Publications

Elevated nitrate (NO3) and sulfate (SO4) in surface water are of global concern, and studies are needed to generate toxicity data to develop environmental guideline values for NO3 and SO4. The present study was designed to fill existing gaps in toxicity databases by determining the acute and/or chronic toxicity of NO3 (tested as NaNO3) to a unionid mussel (Lampsilis siliquoidea), a midge (Chironom

Dauphin Island, Alabama, located in the Northern Gulf of Mexico just outside of Mobile Bay, is Alabama’s only barrier island and provides an array of historical, natural, and economic resources. The dynamic island shoreline of Dauphin Island evolved across time scales while constantly acted upon by waves and currents during both storms and calm periods. Reductions in the vulnerability and enhancem

A new method was developed to assess the effect of matrix diffusion on contaminant transport and remediation of groundwater in fractured rock. This method utilizes monitoring wells constructed of open boreholes in fractured rock to conduct backward diffusion experiments on chlorinated volatile organic compounds (CVOCs) in groundwater. The experiments are performed on relatively unfractured zones (

Southern Leopard Frogs, Lithobates sphenocephalus (Cope, 1889), lay eggs year-round in their southern range, including Louisiana, but their peak breeding season is the cooler months from late fall through early spring (Mount, 1975; Caldwell, 1986; Dundee and Rossman, 1989). Double-enveloped eggs in globular masses are typically deposited in shallow water, but deeper waters are used when temperatur

Mangroves are expanding poleward along coastlines globally as a response to rising temperatures and reduced incidence of freezing under climate change. Yet, knowledge of mangrove responses to infrequent cold events in the context of future global and regional environmental changes is limited. We initiated a mesocosm experiment in which the seedlings of two mangrove species were grown either at amb

In 2015, the total amount of water withdrawn in Florida was estimated to be 15,319 million gallons per day (Mgal/d). Saline water accounted for 9,598 Mgal/d (63 percent) and freshwater accounted for 5,721 Mgal/d (37 percent) of the total. Groundwater accounted for 3,604 Mgal/d (63 percent) of freshwater withdrawals and surface water accounted for the remaining 2,117 Mgal/d (37 percent). Surface-wa

The U.S. Geological Survey’s National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project assessed the quality of groundwater in aquifers that are important sources of drinking water in the United States. One major aquifer in Texas that was assessed by NAWQA in 2013 is the coastal lowlands aquifer system, which is often referred to in Texas as the “Gulf Coast aquifer system.” The coastal lowlands aquifer sys

The chapter starts by addressing some of the issues that come from not using a conceptual framework. This point is illustrated using an example with causal factors. The chapter then goes on to explain the mechanics of establishing conceptual frameworks. Lastly, it lays out a step-by-step guide on how to create a framework—generating a set of concepts, specifying the relations between concepts, wri

Low-lying public lands along the northern Gulf of Mexico coast are vulnerable to sea-level rise. Coastal planners and resource managers in the region have requested customized information that can be used to concisely communicate local sea-level rise scenarios and identify potential impacts to the missions of management agencies.In this project, researchers worked with the Northern Gulf of Mexico

Conservation biology is a rapidly evolving discipline, with its synthetic, multidisciplinary framework expanding extensively in recent years. Seemingly disparate disciplines, such as behavior and physiology, are being integrated into this discipline's growing portfolio, resulting in diverse tools that can help develop conservation solutions. Behavior and physiology have traditionally been consider

Two Pagers for Federally Managed Lands The Northern Gulf of Mexico Sentinel Site Cooperative partnered with individuals at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Wetland and Aquatic Research Center and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to produce customized two-pager information sheets for federal coastal refuges, parks, and reserves across the northern Gulf of Mexico (i.e., sea-level rise sensitive federa

Groundwater levels and stream stage were monitored by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Friends of Herring River, at 19 sites in the Mill Creek Basin, a tributary of the Herring River in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, on outer Cape Cod, to provide baseline data prior to a proposed restoration of tidal flow to the Herring River estuary at the Cape Cod National Seashore. Tidal flow in t