Publications
These publications showcase the significant science conducted in our Science Centers.
Filter Total Items: 16780
Pathways to strategic communication for biodiversity conservation: Response to “Hearing ourselves (and acting in consequence): A commentary on Bekessy et al. from a bird-handling environmental education perspective”
Central to discussions about the merits of ecosystem services as a communication strategy is the degree to which it represents a strategic and effective approach to advance biodiversity conservation. There is increasing recognition that many conservation communication efforts can be more strategic (e.g. Kusmanoff et al. 2016).
Authors
Alex Kusmanoff, Michael C. Runge, David A. Keith, Brendan A. Wintle, Sarah A. Bekessy
Environmental and geomorphological changes on the eastern North American Continental Shelf across the Paleocene-Eocene Boundary
Foraminiferal evidence from two sites in southern Maryland, eastern United States, reveals a series of rapid ecological changes on the continental shelf during the onset of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). Benthic and planktic foraminifer assemblages from the South Dover Bridge (SDB) and Mattawoman Creek-Billingsley Road (MCBR) cores in the central Salisbury Embayment record changing l
Authors
Marci M. Robinson, Whittney Spivey
Anatomical physiology of fishes
This chapter highlights the major consistencies and differences that are evident in the anatomy and physiology of those fish most likely to be encountered by the veterinarian or biologist working in the realm of aquatic animal health. It describes teleost fish, members of the infraclass Teleostei that includes bony fish with protrusible upper jaws, as these represent the majority of species common
Authors
Christine L. Densmore
Functional variation at an expressed MHC class IIß locus associates with Ranavirus infection intensity in larval anuran populations
Infectious diseases are causing catastrophic losses to biodiversity globally. Iridoviruses in the genus Ranavirus are among the leading causes of amphibian disease-related mortality. Polymorphisms in major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes are significantly associated with variation in amphibian susceptibility to pathogens. MHC genes encode diverse cell-surface molecules that can recognize an
Authors
Anna E. Savage, Carly R. Muletz-Wolz, Evan H. Campbell Grant, Robert C. Fleischer, Kevin P. Mulder
Spatial capture–recapture for categorically marked populations with an application to genetic capture–recapture
Recently introduced unmarked spatial capture–recapture (SCR), spatial mark–resight (SMR), and 2‐flank spatial partial identity models (SPIMs) extend the domain of SCR to populations or observation systems that do not always allow for individual identity to be determined with certainty. For example, some species do not have natural marks that can reliably produce individual identities from photogra
Authors
Ben C. Augustine, J. Andrew Royle, Sean M. Murphy, Richard B. Chandler, John J. Cox, Marcella Kelly
Quaternary eolian sediments and Carolina Bays of the U.S. Atlantic Coastal Plain province
Under modern conditions, the Atlantic Coastal Plain province of the eastern United States is not very conducive to widespread eolian sediment mobilization because of a humid and mesothermal climate, relatively low mean surface wind velocities (~1–3 m/sec), and relatively dense vegetation. LiDAR data, however, have revealed the presence of widespread eolian dunes and sand sheets (now covered by ve
Authors
Christopher S. Swezey
Early career climate communications and networking
The Department of the Interior and the U.S. Geological Survey have made it a priority to train the next generation of scientists and resource managers. The Climate Adaptation Science Centers (CSC) and consortium institutions are working to contribute to this initiative by supporting and building a network of students across the U.S. interested in the climate sciences and climate adaptation. The pu
Authors
Ezra Markowitz, Michelle D. Staudinger
Using the value of information to improve conservation decision making
Conservation decisions are challenging, not only because they often involve difficult conflicts among outcomes that people value, but because our understanding of the natural world and our effects on it is fraught with uncertainty. Value of Information (VoI) methods provide an approach for understanding and managing uncertainty from the standpoint of the decision maker. These methods are commonly
Authors
Friederike C. Bolam, Matthew J. Grainger, Kerrie L. Mengerson, Gavin B. Stewart, William J. Sutherland, Michael C. Runge, Philip J. K. McGowan
The contribution of road-based citizen science to the conservation of pond-breeding amphibians
Roadside amphibian citizen science (CS) programmes bring together volunteers focused on collecting scientific data while working to mitigate population declines by reducing road mortality of pond‐breeding amphibians. Despite the international popularity of these movement‐based, roadside conservation efforts (i.e. “big nights,” “bucket brigades” and “toad patrols”), direct benefits to conservation
Authors
Sean Sterrett, Rachel A. Katz, William R. Fields, Evan H. Campbell Grant
Earth history and the passerine superradiation
Avian diversification has been influenced by global climate change, plate tectonic movements, and mass extinction events. However, the impact of these factors on the diversification of the hyperdiverse perching birds (passerines) is unclear because family level relationships are unresolved and the timing of splitting events among lineages is uncertain. We analyzed DNA data from 4060 nuclear loci a
Authors
Carl H Oliveros, Daniel J Field, Daniel T Ksepka, F Keith Barker, Alexandre Aleixo, Michael J Andersen, Per Alstrom, Brett W Benz, Edward L Braun, Michael J Braun, Gustavo A Bravo, Robb T Brumfield, Terry Chesser, Santiago Claramunt, Joel Cracraft, Andrés M. Cuervo, Elizabeth P. Derryberry, Travis C. Glenn, Michael G. Harvey, Peter A. Hosner, Leo Joseph, Rebecca Kimball, Andrew L. Mack, Colin M. Miskelly, A. Townsend Peterson, Mark B. Robbins, Frederick H. Sheldon, Luís Fábio Silveira, Brian T. Smith, Noor D. White, Robert G. Moyle, Brant C. Faircloth
Simulating the effects of climate variability on waterbodies and wetland-dependent birds in the Prairie Pothole Region
Understanding how bird populations respond to changes in waterbody availability in the climatically variable Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North America hinges on being able to couple hydrological and climate modeling to represent potential future landscapes. Model experiments run with the Pothole Complex Hydrologic Model using downscaled climate data (variables relating to precipitation, temper
Authors
N.E. Mcintyre, G. Liu, J. Gorzo, C.K. Wright, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, F. Schwartz
Geology of the Mineral and Lake Anna West Quadrangles, Virginia
This map product is a cooperator series publication and, as such, does not have a specific abstract.
Geologic mapping for this map product was completed between 2014 and 2017, with most of the field work occurring between January 2016 and May 2017. Numerous foot traverses were completed along creeks and roads throughout the field area; the shore of Lake Anna was accessed by kayak to provide addit
Authors
Mark W. Carter, William C. Burton, Ryan J. McAleer, Mary DiGiacomo-Cohen, R. Tyler Sauer