Publications

Invasive alien species are likely to interact with climate change, thus necessitating management that proactively addresses both global changes. However, invasive species managers’ concerns about the effects of climate change, the degree to which they incorporate climate change into their management, and what stops them from doing so remain unknown. Therefore, we surveyed natural...

Mother Nature was not making it easy. It was February 18, 2009, and winds were gusting, sleet was falling, and temperatures were hovering around 40° F. Our crew of 9 which consisted of personnel from the USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station, the Cherokee National Forest, and The University of Tennessee’s Tree Improvement Program, was attempting to establish the first test...

1) Macrophytes influence aquatic ecosystems by increasing habitat complexity and providing trophic resources for aquatic fauna. While herbivory on freshwater macrophytes is widely documented in lakes, low-velocity riverine habitats, the influence of herbivory on macrophytes in higher-velocity habitats has rarely been examined. 2) We investigated the hypothesis that high water velocity...

Hyperalkaline (pH greater than 12) ponds and groundwater exist at Big Marsh near Lake Calumet, Chicago, Illinois, a site used by the steel industry during the mid-1900s to deposit steel- and iron-making waste, in particular, slag. The hyperalkaline ponds may pose a hazard to human health and the environment. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Environmental...

Daily mean discharges are needed for rivers in New Hampshire for the management of instream flows. It is impractical, however, to continuously gage all streams in New Hampshire, and at many sites where information is needed, the discharge data required do not exist. For such sites, techniques for estimating discharge are available. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New...

Marginal probability distributions for parameters representing an effective sound-speed structure of a fine-grained sediment are inferred from a data ensemble maximum entropy method that utilizes a sparse spatially distributed set of received pressure time series resulting from multiple explosive sources in a shallow-water ocean environment possessing significant spatial variability of...

Increasing global reliance on stormwater control measures to reduce discharge to surface water, increase groundwater recharge, and minimize contaminant delivery to receiving waterbodies necessitates improved understanding of stormwater-contaminant profiles. A multi-agency study of organic and inorganic chemicals in urban stormwater from 50 runoff events at 21 sites across the United...

The U.S. Geological Survey conducted a study using modern methods of molecular analysis aimed at attempting to identify the source(s) of fecal contamination that had been identified in previous studies conducted by the West Virginia Conservation Agency in the Elk Run watershed, Jefferson County, West Virginia. Water samples from multiple sites showing elevated fecal coliform counts were...

Water level in semi-enclosed bays, landward of barrier islands, is mainly driven by offshore sea level fluctuations that are modulated by bay geometry and bathymetry, causing spatial variability in the ensuing response (transfer). Local wind setup can have a secondary role that depends on wind speed, fetch, and relative orientation of the wind direction and the bay. Inlet geometry and...

The eastern elliptio Elliptio complanata is a species of freshwater mussel common to streams and rivers of the Atlantic Coast. Egg fertilization, larval brooding, and glochidial release are reported to occur within a period of several weeks during early to midsummer. In this study, mussels were exposed to manipulated photoperiod and water temperatures to prolong the availability of...

To determine the impacts of groundwater-borne nutrients on phytoplankton biomass and community structure, we conducted a series of mesocosm experiments in the Inland Bays of Delaware. Four treatments were tested, including mesocosms coupled directly to submarine groundwater seepage, mesocosms with the addition of pumped submarine groundwater, mesocosms with the addition of phosphate, and...

In June 2016, approximately 64 kilometers (km) of riverbank were examined along the Tar and Neuse Rivers near Tarboro and Kinston, North Carolina, for evidence of liquefaction-forming earthquakes. The study area is in the vicinity of the Grainger’s fault zone in eastern North Carolina. The Grainger’s fault zone is a fault zone in the inner Coastal Plain Province that has well-documented...