Publications
Publications from USGS science centers throughout the Southeast Region.
Filter Total Items: 9969
The Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) immunoglobulin heavy chain suggests the importance of clan III variable segments in repertoire diversity
Manatees are a vulnerable, charismatic sentinel species from the evolutionarily divergent Afrotheria. Manatee health and resistance to infectious disease is of great concern to conservation groups, but little is known about their immune system. To develop manatee-specific tools for monitoring health, we first must have a general knowledge of how the immunoglobulin heavy (IgH) chain locus is organi
Authors
Breanna Breaux, Thaddeus C. Deiss, Patricia L. Chen, Maria Paula Cruz-Schneider, Leonardo Sena, Margaret E. Hunter, Robert K. Bonde, Michael F. Criscitiello
Temporal changes in nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations with comparisons to conservation practices and agricultural activities in the Lower Grand River, Missouri and Iowa, and selected watersheds, 1969–2015
This report presents the results of a cooperative study by the U.S. Geological Survey and Missouri Department of Natural Resources to estimate total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) concentrations at monitoring sites within and near the Lower Grand River hydrological unit. The primary objectives of the study were to quantify temporal changes in TN and TP concentrations and compare those con
Authors
Heather M. Krempa, Allison K. Flickinger
Deposition of mercury in forests across a montane elevation gradient: Elevational and seasonal patterns in methylmercury inputs and production
Global mercury contamination largely results from direct primary atmospheric and secondary legacy emissions, which can be deposited to ecosystems, converted to methylmercury, and bioaccumulated along food chains. We examined organic horizon soil samples collected across an elevational gradient on Whiteface Mountain in the Adirondack region of New York State, USA to determine spatial patterns in me
Authors
Jacqueline R. Gerson, Charles T. Driscoll, Jason D. Demers, Amy K. Sauer, Bradley D. Blackwell, Mario R. Montesdeoca, James B. Shanley, Donald S. Ross
Mapping the change of Phragmites australis live biomass in the lower Mississippi River Delta marshes
Multiyear remote sensing mapping of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) was carried out as an indicator of live biomass composition of the Phragmites australis (hereafter Phragmites) marsh in the lower Mississippi River Delta (hereafter delta) from 2014 to 2017. Maps of NDVI change showed that the Phragmites condition was fairly stable between May 2014 and July 2015. From July 2015 t
Authors
Elijah W. Ramsey, Amina Rangoonwala
Carrying capacity in a heterogeneous environment with habitat connectivity
A large body of theory predicts that populations diffusing in heterogeneous environments reach higher total size than if non-diffusing, and, paradoxically, higher size than in a corresponding homogeneous environment. However, this theory and its assumptions have not been rigorously tested. Here, we extended previous theory to include exploitable resources, proving qualitatively novel results, whic
Authors
Bo Zhang, Alex Kula, Keenan M.L. Mack, Lu Zhai, Arrix L. Ryce, Wei-Ming Ni, Donald L. DeAngelis, J. David Van Dyken
Lithofacies and sequence stratigraphic description of the upper part of the Avon Park Formation and the Arcadia Formation in U.S. Geological Survey G–2984 test corehole, Broward County, Florida
Rock core and sediment from U.S. Geological Survey test corehole G–2984 completed in 2011 in Broward County, Florida, provide an opportunity to improve the understanding of the lithostratigraphic, sequence stratigraphic, and hydrogeologic framework of the intermediate confining unit and Floridan aquifer system in southeastern Florida. A multidisciplinary approach including characterization of sequ
Authors
Kevin J. Cunningham, Edward Robinson
The estimation of growth dynamics for Pomacea maculata from hatchling to adult
Pomacea maculata is a relatively new invasive species to the Gulf Coast region and potentially threatens local agriculture (rice) and ecosystems (aquatic vegetation). The population dynamics of P. maculata have largely been unquantified, and therefore, scientists and field-workers are ill-equipped to accurately project population sizes and the resulting impact of this species. We studied the growt
Authors
Karyn L. Sutton, Lihong Zhao, Jacoby Carter
Examples of storm impacts on barrier islands
This chapter focuses on the morphologic variability of barrier islands and on the differences in storm response. It describes different types of barrier island response to individual storms, as well as the integrated response of barrier islands to many storms. The chapter considers case study on the Chandeleur Island chain, where a decadal time series of island elevation measurements have document
Authors
Nathaniel G. Plant, Kara S. Doran, Hilary F. Stockdon
Assessing welfare of individual sirenians in the wild and in captivity
Assessing the welfare of wild populations of sirenians has required a “generalist” approach. The outcome has been a subjective decision as to whether what the observers are witnessing in an individual or group of animals is normal and whether that has positive or negative consequences. The understanding of sirenian welfare requirements, and a decision process for whether to support and maintain th
Authors
Mark Flint, Robert K. Bonde
Human interactions with sirenians (manatees and dugongs)
There are three extant sirenian species of the Trichechidae family and one living Dugongidae family member. Given their close ties to coastal and often urbanized habitats, sirenians are exposed to many types of anthropogenic activities that result in challenges to their well-being, poor health, and even death. In the wild, they are exposed to direct and indirect local pressures as well as subject
Authors
Robert K. Bonde, Mark Flint
Historical changes in organic matter input to the muddy sediments along the Zhejiang-Fujian Coast, China over the past 160 years
The burial of sedimentary organic matter (SOM) in the large river-influenced estuarine-coastal regions is affected by hydrodynamic sorting, diagenesis and human activities. Typically, the inner shelf region of the East China Sea is a major carbon sink of the Yangtze River-derived fine-grained sediments. Most of the previous work concentrated on the studies of surface sediments or used a single-pro
Authors
Li-lei Chen, Jian Liu, Lei Xing, Ken W. Krauss, Jia-sheng Wang, Gang Xu, Li Li
Use of eddy-covariance methods to "calibrate" simple estimators of evapotranspiration
Direct measurement of actual evapotranspiration (ET) provides quantification of this large component of the hydrologic budget, but typically requires long periods of record and large instrumentation and labor costs. Simple surrogate methods of estimating ET, if “calibrated†to direct measurements of ET, provide a reliable means to quantify ET. Eddy-covariance measurements of ET were made for 1
Authors
David M. Sumner, Jeffrey S. Geurink, Amy Swancar