All Publications

The 2024 annual report of the U.S. Geological Survey Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center highlights accomplishments of 2024, includes a list of 2024 publications, and summarizes the work of the center, as well as the work of each of its science groups. This product allows readers to gain a general understanding of the focus areas of the center’s scientific research and learn...

Lake St. Clair Metropark Beach in Michigan has a history of closures because of elevated Escherichia coli (E. coli) concentrations in its recreational waters. To reduce closures, restoration projects were implemented in 2021 to deter waterfowl from congregating on the beach. In this study, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Michigan Department of the Environment, Great...

Geographically isolated endemic species and their habitats in montane systems face stressors of rapid climate change as well as legacy and contemporary land use change. In the case of endangered species in fragmented terrestrial montane habitats, effectively sky-islands, insight into habitat use and resource selection is vital for effective conservation measures. We created a resource...

Unnatural tidal restrictions are common features in estuaries, often arising from agricultural practices, road construction, or drainage activities. Restrictions tend to attenuate tides landward of the structure but can induce more complex effects in the seaward direction, including modification of natural geomorphic processes. The Herring River Estuary is the site of the largest salt...

Data integration methods aim to improve species distribution estimates by incorporating multiple sources of uncertainty across datasets. Two major sources of uncertainty are: (1) variation in sampling effort across space and within datasets, and (2) variation in reliability associated with data collection protocols or timing among datasets. Our goal was to evaluate how different...

We perform linear mixed-effects analyses with a ground-motion dataset to evaluate how well ground-motion models (GMMs) fit active crustal, subduction interface, and subduction intraslab earthquakes in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Most of the GMMs reproduce the spatial variation in peak ground motions with earthquake magnitude and rupture distance but predict ground motions 0.3...

Aquatic ecosystems are rapidly changing, posing challenges for the conservation of threatened and endangered species, such as the Niangua darter Etheostoma nianguae, and highlighting the need to evaluate habitat use at multiple scales. The Niangua darter is a small benthic fish endemic to north-flowing streams of the Osage River basin in south-central Missouri, USA, and is federally...

Understanding social aggregation patterns in ungulate herds is essential for gaining behavioral insights, optimizing resource use, reducing human-wildlife conflict, and managing disease risk. As chronic wasting disease is the preeminent disease-related threat to cervid populations in North America, knowledge of contact between individuals and spatiotemporal patterns of aggregation...

Since the Mars Science Laboratory landed in 2012, the ChemCam instrument aboard the rover has collected in-situ laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) data and context images along more than 35 km of the Gale Crater traverse, providing valuable observations including diagenetic features such as light-toned veins. These veins are of particular scientific interest because they are...

Several of the Laurentian Great Lakes, including Lake Huron, have undergone oligotrophication in the past decades and prey fish biomass has concomitantly declined. One potential mechanism to explain declines in prey fish is slower growth and lower survival at the larval stage. To determine whether reduced productivity affects the growth of larval fish, we sampled larval fishes and their

The Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO) monitors volcanic and hydrothermal activity associated with the Yellowstone magmatic system, carries out research into magmatic processes occurring beneath Yellowstone Caldera, and issues timely warnings and guidance related to potential future geologic hazards. YVO is a collaborative consortium that includes the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)...

Coastal salt marsh modeling projects are designed to answer questions about where salt marshes may migrate, how they can migrate, and how they will be impacted by changing water levels. While this information is vital for climate-resilient marsh conservation, translating these findings into actionable results remains a challenge. The authors examined the actionability of marsh modeling...