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Publications

These publications showcase the significant science conducted in our Science Centers.

Filter Total Items: 16731

A spatial and genetic analysis of Cowbird host selection A spatial and genetic analysis of Cowbird host selection

Our study of brood parasitism patterns in forest communities revealed the egg-laying frequency and host selection patterns of female cowbirds. By integrating molecular genetics and spatial data, we have the first published estimate on cowbird laying rates in field studies. The 29 females in the study laid only 1-5 eggs each, much lower than previous estimates from captive cowbirds and
Authors
D.C. Hahn, J.A. Sedgwick, I.S. Painter, N.J. Casna

Historical land cover changes in the Great Lakes Region Historical land cover changes in the Great Lakes Region

Two different methods of reconstructing historical vegetation change, drawing on General Land Office (GLO) surveys and fossil pollen deposits, are demonstrated by using data from the Great Lakes region. Both types of data are incorporated into landscape-scale analyses and presented through geographic information systems. Results from the two methods reinforce each other and allow...
Authors
K.L. Cole, M.B. Davis, F. Stearns, G. Guntenspergen, K. Walker

Assessing biological effects from highway-runoff constituents Assessing biological effects from highway-runoff constituents

Increased emphasis on evaluation of nonpoint-source pollution has intensified the need for techniques that can be used to discern the toxicological effects of complex chemical mixtures. In response, the use of biological assessment techniques is receiving increased regulatory emphasis. When applied with documented habitat assessment and chemical analysis, these techniques can increase...
Authors
Denny R. Buckler, Gregory E. Granato

Spatial strategies for managing visitor impacts in National Parks Spatial strategies for managing visitor impacts in National Parks

Resource and social impacts caused by recreationists and tourists have become a management concern in national parks and equivalent protected areas. The need to contain visitor impacts within acceptable limits has prompted park and protected area managers to implement a wide variety of strategies and actions, many of which are spatial in nature. This paper classifies and illustrates the...
Authors
Y.-F. Leung, J. L. Marion

The effects of landscape position on plant species density: Evidence of past environmental effects in a coastal wetland The effects of landscape position on plant species density: Evidence of past environmental effects in a coastal wetland

Here we propose that an important cause of variation in species density may be prior environmental conditions that continue to influence current patterns. In this paper we investigated the degree to which species density varies with location within the landscape, independent of contemporaneous environmental conditions. The area studied was a coastal marsh landscape subject to periodic...
Authors
J.B. Grace, G.R. Guntenspergen

Potential roadside biases due to habitat changes along Breeding Bird Survey routes Potential roadside biases due to habitat changes along Breeding Bird Survey routes

Breeding Bird Surveys (BBS) are conducted along roadside routes to enable a large geographic area to be surveyed. Yet the potential biases of sampling populations only from roadsides have received little attention. We sampled aerial photography of BBS routes taken in the mid-1960s and late-1980s to evaluate whether habitat changes that occurred along roadsides were also occurring in the
Authors
C.M.E. Keller, J.T. Scallan

[Book review] Wetland birds: Habitat resources and conservation implications, by Milton W. Weller [Book review] Wetland birds: Habitat resources and conservation implications, by Milton W. Weller

Milton Weller's love of wetlands and their inhabitants comes through in this book, and he continues a leadership role in a world of field ecologists where fewer and fewer are really experiencing the wet and wild.
Authors
R.M. Erwin

Predicting chick survival and productivity of Roseate Terns from data on early growth Predicting chick survival and productivity of Roseate Terns from data on early growth

Early growth of Roseate Tern (Sterna dougallii) chicks is a strong predictor of chick survival and hence of productivity. We developed discriminant functions to predict chick survival from body-masses measured during the first 3 days of life. Productivity is estimated by assuming that almost all A-chicks (first-hatched in each brood) survive to fledging, and using the discriminant...
Authors
I.C.T. Nisbet, Jeff S. Hatfield, W.A. Link, J. A. Spendelow

Sora rail studies on the Patuxent River, Maryland Sora rail studies on the Patuxent River, Maryland

The freshwater marshes of the tidal Patuxent River are well known for their annual fall concentration of migrant soras (Porzana carolina) and were formerly the most famous rail hunting grounds in the Chesapeake Bay region. Because of concern over the apparent long-term decline in number of soras and the decline in the quality of the Patuxent marshes, especially the loss of wild rice...
Authors
G. Michael Haramis, Gregory D. Kearns
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