Publications
These publications showcase the significant science conducted in our Science Centers.
Filter Total Items: 16727
Evaluating barrier island characteristics and piping plover (Charadrius melodus) habitat availability along the U.S. Atlantic Coast—Geospatial approaches and methodology Evaluating barrier island characteristics and piping plover (Charadrius melodus) habitat availability along the U.S. Atlantic Coast—Geospatial approaches and methodology
Policy makers, individuals from government agencies, and natural resource managers face increasing demands to manage coastal areas in a way that meets economic, social, and ecological needs as sea levels rise. Scientific knowledge of how coastal processes drive beach and barrier island changes and how those changes affect habitat use can support decision makers as they balance sometimes
Authors
Sara L. Zeigler, Emily J. Sturdivant, Benjamin T. Gutierrez
Resolving a paradox—high mercury deposition, but low bioaccumulation in northeastern Puerto Rico Resolving a paradox—high mercury deposition, but low bioaccumulation in northeastern Puerto Rico
At a “clean air” trade winds site in northeastern Puerto Rico, we found an apparent paradox: atmospheric total mercury (THg) deposition was highest of any site in the USA Mercury Deposition Network, but assimilation into the local food web was quite low. Avian blood THg concentrations (n = 31, from eight species in five foraging guilds) ranged widely from 0.2 to 32 ng g−1 (median of 4.3...
Authors
James B. Shanley, Mark C. Marvin-DiPasquale, Oksana P. Lane, Wayne J. Arendt, Steven J. Hall, William H. McDowell
Plate boundary localization, slip-rates and rupture segmentation of the Queen Charlotte Fault based on submarine tectonic geomorphology Plate boundary localization, slip-rates and rupture segmentation of the Queen Charlotte Fault based on submarine tectonic geomorphology
Linking fault behavior over many earthquake cycles to individual earthquake behavior is a primary goal in tectonic geomorphology, particularly across an entire plate boundary. Here, we examine the 1150-km-long, right-lateral Queen Charlotte-Fairweather fault system using comprehensive multibeam bathymetry data acquired along the Queen Charlotte Fault (QCF) offshore southeastern Alaska...
Authors
Daniel S. Brothers, Nathaniel C. Miller, Vaughn Barrie, Peter J. Haeussler, H. Gary Greene, Brian D. Andrews, Olaf Zielke, Peter Dartnell
Hysteretic response of solutes and turbidity at the event scale across forested tropical montane watersheds Hysteretic response of solutes and turbidity at the event scale across forested tropical montane watersheds
Concentration-discharge relationships are a key tool for understanding the sourcing and transport of material from watersheds to fluvial networks. Storm events in particular provide insight into variability in the sources of solutes and sediment within watersheds, and the hydrologic pathways that connect hillslope to stream channel. Here we examine high-frequency sensor-based specific...
Authors
Adam S. Wymore, Miguel C. Leon, James B. Shanley, William C. McDowell
Identifying credible and diverse GCMs for regional climate change studies—case study: Northeastern United States Identifying credible and diverse GCMs for regional climate change studies—case study: Northeastern United States
Climate data obtained from global climate models (GCMs) form the basis of most studies of regional climate change and its impacts. Using the northeastern US as a test case, we develop a framework to systematically sub-select reliable models for use in climate change studies in the region. We retain 14 of 36 CMIP5 GCMs that (a) have satisfactory historical performance, and (b) provide...
Authors
Ambarish V. Karmalkar, Jeanne M. Thibeault, Alexander Bryan, Anji Seth
Comparisons of stereological and other approaches for quantifying macrophage aggregates in piscine spleens Comparisons of stereological and other approaches for quantifying macrophage aggregates in piscine spleens
Macrophage aggregates (MA s) are focal accumulations of pigmented macrophages in the spleen and other tissues of fish. A central role of MA s is the clearance and destruction of degenerating cells and recycling of some cellular components. Macrophage aggregates also respond to chemical contaminants and infectious agents and may play a role in the adaptive immune response. Tissue damage...
Authors
Mark A Matsche, Vicki S. Blazer, Patricia M. Mazik
Characterization of smoltification in the Tasmanian strain of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in recirculation and flowthrough systems Characterization of smoltification in the Tasmanian strain of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in recirculation and flowthrough systems
This study examined morphological, physiological and molecular indicators of smoltification in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) juveniles in a flow-through (FT) and recirculating aquaculture system (RAS). Fish were exposed to 24-h light to initiate smoltification, for 5 (FT) and 7 (RAS) weeks prior to transfer from freshwater (FW) to seawater (SW) and were sampled weekly preceding and...
Authors
Christian A. van Rijn, P.L. Jones, Brad S. Evans, Christine Huynh, Stephen D. McCormick, Luis O B Afonso
Relevance of wind stress and wave-dependent ocean surface roughness on the generation of winter meteotsunamis in Northern Gulf of Mexico Relevance of wind stress and wave-dependent ocean surface roughness on the generation of winter meteotsunamis in Northern Gulf of Mexico
Meteotsunamis associated with passing squall lines are often observed ahead of cold fronts during winter seasons in Northern Gulf of Mexico. These types of meteotsunamis occur simultaneously with wind speed variations (~5-20 m/s) and sea-level atmospheric pressure oscillations (~1-6 hPa) with periods between 2 hours to several minutes. In order to enhance understanding of meteotsunami...
Authors
Lijing Shi, Maitane Olabarrieta, Arnoldo Valle-Levinson, John C. Warner
Identifying salt marsh shorelines from remotely sensed elevation data and imagery Identifying salt marsh shorelines from remotely sensed elevation data and imagery
Salt marshes are valuable ecosystems that are vulnerable to lateral erosion, submergence, and internal disintegration due to sea-level rise, storms, and sediment deficits. Because many salt marshes are losing area in response to these factors, it is important to monitor their lateral extent at high resolution over multiple timescales. In this study we describe two methods to calculate...
Authors
Amy S. Farris, Zafer Defne, Neil K. Ganju
Low streamflow trends at human-impacted and reference basins in the United States Low streamflow trends at human-impacted and reference basins in the United States
We present a continent-scale exploration of trends in annual 7-day low streamflows at 2482 U.S. Geological Survey streamgages across the conterminous United States over the past 100, 75, and 50 years (1916–2015, 1941–2015 and 1966–2015). We used basin characteristics to identify subsets of study basins representative of reference basins with streamflow relatively free from human effects...
Authors
Robert W. Dudley, Robert M. Hirsch, Stacey A. Archfield, Annalise G. Blum, Benjamin Renard
Spatial and temporal distribution of bacterial indicators and microbial-source tracking within Tumacácori National Historical Park and the upper Santa Cruz River, southern Arizona and northern Mexico, 2015–2016 Spatial and temporal distribution of bacterial indicators and microbial-source tracking within Tumacácori National Historical Park and the upper Santa Cruz River, southern Arizona and northern Mexico, 2015–2016
Tumacácori National Historical Park (TUMA) in southern Arizona protects the culturally important Mission San José de Tumacácori, while also managing a part of the ecologically diverse riparian corridor of the Santa Cruz River. The quality of the water flowing through depends solely on upstream watershed activities, and among the water-quality issues concerning TUMA is the microbiological...
Authors
Nicholas V. Paretti, Christopher M. Kephart, Thomas J. Porter, Edyth Hermosillo, Jay R. Cederberg, Justine P. Mayo, Bruce Gungle, Alissa L. Coes, Rachel S. Tucci, Laura M. Norman
Large loss of CO2 in winter observed across pan-arctic permafrost region Large loss of CO2 in winter observed across pan-arctic permafrost region
Recent warming in the Arctic, which has been amplified during the winter1,2,3, greatly enhances microbial decomposition of soil organic matter and subsequent release of carbon dioxide (CO2)4. However, the amount of CO2 released in winter is not known and has not been well represented by ecosystem models or empirically based estimates5,6. Here we synthesize regional in situ observations...
Authors
Susan M Natali, Jennifer D. Watts, Stefano Potter, Brendan M. Rogers, Sarah M. Ludwig, Anne-Katrin Selbmann, Patrick F. Sullivan, Benjamin W. Abbott, Kyle A. Arndt, Leah Birch, Mats P. Bjorkman, Anthony Bloom, Gerardo Celis, Torben R. Christiensen, Casper T. Christiansen, Roisin Commane, Elisabeth J. Cooper, Patrick Crill, Claudia Czimczik, Sergey Davydov, Jinyang Du, Jocelyn E. Egan, Bo Elberling, Eugenie S. Euskirchen, Thomas Friborg, Helene Genet, Mathias Gockede, Jordan P. Goodrich, Paul Grogan, Manuel Helbig, Elchin E. Jafarov, Julie Jastrow, Aram Kalhori, Yongwon Kim, John S Kimball, Lars Kutzbach, Mark J. Lara, Klaus S. Larsen, Michael M Loranty, Magnus Lund, Massimo Lupascu, Nima Madani, Avni Malhorta, Jack McFarland, David A. McGuire, Anders Michelson, Christina Minions, Walter C. Oechel, David Olefeldt, Frans-Jan Parmentier, Norbert Pirk, Benjamin Poulter, William L. Quinton, Fereidoun Rezanezhad, David Risk, Torsten Sachs, Kevin Schaefer, Neils M. Schmidt, Edward A. Schuur, Philipp R. Semenchuk, Gaius Shaver, Oliver Sonnentag, Gregory Starr, Claire C. Treat, Mark P. Waldrop, Yihui Wang, Jeffrey Welker, Christian Wille, Xiaofeng Xu, Zhen Zhang, Qianlai Zhuang, Donatella Zona