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Publications

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

Filter Total Items: 16780

Movement-assisted localization from acoustic telemetry data

Acoustic telemetry technologies are being increasingly deployed to study a variety of aquatic taxa including fishes, reptiles, and marine mammals. Large cooperative telemetry networks produce vast quantities of data useful in the study of movement, resource selection and species distribution. Efficient use of acoustic telemetry data requires estimation of acoustic source locations from detections
Authors
Nathan J. Hostetter, Andy Royle

Framework for a long-term strategic plan for the Capital Area Groundwater Conservation Commission

The Capital Area Groundwater Conservation Commission oversees the use of groundwater in six parishes in Louisiana. In carrying out its statutory responsibilities and authorities, the Commission recognizes the complexity of its decisions: the long-term objectives it is seeking are multifaceted; the actions it can choose from are numerous and interdependent; and the understanding of the hydrogeologi
Authors
Michael C. Runge, Ellen A Bean, Adrian McInnis, Ryan Clark, Alyssa Dausman

Short and long-term movement of mudflows of the Mississippi River Delta Front and their known and potential impacts on oil and gas infrastructure

Mudflows on the Mississippi River Delta Front (MRDF) are recognized hazards to oil and gas infrastructure in the shallow (20 – 300 m water depth) Gulf of Mexico. Preconditioning of the seafloor for failure results from high sedimentation rates coupled with slope over-steepening, under-consolidation, and abundant biogenic gas production. Catastrophic failure of production platforms and pipelines du
Authors
Jason Chaytor, Wayne E. Baldwin, Samuel J. Bentley, Melanie Damour, Douglas Jones, Jillian Maloney, Michael Miner, Jeff Obelcz, Kehui Xu

Assessment of microscopic pathology in fishes collected at sites impacted by wood tar in Pennsylvania

In an effort to determine whether fish populations in an area affected by wood tar waste exhibited health effects, fish were collected and analyzed with histopathology. Multiple species, including Mottled Sculpin (Cottus bairdii), Creek Chub (Semotilus atromaculatus), White Sucker (Catostumus commersonii), Redside Dace (Clinostomus elongatus), Common Shiner (Luxilus cornutus), and Western Blacknos
Authors
Heather L. Walsh, Vicki S. Blazer, Patricia M. Mazik, Adam J. Sperry, Diana Pavlick

Development of microsatellite markers for three at risk tiger beetles Cicindela dorsalis dorsalis, C. d. media, and C. puritana

ObjectiveTiger beetles inhabiting sandy beaches and cliffs along the east coast of the United States are facing increasing habitat loss due to erosion, urbanization, and sea level rise. The northeastern beach tiger beetle Cicindela dorsalis dorsalis and Puritan tiger beetle Cicindela puritana are both listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, while the white beach tiger beetle
Authors
Aaron Aunins, Michael S. Eackles, David C. Kazyak, Michael Drummond, Tim L. King

The role of sand lances (Ammodytes sp.) in the Northwest Atlantic Ecosystem: A synthesis of current knowledge with implications for conservation and management

The American sand lance (Ammodytes americanus, Ammodytidae) and the Northern sand lance (A. dubius, Ammodytidae) are small forage fishes that play an important functional role in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean (NWA). The NWA is a highly dynamic ecosystem currently facing increased risks from climate change, fishing and energy development. We need a better understanding of the biology, population dyn
Authors
Michelle D. Staudinger, Holly Goyert, Justin Suca, Kaycee Coleman, Linda Welch, Joel Llopiz, Dave Wiley, Irit Altman, Andew Applegate, Peter Auster, Hannes Baumann, Julia Beaty, Deirdre Boelke, Les Kaufman, Pam Loring, Jerry Moxley, Suzanne Paton, Kevin Powers, David Richardson, Jooke Robbins, Jeff Runge, Brian Smith, Caleb Spiegel, Halley Steinmetz

Reconnaissance of surface water estrogenicity and the prevalence of intersex in smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) inhabiting New Jersey

The observation of testicular oocytes in male fishes has been utilized as a biomarker of estrogenic endocrine disruption. A reconnaissance project led in the Northeastern United States (US) during the period of 2008–2010 identified a high prevalence of intersex smallmouth bass on or near US Fish & Wildlife Service National Wildlife Refuges that included the observation of 100% prevalence in smallm
Authors
Luke Iwanowicz, Kelly L. Smalling, Vicki S. Blazer, Ryan P. Braham, Lakyn R. Sanders, Anna Boetsma, Nick Procopio, Sandra Goodrow, Gary Buchanan, Daniel Millemann, Bruce Ruppel, John Vile, Brian Henning, John Abatemarco

Consequences of ignoring group association in spatial capture-recapture analysis

Many models in population ecology, including spatial capture–recapture (SCR) models, assume that individuals are distributed and detected independently of one another. In reality, this is rarely the case – both antagonistic and gregarious relationships lead to non-independent spatial configurations, with territorial exclusion at one end of the spectrum and group-living at the other. Previous simul
Authors
Richard Bischof, Pierre Dupont, Cyril Milleret, Joseph Chipperfield, J. Andrew Royle

A comparison of groundwater sampling technologies, including passive diffusion sampling, for radionuclide contamination

Using traditional high-flow purge methods for long-term water quality monitoring of deep groundwater wells can be expensive, affect contaminant migration, and produce excessive volumes of discharge water that can be difficult to manage. The use of low-flow pumping methods and depth discrete bailers (DDBs) can reduce the cost of sampling deep groundwater wells. In general, using different pumping m
Authors
Rebecca J. Frus, Thomas Imbrigiotta

Fundamental hydraulics of cross sections in natural rivers: Preliminary analysis of a large data set of acoustic doppler flow measurements

We have assembled a comprehensive and publicly accessible U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) streamflow measurement data set, called HYDRoSWOT, from a USGS National Water Information System archive of acoustic Doppler current profiler river discharge measurements collected from a wide range of rivers throughout the United States. The data set provides a wealth of information on the range of hydraulic c
Authors
David M. Bjerklie, John Fulton, S. Lawrence Dingman, Michael G. Canova, J. Toby Minear, Tommaso Moramarco

Identifying life history traits that promote occurrence for four minnow (Leuciscidae) species in intermittent Gulf Coastal Plain streams

- Life history traits of stream fishes partly reflect adaptations to disturbance regimes, which in turn shape assemblage composition via environmental filters. In this study, we focused on life history traits of four morphologically similar leuciscid species in coastal plain streams of southwestern GA that are shifting from historically perennial to intermittent flow. We evaluated differences in r
Authors
Jessica L. Davis, Mary Freeman, Stephen W. Golladay

Gas hydrate petroleum systems: What constitutes the “seal”?

The gas hydrate petroleum system (GHPS) approach, which has been used to characterize gas hydrates in nature, utilizes three distinct components: a methane source, a methane migration pathway, and a reservoir that not only contains gas hydrate, but also acts as a seal to prevent methane loss. Unlike GHPS, a traditional petroleum system (PS) approach further distinguishes between the reservoir, a u
Authors
Junbong Jang, William F. Waite, Laura A. Stern