Publications
These publications showcase the significant science conducted in our Science Centers.
Filter Total Items: 16783
Metal accumulation varies with life history, size, and development of larval amphibians
Amphibian larvae are commonly used as indicators of aquatic ecosystem health because they are susceptible to contaminants. However, there is limited information on how species characteristics and trophic position influence contaminant loads in larval amphibians. Importantly, there remains a need to understand whether grazers (frogs and toads [anurans]) and predators (salamanders) provide comparabl
Authors
Kelly L. Smalling, Emily Bea Oja, Danielle M. Cleveland, Jon D Davenport, Collin Eagles-Smith, Evan H. Campbell Grant, Patrick M. Kleeman, Brian J. Halstead, Kenzi M Stemp, Brian J. Tornabene, Zachary J Bunnell, Blake R. Hossack
Age and tectonic setting of the Quinebaug-Marlboro belt and implications for the history of Ganderian crustal fragments in southeastern New England, USA
Crustal fragments underlain by high-grade rocks represent a challenge to plate reconstructions, and integrated mapping, geochronology, and geochemistry enable the unravelling of the temporal and spatial history of exotic crustal blocks. The Quinebaug-Marlboro belt (QMB) is an enigmatic fragment on the trailing edge of the peri-Gondwanan Ganderian margin of southeastern New England. SHRIMP U-Pb geo
Authors
Gregory J. Walsh, John N. Aleinikoff, Robert A. Ayuso, Robert P. Wintsch
Decision analysis of barrier placement and targeted removal to control invasive carp in the Tennessee River Basin
Controlling range expansion of invasive carp (specifically Hypophthalmichthys spp.) on the Tennessee River is important to conserve the ecological and economic benefits provided by the river. We collaborated with State and Federal agencies (the stakeholder group) to develop a decision framework and decision support model to evaluate strategies to control carp expansion in the Tennessee River. Usin
Authors
Max Post van der Burg, David R. Smith, Aaron R. Cupp, Mark W. Rogers, Duane Chapman
Processing coastal imagery with Agisoft Metashape Professional Edition, version 1.6—Structure from motion workflow documentation
IntroductionStructure from motion (SFM) has become an integral technique in coastal change assessment; the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) used Agisoft Metashape Professional Edition photogrammetry software to develop a workflow that processes coastline aerial imagery collected in response to storms since Hurricane Florence in 2018. This report details step-by-step instructions to create three-dimen
Authors
Jin-Si R. Over, Andrew C. Ritchie, Christine J. Kranenburg, Jenna A. Brown, Daniel D. Buscombe, Tom Noble, Christopher R. Sherwood, Jonathan A. Warrick, Phillipe A. Wernette
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Southwest Biological Science Center, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Hurricane Florence, Hurricanes
Cohort strength and body size in co-occurring salmonids in a small stream network: Variation in space and time
Trout and salmon commonly coexist in stream networks. Exploring similarities and differences among species can help explain coexistence and invasive ability. Here, we describe spatial distribution, cohort strengths and size-at-age of three co-occurring species in a small stream network. Spatial distributions varied dramatically among species; native brook trout occupied all stream reaches, natural
Authors
Benjamin Letcher, Keith H. Nislow, Matthew O'Donnell, Andrew R. Whiteley, Jason A. Coombs, Todd L. Dubreuil
A review of sand detachment in modern deep marine environments: Analogues for upslope stratigraphic traps
Isolated, detached sands provide opportunities for large-volume stratigraphic traps in many deepwater petroleum systems. Here we provide a review of the different types of sandbody detachments based on published data from the modern-day seafloor and recent (generally Quaternary-present), shallow-buried strata. Detachment mechanisms can be classified based on their timing of formation relative to d
Authors
John W. Counts, Lawrence Amy, Aggeliki Georgiopoulou, Peter Haughton
Estimating Piacenzian sea surface temperature using an alkenone-calibrated transfer function
Stationarity of environmental preferences is a primary assumption required for any paleoenvironmental reconstruction using fossil materials based upon calibration to modern organisms. Confidence in this assumption decreases the further back in time one goes, and the validity of the assumption that species temperature tolerances have not changed over time has been challenged in Pliocene studies. We
Authors
Harry J. Dowsett, Marci M. Robinson, Kevin M. Foley
Navigating the science-policy interface
As a wildlife population ecologist who wants to conduct useful science, I find the Endangered Species Act (ESA), like other federal wildlife statutes, an intriguing read. The topic is in my wheelhouse—fish, wildlife, and plants, with a focus at the population and species levels. There is an emphasis on science, in fact, the “best scientific and commercial data available.” And there are intriguin
Authors
Michael C. Runge
Genetic structure and population history in two critically endangered Kaua‘i honeycreepers
Population sizes of endemic songbirds on Kaua‘i have decreased by an order of magnitude over the past 10–15 years to dangerously low numbers. The primary cause appears to be the ascent of invasive mosquitoes and Plasmodium relictum, the agent of avian malaria, into elevations formerly free of introduced malarial parasites and their vectors. Given that these declines in native bird populations appe
Authors
Loren Cassin-Sackett, Michael G. Campana, Nancy McInerney, Haw Chuan Lim, Natalia Przelomska, Bryce M Masuda, R. Terry Chesser, Eben H. Paxton, Jeffery T Foster, Lisa H. Crampton, Robert C. Fleischer
A decision-analytical framework for developing harvest regulations
The development of harvest regulations for fish or wildlife is a complex decision that needs to weigh multiple objectives, consider a set of alternative regulatory options, integrate scientific understanding about the population dynamics of the harvested species as well as the human response to regulations, account for uncertainty, and provide an avenue for feedback from monitoring programs. The a
Authors
Michael C. Runge
Recent carbon storage and burial exceed historic rates in the San Juan Bay estuary peri-urban mangrove forests (Puerto Rico, United States)
Mangroves sequester significant quantities of organic carbon (C) because of high rates of burial in the soil and storage in biomass. We estimated mangrove forest C storage and accumulation rates in aboveground and belowground components among five sites along an urbanization gradient in the San Juan Bay Estuary, Puerto Rico. Sites included the highly urbanized and clogged Caño Martin Peña in the w
Authors
Cathleen Wigand, Meagan J. Eagle, Benjamin Branoff, Stephen Balogh, Kenneth Miller, Rose M. Martin, Alana Hanson, Autumn Oczkowski, Evelyn Huertas, Joseph Loffredo, Elizabeth Watson
Oxygen-controlled recirculating seepage meter reveals extent of nitrogen transformation in discharging coastal groundwater at the aquifer–estuary interface
Nutrient loads delivered to estuaries via submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) play an important role in the nitrogen (N) budget and eutrophication status. However, accurate and reliable quantification of the chemical flux across the final decimeters and centimeters at the sediment–estuary interface remains a challenge, because there is significant potential for biogeochemical alteration due to c
Authors
Thomas W. Brooks, Kevin D. Kroeger, Holly A. Michael, Joanna K. York