent Crawford

Volcanogenic massive sulfide occurrence model

Volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits, also known as volcanic-hosted massive sulfide, volcanic-associated massive sulfide, or seafloor massive sulfide deposits, are important sources of copper, zinc, lead, gold, and silver (Cu, Zn, Pb, Au, and Ag). These deposits form at or near the seafloor where circulating hydrothermal fluids driven by magmatic heat are quenched through mixing with bottom water
Authors
W.C. Pat Shanks, Randolph A. Koski, Dan L. Mosier, Klaus J. Schulz, Lisa A. Morgan, John F. Slack, W. Ian Ridley, Cynthia Dusel-Bacon, Robert R. Seal, Nadine M. Piatak

Comparative risk assessment of the first-generation anticoagulant rodenticide diphacinone to raptors

New regulatory restrictions have been placed on the use of some second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides in the United States, and in some situations this action may be offset by expanded use of first-generation compounds. We have recently conducted several studies with captive adult American kestrels and eastern screech-owls examining the toxicity of diphacinone (DPN) using both acute oral an
Authors
Barnett A. Rattner, Rebecca S. Lazarus, Karen M. Eisenreich, Katherine E. Horak, Steven F. Volker, Christopher M. Campton, John D. Eisemann, Carol U. Meteyer, John J. Johnson

Sea-floor geology and sedimentary processes in the vicinity of Cross Rip Channel, Nantucket Sound, offshore southeastern Massachusetts

Gridded multibeam bathymetry covers approximately 10.4 square kilometers of sea floor in the vicinity of Cross Rip Channel in Nantucket Sound, offshore southeastern Massachusetts. Although originally collected for charting purposes during National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration hydrographic survey H12007, these acoustic data, and the sea-floor sediment sampling and bottom photography stati
Authors
L. J. Poppe, K.Y. McMullen, S.D. Ackerman, J.D. Schaer, D.B. Wright

Sea-floor geology of Long Island Sound north of Duck Pond Point, New York

The U.S. Geological Survey, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection are mapping the sea floor in coastal areas of the northeastern United States. As part of the project, more than 100 square kilometers of multibeam-echosounder data, 23 sediment samples, bottom video, and 86 still photographs were obtained from an area i
Authors
K.Y. McMullen, L. J. Poppe, W. W. Danforth, D.S. Blackwood, J.D. Schaer, K.A. Glomb, E. F. Doran

On thinning of chains in MCMC

1. Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) is a simulation technique that has revolutionised the analysis of ecological data, allowing the fitting of complex models in a Bayesian framework. Since 2001, there have been nearly 200 papers using MCMC in publications of the Ecological Society of America and the British Ecological Society, including more than 75 in the journal Ecology and 35 in the Journal of A
Authors
William A. Link, Mitchell J. Eaton

Quality of water and bottom material in Breckenridge Reservoir, Virginia, September 2008 through August 2009

Breckenridge Reservoir is located within the U.S. Marine Corps Base in Quantico, which is in the Potomac River basin and the Piedmont Physiographic Province of northern Virginia. Because it serves as the principal water supply for the U.S. Marine Corps Base in Quantico, an assessment of the water-quality of Breckenridge Reservoir was initiated. Water samples were collected and physical properties
Authors
Russell Lotspeich

Numerical models of salt marsh evolution: ecological, geomorphic, and climatic factors

Salt marshes are delicate landforms at the boundary between the sea and land. These ecosystems support a diverse biota that modifies the erosive characteristics of the substrate and mediates sediment transport processes. Here we present a broad overview of recent numerical models that quantify the formation and evolution of salt marshes under different physical and ecological drivers. In particula
Authors
Sergio Fagherazzi, Matthew L. Kirwan, Simon M. Mudd, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, Stijn Temmerman, Andrea D'Alpaos, Johan van de Koppel, John Rybczyk, Enrique Reyes, Chris Craft, Jonathan Clough

Does mercury contamination reduce body condition of endangered California clapper rails?

We examined mercury exposure in 133 endangered California clapper rails (Rallus longirostris obsoletus) within tidal marsh habitats of San Francisco Bay, California from 2006 to 2010. Mean total mercury concentrations were 0.56 μg/g ww in blood (range: 0.15–1.43), 9.87 μg/g fw in head feathers (3.37–22.0), 9.04 μg/g fw in breast feathers (3.68–20.2), and 0.57 μg/g fww in abandoned eggs (0.15–2.70)
Authors
Joshua T. Ackerman, Cory T. Overton, Michael L. Casazza, John Y. Takekawa, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Robin A. Keister, Mark P. Herzog

Comparison of particle-tracking and lumped-parameter age-distribution models for evaluating vulnerability of production wells to contamination

Environmental age tracers have been used in various ways to help assess vulnerability of drinking-water production wells to contamination. The most appropriate approach will depend on the information that is available and that which is desired. To understand how the well will respond to changing nonpoint-source contaminant inputs at the water table, some representation of the distribution of groun
Authors
S. M. Eberts, J.K. Böhlke, L. J. Kauffman, B.C. Jurgens

On the relationship between sea level and Spartina alterniflora production

A positive relationship between interannual sea level and plant growth is thought to stabilize many coastal landforms responding to accelerating rates of sea level rise. Numerical models of delta growth, tidal channel network evolution, and ecosystem resilience incorporate a hump-shaped relationship between inundation and plant primary production, where vegetation growth increases with sea level u
Authors
Matthew L. Kirwan, Robert R. Christian, Linda K. Blum, Mark M. Brinson