Publications
These publications showcase the significant science conducted in our Science Centers.
Filter Total Items: 16784
A Bayesian network approach to predicting nest presence of thefederally-threatened piping plover (Charadrius melodus) using barrier island features
Sea-level rise and human development pose significant threats to shorebirds, particularly for species that utilize barrier island habitat. The piping plover (Charadrius melodus) is a federally-listed shorebird that nests on barrier islands and rapidly responds to changes in its physical environment, making it an excellent species with which to model how shorebird species may respond to habitat ch
Authors
Katherina D. Gieder, Sarah M. Karpanty, James D. Fraser, Daniel H. Catlin, Benjamin T. Gutierrez, Nathaniel G. Plant, Aaron M. Turecek, E. Robert Thieler
Aspidoscelis deppii (black-bellied racerunner). Predation by turkey vulture.
Aspidoscelis deppii is widely distributed from Veracruz and Michoacan, Mexico, to Costa Rica (Köhler et al. 2006. The Amphibians and Reptiles of El Salvador, Krieger Publishing Company, Malabar, Florida. 238 pp.). Neotropical lizards are abundant and common prey to all classes of terrestrial vertebrates, and bird predation of lizards is well known. The Turkey Vulture (Carthartes aura) is widely di
Authors
Robert P. Reynolds, Christina A. Gebhard
Mineral Resource of the Month: Talc
When people think of talc, they often think of talcum and baby powder. However, these uses of talc are minor compared to its use in industrial manufacturing. The leading use of talc in the United States is in the production of ceramics, where it is a source of magnesium oxide, serves as a flux to reduce firing temperatures, and improves thermal shock characteristics of the final product. Worldwide
Authors
Robert L. Virta, Bradley S. Van Gosen
Can uncertainties in sea ice albedo reconcile patterns of data-model discord for the Pliocene and 20th/21st centuries?
General Circulation Model simulations of the mid-Pliocene warm period (mPWP, 3.264 to 3.025 Myr ago) currently underestimate the level of warming that proxy data suggest existed at high latitudes, with discrepancies of up to 11°C for sea surface temperature estimates and 17°C for surface air temperature estimates. Sea ice has a strong influence on high-latitude climates, partly due to the albedo f
Authors
Fergus W. Howell, Alan M. Haywood, Aisling M. Dolan, Harry J. Dowsett, Jane E Francis, Daniel J. Hill, Steven J. Pickering, James O. Pope, Ulrich Salzmann, Bidget S Wade
Soil criteria to protect terrestrial wildlife and open-range livestock from metal toxicity at mining sites
Thousands of hard rock mines exist in the western USA and in other parts of the world as a result of historic and current gold, silver, lead, and mercury mining. Many of these sites in the USA are on public lands. Typical mine waste associated with these sites are tailings and waste rock dumps that may be used by wildlife and open-range livestock. This report provides wildlife screening criteria l
Authors
Karl L Ford, W. Nelson Beyer
Porphyry copper assessment of Central America and the Caribbean Basin
Mineral resource assessments provide a synthesis of available information about distributions of mineral deposits in the Earth’s crust. The U.S. Geological Survey prepared a probabilistic mineral resource assessment of undiscovered resources in porphyry copper deposits in Central America and the Caribbean Basin in collaboration with geoscientists from academia and the minerals industry. The purpos
Authors
Floyd Gray, Jane M. Hammarstrom, Stephen Ludington, Lukas Zürcher, Carl E. Nelson, Gilpin R. Robinson, Robert J. Miller, Barry C. Moring
Monitoring of wild fish health at selected sites in the Great Lakes Basin: methods and preliminary results
During fall 2010 and spring 2011, a total of 119 brown bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus), 136 white sucker (Catostomus commersoni), 73 smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu), and 59 largemouth bass (M. salmoides) were collected from seven Great Lakes Basin Areas of Concern and one Reference Site. Comprehensive fish health assessments were conducted in order to document potential adverse affects from e
Authors
Vicki Blazer, Patricia M. Mazik, Luke R. Iwanowicz, Ryan Braham, Cassidy Hahn, Heather L. Walsh, Adam Sperry
Estimate of undiscovered copper resources of the world, 2013
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated a mean of 3,500 million metric tons (Mt) of undiscovered copper among 225 tracts around the world. Annual U.S. copper consumption is 2 Mt; global consumption is 20 Mt. The USGS assessed undiscovered copper in two deposit types that account for about 80 percent of the world's copper supply. Results of the assessment
Authors
Kathleen M. Johnson, Jane M. Hammarstrom, Michael L. Zientek, Connie L. Dicken
Application of threshold concepts to ecological management problems: Occupancy of Golden Eagles in Denali National Park, Alaska
In this chapter, we demonstrate the application of the various classes of thresholds, detailed in earlier chapters and elsewhere, via an actual but simplified natural resource management case study. We intend our example to provide the reader with the ability to recognize and apply the theoretical concepts of utility, ecological and decision thresholds to management problems through a formalized d
Authors
Mitchell J. Eaton, Julien Martin, James D. Nichols, Carol McIntyre, Maggie C. McCluskie, Joel A. Schmutz, Bruce L. Lubow, Michael C. Runge
Simulation of water-table aquifers using specified saturated thickness
Simulating groundwater flow in a water-table (unconfined) aquifer can be difficult because the saturated thickness available for flow depends on model-calculated hydraulic heads. It is often possible to realize substantial time savings and still obtain accurate head and flow solutions by specifying an approximate saturated thickness a priori, thus linearizing this aspect of the model. This specifi
Authors
Rodney A. Sheets, Mary C. Hill, Henk M. Haitjema, Alden M. Provost, John P. Masterson
Health of white sucker within the St. Louis River area of concern associated with habitat usage as assessed using stable isotopes
In Spring 2011, 200 adult white sucker were collected in four areas of the St. Louis River area of concern (AOC), located in Minnesota and Wisconsin, USA. The areas included the upper AOC as a reference area, the upper estuary, St. Louis Bay and Superior Bay. Grossly visible abnormalities were documented and preserved for microscopic analyses, as were five to eight representative pieces of liver t
Authors
V. S. Blazer, J. Hoffman, H.L. Walsh, R.P. Braham, C. Hahn, P. Collins, Z. Jorgenson, T. Ledder
Metolachlor metabolite (MESA) reveals agricultural nitrate-N fate and transport in Choptank River watershed
Over 50% of streams in the Chesapeake Bay watershed have been rated as poor or very poor based on the index of biological integrity. The Choptank River estuary, a Bay tributary on the eastern shore, is one such waterway, where corn and soybean production in upland areas of the watershed contribute significant loads of nutrients and sediment to streams. We adopted a novel approach utilizing the rel
Authors
Gregory W. McCarty, Cathleen J. Hapeman, Clifford P. Rice, W. Dean Hively, Laura L. McConnell, Ali M. Sadeghi, Megan W. Lang, David R. Whitall, Krystyna Bialek, Peter Downey