Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Publications

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

Filter Total Items: 16785

The Stephen H. Long Expedition (1819?1820), Titian R. Peale?s field illustrations, and the lost holotypes of the North American shrews Sorex brevicaudus Say and Sorex parvus Say (Mammalia: Soricidae) from the Philadelphia Museum

While encamped for the winter of 1819?1820 at Engineer Cantonment along the Missouri River in present-day eastern Nebraska, members of Major Stephen Harriman Long?s Expedition to the Rocky Mountains collected a number of animals that were previously unknown. Among the mammals were two soricids that were subsequently described by Thomas Say as Sorex brevicaudus (Northern Short-tailed Shrew, Blarin
Authors
N. Woodman

Climate trends of the North American prairie pothole region 1906-2000

The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) is unique to North America. Its millions of wetlands and abundant ecosystem goods and services are highly sensitive to wide variations of temperature and precipitation in time and space characteristic of a strongly continental climate. Precipitation and temperature gradients across the PPR are orthogonal to each other. Precipitation nearly triples from west to east
Authors
B. Millett, W.C. Johnson, G. Guntenspergen

Sampling design considerations for demographic studies: a case of colonial seabirds

For the purposes of making many informed conservation decisions, the main goal for data collection is to assess population status and allow prediction of the consequences of candidate management actions. Reducing the bias and variance of estimates of population parameters reduces uncertainty in population status and projections, thereby reducing the overall uncertainty under which a population man
Authors
William L. Kendall, Sarah J. Converse, Paul F. Doherty, Maura B. Naughton, Angela Anders, James E. Hines, Elizabeth Flint

Multistate models for estimation of survival and reproduction in the Grey-headed Albatross (Thalassarche chrysostoma)

Reliable information on demography is necessary for conservation of albatrosses, the most threatened family of pelagic birds. Albatross survival has been estimated using mark-recapture data and the Cormack-Jolly-Seber (CJS) model. However, albatross exhibit skipped breeding, violating assumptions of the CJS model. Multistate modeling integrating unobservable states is a promising tool for such sit
Authors
Sarah J. Converse, William L. Kendall, Paul F. Doherty, Peter G. Ryan

NASA 2008 HyspIRI whitepaper and workshop report

From October 21-23, 2008, NASA held a three-day workshop to consider the Hyperspectral Infrared Imager (HyspIRI) mission recommended for implementation by the 2007 report from the U.S. National Research Council Earth Science and Applications from Space: National Imperatives for the Next Decade and Beyond, also known as the Earth Science Decadal Survey. The open workshop provided a forum to present
Authors
John C. Mars

Understanding differences between DELFT3D and empirical predictions of alongshore sediment transport gradients

Predictions of alongshore transport gradients are critical for forecasting shoreline change. At the previous ICCE conference, it was demonstrated that alongshore transport gradients predicted by the empirical CERC equation can differ substantially from predictions made by the hydrodynamics-based model Delft3D in the case of a simulated borrow pit on the shoreface. Here we use the Delft3D momen
Authors
Jeffrey H. List, Lindino Benedet, Daniel M. Hanes, Peter Ruggiero

Acquiring marine data in the Canada Basin, Arctic Ocean

This article describes the logistical challenges and initial data sets from geophysi- cal seismic refl ection, seismic refraction, and hydrographic surveys in the Canada Basin conducted by scientists with U.S. and Canadian government agencies (Figure 1a) to ful- fill the requirements of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to deter- mine sediment thickness, geological origin, and b
Authors
Deborah Hutchinson, H.R. Jackson, J.W. Shimeld, C.B. Chapman, Jonathan R. Childs, T. Funck, R.W. Rowland

Derivation of habitat-specific dissolved oxygen criteria for Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries

The Chesapeake 2000 Agreement committed its state and federal signatories to “define the water quality conditions necessary to protect aquatic living resources” in the Chesapeake Bay (USA) and its tidal tributaries. Hypoxia is one of the key water quality issues addressed as a result of the above Agreement. This paper summarizes the protection goals and specific criteria intended to achieve those
Authors
Richard A. Batiuk, Denise L. Breitburg, Robert J. Diaz, Thomas M. Cronin, David H. Secor, Glen Thursby

Surface temperatures of the Mid-Pliocene North Atlantic Ocean: Implications for future climate

The Mid-Pliocene is the most recent interval in the Earth's history to have experienced warming of the magnitude predicted for the second half of the twenty-first century and is, therefore, a possible analogue for future climate conditions. With continents basically in their current positions and atmospheric CO2 similar to early twenty-first century values, the cause of Mid-Pliocene warmth remains
Authors
Harry J. Dowsett, Mark A. Chandler, Marci M. Robinson

The effect of off-road vehicles on barrier beach invertebrates at Cape Cod and Fire Island National Seashores

The effects of off-road vehicles (ORVS) on invertebrates inhabiting seaweed debris (wrack) and supratidal sands on energetic beaches in the northeastern United States were studied at Cape Cod National Seashore, MA, and Fire Island, NY. Cores, wrack quadrats, and pitfall traps were used to sample four beaches, which all had vehicle-free sections in close proximity to ORV corridors, allowing for pai
Authors
J. M. Kluft, Howard S. Ginsberg

Modeling individual animal histories with multistate capture–recapture models

Many fields of science begin with a phase of exploration and description, followed by investigations of the processes that account for observed patterns. The science of ecology is no exception, and recent decades have seen a focus on understanding key processes underlying the dynamics of ecological systems. In population ecology, emphasis has shifted from the state variable of population size to t
Authors
Jean-Dominique Lebreton, James D. Nichols, Richard J. Barker, Roger Pradel, Jeffrey A. Spendelow

Book review: Birds of Prey: Health & Disease, Third Edition

Even though this book is billed as the third edition it is, in the words of Patrick T. Redig, author of its Foreword, ‘‘a seriously reinvented book.’’ Originally published in 1978 under the title of Veterinary Aspects of Captive Birds of Prey, this new edition, with its new title, could stand alone and not have been tagged with the ‘‘third edition.’’ Much has changed in the world of avian medicine
Authors
Glenn H. Olsen