Publications
These publications showcase the significant science conducted in our Science Centers.
Filter Total Items: 16727
Modeling the effects of land cover and use on landscape capability for urban ungulate populations Modeling the effects of land cover and use on landscape capability for urban ungulate populations
Expanding ungulate populations are causing concerns for wildlife professionals and residents in many urban areas worldwide. Nowhere is the phenomenon more apparent than in the eastern US, where urban white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) populations are increasing. Most habitat suitability models for deer have been developed in rural areas and across large (>1000 km2) spatial...
Authors
H. Brian Underwood, Chellby R. Kilheffer
Abiotic raw-materials in life cycle impact assessments: An emerging consensus across disciplines Abiotic raw-materials in life cycle impact assessments: An emerging consensus across disciplines
This paper captures some of the emerging consensus points that came out of the workshop “Mineral Resources in Life Cycle Impact Assessment: Mapping the path forward”, held at the Natural History Museum London on 14 October 2015: that current practices rely in many instances on obsolete data, often confuse resource depletion with impacts on resource availability, which can therefore...
Authors
Johannes Drielsma, Ruth Allington, Thomas Brady, Jeroen Guinee, Jane M. Hammarstrom, Torsten Hummen, Andrea Russell-Vaccari, Laura Schneider, Guido Sonnemann, Par Weihed
Managing climate change refugia for climate adaptation Managing climate change refugia for climate adaptation
Refugia have long been studied from paleontological and biogeographical perspectives to understand how populations persisted during past periods of unfavorable climate. Recently, researchers have applied the idea to contemporary landscapes to identify climate change refugia, here defined as areas relatively buffered from contemporary climate change over time that enable persistence of...
Authors
Toni L. Morelli, Stephen T. Jackson
Trace elements at the intersection of marine biological and geochemical evolution Trace elements at the intersection of marine biological and geochemical evolution
Life requires a wide variety of bioessential trace elements to act as structural components and reactive centers in metalloenzymes. These requirements differ between organisms and have evolved over geological time, likely guided in some part by environmental conditions. Until recently, most of what was understood regarding trace element concentrations in the Precambrian oceans was...
Authors
Leslie J. Robbins, Stefan V. Lalonde, Noah J. Planavsky, Camille A. Partin, Christopher T. Reinhard, Brian Kendall, Clint Scott, Dalton S. Hardisty, Benjamin C. Gill, Daniel S. Alessi, Christopher L. Dupont, Mak A. Saito, Sean A. Crowe, Simon W. Poulton, Andrey Bekker, Timothy W. Lyons, Kurt O. Konhauser
Observations of pockmark flow structure in Belfast Bay, Maine, Part 1: current-induced mixing Observations of pockmark flow structure in Belfast Bay, Maine, Part 1: current-induced mixing
Field observations of current profiles and temperature, salinity, and density structure were used to examine vertical mixing within two pockmarks in Belfast Bay, Maine. The first is located in 21 m water depth (sea level to rim), nearly circular in shape with a 45 m rim diameter and 12 m rim-to-bottom relief. The second is located in 25 m water depth, more elongated in shape with an...
Authors
Christina L. Fandel, Thomas C. Lippmann, James D. Irish, Laura L. Brothers
Simple, efficient allocation of modelling runs on heterogeneous clusters with MPI Simple, efficient allocation of modelling runs on heterogeneous clusters with MPI
In scientific modelling and computation, the choice of an appropriate method for allocating tasks for parallel processing depends on the computational setting and on the nature of the computation. The allocation of independent but similar computational tasks, such as modelling runs or Monte Carlo trials, among the nodes of a heterogeneous computational cluster is a special case that has...
Authors
David I. Donato
Geochemistry, Nd-Pb Isotopes, and Pb-Pb Ages of the Mesoproterozoic Pea Ridge Iron Oxide-Apatite–Rare Earth Element Deposit, Southeast Missouri Geochemistry, Nd-Pb Isotopes, and Pb-Pb Ages of the Mesoproterozoic Pea Ridge Iron Oxide-Apatite–Rare Earth Element Deposit, Southeast Missouri
Iron oxide-apatite and iron oxide-copper-gold deposits occur within ~1.48 to 1.47 Ga volcanic rocks of the St. Francois Mountains terrane near a regional boundary separating crustal blocks having contrasting depleted-mantle Sm-Nd model ages (TDM). Major and trace element analyses and Nd and Pb isotope data were obtained to characterize the Pea Ridge deposit, improve identification of...
Authors
Robert A. Ayuso, John F. Slack, Warren C. Day, Anne E. McCafferty
Creating a Coastal National Elevation Database (CoNED) for science and conservation applications Creating a Coastal National Elevation Database (CoNED) for science and conservation applications
The U.S. Geological Survey is creating the Coastal National Elevation Database, an expanding set of topobathymetric elevation models that extend seamlessly across coastal regions of high societal or ecological significance in the United States that are undergoing rapid change or are threatened by inundation hazards. Topobathymetric elevation models are raster datasets useful for...
Authors
Cindy A. Thatcher, John Brock, Jeffrey J. Danielson, Sandra K. Poppenga, Dean B. Gesch, Monica Palaseanu-Lovejoy, John Barras, Gayla A. Evans, Ann Gibbs
Geology of the eastern Piedmont in Virginia Geology of the eastern Piedmont in Virginia
No abstract available.
Authors
J. Wright Horton, Brent E. Owens, Paul C. Hackley, William C. Burton, Paul E. Sacks, James P. Hibbard
Population demographics for the federally endangered dwarf wedgemussel Population demographics for the federally endangered dwarf wedgemussel
The dwarf wedgemussel, Alasmidonta heterodon, is a federally endangered freshwater mussel species inhabiting several Atlantic Slope rivers. Studies on population demographics of this species are necessary for status assessment and directing recovery efforts. We conducted qualitative and quantitative surveys for dwarf wedgemussel in the mainstem Delaware River and in four of its...
Authors
Heather S. Galbraith, William A. Lellis, Jeffrey C. Cole, Carrie J. Blakeslee, Barbara St. John White
Lidar-based mapping of flood control levees in south Louisiana Lidar-based mapping of flood control levees in south Louisiana
Flood protection in south Louisiana is largely dependent on earthen levees, and in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina the state’s levee system has received intense scrutiny. Accurate elevation data along the levees are critical to local levee district managers responsible for monitoring and maintaining the extensive system of non-federal levees in coastal Louisiana. In 2012, high...
Authors
Cindy A. Thatcher, Samsung Lim, Monica Palaseanu-Lovejoy, Jeffrey J. Danielson, Dustin R. Kimbrow
A computational fluid dynamics modeling study of guide walls for downstream fish passage A computational fluid dynamics modeling study of guide walls for downstream fish passage
A partial-depth, impermeable guidance structure (or guide wall) for downstream fish passage is typically constructed as a series of panels attached to a floating boom and anchored across a water body (e.g. river channel, reservoir, or power canal). The downstream terminus of the wall is generally located nearby to a fish bypass structure. If guidance is successful, the fish will avoid...
Authors
Kevin Mulligan, Brett Towler, Alexander J. Haro, David P. Ahlfeld