Publications

Invasive Central American boas (Boa imperator) have established a reproducing population on the western side of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands but prevalence throughout the island is largely unknown. The large snakes threaten endemic and endangered species through competition and predation, jeopardizing island biodiversity. Environmental DNA (eDNA) methods were used to investigate...

Observations of the Evening Bat (Nycticeius humeralis), a species historically distributed abundantly throughout the southeastern United States, are speculated to have increased in the Midwest. One hypothesis for this expansion in geographic distribution is that local extirpations of other bat species resulted in the expanded realized niche spaces for evening bats. In Indiana, such niche...

Satellite-derived shorelines (SDS) have the potential to help researchers answer critical coastal science questions and support work to predict coastal change by filling in the spatial and temporal gaps present in current field-based and remote-sensing data collection methods. The U.S. Geological Survey conducted comparison analyses of traditionally sourced shorelines and SDS in diverse...

This paper introduces the use of acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) measurements as input for the Acoustic Mapping Velocimetry (AMV) method, a technique for characterizing the dynamics of riverine bedforms. The performance of this new approach, ADCP-AMV, is compared with input from a multibeam echosounder through a field study conducted on the Mississippi River (USA). A virtual...

Although nitrogen and phosphorus deficiency of algal blooms have been the focus of substantial attention, organic nutrients can limit algal growth in aquatic systems. Growing evidence indicates thiamine (vitamin B1) can influence the community of primary producers in marine systems, but comparatively little is known about the effect of thiamine on freshwater algal productivity.We...

Phosphorus (P) management remains a challenge in agricultural watersheds. The Choptank River Conservation Effects Assessment Project watershed, located in Maryland and Delaware and draining to the Chesapeake Bay, contains legacy soil P from historical dairy and poultry manure applications. These practices elevated soil P beyond crop needs, contributing to persistent P export to aquatic...

This report provides estimates of flood discharge at selected annual exceedance probabilities (AEPs) for streamgages in and adjacent to Vermont and equations for estimating flood discharges at AEPs of 50-, 20-, 10-, 4-, 2-, 1-, 0.5-, and 0.2-percent (recurrence intervals of 2-, 5-, 10-, 25-, 50-, 100-, and 500-years, respectively) for ungaged, unregulated, rural streams in Vermont with...

Introduction Coastal marshes are highly valuable ecosystems facing threats from rising sea levels and intensifying storm events. To elevate marsh surfaces and prevent loss of ecosystem services, the beneficial use of dredged material (BUDM) is increasingly being implemented across the United States. Objectives The objective of this study was to aid decision-makers and restoration...

Barrier island resilience to climate impacts depends on sediment redistribution between the subaqueous shoreface and subaerial barrier during sea-level rise and storms. However, autogenic interactions between the upper and lower shoreface and their influence on the subaerial barrier are poorly characterized. Here, we explore the influences of various shoreface components on barrier...

Barrier islands provide resources and ecological services that are integral to economic and environmental interests, such as protection of coastal infrastructure and provision of wildlife habitat. Over time, barrier islands may become eroded and experience land loss, which can require management actions to restore island integrity. Barrier island restoration can create or modify habitats...

The critical carbon sink provided by coastal wetlands, known as blue carbon, can be affected by multiple aspects of climate change. One important example is warming-induced mangrove poleward expansion, which is shifting dominant plant cover across tropical–temperate transitional zones and altering ecosystem structure and function. We examined how mangrove expansion affects soil organic...

Silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis), bighead carp (H. molitrix) and their hybrids, collectively known as bigheaded carps, have been introduced to Lake Balaton, Hungary. The current stock sizes are difficult to assess. We investigated environmental DNA (eDNA) techniques targeted for bigheaded carps, assessed the spatial distribution of eDNA in Lake Balaton, compared eDNA...