Publications
These publications showcase the significant science conducted in our Science Centers.
Filter Total Items: 16733
Ecotoxicology: Lead Ecotoxicology: Lead
Lead (Pb) is a naturally occurring metallic element; trace concentrations are found in all environmental media and in all living things. However, certain human activities, especially base metal mining and smelting; combustion of leaded gasoline; the use of Pb in hunting, target shooting, and recreational angling; the use of Pb-based paints; and the uncontrolled disposal of Pb-containing...
Authors
A.M. Scheuhammer, W. N. Beyer, C. J. Schmitt
Design for a region-wide adaptive search for the ivorybilled woodpecker with the objective of estimating occupancy and related parameters Design for a region-wide adaptive search for the ivorybilled woodpecker with the objective of estimating occupancy and related parameters
We describe a survey design and field protocol for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) search effort that will: (1) allow estimation of occupancy, use, and detection probability for habitats at two spatial scales within the bird?s former range, (2) assess relationships between occupancy, use, and habitat characteristics at those scales, (3) eventually allow the...
Authors
R.J. Cooper, Rua S. Mordecai, B.G. Mattsson, M.J. Conroy, K. Pacifici, J.T. Peterson, C. T. Moore
Coordinating across scales: Building a regional marsh bird monitoring program from national and state Initiatives Coordinating across scales: Building a regional marsh bird monitoring program from national and state Initiatives
Salt marsh breeding bird populations (rails, bitterns, sparrows, etc.) in eastern North America are high conservation priorities in need of site specific and regional monitoring designed to detect population changes over time. The present status and trends of these species are unknown but anecdotal evidence of declines in many of the species has raised conservation concerns. Most of...
Authors
G.W. Shriver, J.R. Sauer
Sources and implications of lead ammunition and fishing tackle on natural resources Sources and implications of lead ammunition and fishing tackle on natural resources
A technical review of lead sources that originate from hunting, shooting sports, and fishing activities was undertaken by the American Fisheries Society and The Wildlife Society. The report addresses (1) sources of lead that originate from hunting, shooting sports, and fishing activities, (2) the hazard and risk that lead from these activities pose to natural resources, and (3) the...
Authors
Barnett A. Rattner, J. Christian Franson, Steven R. Sheffield, Chris I. Goddard, Nancy J. Leonard, Douglas Stang, Paul J. Wingate
Movement of reservoir-stocked riverine fish between tailwaters and rivers Movement of reservoir-stocked riverine fish between tailwaters and rivers
The movement of fish from onstream impoundments into connected streams and rivers has traditionally been overlooked in fish stocking decisions but is critical to the ultimate impact of stocking riverine species into reservoirs. Hybrid saugeyes (female walleye Sander vitreus x male sauger S. canadensis) stocked into Deer Creek Reservoir, Ohio, readily move from the reservoir to the...
Authors
J.A. Spoelstra, R.A. Stein, J. Andrew Royle, E.A. Marschall
Field Marks of a Celebration: Roger Tory Peterson's Centennial Birthday Field Marks of a Celebration: Roger Tory Peterson's Centennial Birthday
A red letter day in my life was April 27, 1934, the day I first met Roger. A birding friend, Elisha Atkins, had invited Clinton Reynolds and me to dinner to meet a famous ornithologist. We would all be going on a field trip to Newburyport on the Massachusetts coast the next day. The dinner conversation revolved about a new field guide that Mr. Peterson had just completed and that would...
Authors
J. Dunlap, C.S. Robbins
Temporal variation in adult survival rates of Roseate Terns during periods of increasing and declining populations Temporal variation in adult survival rates of Roseate Terns during periods of increasing and declining populations
We used 19 years of mark-recapture/resighting data collected on 11, 020 birds from 1988-2006 at five colony sites in Massachusetts, New York, and Connecticut, USA, to examine temporal variation in the survival rates of adult Roseate Terns (Sterna dougallii) during periods of overall population increase (1988-2000) and decline (2000-2006). Roseate Terns nested at only one colony site in...
Authors
J. A. Spendelow, J.E. Hines, J.D. Nichols, I.C.T. Nisbet, G. Cormons, H. Hays, J.J. Hatch, C.S. Mostello
Monitoring in the context of structured decision-making and adaptive management Monitoring in the context of structured decision-making and adaptive management
In a natural resource management setting, monitoring is a crucial component of an informed process for making decisions, and monitoring design should be driven by the decision context and associated uncertainties. Monitoring itself can play >3 roles. First, it is important for state-dependent decision-making, as when managers need to know the system state before deciding on the...
Authors
J. E. Lyons, M.C. Runge, H. P. Laskowski, W. L. Kendall
Objectives and metrics for wildlife monitoring Objectives and metrics for wildlife monitoring
Monitoring surveys allow managers to document system status and provide the quantitative basis for management decision-making, and large amounts of effort and funding are devoted to monitoring. Still, monitoring surveys often fall short of providing required information; inadequacies exist in survey designs, analyses procedures, or in the ability to integrate the information into an...
Authors
J.R. Sauer, M. G. Knutson
Apparent tolerance of turkey vultures (Cathartes aura) to the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac Apparent tolerance of turkey vultures (Cathartes aura) to the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac
The nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drug diclofenac is extremely toxic to Old World Gyps vultures (median lethal dose ∼0.1–0.2 mg/kg), evoking visceral gout, renal necrosis, and mortality within a few days of exposure. Unintentional secondary poisoning of vultures that fed upon carcasses of diclofenac‐treated livestock decimated populations in the Indian subcontinent. Because of the...
Authors
Barnett A. Rattner, M.A. Whitehead, G. Gasper, C.U. Meteyer, W.A. Link, M.A. Taggart, A.A. Meharg, O. H. Pattee, D.J. Pain
Simulated Effects of Year 2030 Water-Use and Land-Use Changes on Streamflow near the Interstate-495 Corridor, Assabet and Upper Charles River Basins, Eastern Massachusetts Simulated Effects of Year 2030 Water-Use and Land-Use Changes on Streamflow near the Interstate-495 Corridor, Assabet and Upper Charles River Basins, Eastern Massachusetts
Continued population growth and land development for commercial, industrial, and residential uses have created concerns regarding the future supply of potable water and the quantity of ground water discharging to streams in the area of Interstate 495 in eastern Massachusetts. Two ground-water models developed in 2002-2004 for the Assabet and Upper Charles River Basins were used to...
Authors
Carl S. Carlson, Leslie A. DeSimone, Peter K. Weiskel
Timing and patterns of basin infilling as documented in Lake Powell during a drought Timing and patterns of basin infilling as documented in Lake Powell during a drought
Between 1999 and 2005, drought in the western United States led to a >44 m fall in the level of Lake Powell (Arizona-Utah), the nation's second-largest reservoir. River discharges to the reservoir were halved, yet the rivers still incised the tops of deltas left exposed along the rim of the reservoir by the lake-level fall. Erosion of the deltas enriched the rivers in sediment such that...
Authors
Lincoln F. Pratson, John Hughes-Clarke, Mark Anderson, Thomas Gerber, David C. Twitchell, Ronald Ferrari, Charles A. Nittrouer, Jonathan D. Beaudoin, Jesse Granet, John Crockett