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Publications

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

Filter Total Items: 16783

Using a Bayesian network to understand the importance of coastal storms and undeveloped landscapes for the creation and maintenance of early successional habitat

Coastal storms have consequences for human lives and infrastructure but also create important early successional habitats for myriad species. For example, storm-induced overwash creates nesting habitat for shorebirds like piping plovers (Charadrius melodus). We examined how piping plover habitat extent and location changed on barrier islands in New York, New Jersey, and Virginia after Hurricane Sa
Authors
Sara L. Zeigler, Benjamin T. Gutierrez, Emily J. Sturdivant, Daniel H. Catlin, James D. Fraser, A. Hecht, Sarah M. Karpanty, Nathaniel G. Plant, E. Robert Thieler

The bee fauna of coastal Napatree Point and two inland sites in southern Rhode Island

We surveyed the bee fauna at Napatree Point, a coastal barrier beach in southwestern Rhode Island, using bee-bowl and netting samples, and compared results to bee-bowl samples at 2 inland sites. We collected a total of 53 species and morphospecies at Napatree Point, including 5 likely Rhode Island state records and several coastal dune and sand-nesting species that were not found inland. The compa
Authors
Aya Rothwell, Howard S. Ginsberg

Resource Assessment Economic Filter (RAEF)—A graphical user interface supporting implementation of simple engineering mine cost analyses of quantitative mineral resource assessment simulations

Economic evaluations of undiscovered mineral resources provide important context in which to consider the results of quantitative mineral resource assessments. The U.S. Geological Survey economic analysis method uses a simple engineering cost model approach developed by the U.S. Bureau of Mines that applies mine and mill engineering cost equations to simulated undiscovered deposits. The important
Authors
Jason L. Shapiro, Gilpin R. Robinson,

Endless forams: >34,000 modern planktonic foraminiferal images for taxonomic training and automated species recognition using convolutional neural networks

Accurate planktonic foraminiferal species identification is central to many paleoceanographic studies, from selecting specific species for geochemical research to elucidating the biotic dynamics of microfossil communities relevant to physical oceanographic processes and interconnected phenomena such as climate change. However, species identification varies among taxonomic schools, few resources ex
Authors
Allison Y. Hsiang, Anieke Brombacher, Marina Costa Rillo, Maryline J. Mleneck-Vautravers, Stephen Connett, Sian Lordsmith, Anna Jentzen, Michael J. Henehan, Brett Metcalfe, Isabel Fenton, Bridget Wade, Lyndsey Fox, Julie Meilland, Catherine V. Davis, Ulrike Baranowski, Jeroen Groeneveld, Kirsty M. Edgar, Aurore Movellan, Tracy Aze, Harry J. Dowsett, Giles Miller, Nelson Rios, Pincelli M. Hull

Natural hazards and mineral commodity supply: Quantifying risk of earthquake disruption to South American copper supply

Mineral resources, and their mining and enrichment operations, are not equally distributed across Earth. The concentration of mineral supply in certain regions, owing to the geology or geography of the mineral resource, raises the level of risk related to supply disruption. Where mineral production coincides with areas prone to natural hazards, supply may be especially at risk. However, the level
Authors
Emily K. Schnebele, Kishor S. Jaiswal, Nicolas Luco, Nedal T. Nassar

Long-term (37 years) impacts of low-head dams on freshwater shrimp habitat connectivity in northeastern Puerto Rico

Freshwater migratory shrimp in Puerto Rico depend on watershed connectivity, from stream headwaters to the ocean, to complete their life cycle. Moreover, shrimp populations in different watersheds are known to be connected in an island-wide metapopulation. However, low-head dams paired with water intakes on streams draining the El Yunque National Forest (EYNF) reduce streamflow. Here, we examine t
Authors
Jessica Chappell, S. Kyle McKay, Mary Freeman, Catherine M. Pringle

Rapid inundation of the southern Florida coastline despite low relative sea-level rise rates during the late-Holocene

Sediment cores from Florida Bay, Everglades National Park were examined to determine ecosystem response to relative sea-level rise (RSLR) over the Holocene. High-resolution multiproxy analysis from four sites show freshwater wetlands transitioned to mangrove environments 4–3.6 ka, followed by estuarine environments 3.4–2.8 ka, during a period of enhanced climate variability. We calculate a RSLR ra
Authors
Miriam Jones, G. Lynn Wingard, Bethany Stackhouse, Katherine Keller, Debra A. Willard, Marci E. Marot, Bryan D. Landacre, Christopher E. Bernhardt

Alternative sea lamprey barrier technologies: History as a control tool

Currently, application of lampricides and installation of low-head barriers are the only proven means of sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) control in the Great Lakes. While sea lamprey cannot climb or jump over low-head barriers, many desirable migratory species also cannot traverse barriers and are unintentionally blocked. Recently, there has been a push to reduce reliance on chemical controls as
Authors
D.P. Zielinski, R. L. McLaughlin, Theodore R. Castro-Santos, B. Paudel, Pete J. Hrodey, A. M. Muir

In situ measurements of compressional wave speed during gravity coring operations in the New England mud patch

This paper presents measurements of sediment sound-speed profiles measured in situ using the acoustic coring system (ACS). The reported measurements were obtained from seven gravity cores collected in the New England Mud Patch. The ACS uses two sets of transducers mounted below the penetrating tip of a sediment corer to make in situ measurements of geoacoustic properties as the corer penetrates th
Authors
Megan S. Ballard, Kevin M. Lee, Andrew R. McNeese, Preston S. Wilson, Jason Chaytor, John A. Goff, Allen H. Reed

Northern forest winters have lost cold, snowy conditions that are important for ecosystems and human communities

Winter is an understudied but key period for the socio-ecological systems of northeastern North American forests. A growing awareness of the importance of the winter season to forest ecosystems and surrounding communities has inspired several decades of research, both across the northern forest and at other mid- and high-latitude ecosystems around the globe. Despite these efforts, we lack a synthe
Authors
Alexandra R Contosta, Nora J. Casson, Sarah Garlick, Sarah J. Nelson, Matthew P Ayers, Elizabet A Buralkowski, John Campbell, Irean Creed, Catharine Eimers, Celia Evans, Ivan Fernandez, Collin Fuss, Thomas G. Huntington, Kaizad Pate, Rebecca Sanders-DeMott, Kyongo Son, Pamela H. Templer, Darren Thornbrugh

Individual behaviour and resource use of thermally stressed brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis portend the conservation potential of thermal refugia

Individual aggression and thermal refuge use were monitored in brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis in a controlled laboratory to determine how fish size and personality influence time spent in forage and thermal habitat patches during periods of thermal stress. On average, larger and more exploratory fish initiated more aggressive interactions and across all fish there was decreased aggression at wa
Authors
Shannon L. White, B.C. Kline, Nathaniel Hitt, Tyler Wagner

In situ benthic nutrient flux and sediment oxygen demand in Barnegat Bay, New Jersey

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, measured sediment oxygen demand (SOD) and benthic nutrient fluxes throughout Barnegat Bay, New Jersey. SOD was determined in situ using chambers equipped with optical dissolved oxygen sensors. The benthic nutrient fluxes of ammonia (NH3), nitrite + nitrate (plus ions; here, referred to as NO32),
Authors
Timothy P. Wilson, Vincent T. DePaul