Publications

In June 2001, we located an active Ixobrychus exilis (Least Bittern) nest in Bass Harbor marsh on Mount Desert Island, Hancock County, ME. Only 2 other descriptions of Least Bittern nests exist for Maine, although based on other breeding evidence, the species is known to breed elsewhere in the state. We found the nest in a 0.7-ha Typha sp. (cattail)-dominated area within a larger (3.5 ha...

Previous studies have found widespread Pb poisoning of waterfowl in the Coeur d'Alene River Basin in northern Idaho, USA, which has been contaminated by mining and smelting activities. We studied the exposure of ground-feeding songbirds to Pb, sampling 204 American robins (Turdus migratorius), song sparrows (Melospiza melodia), and Swainson's thrushes (Catharus ustulatus) throughout the...

Tin was one of the earliest-known metals. Because of its hardening effect on copper, tin was used in bronze implements as early as 3500 B.C. Bronze, a copper-tin alloy that can be sharpened and is hard enough to retain a cutting edge, was used during the Bronze Age in construction tools as well as weapons for hunting and war. The geographical separation between tin-producing and tin...

This report and the accompanying geospatial data were created to assist in analysis and interpretation of water-quality data provided by the U.S. Geological Survey's National Stream Quality Accounting Network (NASQAN) and by the U.S. Coastal Waters and Tributaries National Monitoring Network (NMN), which is a cooperative monitoring program of Federal, regional, and State agencies. The...

Five subspecies of the Greater White-fronted Goose, Anser albifrons (Scopoli, 1769), have been named, all on the basis of wintering birds, and up to six subspecies have been recognized. There has been confusion over the application of some names, particularly in North America, because of lack of knowledge of the breeding ranges and type localities, and incorrect taxonomic decisions...

Patterns of diversification in species-rich clades provide insight into the processes that generate biological diversity. We tested different models of lineage and phenotypic diversification in an exceptional continental radiation, the ovenbird family Furnariidae, using the most complete species-level phylogenetic hypothesis produced to date for a major avian clade (97% of 293 species)...

Streamflow data, water-surface-elevation profiles derived from a Hydrologic Engineering Center River Analysis System hydraulic model, and geographical information system digital elevation models were used to develop a set of 18 flood-inundation maps for an approximately 5-mile reach of the West Branch Susquehanna River near the Borough of Jersey Shore, Pa. The inundation maps were...

Concentrations of perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) were measured in surface waters and sediments from the Coosa River watershed in northwest Georgia, USA, to examine their distribution downstream of a suspected source. Samples from eight sites were analyzed using liquid chromatography‐tandem mass spectrometry. Sediments were also used in 28‐d exposures with the aquatic oligochaete...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collected water-quality data between 2001 and 2010 in the Fishermans Cove area of Ashumet Pond, Falmouth, Massachusetts, where the eastern portion of a treated-wastewater plume, created by more than 60 years of overland disposal, discharges to the pond. Temporary drive points were installed, and shallow pond-bottom groundwater was sampled, at 167...

The use of host-associated Bacteroidales-based 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid genetic markers was investigated as a tool for providing information to managers on sources of bacterial impairment in Vermont streams. The study was conducted during 2009 in two watersheds on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 303(d) List of Impaired Waters, the Huntington and the Mettawee Rivers...

No abstract available.

This data report presents oceanographic and water-quality observations made at six locations in West Falmouth Harbor and Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, from August 2009 to September 2010. Both Buzzards Bay and West Falmouth Harbor are estuarine embayments; the input of freshwater on the eastern margin of Buzzards Bay adjacent to Cape Cod and West Falmouth Harbor is largely due to...