Publications
These publications showcase the significant science conducted in our Science Centers.
Filter Total Items: 16780
A network approach to prioritize conservation efforts for migratory birds
Habitat loss can trigger migration network collapse by isolating migratory birds’ breeding grounds from non-breeding grounds. Theoretically, habitat loss can have vastly different impacts depending on the site’s importance within the migratory corridor. However, migration network connectivity and the impacts of site loss are not completely understood. Here we used GPS tracking data from four bird
Authors
Yanjie Xu, Yali Si, John Takekawa, Qiang Liu, Herbert H.T. Prins, Shenglai Yin, Diann J. Prosser, Peng Gong, Willem F. de Boer
Hydrologic site assessment for passive treatment of groundwater nitrogen with permeable reactive barriers, Cape Cod, Massachusetts
Wastewater disposal associated with rapid population growth and development on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, during the past several decades has resulted in widespread contamination of groundwater with nitrogen. As a result, water quality in many of the streams, lakes, and coastal embayments on Cape Cod is impaired by excess nitrogen. To reduce nitrogen loads to these impaired water bodies, watershed-b
Authors
Jeffrey R. Barbaro, Marcel Belaval, Danna B. Truslow, Denis R. LeBlanc, Thomas C. Cambareri, Scott C. Michaud
Measurement of sounds emitted by certain high-resolution geophysical survey systems
Scientific questions regarding the impact of anthropomorphic noise in the marine environment have resulted in an increasing number of regulatory requirements and precautionary mitigation strategies to reduce the risks associated with high-resolution marine geophysical surveys performed in waters subjected to government jurisdiction. An example of regulatory frameworks includes the Marine Mammal Pr
Authors
Steven E Crocker, Frank D Fratantonio, Patrick E. Hart, David S. Foster, Thomas F. O'Brien, Stanley Labak
Investigating bedload transport under asymmetrical waves using a coupled ocean-wave model
Transport by asymmetrical wave motions plays a key role in cross-shore movement of sand, which is important for bar migration, exchange through tidal inlets, and beach recovery after storms. We have implemented a modified version of the SANTOSS formulation in the three-dimensional open-source Coupled-Ocean-Atmosphere-Wave-Sediment Transport (COAWST) modeling framework. The calculation of bedload t
Authors
Tarandeep S. Kalra, Christopher R. Sherwood, John C. Warner, Yashar Rafati, Tian Jian Hsu
Modeling the morphological response of a barrier island to Hurricane Matthew
Surge and wave forcing from Hurricane Matthew caused a breach south of Matanzas Inlet (FL, USA) on a complex barrier island, including sandy dunes, hard structures (residential buildings and a highway), wetlands, and the US Intracoastal Waterway. In this paper, the skill of the XBeach model to predict hurricane-induced barrier island overwash, dune erosion, and breaching is demonstrated. The locat
Authors
Ellen Quataert, Marlies van der Lugt, Christopher R. Sherwood, Maarten van Oormondt, Ap van Dongeran
Refining the Baseline Sediment Budget for the Klamath River, California
Four dams in the Klamath River Hydroelectric Project (KHP) in Oregon and California (Figure 1) are currently scheduled to be removed over a period of a few weeks or months, beginning in January 2021. The Klamath dam removal will be the largest in the world by almost all measures, and is an unprecedented opportunity to advance science of river responses to such events. The KHP contains approximatel
Authors
Chauncey W. Anderson, Scott A. Wright, Liam N. Schenk, Katherine Skalak, Jennifer A. Curtis, Amy E. East, Adam Benthem
Consistency counts: Modeling the effects of a change in protocol on Breeding Bird Survey counts
Analysis of North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) data requires controls for factors that influence detectability of birds along survey routes. Identifying factors that influence the counting process and incorporating them into analyses is a primary means of limiting bias in estimates of population change. Twedt (2015) implemented an alternative counting protocol on operational and non-rand
Authors
John R. Sauer, William A. Link, David Ziolkowski, Keith L. Pardieck, Daniel J. Twedt
Optimization of salt marsh management at the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, Virginia, through use of structured decision making
Structured decision making is a systematic, transparent process for improving the quality of complex decisions by identifying measurable management objectives and feasible management actions; predicting the potential consequences of management actions relative to the stated objectives; and selecting a course of action that maximizes the total benefit achieved and balances tradeoffs among objective
Authors
Hilary A. Neckles, James E. Lyons, Jessica L. Nagel, Susan C. Adamowicz, Toni Mikula, Kevin S. Holcomb
The presence of antibiotic resistance genes in coastal soil and sediment samples from the eastern seaboard of the USA
Infections from antibiotic resistant microorganisms are considered to be one of the greatest global public health challenges that result in huge annual economic losses. While genes that impart resistance to antibiotics (AbR) existed long before the discovery and use of antibiotics, anthropogenic uses of antibiotics in agriculture, domesticated animals, and humans are known to influence the prevale
Authors
Dale W. Griffin, William Benzel, Shawn C. Fisher, Michael J. Focazio, Luke R. Iwanowicz, Keith A. Loftin, Timothy J. Reilly, Daniel Jones
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Contaminant Biology, Environmental Health Program, Toxic Substances Hydrology, Eastern Ecological Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Kansas Water Science Center, New Jersey Water Science Center, New York Water Science Center, Pennsylvania Water Science Center, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Utah Water Science Center
Assessing potential effects of highway and urban runoff on receiving streams in total maximum daily load watersheds in Oregon using the stochastic empirical loading and dilution model
The Stochastic Empirical Loading and Dilution Model (SELDM) was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration to simulate stormwater quality. To assess the effects of runoff, SELDM uses a stochastic mass-balance approach to estimate combinations of pre-storm streamflow, stormflow, highway runoff, event mean concentrations (EMCs) and stormwate
Authors
Adam J. Stonewall, Gregory E. Granato, Kira M. Glover-Cutter
Hydrocarbons in upland groundwater, Marcellus Shale Region, Northeastern Pennsylvania and Southern New York, USA
Water samples from 50 domestic wells located <1 km (proximal) and >1 km (distal) from shale-gas wells in upland areas of the Marcellus Shale region were analyzed for chemical, isotopic, and groundwater-age tracers. Uplands were targeted because natural mixing with brine and hydrocarbons from deep formations is less common in those areas compared to valleys. CH4-isotope, predrill CH4-concentration,
Authors
Peter B. McMahon, Bruce D. Lindsey, Matthew D. Conlon, Andrew G. Hunt, Kenneth Belitz, Bryant Jurgens, Brian A. Varela
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Water Resources Mission Area, Energy Resources Program, National Water Quality Program, California Water Science Center, Central Energy Resources Science Center, Colorado Water Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, New England Water Science Center, Pennsylvania Water Science Center
Carbon dioxide emissions and methane flux from forested wetland soils of the Great Dismal Swamp, USA
The Great Dismal Swamp, a freshwater forested peatland, has accumulated massive amounts of soil carbon since the postglacial period. Logging and draining have severely altered the hydrology and forest composition, leading to drier soils, accelerated oxidation, and vulnerability to disturbance. The once dominant Atlantic white cedar, cypress, and pocosin forest types are now fragmented, resulting i
Authors
Laurel Gutenberg, K. W. Krauss, John Qu, Changwoo Ahn, Dianna M. Hogan, Zhiliang Zhu, Chenyang Xu