Publications

We investigated the occurrence and potential ecotoxicological significance of elevated concentrations of strontium (Sr) in eggshells of nine passerine birds from four regions in Arizona. Concentrations of Sr in eggshells ranged from 70 to 1360 µg g−1 dry weight (overall mean  =  684 ± 345 SD µg g−1 dw) for the four regions. 23% of the eggshells had Sr concentrations greater than 1000 µg...

Sophisticated monitoring systems and analysis products were key components to emergency response and Federal recovery activities during the 2005 hurricane season. The U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Rocky Mountain Geographic Science Center worked with a number of Federal agencies to provide these types of near real-time geospatial monitoring systems and analysis products in support of...

Waste from agricultural livestock operations has been a long-standing concern with respect to contamination of water resources, particularly in terms of nutrient pollution. However, the recent growth of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) presents a greater risk to water quality because of both the increased volume of waste and to contaminants that may be present (e.g...

Data and specimens collected from dugong carcasses and live stranded individuals provide vital information for research and management agencies. The ability to assign a cause of death (natural and/or human induced) to a carcass assists managers to identify major threats to a population in certain areas and to evaluate and adapt management measures. Data collected from dugong carcasses...

In October 2005, the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Mid-Continent Geographic Science Center and the University of Missouri-Rolla's (UMR) Environmental Research Center for Emerging Contaminants partnered to collect perishable environmental data along the Mississippi River Delta to catalog the effects of Hurricane Katrina, a category 3 storm that caused nearly complete destruction to the...

Water-quality samples collected from drainage canals, from Lake Pontchartrain, La., and from flood waters contained contaminants typically found in waters influenced by urban runoff. Pesticides and wastewater compounds were detected in all water samples, but none exceeded U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) drinking water or aquatic life criteria. Although metals were detected in...

Hurricane Rita made landfall as a category 3 storm in western Louisiana in late September 2005, 1 month following Hurricane Katrina's devastating landfall in the eastern part of the State. Large waves and storm surge inundated the lowelevation coastline, destroying many communities and causing extensive coastal change including beach, dune, and marsh erosion.

Anuran amphibians have provided an excellent system for the study of animal communication and sexual selection. Studies of female mate choice in anurans, however, have focused almost exclusively on the role of auditory signals. In this study, we examined the effect of both auditory and visual cues on female choice in the squirrel treefrog. Our experiments used a two-choice protocol in...

No abstract available.

Coastal waters are physically, biogeochemically, and therefore optically complex as a result of the commingling of waters arising from terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems. Separating the influences of these three ecosystems on the optical properties of the resulting mixture is challenging, particularly given the variability within each. The longterm goals of this project are...

Ecosystem forecasting is limited by a number of uncertainties including inadequate initialization information, unknown boundary conditions, inaccurate model physics and atmospheric forcing functions, and inadequate algorithm development of geomorphic and ecological responses to hydrodynamic and geophysical processes. Monitoring can help reduce these uncertainties by providing numerical...

Achieving sustainable resource management in coastal Louisiana requires establishing reference conditions that incorporate the goals and objectives of restoration efforts. Since the reference condition is usually considered sustainable, it can be a gauge to assess the present condition of a (degraded) system or to evaluate progress of management actions toward some target system state...