Publications

Large-scale computational investigations of groundwater levels are proposed to accelerate science delivery through a workflow spanning database assembly, statistics, and information synthesis and packaging. A water-availability study of the Mississippi River alluvial plain, and particularly the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer (MRVA), is ongoing. Software (visGWDBmrva) has been...

Background A better understanding of sea turtle spatial ecology is critical for the continued conservation of imperiled sea turtles and their habitats. For resource managers to develop the most effective conservation strategies, it is especially important to examine how turtles use and select for habitats within their developmental foraging grounds. Here, we examine the space use and...

We studied the ecological health of springs experiencing varying levels of urban development to assess impacts to rare endemic salamanders (Eurycea spp.) of Central Texas. We evaluated measures of invertebrate species richness, water quality, and contaminant uptake by salamanders to determine how springs and their inhabitants were being affected by urban growth and changing land-use...

To investigate a Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) mortality event following a red tide bloom in Southwest Florida, an RNA sequencing experiment was conducted. Gene expression changes in white blood cells were assessed in manatees rescued from a red tide affected area (n = 4) and a control group (n = 7) using RNA sequencing. The genes with the largest fold changes were...

Natural resource managers are concerned about the impacts of aerial ultra-low volume spray (ULV) of insecticides for mosquito control (i.e., mosquito adulticides) and seek science-driven management recommendations that reduce risk but allow vector control for nearby human populations. Managers at the National Key Deer Refuge (Florida Keys, FL) are concerned for ULV effects upon...

As part of the model improvement effort for the 2023 Coastal Master Plan, the wetland processes captured by the morphology and vegetation models used during previous master plans were reevaluated to assess how Integrated Compartment Model (ICM) subroutines could be improved. This process considered technical reviews, comments, and suggested improvements provided by model developers...

Aim Climate change is expected to result in the tropicalization of coastal wetlands in the northern Gulf of Mexico, as warming winters allow tropical mangrove forests to expand their distribution poleward at the expense of temperate salt marshes. Data limitations near mangrove range limits have hindered understanding of the effects of winter temperature extremes on mangrove distribution...

Operational ecological forecasting is an emerging field that leverages ecological models in a new, cross-disciplinary way – using a real-time or nearly real-time climate forecast to project near-term ecosystem states. These applications give decision-makers lead time to anticipate and manage state changes that degrade ecosystem functions or directly impact humans. The Everglades...

Over 2 million people in the United States (U.S.) drink water from private wells that contain arsenic (As) exceeding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) of 10 micrograms per liter (μg/L). While there are a number of commercially available treatment technologies for removing As from drinking water, it is up to the private well households to...

Salinity intrusion is responsible for changes to freshwater wetland watersheds globally, but little is known about how wetland water budgets might be influenced by small increments in salinity. We studied a forested wetland in South Carolina, USA, and installed sap flow probes on 72 trees/shrubs along a salinity gradient. Species investigated included the trees baldcypress (Taxodium...

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) can induce abnormalities in organisms via alteration of molecular pathways and subsequent disruption of endocrine functions. Bisphenol A (BPA) and 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) are ubiquitous EDCs in the environment. Many aquatic organisms, including fish, are often exposed to varying concentrations of BPA and EE2 throughout their lifespan. Both BPA and...

Plant roots assemble two distinct microbial compartments: the rhizosphere (microbes in soil surrounding roots) and the endosphere (microbes within roots). Our knowledge of fungal community assembly in these compartments is limited, especially in wetlands. We tested the hypothesis that biotic factors would have direct effects on rhizosphere and endosphere assembly, while abiotic factors...