Publications

Sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh) has experienced poor vigor, regeneration failure, and elevated mortality across much of its range, but there has been relatively little attention to its growth rates. Based on a well-replicated dendrochronological network of range-centered populations in the Adirondack Mountains (USA), which encompassed a wide gradient of soil fertility, we observed...

Demand for woody biomass fuels is increasing amidst concerns about global energy security and climate change, but there may be negative implications of increased harvesting for forest ecosystem functions and their benefits to society (ecosystem services). Using new methods for assessing ecosystem services based on long-term experimental research, post-harvest changes in ten potential...

Decreasing trends in acidic deposition levels over the past several decades have led to partial chemical recovery of surface waters. However, depletion of soil Ca from acidic deposition has slowed surface water recovery and led to the impairment of both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Nevertheless, documentation of acidic deposition effects on soils has been limited, and little is...

The extent, hydrogeologic framework, and potential well yields of valley-fill aquifers within a 151-square-mile area of eastern Chemung County, New York, were investigated, and the upland distribution of till thickness over bedrock was characterized. The hydrogeologic framework of these valleyfill aquifers was interpreted from multiple sources of surficial and subsurface data and an...

The locations and sizes of potential cold-water refuges for trout were examined in 2005 along a 27-kilometer segment of the Indian and Hudson Rivers in northern New York to evaluate the extent of refuges, the effects of routine flow releases from an impoundment, and how these refuges and releases might influence trout survival in reaches that otherwise would be thermally stressed. This...

The Upper Esopus Creek receives water diversions from a neighboring basin through the Shandaken Tunnel (the portal) from the Schoharie Reservoir. Although the portal is closed during floods, mean flows and turbidity of portal waters are generally greater than in Esopus Creek above their confluence. These conditions could potentially affect local fish assemblages, yet such effects have...

The village of Endicott, New York, and the adjacent town of Vestal have historically used groundwater from the Susquehanna River valley-fill aquifer system for municipal water supply, but parts of some aquifers in this urban area suffer from legacy contamination from varied sources. Endicott would like to identify sites distant from known contamination where productive aquifers could...

Pine barrens are considered an imperiled ecosystem in the northeastern U.S. The Suffolk County Pine Barrens, once the second largest in the Northeast, were substantially reduced and fragmented by development during the 20th century. The coastal plain ponds being considered in this study occur in central Suffolk County within the Long Island Central Pine Barrens region. This highly unique...

The hybrid cyclone-nor’easter known as Hurricane Sandy affected the mid-Atlantic and northeastern United States during October 28-30, 2012, causing extensive coastal flooding. Prior to storm landfall, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) deployed a temporary monitoring network from Virginia to Maine to record the storm tide and coastal flooding generated by Hurricane Sandy. This sensor...

In May of 2009, the bloom-forming diatom Didymosphenia geminata was first identified in the Upper Esopus Creek, a key tributary to the New York City water-supply and a popular recreational stream. The Upper Esopus receives supplemental flows from the Shandaken Portal, an underground aqueduct delivering waters from a nearby basin. The presence of D.geminata is a concern for the local...

In response to Hurricane Sandy, personnel from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) deployed a temporary network of storm-tide sensors from Virginia to Maine. During the storm, real-time water levels were available from tide gages and rapid-deployment gages (RDGs). After the storm, USGS scientists retrieved the storm-tide sensors and RDGs and surveyed high-water marks. These data...

Digital flood-inundation maps for a 6.4-mile reach of the White River in Indianapolis, Indiana, from 0.3 miles upstream of Michigan Street to the Harding Street Generating Station dam (at the confluence with Lick Creek), were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs. The flood-inundation maps, which can be accessed...