Publications
Publications from USGS science centers throughout the Southeast Region.
Filter Total Items: 10382
Succession in wetlands Succession in wetlands
Succession refers to the change in vegetation over time driven by disturbances and the maturation of plant species. In wetlands, these disturbances include water and salinity level changes along other factors that can alter vegetation. The historical view of succession (Clementsian) was that vegetation change represented the linear progression of through stages of vegetation toward a...
Authors
Beth A. Middleton
Cattle grazing in wetlands Cattle grazing in wetlands
Cattle grazing drives successional change in wetland vegetation by removing tall grasses and other vegetation. As a disturbance, cattle grazing in some ways resembles natural disturbances such as native mammal grazing and lightning-strike fire, which can support higher biodiversity in wetlands. To encourage rare and Red-Listed species, natural land managers sometimes incorporate a...
Authors
Beth A. Middleton
Upper bound of abutment scour in laboratory and field data Upper bound of abutment scour in laboratory and field data
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the South Carolina Department of Transportation, conducted a field investigation of abutment scour in South Carolina and used those data to develop envelope curves that define the upper bound of abutment scour. To expand on this previous work, an additional cooperative investigation was initiated to combine the South Carolina data with...
Authors
Stephen Benedict
Status of scientific knowledge, recovery progress, and future research directions for the Gulf Sturgeon, Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi Vladykov, 1955 Status of scientific knowledge, recovery progress, and future research directions for the Gulf Sturgeon, Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi Vladykov, 1955
The Gulf Sturgeon, Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi, is an anadromous species of Acipenseridae and native to North America. It currently inhabits and spawns in the upper reaches of seven natal rivers along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico from the Suwannee River, Florida, to the Pearl River, Louisiana, during spring to autumn. Next to the Alligator Gar (Atractosteus spatula), the...
Authors
Kenneth J. Sulak, F Parauka, W. Todd Slack, T Ruth, Michael T. Randall, K Luke, M. F Mette, M. E Price
Dispersal and spatial heterogeneity: Single species Dispersal and spatial heterogeneity: Single species
A recent result for a reaction-diffusion equation is that a population diffusing at any rate in an environment in which resources vary spatially will reach a higher total equilibrium biomass than the population in an environment in which the same total resources are distributed homogeneously. This has so far been proven by Lou for the case in which the reaction term has only one...
Authors
Donald L. DeAngelis, Wei-Ming Ni, Bo Zhang
A pilot study testing a natural and a synthetic Molluscicide for controlling invasive apple snails (Pomacea maculata) A pilot study testing a natural and a synthetic Molluscicide for controlling invasive apple snails (Pomacea maculata)
Pomacea maculata (formerly P. insularum), an apple snail native to South America, was discovered in Louisiana in 2008. These snails strip vegetation, reproduce at tremendous rates, and have reduced rice production and caused ecosystem changes in Asia. In this pilot study snails were exposed to two molluscicides, a tea (Camellia sinensis) seed derivative (TSD) or niclosamide monohydrate...
Authors
Heather M. Olivier, Jill A. Jenkins, Mark Berhow, Jacoby Carter
Use of historic Persian water system data in groundwater models: Examples from Afghanistan and Emirates Use of historic Persian water system data in groundwater models: Examples from Afghanistan and Emirates
Obtaining calibration data for models depicting conditions during pre-development periods can be challenging as such periods are characteristically data poor. This study presents two examples where simulation of historic water conveyance structures were used to help characterize historic, or pre-modern, conditions in calibration of groundwater flow models. Persian water conveyance...
Authors
Thomas J. Mack, Jack R. Eggleston
Water-quality effects on phytoplankton species and density and trophic state indices at Big Base and Little Base Lakes, Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas, June through August, 2015 Water-quality effects on phytoplankton species and density and trophic state indices at Big Base and Little Base Lakes, Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas, June through August, 2015
Big Base and Little Base Lakes are located on Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas, and their close proximity to a dense residential population and an active military/aircraft installation make the lakes vulnerable to water-quality degradation. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted a study from June through August 2015 to investigate the effects of water quality on phytoplankton...
Authors
Lucas Driver, Billy Justus
Adaptive harvest management for the Svalbard population of pink-footed geese: 2015 progress summary Adaptive harvest management for the Svalbard population of pink-footed geese: 2015 progress summary
This document describes progress to date on the development of an adaptive harvest management strategy for maintaining the Svalbard population of pink‐footed geese (Anser brachyrhynchus) near their agreed target level (60,000) by providing for sustainable harvests in Norway and Denmark. This report provides an assessment of the most recent monitoring information (1991-2014) and its...
Authors
Fred A. Johnson, Jesper Madsen
A laboratory investigation of the suspension, transport, and settling of silver carp eggs using synthetic surrogates A laboratory investigation of the suspension, transport, and settling of silver carp eggs using synthetic surrogates
Asian carp eggs are semi-buoyant and must remain suspended in the water to survive, supported by the turbulence of the flow, until they hatch and develop the ability to swim. Analysis of the transport and dispersal patterns of Asian carp eggs will facilitate the development and implementation of control strategies to target the early life stages. Experimenting with Asian carp eggs is...
Authors
Tatiana Garcia, Carlo Zuniga Zamalloa, P. Ryan Jackson, Elizabeth A. Murphy, Marcelo H. Garcia
Evolution of mid-Atlantic coastal and back-barrier estuary environments in response to a hurricane: Implications for barrier-estuary connectivity Evolution of mid-Atlantic coastal and back-barrier estuary environments in response to a hurricane: Implications for barrier-estuary connectivity
Assessments of coupled barrier island-estuary storm response are rare. Hurricane Sandy made landfall during an investigation in Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor estuary that included water quality monitoring, geomorphologic characterization, and numerical modeling; this provided an opportunity to characterize the storm response of the barrier island-estuary system. Barrier island...
Authors
Jennifer L. Miselis, Brian D. Andrews, Robert S. Nicholson, Zafer Defne, Neil K. Ganju, Anthony S. Navoy
Do geographically isolated wetlands influence landscape functions? Do geographically isolated wetlands influence landscape functions?
Geographically isolated wetlands (GIWs), those surrounded by uplands, exchange materials, energy, and organisms with other elements in hydrological and habitat networks, contributing to landscape functions, such as flow generation, nutrient and sediment retention, and biodiversity support. GIWs constitute most of the wetlands in many North American landscapes, provide a...
Authors
Matthew J. Cohen, Irena F. Creed, Laurie C. Alexander, Nandita Basu, Aram J.K. Calhoun, Christopher Craft, Ellen D’Amico, Edward S. DeKeyser, Laurie Fowler, Heather E. Golden, James W. Jawitz, Peter Kalla, L. Katherine Kirkman, Charles R. Lane, Megan Lang, Scott G. Leibowitz, David Bruce Lewis, John Marton, Daniel L. McLaughlin, David M. Mushet, Hadas Raanan-Kiperwas, Mark C. Rains, Lora Smith, Susan C. Walls