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Publications

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

Filter Total Items: 16783

Life history and status of Shortnose Sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum LeSueur, 1818)

Shortnose Sturgeon = SNS (Acipenser brevirostrum) is a small diadromous species with most populations living in large Atlantic coast rivers and estuaries of North America from New Brunswick, Canada, to GA, USA. There are no naturally landlocked populations, so all populations require access to fresh water and salt water to complete a natural life cycle. The species is amphidromous with use of fres
Authors
Boyd Kynard, Stephania Bolden, Micah Kieffer, Mark Collins, Hal Brundage, Eric Hilton, Mark Litvak, Michael T. Kinnison, Tim L. King, Douglas C. Peterson

Regional geologic and petrologic framework for iron oxide ± apatite ± rare earth element and iron oxide copper-gold deposits of the Mesoproterozoic St. Francois Mountains terrane, southeast Missouri, USA

This paper provides an overview on the genesis of Mesoproterozoic igneous rocks and associated iron oxide ± apatite (IOA) ± rare earth element, iron oxide-copper-gold (IOCG), and iron-rich sedimentary deposits in the St. Francois Mountains terrane of southeast Missouri, USA. The St. Francois Mountains terrane lies along the southeastern margin of Laurentia as part of the eastern granite-rhyolite p
Authors
Warren C. Day, John F. Slack, Robert A. Ayuso, Cheryl M. Seeger

Native bee diversity and pollen foraging specificity in cultivated highbush blueberry (Ericaceae: Vaccinium corymbosum) in Rhode Island

We identified 41 species of native bees from a total of 1,083 specimens collected at cultivated highbush blueberry plantings throughout Rhode Island in 2014 and 2015. Andrena spp., Bombus spp., and Xylocopa virginica (L.) were collected most often. Bombus griseocollis (DeGeer), B. impatiens Cresson, B. bimaculatus Cresson, B. perplexus Cresson, and Andrena vicina Smith collected the largest mean n
Authors
Zachary Scott, Howard S. Ginsberg, Steven R. Alm

Linking the Central and Southern Appalachian Blue Ridge: What We Know and Don’t Know about Stratigraphy, Structure, Tectonism, and Regional Correlation in the Eastern Blue Ridge of Virginia

The transition from Neoproterozoic Lynchburg Group rocks on the eastern limb of the para-autochthonous Blue Ridge anticlinorium in central Virginia to the fault-bounded Ashe Formation and Alligator Back Formation in southern Virginia has been a source of intense debate and speculation for decades. There are fundamental differences in the tectonogenetic interpretation for these rock packages, desp
Authors
Mark W. Carter, Arthur J. Merschat

Designing occupancy studies when false-positive detections occur

1.Recently, estimators have been developed to estimate occupancy probabilities when false-positive detections occur during presence-absence surveys. Some of these estimators combine different types of survey data to improve estimates of occupancy. With these estimators, there is a tradeoff between the number of sample units surveyed, and the number and type of surveys at each sample unit. Guidance
Authors
Matthew Clement

Quantifying the effects of research band resighting activities on staging terns in comparison to other disturbances

Avian research that involves potential disturbance to the study species may have unintended fitness consequences and could lead to biases in measurements of interest. The effects of band resighting on the behavior of mixed-species flocks of staging waterbirds were evaluated against recreational pedestrian activity that was expected to cause flushing. We found a model with additive effects of dista
Authors
Melissa Althouse, Jonathan B. Cohen, Jeffrey A. Spendelow, Sarah M. Karpanty, Kayla L. Davis, Katharine C. Parsons, Cristin F. Luttazi

Genetic and grade and tonnage models for sandstone-hosted roll-type uranium deposits, Texas Coastal Plain, USA

The coincidence of a number of geologic and climatic factors combined to create conditions favorable for the development of mineable concentrations of uranium hosted by Eocene through Pliocene sandstones in the Texas Coastal Plain. Here 254 uranium occurrences, including 169 deposits, 73 prospects, 6 showings and 4 anomalies, have been identified. About 80 million pounds of U3O8 have been produced
Authors
Susan M. Hall, Mark J. Mihalasky, Kathleen Tureck, Jane M. Hammarstrom, Mark Hannon

Concentration, flux, and trend estimates with uncertainty for nutrients, chloride, and total suspended solids in tributaries of Lake Champlain, 1990–2014

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission and the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, estimated daily and 9-month concentrations and fluxes of total and dissolved phosphorus, total nitrogen, chloride, and total suspended solids from 1990 (or first available date) through 2014 for 18 tributaries of Lake Champlain. Est
Authors
Laura Medalie

Scaling-up camera traps: monitoring the planet's biodiversity with networks of remote sensors

Countries committed to implementing the Convention on Biological Diversity's 2011–2020 strategic plan need effective tools to monitor global trends in biodiversity. Remote cameras are a rapidly growing technology that has great potential to transform global monitoring for terrestrial biodiversity and can be an important contributor to the call for measuring Essential Biodiversity Variables. Recent
Authors
Robin Steenweg, Mark Hebblewhite, Roland Kays, Jorge A. Ahumada, Jason T. Fisher, Cole Burton, Susan E. Townsend, Chris Carbone, J. Marcus Rowcliffe, Jesse Whittington, Jedediah Brodie, Andy Royle, Adam Switalski, Anthony P. Clevenger, Nicole Heim, Lindsey N. Rich

Science to support the understanding of Ohio's water resources, 2016-17

Ohio’s water resources support a complex web of human activities and nature—clean and abundant water is needed for drinking, recreation, farming, and industry, as well as for fish and wildlife needs. Although rainfall in normal years can support these activities and needs, occasional floods and droughts can disrupt streamflow, groundwater, water availability, water quality, recreation, and aquatic
Authors
Kimberly Shaffer, Stephanie P. Kula

Barrier island breach evolution: Alongshore transport and bay-ocean pressure gradient interactions

Physical processes controlling repeated openings and closures of a barrier island breach between a bay and the open ocean are studied using aerial photographs and atmospheric and hydrodynamic observations. The breach site is located on Pea Island along the Outer Banks, separating Pamlico Sound from the Atlantic Ocean. Wind direction was a major control on the pressure gradients between the bay and
Authors
Ilgar Safak, John C. Warner, Jeffrey H. List

Observations of seismicity and ground motion in the northeast U.S. Atlantic margin from ocean bottom seismometer data

Earthquake data from two short-period ocean-bottom seismometer (OBS) networks deployed for over a year on the continental slope off New York and southern New England were used to evaluate seismicity and ground motions along the continental margin. Our OBS networks located only one earthquake of Mc∼1.5 near the shelf edge during six months of recording, suggesting that seismic activity (MLg>3.0) of
Authors
Claudia Flores, Uri S. ten Brink, Jeffrey J. McGuire, John A. Collins