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Publications

Publications from USGS science centers throughout the Southeast Region.

Filter Total Items: 9969

Interactive mapping of nonindigenous species in the Laurentian Great Lakes

Nonindigenous species pose significant risks to the health and integrity of ecosystems around the world. Tracking and communicating the spread of these species has been of interest to ecologists and environmental managers for many years, particularly in the bi-national Laurentian Great Lakes of North America. In this paper, we introduce the Great Lakes Aquatic Nonindigenous Species Information Sys
Authors
Joseph P. Smith, El K. Lower, Felix A. Martinez, Catherine M. Riseng, Lacey A. Mason, Edward S. Rutherford, Matthew E. Neilson, Pam Fuller, Kevin E. Wehrly, Rochelle A. Sturtevant

Stability of temperate coral Astrangia poculata microbiome is reflected across different sequencing methodologies

The microbiome of the temperate coral Astrangia poculata was first described in 2017 using next-generation Illumina sequencing to examine the coral’s bacterial and archaeal associates across seasons and among hosts of differing symbiotic status. To assess the impact of methodology on the detectable diversity of the coral’s microbiome, we obtained near full-length Sanger sequences from clone librar
Authors
Dawn B. Goldsmith, Zoe A. Pratte, Christina A. Kellogg, Sara E. Snader, Koty H. Sharp

Flood-inundation maps for the Yellow River from River Drive to Centerville Highway, Gwinnett County, Georgia

Digital flood-inundation maps for a 16.4-mile reach of the Yellow River in Gwinnett County, Georgia, from 0.5 mile upstream from River Drive to Centerville Highway (Georgia State Route 124) were developed to depict estimates of the areal extent and depth of flooding corresponding to selected water levels (stages) at two U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) streamgages in the mapped area. The maps for the
Authors
Jonathan W. Musser

Multi-species duck harvesting using dynamic programming and multi-criteria decision analysis

1.Multiple species are often exposed to a common hunting season, but harvest and population objectives may not be fully achieved if harvest potential varies among species and/or species abundances are not correlated through time. Our goal was to develop an approach for setting a common hunting season that would recognize heterogeneity in species productivity and would select annual hunting seasons
Authors
Fred Johnson, Guthrie S. Zimmerman, Min Huang, Paul I. Padding, Greg Balkcom, Michael Runge, Patrick K. Devers

Mississippi river sediment diversions and coastal wetland sustainability: Synthesis of responses to freshwater, sediment, and nutrient inputs

Management and restoration of coastal wetlands require insight into how inundation, salinity, and the availability of mineral sediment and nutrients interact to influence ecosystem functions that control sustainability. The Mississippi River Delta, which ranks among the world's largest and most productive coastal wetland complexes, has experienced extensive deterioration over the last century due,
Authors
Tracy Elsey-Quirk, Sean A. Graham, Irving A. Mendelssohn, Gregg Snedden, John W. Day, Gary P. Shaffer, Leigh Anne Sharp, Robert R. Twilley, James Pahl, R.R. Lane

Resource concentration mechanisms facilitate foraging success in simulations of a pulsed oligotrophic wetland

ContextMovement of prey on hydrologically pulsed, spatially heterogeneous wetlands can result in transient, high prey concentrations, when changes in landscape features such as connectivity between flooded areas alternately facilitate and impede prey movement. Predators track and exploit these concentrations, depleting them as they arise.ObjectivesWe sought to describe how prey pulses of fish rapi
Authors
Simeon Yurek, Donald L. DeAngelis

Invasive plant species

Invasive species may be one of the worts environmental problems facing the conservation of natural areas, because of their role in changing ecosystem function. At the same time, invasive species cause much human suffering and economic loss. The approach to eliminating invasive species can be improved by a better understanding of the various types of invasive species, and the scientific hypotheses
Authors
Beth A. Middleton

Flood-inundation maps for Lake Champlain in Vermont and New York

In 2016, digital flood-inundation maps along the shoreline of Lake Champlain in Addison, Chittenden, Franklin, and Grand Isle Counties in Vermont and northern Clinton County in New York were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the International Joint Commission (IJC). This report discusses the creation of updated static digital flood-inundation mapping, in 2018, to inc
Authors
Robert H. Flynn, Laura Hayes

Florida Coastal Mapping Program—Overview and 2018 workshop report

The Florida Coastal Mapping Program is a nascent but highly relevant program that has the potential to greatly enhance the “Blue Economy” of Florida by coordinating and facilitating sea-floor mapping efforts and aligning partner and stakeholder activities for increased efficiency and cost reduction. Sustained acquisition of modern coastal mapping information for Florida may improve management of r
Authors
Cheryl J. Hapke, Philip A. Kramer, Elizabeth H. Fetherston-Resch, Rene D. Baumstark, Ryan Druyor, Xan Fredericks, Ekaterina Fitos

Coastal habitat change and marine megafauna behavior: Florida manatees encountering reduced food provisions in a prominent winter refuge

A decline in submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) within Florida’s spring-fed thermal refuges raises questions about how these systems support winter foraging of Florida manatees Trichechus manatus latirostris. We analyzed telemetry data for 12 manatees over 7 yr to assess their use of Kings Bay, a winter refuge with diminished SAV. After accounting for the effect of water temperature, we hypothesiz
Authors
Chanda J. Littles, Robert K. Bonde, Susan M. Butler, Charles A. Jacoby, Sky K. Notestein, James P. Reid, Daniel H. Slone, Thomas K. Frazer

Unprocessed atmospheric nitrate in waters of the Northern Forest Region in the USA and Canada

Little is known about the regional extent and variability of nitrate from atmospheric deposition that is transported to streams without biological processing in forests. We measured water chemistry and isotopic tracers (δ18O and δ15N) of nitrate sources across the Northern Forest Region of the U.S. and Canada and reanalyzed data from other studies to determine when, where, and how unprocessed atmo
Authors
Stepen D Sebestyen, Donald D Ross, James B. Shanley, Emily M. Elliott, Carol Kendall, John L. Campbell, D Bryan Dail, Ivan J Fernandez, Christine L Goodale, Gregory B. Lawrence, Gary M. Lovett, Patrick J McHale, Myron J Mitchell, Sarah J. Nelson, Michelle D Shattuck, Trent R Wickman, Rebecca T. Barnes, Joel T. Bostic, Anthony R Buda, Douglas A Burns, Keith N. Eshleman, Jacques C. Finlay, David M. Nelson, Nobuhito Ohte, Linda H Pardo, Lucy A Rose, Robert J Sabo, Sherry L. Schiff, John Spoelstra, Karl W Williard

The plant diversity sampling design for The National Ecological Observatory Network

The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) is designed to facilitate an understanding of the impact of environmental change on ecological systems. Observations of plant diversity—responsive to changes in climate, disturbance, and land use, and ecologically linked to soil, biogeochemistry, and organisms—result in NEON data products that cross a range of organizational levels. Collections in
Authors
David T. Barnett, Peter B. Adler, Benjamin R. Chemel, Paul A. Duffy, Brian J. Enquist, James B. Grace, Susan P. Harrison, Robert K. Peet, David S. Schimel, Thomas J. Stohlgren, Mark Vellend