Publications

Introduction The Water Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with State, municipal, and Federal agencies, collects a large amount of data pertaining to the water resources of Pennsylvania each water year. These data, accumulated during many water years, constitute a valuable data base for developing an improved understanding of the water resources of the State...

This comprehensive review examines the extensive literature on wild rodents and lagomorphs as biomonitors of environmental contamination. This chapter covers studies dealing with exposure and effects of environmental contaminants on rodent and lagomorph species, including pesticides (organochlorines, organophosphorus and carbamate compounds, herbicides, plant growth regulators...

Ground-water flow in the Potomac-Raritan- Magothy aquifer system (PRM) in south Philadelphia and adjacent southwestern New Jersey was simulated by use of a three-dimensional, seven-layer finite-difference numerical flow model. The simulation was run from 1900, which was prior to groundwater development, through 1995 with 21 stress periods. The focus of the modeling was on a smaller area...

No abstract available.

No abstract available.

We isolated a Mycobacterium sp. resembling Mycobacterium marinum and M. ulcerans from diseased striped bass (Morone saxatilis) during an epizootic of mycobacteriosis in the Chesapeake Bay. This isolate may represent an undescribed Mycobacterium species, based on phenotypic characteristics and comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence.

Ground-water-flow patterns and areas contributing recharge to supply wells change in response to new or altered pumping stresses. An understanding of these potential changes is essential for the effective evaluation of possible future water-supply alternatives, especially if the supply wells may be vulnerable to contamination from the land surface. Demand for water from a valley-fill and...

In 1995, the discovery of leg malformations in several screech owl (Otis asio) nestlings and in their female parent at a Department of Energy (DOE) Superfund site in South Carolina prompted an investigation into the nature of the observed abnormalities. Surviving nestlings and the female parent were transferred to a captive screech owl breeding colony at the USGS Patuxent Wildlife...

Several species of anuran amphibians have undergone drastic population declines in the western United States over the last 10 to 15 years. In California, the most severe declines are in the Sierra Mountains east of the Central Valley and downwind of the intensely agricultural San Joaquin Valley. In contrast, coastal and more northern populations across from the less agrarian Sacramento...

This report clarifies recent studies on the saker falcon in Mongolia. In the last five years, three museum studies appeared on the Altay falcon (is it a gyrfalcon, saker or separate species). These showed that all of the most distinct Central Asian summer specimens were from only two mountain ranges. However, there is a continuum between sakers and Altay falcons and the two should be...

Corridors have become a key issue in the discussion of conservation planning: however, few empirical data exist on the use of corridors and their effects on population dynamics. The objective of this replicated, population level, capture-re-capture experiment on meadow voles was to estimate and compare population characteristics of voles between (1) corridor-linked fragments, (2)...

Stormwater treatment ponds receive elevated levels of metals from urban runoff, but the effects of these pollutants on organisms residing in the ponds are unknown. We investigated the accumulation of Cu, Zn, and Pb by macroinvertebrates collected from stormwater treatment ponds in Maryland serving commercial, highway, residential and open-space watersheds, and determined whether...