Publications

Acute and chronic toxicity of copper (Cu) to a unionid mussel (Villosa iris) and a cladoceran (Ceriodaphnia dubia) were determined in water exposures at four concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC; nominally 0.5, 2.5, 5, and 10 mg/L as carbon [C]). Test waters with DOC concentrations of 2.5 to 10 mg C/L were prepared by mixing a concentrate of natural organic matter (Suwannee...

Understanding the effects of climate change on the vegetative growing season is key to quantifying future hydrologic water budget conditions. The U.S. Geological Survey modeled changes in future growing season length at 14 basins across 11 states. Simulations for each basin were generated using five general circulation models with three emission scenarios as inputs to the Precipitation...

Nearly 14 years have passed since the first atlas, World Mangrove Atlas (Spalding et al. 1997), was published. While scientists throughout the world have shared their insights about these ecosystems from a handful of “classic” mangrove ecology treatises, no book since has provided the same platform for understanding the global importance of mangroves by simply defining their distribution...

Pest risk analysis is a process that evaluates the risks involved with a proposed species to help determine whether it should be permitted or denied entry into a country, and how the risks could be managed if it is imported. The prohibited listing approach was developed in the late 1800s and early 1900s in response to outbreaks of plant and animals pests such as foot and mouth disease of...

Prevention is the first line of defense against introduced invasive species - it is always preferable to prevent the introduction of new invaders into a region or country. However, it is not always possible to detect all alien hitchhikers imported in cargo, or to predict with any degree of certainty which introduced species will become invasive over time. Fortunately, the majority of...

Habitat stability of coastal ecosystems, such as marshes and mangroves, depends on maintenance of soil elevations relative to sea level. Many such systems are characterized by limited mineral sedimentation and/or rapid subsidence and are consequently dependent upon accumulation of organic matter to maintain elevations. However, little field information exists regarding the contribution...

Inundation maps of coastal marshes in western Louisiana were created with multitemporal Envisat Advanced Synthetic Aperture (ASAR) scenes collected before and during the three months after Hurricane Rita landfall in September 2005. Corroborated by inland water-levels, 7 days after landfall, 48% of coastal estuarine and palustrine marshes remained inundated by storm-surge waters. Forty...

Along the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) coasts, vast wetlands inject valuable nutrients and suspended and dissolved materials into the coastal ocean. Juncus roemerianus (black needlerush) wetlands, dominating coastlines in the northeastern GOM, transition to the Spartina alternifl ora (smooth cordgrass) coastline of Louisiana. Mixed marsh and mangrove barrier island systems occupy the...

Studies have shown that soil nutrients, especially nitrogen (N), play an important role in the reestablishment of native prairie plant species. Soil N favors early succession species while long-lived native perennials compete favorably in N poor soils and numerous restoration studies have employed carbon additions in the form of sawdust and/or sucrose to immobilize soil nitrogen. However...

No abstract available.

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department, conducted a reconnaissance study in 2008 to determine the occurrence of 228 organic compounds in raw, source (untreated) and finished (treated) drinking water at seven municipal water-treatment facilities in Miami-Dade County. Results of this sampling study showed that 25 (about 11 percent) of the...

Recent and historical periods of rapid growth have increased the stress on the groundwater resources in the Ozark aquifer in the Greene County, Missouri area. Historical pumpage from the Ozark aquifer has caused a cone of depression beneath Springfield, Missouri. In an effort to ease its dependence on groundwater for supply, the city of Springfield built a pipeline in 1996 to bring water...