Publications

Bismuth compounds are most known for their soothing effects on the stomach, wounds and sores. These properties make the compounds an essential part of many medicinal and cosmetic preparations, which until 1930 accounted for about 90 percent of the bismuth used. The subsequent development of low-melting alloys and chemical catalysts containing bismuth, as well as its use as an additive to casting a

Hydraulic cement is a virtually ubiquitous construction material that, when mixed with water, serves as the binder in concrete and most mortars. Only about 13 percent of concrete by weight is cement (the rest being water and aggregates), but the cement contributes all of the concrete’s compressional strength. The term “hydraulic” refers to the cement’s ability to set and harden underwater through

This summary of international mineral exploration activities for the year 2005 draws upon available information from literature, industry and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) specialists. It provides data on exploration budgets by global region and mineral commodity and identifies significant mineral discoveries and exploration target areas. It also discusses government programs affecting the mineral

No abstract available.

Linkages between geology and fish assemblages have been inferred in many regions throughout the world, but no studies have yet investigated whether fish assemblages differ across geologies in Mesoamerica. The goals of our study were to: 1) compare physicochemical conditions and fish-assemblage structure across 2 geologic types in headwaters of the Monkey River Basin, Belize, and 2) describe basin-

1. Habitat loss and fragmentation are major factors affecting vertebrate populations. A major effect of these habitat alterations is that they reduce movement of organisms. Despite the accepted importance of movement in driving the dynamics of many natural populations, movement of vertebrates in fragmented landscapes have seldom been estimated with robust statistical methods. 2. We estimated

Aim Based on a priori hypotheses, we developed predictions about how avian communities might differ at the edges vs. interiors of ecoregions. Specifically, we predicted lower species richness and greater local turnover and extinction probabilities for regional edges. We tested these predictions using North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) data across nine ecoregions over a 20-year time perio

A statistical model is developed for estimating species richness and accumulation by formulating these community-level attributes as functions of model-based estimators of species occurrence while accounting for imperfect detection of individual species. The model requires a sampling protocol wherein repeated observations are made at a collection of sample locations selected to be representative

Site occupancy models have been developed that allow for imperfect species detection or ?false negative? observations. Such models have become widely adopted in surveys of many taxa. The most fundamental assumption underlying these models is that ?false positive? errors are not possible. That is, one cannot detect a species where it does not occur. However, such errors are possible in many samp

Stochastic and structural uncertainties about forest dynamics present challenges in the management of ephemeral habitat conditions for endangered forest species. Maintaining critical foraging and breeding habitat for the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis) requires an uninterrupted supply of old-growth forest. We constructed and optimized a dynamic forest growth model for the

Models for estimating the probability of occurrence of a species in the presence of imperfect detection are important in many ecological disciplines. In these ?site occupancy? models, the possibility of heterogeneity in detection probabilities among sites must be considered because variation in abundance (and other factors) among sampled sites induces variation in detection probability (p). In t

Forested riparian corridors are thought to minimize impacts of landscape disturbance on stream ecosystems; yet, the effectiveness of streamside forests in mitigating disturbance in urbanizing catchments is unknown. We expected that riparian forests would provide minimal benefits for fish assemblages in streams that are highly impaired by sediment or hydrologic alteration. We tested this hypothesis