Publications
Read publications and other informational products to learn more about USGS science occurring in the Mississippi Basin.
Filter Total Items: 5565
Lithobates sylvaticus (wood frog) Lithobates sylvaticus (wood frog)
A single specimen found southwest of Hattiesburg in Timberton (31.270391oN, 89.327675oW; WGS 84). 23 July 2015. Gary, Kat, and Ron Lukens. Verifi ed by Kenneth Krysko, Florida Museum of Natural History (UF-Herpetology 176455). This species has never been recorded from the state of Mississippi before (Dodd 2013. Frogs of the United States and Canada – Volume 2. John Hopkins University...
Authors
Pam Fuller
Are we working towards global research priorities for management and conservation of sea turtles? Are we working towards global research priorities for management and conservation of sea turtles?
In 2010, an international group of 35 sea turtle researchers refined an initial list of more than 200 research questions into 20 metaquestions that were considered key for management and conservation of sea turtles. These were classified under 5 categories: reproductive biology, biogeography, population ecology, threats and conservation strategies. To obtain a picture of how research is...
Authors
A.F. Rees, J. Alfaro-Shigueto, P.C.R. Barata, K.A. Bjorndal, A.B. Bolten, J. Bourjea, A.C. Broderick, L.M. Campbell, L. Cardona, C. Carreras, P. Casale, S.A. Ceriani, P.H. Dutton, T. Eguchi, A. Formia, M.M.P.B. Fuentes, W.J. Fuller, M. Girondot, M.H. Godfrey, M. Hamann, Kristen M. Hart, G.C. Hays, S. Hochscheid, Y. Kaska, M.P. Jensen, J.C. Mangel, J.A. Mortimer, E. Naro-Maciel, C.K.Y. Ng, W.J. Nichols, A.D. Phillott, R.D. Reina, O. Revuelta, G. Schofield, J.A. Seminoff, K. Shanker, J. Tomas, van de Merwe, K.S. Van Houtan, H.B. Vander Zanden, B.P. Wallace, K.R. Wedemeyer-Strombel, Thierry M. Work, B.J. Godley
Overcoming challenges to the recovery of declining amphibian populations in the United States Overcoming challenges to the recovery of declining amphibian populations in the United States
The US Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) affords many potential benefits to species threatened with extinction. However, most at-risk amphibians—one of the most imperiled vertebrate groups—remain unlisted under the provisions of the ESA, and many impediments to recovery exist for those species that have been listed. Of the 35 US amphibian species and distinct population segments (...
Authors
Susan C. Walls, Lianne C. Ball, William J. Barichivich, Kenneth Dodd, Kevin M Enge, Thomas A. Gorman, Katherine M. O’Donnell, John G Palis, Raymond D. Semlitsch
The practice of prediction: What can ecologists learn from applied, ecology-related fields? The practice of prediction: What can ecologists learn from applied, ecology-related fields?
The pervasive influence of human induced global environmental change affects biodiversity across the globe, and there is great uncertainty as to how the biosphere will react on short and longer time scales. To adapt to what the future holds and to manage the impacts of global change, scientists need to predict the expected effects with some confidence and communicate these predictions to...
Authors
Frank Pennekamp, Matthew Adamson, Owen L Petchey, Jean-Christophe Poggiale, Maira Aguiar, Bob W. Kooi, Daniel B. Botkin, Donald L. DeAngelis
Assessment of dreissenid biodeposits as a potential food resource for invasive Asian carp Assessment of dreissenid biodeposits as a potential food resource for invasive Asian carp
Silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) and bighead carp (H. nobilis) are poised to invade the Laurentian Great Lakes. Zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) and quagga mussels (D. rostriformis bugensis) have shifted nutrient pathways towards the benthos, partly through deposition of feces and rejected food particles called biodeposits. When biodeposit material was fed to bighead and...
Authors
Karl R. Anderson, Duane Chapman, Cari-Ann Hayer
Concentration, flux, and trend estimates with uncertainty for nutrients, chloride, and total suspended solids in tributaries of Lake Champlain, 1990–2014 Concentration, flux, and trend estimates with uncertainty for nutrients, chloride, and total suspended solids in tributaries of Lake Champlain, 1990–2014
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission and the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, estimated daily and 9-month concentrations and fluxes of total and dissolved phosphorus, total nitrogen, chloride, and total suspended solids from 1990 (or first available date) through 2014 for 18 tributaries of Lake...
Authors
Laura Medalie
Mechanisms of aquatic species invasions across the South Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative region Mechanisms of aquatic species invasions across the South Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative region
Invasive species are a global issue, and the southeastern United States is not immune to the problems they present. Therefore, various analyses using modeling and exploratory statistics were performed on the U.S. Geological Survey Nonindigenous Aquatic Species (NAS) Database with the primary objective of determining the most appropriate use of presence-only data as related to invasive...
Authors
Amy J. Benson, Bradley Stith, Victor C. Engel
Impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on deep-sea coral-associated sediment communities Impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on deep-sea coral-associated sediment communities
Cold-water corals support distinct populations of infauna within surrounding sediments that provide vital ecosystem functions and services in the deep sea. Yet due to their sedentary existence, infauna are vulnerable to perturbation and contaminant exposure because they are unable to escape disturbance events. While multiple deep-sea coral habitats were injured by the 2010 Deepwater...
Authors
Amanda W.J. Demopoulos, Jill R. Bourque, Erik E. Cordes, Katherine Stamler
Occurrence, distribution, and volume of metals-contaminated sediment of selected streams draining the Tri-State Mining District, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Kansas, 2011–12 Occurrence, distribution, and volume of metals-contaminated sediment of selected streams draining the Tri-State Mining District, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Kansas, 2011–12
Lead and zinc were mined in the Tri-State Mining District (TSMD) of southwest Missouri, northeast Oklahoma, and southeast Kansas for more than 100 years. The effects of mining on the landscape are still evident, nearly 50 years after the last mine ceased operation. The legacies of mining are the mine waste and discharge of groundwater from underground mines. The mine-waste piles and...
Authors
D. Charlie Smith
A rare Uroglena bloom in Beaver Lake, Arkansas, spring 2015 A rare Uroglena bloom in Beaver Lake, Arkansas, spring 2015
A combination of factors triggered a Uroglena volvox bloom and taste and odor event in Beaver Lake, a water-supply reservoir in northwest Arkansas, in late April 2015. Factors contributing to the bloom included increased rainfall and runoff containing increased concentrations of dissolved organic carbon, followed by a stable pool, low nutrient concentrations, and an expansion of lake...
Authors
William R. Green, Brad Hufhines
Marsh canopy structure changes and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill Marsh canopy structure changes and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Marsh canopy structure was mapped yearly from 2009 to 2012 in the Barataria Bay, Louisiana coastal region that was impacted by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill. Based on the previously demonstrated capability of NASA's UAVSAR polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (PolSAR) image data to map Spartina alterniflora marsh canopy structure, structure maps combining the leaf area...
Authors
Elijah W. Ramsey, Amina Rangoonwala, Cathleen E. Jones
Exposure to the contraceptive progestin, gestodene, alters reproductive behavior, arrests egg deposition, and masculinizes development in the fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas) Exposure to the contraceptive progestin, gestodene, alters reproductive behavior, arrests egg deposition, and masculinizes development in the fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas)
Endogenous progestogens and pharmaceutical progestins enter the environment through wastewater treatment plant effluent and agricultural field runoff. Lab studies demonstrate strong, negative exposure effects of these chemicals on aquatic vertebrate reproduction. Behavior can be a sensitive, early indicator of exposure to environmental contaminants associated with altered reproduction...
Authors
Tyler E. Frankel, Michael T. Meyer, Dana W. Kolpin, Amanda B. Gillis, David A. Alvarez, Edward F. Orlando