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Publications

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

Filter Total Items: 16784

Landscape consequences of natural gas extraction in Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Columbia, Huntingdon, and Luzerne counties, Pennsylvania, 2004-2010

Increased demands for cleaner burning energy, coupled with the relatively recent technological advances in accessing unconventional hydrocarbon-rich geologic formations, have led to an intense effort to find and extract natural gas from various underground sources around the country. One of these sources, the Marcellus Shale, located in the Allegheny Plateau, is currently undergoing extensive dril
Authors
E.T. Slonecker, L.E. Milheim, C.M. Roig-Silva, S.G. Winters

Concentrations, loads, and yields of total nitrogen and total phosphorus in the Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor watershed, New Jersey, 1989-2011, at multiple spatial scales

Concentrations, loads, and yields of nutrients (total nitrogen and total phosphorus) were calculated for the Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor (BB-LEH) watershed for 1989–2011 at annual and seasonal (growing and nongrowing) time scales. Concentrations, loads, and yields were calculated at three spatial scales: for each of the 81 subbasins specified by 14-digit hydrologic unit codes (HUC-14s); for eac
Authors
Ronald J. Baker, Christine M. Wieben, Richard G. Lathrop, Robert S. Nicholson

Alexandrium fundyense cysts in the Gulf of Maine: long-term time series of abundance and distribution, and linkages to past and future blooms

Here we document Alexandrium fundyense cyst abundance and distribution patterns over nine years (1997 and 2004–2011) in the coastal waters of the Gulf of Maine (GOM) and identify linkages between those patterns and several metrics of the severity or magnitude of blooms occurring before and after each autumn cyst survey. We also explore the relative utility of two measures of cyst abundance and dem
Authors
Donald M. Anderson, Bruce A. Keafer, Judith L. Kleindinst, Dennis J. McGillicuddy, Jennifer L. Martin, Kerry Norton, Cynthia H. Pilskaln, Juliette L. Smith, Christopher R. Sherwood, Bradford Butman

Demography of a reintroduced population: moving toward management models for an endangered species, the whooping crane

The reintroduction of threatened and endangered species is now a common method for reestablishing populations. Typically, a fundamental objective of reintroduction is to establish a self-sustaining population. Estimation of demographic parameters in reintroduced populations is critical, as these estimates serve multiple purposes. First, they support evaluation of progress toward the fundamental ob
Authors
Sabrina Servanty, Sarah J. Converse, Larissa L. Bailey

Compilation of gallium resource data for bauxite deposits

Gallium (Ga) concentrations for bauxite deposits worldwide have been compiled from the literature to provide a basis for research regarding the occurrence and distribution of Ga worldwide, as well as between types of bauxite deposits. In addition, this report is an attempt to bring together reported Ga concentration data into one database to supplement ongoing U.S. Geological Survey studies of cri
Authors
Ruth F. Schulte, Nora K. Foley

Transmissivity and storage coefficient estimates from slug tests, Naval Air Warfare Center, West Trenton, New Jersey

Slug tests were conducted on 56 observation wells open to bedrock at the former Naval Air Warfare Center (NAWC) in West Trenton, New Jersey. Aquifer transmissivity (T) and storage coefficient (S) values for most wells were estimated from slug-test data using the Cooper-Bredehoeft-Papadopulos method. Test data from three wells exhibited fast, underdamped water-level responses and were analyzed with
Authors
Alex R. Fiore

Channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) leukocytes express estrogen receptor isoforms ERα and ERβ2 and are functionally modulated by estrogens

Estrogens are recognized as modulators of immune responses in mammals and teleosts. While it is known that the effects of estrogens are mediated via leukocyte-specific estrogen receptors (ERs) in humans and mice, leucocyte-specific estrogen receptor expression and the effects of estrogens on this cell population is less explored and poorly understood in teleosts. Here in, we verify that channel ca
Authors
Luke R. Iwanowicz, James L. Stafford, Reynaldo Patiño, Eva Bengten, Norman W. Miller, Vicki Blazer

The vertical structure of the circulation and dynamics in Hudson Shelf Valley

Hudson Shelf Valley is a 20–30 m deep, 5–10 km wide v-shaped submarine valley that extends across the Middle Atlantic Bight continental shelf. The valley provides a conduit for cross-shelf exchange via along-valley currents of 0.5 m s−1 or more. Current profile, pressure, and density observations collected during the winter of 1999–2000 are used to examine the vertical structure and dynamics of th
Authors
Steven J. Lentz, Bradford Butman, Courtney K. Harris

Minimizing the cost of keeping options open for conservation in a changing climate

Policy documents advocate that managers should keep their options open while planning to protect coastal ecosystems from climate-change impacts. However, the actual costs and benefits of maintaining flexibility remain largely unexplored, and alternative approaches for decision making under uncertainty may lead to better joint outcomes for conservation and other societal goals. For example, keeping
Authors
Morena Mills, Samuel Nicol, Jessie A. Wells, José J. Lahoz-Monfort, Brendan Wintle, Michael Bode, Martin Wardrop, Terry Walshe, William J. M. Probert, Michael C. Runge, Hugh P. Possingham, Eve McDonald Madden

Small mammals from the Chelemhá Cloud Forest Reserve, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala

We surveyed the small mammals of remnant mixed hardwood-coniferous cloud forest at elevations ranging from 2,100–2,300 m in the Chelemhá Cloud Forest Reserve, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. Removal-trapping using a combination of live traps, snap traps, and pitfall traps for 6 days in January 2007 resulted in 175 captures of 15 species of marsupials, shrews, and rodents. This diversity of small mammals
Authors
Jason O. Matson, Nicté Ordóñez-Garza, Neal Woodman, Walter Bulmer, Ralph P. Eckerlin, J. Delton Hanson

Ecological change on California's Channel Islands from the Pleistocene to the Anthropocene

Historical ecology is becoming an important focus in conservation biology and offers a promising tool to help guide ecosystem management. Here, we integrate data from multiple disciplines to illuminate the past, present, and future of biodiversity on California's Channel Islands, an archipelago that has undergone a wide range of land-use and ecological changes. Our analysis spans approximately 20,
Authors
Torben C. Rick, T. Scott Sillett, Cameron K. Ghalambor, Courtney A. Hofman, Katherine Ralls, R. Scott Anderson, Christina L. Boser, Todd J. Braje, Daniel R. Cayan, R. Terry Chesser, Paul W. Collins, Jon M. Erlandson, Kate R. Faulkner, Robert C. Fleischer, W. Chris Funk, Russell Galipeau, Ann Huston, Julie King, Lyndal L. Laughrin, Jesus Maldonado, Kathryn McEachern, Daniel R. Muhs, Seth D. Newsome, Leslie Reeder-Myers, Christopher Still, Scott A. Morrison

Adverse outcome pathway and risks of anticoagulant rodenticides to predatory wildlife

Despite a long history of successful use, routine application of some anticoagulant rodenticides (ARs) may be at a crossroad due to new regulatory guidelines intended to mitigate risk. An adverse outcome pathway for ARs was developed to identify information gaps and end points to assess the effectiveness of regulations. This framework describes chemical properties of ARs, established macromolecula
Authors
Barnett A. Rattner, Rebecca S. Lazarus, John E. Elliott, Richard F. Shore, Nico van den Brink