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Publications

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

Filter Total Items: 16784

The effects of body size and climate on post-weaning survival of elephant seals at Heard Island

The population size of southern elephant seals in the southern Indian and Pacific Oceans decreased precipitously between the 1950s and 1990s. To investigate the reasons behind this, we studied the population of southern elephant seals at Heard Island between 1949 and 1954, using data collected by the early Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions. Seals were marked and measured (lengths)
Authors
Clive R McMahon, Leslie New, E.J. Fairley, M.A. Hindell, H.R. Burton

Hydrologic budget and conditions of Permian, Pennsylvanian, and Mississippian aquifers in the Appalachian Plateaus physiographic province

In response to challenges to groundwater availability posed by historic land-use practices, expanding development of hydrocarbon resources, and drought, the U.S. Geological Survey Groundwater Resources Program began a regional assessment of the Appalachian Plateaus aquifers in 2013 that incorporated a hydrologic landscape approach to estimate all components of the hydrologic system: surface runoff
Authors
Kurt J. McCoy, Richard M. Yager, David L. Nelms, David E. Ladd, Jack Monti,, Mark D. Kozar

Median nitrate concentrations in groundwater in the New Jersey Highlands Region estimated using regression models and land-surface characteristics

Nitrate-concentration data are used in conjunction with land-use and land-cover data to estimate median nitrate concentrations in groundwater underlying the New Jersey (NJ) Highlands Region. Sources of data on nitrate in 19,670 groundwater samples are from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water Information System (NWIS) and the NJ Private Well Testing Act (PWTA). In a study conducted by
Authors
Ronald J. Baker, Mary M. Chepiga, Stephen J. Cauller

Understory vegetation as an indicator for floodplain forest restoration in the Mississippi River Alluvial Valley, U.S.A.

In the Mississippi River Alluvial Valley (MAV), complete alteration of river-floodplain hydrology allowed for widespreadconversion of forested bottomlands to intensive agriculture, resulting in nearly 80% forest loss. Governmental programs haveattempted to restore forest habitat and functions within this altered landscape by the methods of tree planting (afforestation)and local hydrologic enhancem
Authors
Diane De Steven, Stephen Faulkner, Bobby D. Keeland, M.J. Baldwin, John W. McCoy, Steven C. Hughes

Sprinting performance of two Iberian fish: Luciobarbus bocagei and Pseudochondrostoma duriense in an open channel flume

This paper presents sprinting data from Iberian barbel (Luciobarbus bocagei) and northern straight-mouth nase (Pseudochondrostoma duriense), volitionally swimming against high velocity flows (1.5, 2.5 and 3 m s−1) in an open channel flume. Swimming endurance and speed greatly exceeded previously published observations with both species attaining swim speeds >20 body lengths s−1. Flow velocity was
Authors
Francisco Javier Sanz-Ronda, Jorge Ruiz-Legazpi, Francisco Javier Bravo-Cordoba, Sergio Makrakis, Theodore R. Castro-Santos

Response of plant productivity to experimental flooding in a stable and a submerging marsh

Recent models of tidal marsh evolution rely largely on the premise that plants are most productive at an optimal flooding regime that occurs when soil elevations are somewhere between mean sea level and mean high tide. Here, we use 4 years of manipulative “marsh organ” flooding experiments to test the generality of this conceptual framework and to examine how the optimal flooding frequency may cha
Authors
Matthew L. Kirwan, Glenn R. Guntenspergen

A comparison of auditory brainstem responses across diving bird species

There is little biological data available for diving birds because many live in hard-to-study, remote habitats. Only one species of diving bird, the black-footed penguin (Spheniscus demersus), has been studied in respect to auditory capabilities (Wever et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 63:676–680, 1969). We, therefore, measured in-air auditory threshold in ten species of diving birds, using the audit
Authors
Sara E. Crowell, Alicia Berlin, Catherine E. Carr, Glenn H. Olsen, Ronald E. Therrien, Sally E. Yannuzzi, Darlene R. Ketten

Screening tool to evaluate the vulnerability of down-gradient receptors to groundwater contaminants from uncapped landfills

A screening tool for quantifying levels of concern for contaminants detected in monitoring wells on or near landfills to down-gradient receptors (streams, wetlands and residential lots) was developed and evaluated. The tool uses Quick Domenico Multi-scenario (QDM), a spreadsheet implementation of Domenico-based solute transport, to estimate concentrations of contaminants reaching receptors under s
Authors
Ronald J. Baker, Timothy J. Reilly, Anthony R. Lopez, Kristin M. Romanok, Edward W Wengrowski

Combining waterfowl and breeding bird survey data to estimate wood duck breeding population size in the Atlantic Flyway

We combined data from the Atlantic Flyway Breeding Waterfowl Survey (AFBWS) and the North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) to estimate the number of wood ducks (Aix sponsa) in the United States portion of the Atlantic Flyway from 1993 to 2013. The AFBWS is a plot-based survey that covers most of the northern and central portions of the Flyway; when analyzed with adjustments for survey time of d
Authors
Guthrie S. Zimmerman, John R. Sauer, Kathy Fleming, William A. Link, Pamela R. Garrettson

Accommodation space, relative sea level, and the archiving of paleo-earthquakes along subduction zones

The spatial variability of Holocene relative sea-level (RSL) change influences the capacities of coastal environments to accommodate a sedimentary record of paleoenvironmental change. In this study we couch a specific investigation in more general terms in order to demonstrate the applicability of the relative sea-level history approach to paleoseismic investigations. Using subsidence stratigraphy
Authors
Harvey M. Kelsey, Simon E. Engelhart, Jessica E. Pilarczyk, Benjamin P. Horton, Charles Rubin, Mudrik Daryono, Nazli Ismail, Andrea D. Hawkes, Christopher E. Bernhardt, Niamh Cahill

Unifying research on the fragmentation of terrestrial and aquatic habitats: patches, connectivity and the matrix in riverscapes

While there is an increasing emphasis in terrestrial ecology on determining the influence of the area that surrounds habitat patches (the landscape ‘matrix’) relative to the characteristics of the patches themselves, research on these aspects in running waters is still rather underrepresented. Here we outline conceptual foundations of matrix ecology for stream and river ecosystems (‘riverscapes’)
Authors
Tibor Eros, Evan H. Campbell Grant

Industrial Diamond, 2014

No abstract available.
Authors
Donald W. Olson