Publications

Recent benthic macroinvertebrate collections from North Carolina contained many undescribed oligochaete taxa, mostly belonging to the family Lumbriculidae. Three of the new species had arrangements of spermathecae and atria previously unreported for the family, and were assigned to new two genera. Pilaridrilus is distinguished by the location of spermathecal pores five segments behind...

Abstract not supplied at this time

The Florida snail kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis) is an endangered raptor that occurs as an isolated population, currently of about 2,000 birds, in the wetlands of southern and central Florida, USA. Its exclusive prey species, the apple snail (Pomacea paludosa) is strongly influenced by seasonal changes in water abundance. Droughts during the snail kite breeding season have a direct...

We conducted 164 diurnal morning point counts in 1997 and 89 nocturnal point counts in 1998 along the Rio Grande and at other riparian habitats on remote ranchland in northwestern Webb County. We subsequently conducted 94 diurnal morning and 37 nocturnal point counts in 1999 on public lands along the Rio Grande and at other riparian habitats at Laredo, Webb County. From these systematic...

Bottomland hardwood forest has been greatly diminished by conversion to agriculture. Less than 25% of the pre-Columbian bottomland hardwood forests remain in the southeastern United States. Because of the valuable ecological and hydrological functions performed by these forests, their conservation and restoration has been a high priority. Part of these restoration efforts has focused on...

The objective of the present study was to determine acute toxicity of copper, ammonia, or chlorine to larval (glochidia) and juvenile mussels using the recently published American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Standard guide for conducting laboratory toxicity tests with freshwater mussels. Toxicity tests were conducted with glochidia (24- to 48-h exposures) and juveniles (96-h...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) sampled 13 wells on the northern shoreline of Lake Pontchartrain to determine the effect of Hurricane Katrina-induced storm surge water on the shallow groundwater resources. Surge water entering damaged wells did not contaminate the entire aquifer; however, contamination did occur locally at well sites. Because the storm surge from Katrina lasted only a...

The relative roles of river, atmospheric, and tidal forcings on estuarine sea level variability are examined in Breton Sound, a shallow (0.7 m) deltaic estuary situated in an interdistributary basin on the Mississippi River deltaic plain. The deltaic landscape contains vegetated marshes, tidal flats, circuitous channels, and other features that frictionally dissipate waves propagating...

We developed a tail-mounted radio-transmitter for Myocastor coypus (nutria) that offers a practical and efficient alternative to collar or implant methods. The mean retention time was 96 d (range 57-147 d, n = 7), making this a practical method for short-term studies. The tail-mounts were less injurious to animals than collars and easier for field researchers to implement than either...

The objectives of the present study were to develop methods for conducting chronic toxicity tests with juvenile mussels under flow-through conditions and to determine the chronic toxicity of copper and ammonia to juvenile mussels using these methods. In two feeding tests, two-month-old fatmucket (Lampsilis siliquoidea) and rainbow mussel (Villosa iris) were fed various live algae or...

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the San Antonio Water System, conducted a 4-year study during 2002?06 to identify major flow paths in the Edwards aquifer in northeastern Bexar and southern Comal Counties (study area). In the study area, faulting directs ground water into three hypothesized flow paths that move water, generally, from the southwest to the northeast. These...

During the summers of 2005 and 2006 the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, evaluated nutrient and biological conditions in small streams in parts of the Edwards Plateau of Central Texas. Land-cover analysis was used to select 15 small streams that represented a gradient of conditions with the potential to affect nutrient...