Publications

Coastal storms have consequences for human lives and infrastructure but also create important early successional habitats for myriad species. For example, storm-induced overwash creates nesting habitat for shorebirds like piping plovers (Charadrius melodus). We examined how piping plover habitat extent and location changed on barrier islands in New York, New Jersey, and Virginia after...

For many years, marshes in the coastal areas from Texas to Louisiana have served as critical habitat for Anas fulvigula, the mottled duck. Mottled ducks are a priority species in the Texas/Louisiana Gulf Coast area and have been affected by critical habitat reduction. In recent years, mottled duck habitats have been threatened by natural and anthropogenic changes including urbanization...

In support of nutrient reduction efforts, nitrate (as nitrate plus nitrite) and phosphorus loads and yields were computed for selected streams in Iowa based on continuously monitored sensor data for 2008–17 and 2014–17, respectively. Sample data were used to assess nitrate sensor bias and to create phosphorus-turbidity surrogate models. Where needed, nitrate loads were corrected for site...

Hurricane Maria made landfall south of Yabucoa Harbor, Puerto Rico, as a category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 155 miles per hour on September 20, 2017. The hurricane devastated much of the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with Federal Emergency Management Agency, installed a temporary monitoring network of 13 water...

Pyrethroids are a class of widely-used insecticides that can be transported from terrestrial applications to aquatic systems via runoff and tend to sorb to organic carbon in sediments. Pyrethroid occurrence is detrimental to stream ecosystems due to toxicity to sediment-dwelling invertebrates which are particularly at risk of pyrethroid exposure in urban streams. In this work, 49 streams...

Active coral restoration typically involves two interventions: crossing gametes to facilitate sexual larval propagation; and fragmenting, growing, and outplanting adult colonies to enhance asexual propagation. From an evolutionary perspective, the goal of these efforts is to establish self‐sustaining, sexually reproducing coral populations that have sufficient genetic and phenotypic...

Culturable eubacterial isolates were collected at various altitudes in Earth’s atmosphere to include ~1.5 m above ground in Tallahassee, Florida, USA, ~10.0 m above sea level over the mid-Atlantic ridge (~15oN), ~ 20 km above ground over the continental United States, ~20 km above sea level over the Pacific Ocean near southern California and from the atmosphere of Carlsbad Cavern...

Sediment cores from Florida Bay, Everglades National Park were examined to determine ecosystem response to relative sea-level rise (RSLR) over the Holocene. High-resolution multiproxy analysis from four sites show freshwater wetlands transitioned to mangrove environments 4–3.6 ka, followed by estuarine environments 3.4–2.8 ka, during a period of enhanced climate variability. We calculate...

Understanding the link between ecosystem respiration (Reco) and its influential factors is necessary to evaluate the sources of gaseous carbon loss in coastal wetlands. Seablite (Suaeda salsa Pall.) is the main vegetation type pioneering temperate coastal wetlands in northeast China, and is generally an understudied wetland type. To evaluate the influence of environmental factors on Reco...

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon contamination related to boat use is one of the most important water-quality issues affecting Lake Powell. High concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in water are common around marinas and other areas with extensive motorboat activity because of releases of uncombusted or partially combusted oil and gasoline from boat engines. The fate of...