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Publications

Publications from USGS science centers throughout the Southeast Region.

Filter Total Items: 9949

Assessing the vertical accuracy of digital elevation models by quality level and land cover

The vertical accuracy of elevation data in coastal environments is critical because small variations in elevation can affect an area’s exposure to waves, tides, and storm-related flooding. Elevation data contractors typically quantify the vertical accuracy of lidar-derived digital elevation models (DEMs) on a per-project basis to gauge whether the datasets meet quality and accuracy standards. Here
Authors
Minoo Han, Nicholas Enwright, Dean B. Gesch, Jason M. Stoker, Jeffrey J. Danielson, Christopher J. Amante

Projected sea-level rise and high tide flooding at De Soto National Memorial, Florida

IntroductionNational parks and preserves in the South Atlantic-Gulf Region contain valuable coastal habitats such as tidal wetlands and mangrove forests, as well as irreplaceable historic buildings and archeological sites located in low-lying areas. These natural and cultural resources are vulnerable to accelerated sea-level rise and escalating high tide flooding events. Through a Natural Resource
Authors
Hana R. Thurman, Nicholas M. Enwright, Michael J. Osland, Davina L. Passeri, Richard H. Day, Bethanie M. Simons

Signatures of wave erosion in Titan’s coasts

The shorelines of Titan’s hydrocarbon seas trace flooded erosional landforms such as river valleys; however, it is unclear whether coastal erosion has subsequently altered these shorelines. Spacecraft observations and theoretical models suggest that wind may cause waves to form on Titan’s seas, potentially driving coastal erosion, but the observational evidence of waves is indirect, and the proces
Authors
Rose Elizabeth Palermo, Andrew D. Ashton, Jason M. Soderblom, Samuel P. D. Birch, Alexander G. Hayes, J. Taylor Perron

Demographics of a previously undocumented diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) population

Coastal habitats are some of the most imperiled due to climate change and anthropogenic activities. As such, it is important to understand population dynamics of the species that may play a role in regulating coastal systems. Diamondback terrapins in Northwest Florida have been understudied, which has resulted in a gap in our knowledge for this region. To help fill this gap, we conducted a capture
Authors
Daniel J. Catizone, Travis M. Thomas, Christina Romagosa, Margaret Lamont

Spatial patterns as long transients in submersed-floating plant competition with biocontrol

A cellular automata model was developed and parameterized to test the effectiveness of application of biological control insects to water hyacinth (Pontederia crassipes), which is an invasive floating plant species in many parts of the world and outcompetes many submersed native aquatic species in southern Florida. In the model, P. crassipes was allowed to compete with Nuttall’s waterweed (Elodea
Authors
Linhao Xu, Don DeAngelis

Visualizing wading bird optimal foraging decisions with aggregation behaviors using individual-based modeling

Foragers on patchy landscapes must efficiently balance time between searching for and consuming resources to meet their daily energetic requirements. Spatial aggregation foraging behaviors may improve foraging efficiency by sharing information on locations of resource hotspots. Wading birds are an example of patch foragers that form colonial aggregations during the breeding season to obtain suffic
Authors
Simeon Yurek, Donald L. DeAngelis, Hyo Won Lee, Stephen Tennenbaum

Evaluation of short-term mussel test for estimating toxicity

Effect concentrations of ammonia, nickel, sodium chloride, and potassium chloride from short-term 7-day tests were compared to those from standard chronic 28-day toxicity tests with juvenile mussels (fatmucket, Lampsilis siliquoidea) to evaluate the sensitivities of the 7-day tests. The effect concentrations for nickel (59 µg Ni/L), chloride (316–519 mg Cl/L, a range from multiple tests), and pota
Authors
Ning Wang, James L. Kunz, Chris D. Ivey, Danielle M. Cleveland, Jeffery Steevens

National Aquatic Environmental DNA Strategy

Aquatic life is the engine of ecosystems and economies. In environments ranging from freshwater through marine, this biodiversity underpins the health, culture, opportunities, and economic wellbeing of the Nation -- from local communities to the entire country. The ability to evaluate the status, trends, and future projections of nature is key to maintaining national prosperity, and this requires
Authors
Kelly D Goodwin, Christina M. Aiello, Mike Weise, Masha Edmondson, Katie Fillingham, Dee Allen, Alicia Amerson, Meredith L. Barton, Abby Benson, Gabrielle Canonico, Zachary Gold, Jennifer Gumm, Margaret Hunter, Nina Joffe, Richard Lance, Alyse Larkin, Ricardo Letelier, Christine Lipsky, Dana McCoskey, Cheryl Morrison, Karen Clark, John A. Darling, Amelia-Juliette Demery, Meredith Everett, Colette Fletcher-Hoppe, Krista M. Nichols, Kim M. Parsons, James Price, Kimberly Puglise, Katie Scholl, Mike K Schwartz, Adam Sepulveda, Janet Shannon, Woody Turner, Timothy White

Potential hazards of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Great Lakes tributaries using water column and porewater passive samplers and sediment wquilibrium partitioning

The potential for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-related effects in benthic organisms is commonly estimated from organic carbon-normalized sediment concentrations based on equilibrium partitioning (EqP). Although this approach is useful for screening purposes, it may overestimate PAH bioavailability by orders of magnitude in some sediments, leading to inflated exposure estimates and potenti
Authors
Austin K. Baldwin, Steven R. Corsi, David Alvarez, David L. Villeneuve, Gerald T. Ankley, Brett R. Blackwell, Marc A. Mills, Peter L. Lenaker, Michelle A. Nott

Temporal habitat use of mule deer in the Pueblo of Santa Ana, New Mexico

Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) are important economically, culturally, and recreationally to the Pueblo of Santa Ana in central New Mexico, USA. Studies of habitat selection improve our understanding of mule deer ecology in central New Mexico and provide the Tribe with valuable information for management of mule deer. We used global positioning system telemetry-collar data collected on mule deer
Authors
Daniel E. Bird, Laura D'Acunto, Daniel Ginter, Glenn Harper, Patrick A. Zollner

Streamflow, water quality, and constituent loads and yields, Scituate Reservoir drainage area, Rhode Island, water year 2020

As part of a long-term cooperative program to monitor water quality within the Scituate Reservoir drainage area, the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with Providence Water (sometimes known as Providence Water Supply Board) collected streamflow and water-quality data in tributaries to the Scituate Reservoir, Rhode Island. Streamflow and concentrations of chloride and sodium estimated from reco
Authors
Kirk P. Smith

Microbial diversity, genomics, and phage–host interactions of cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms

The occurrence of cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cyanoHABs) is related to their physical and chemical environment. However, less is known about their associated microbial interactions and processes. In this study, cyanoHABs were analyzed as a microbial ecosystem, using 1 year of 16S rRNA sequencing and 70 metagenomes collected during the bloom season from Lake Okeechobee (Florida, USA). Biog
Authors
Lauren E Krausfeldt, Elizaveta Shmakova, Hyo Won Lee, Viviana Mazzei, Keith Loftin, Robert P Smith, Emily E. Karwacki, Eric Fortman, B.H. Rosen, Hidetoshi Urakawa, Manoj Dadlani, Rita Colwell, Jose V Lopez