Digital Commons Network^™

Maternal Lineage And Habitat Use Patterns Explain Variation In The Fecundity Of A Critically Endangered Baleen Whale, Ana L. Bishop, Leah M. Crowe, Philip K. Hamilton, Erin L. Meyer-Gutbrod

Faculty Publications

The critically endangered North Atlantic right whale population (Eubalaena glacialis) has experienced multiple periods of decreased reproduction within its observable history, which have played a role in the overall decline of the species. In addition to this synchronized variation in reproduction across the population, there exists considerable individual variation in fecundity. To determine the impacts of family history and habitat use behavior on these individual variations in fecundity, photo identification data collected during four decades of visual monitoring were used to create a calving index for sexually mature females that could be used to evaluate matrilineal influence on …

The Dynamic Floor Of Yellowstone Lake, Wyoming, Usa: The Last 14 K.Y. Of Hydrothermal Explosions, Venting, Doming, And Faulting, L. A. Morgan, W. C.P. Shanks, K. L. Pierce, N. Iverson, C. M. Schiller, S. R. Brown, P. Zahajska, R. Cartier, R. W. Cash, J. L. Best, C. Whitlock, Sherilyn C. Fritz, U.S. Geological Survey, H. Lowers, D. A. Lovalvo, J. M. Licciardi

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Hydrothermal explosions are significant potential hazards in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. The northern Yellowstone Lake area hosts the three largest hydrothermal explosion craters known on Earth empowered by the highest heat flow values in Yellowstone and active seismicity and deformation. Geological and geochemical studies of eighteen sublacustrine cores provide the first detailed synthesis of the age, sedimentary facies, and origin of multiple hydrothermal explosion deposits.New tephrochronology and radiocarbon results provide a four-dimensional view of recent geologic activity since recession at ca. 15–14.5 ka of the >1-km-thick Pinedale ice sheet.

The sedimentary record in Yellowstone Lake contains multiple hydrothermal explosion …

Legacy Lead In Urban Garden Soils: Communicating Risk And Limiting Exposure, Anna Paltseva, Zhongqi Cheng, Murray Mcbride, Maha Deeb, Sara Perl Egendorf, Peter M. Groffman

Advanced Science Research Center

Lead (Pb) exposure has long been recognized as a hazard to human health. Urban garden soils often contain elevated levels of Pb, mainly from legacy sources, which is a main barrier for urban gardening. The capacity of gardeners to access, understand, and act on scientific data related to soil contamination is also variable. This synthesis paper briefly summarizes the current scientific knowledge on soil Pb in urban gardens. Our objective is to produce clear recommendations about assessing actual risks and limiting exposure. First, we synthesize the nature and extent of soil contamination with Pb, and then describe how the bioavailability …

Preliminary Planning For Mars Sample Return (Msr) Curation Activities In A Sample Receiving Facility (Srf), Kimberly T. Tait, Francis M. Mccubbin, Caroline L. Smith, Carl B. Agee, Henner Busemann, Barbara Cavalazzi, Viciane Debaille, Aurore Hutzler, Tomohiro Usui, Gerhard Kminek, Michael A. Meyer, David W. Beaty, Brandi L. Carrier, Timothy Haltigin, Lindsay E. Hays, Charles S. Cockell, Daniel P. Glavin, Monica M. Grady, Ernst Hauber, Bernard Marty, Lisa M. Pratt, Aaron B. Regberg, Alvin L. Smith, Roger E. Summons, Timothy D. Swindle, Nicholas J, Tosca, Arya Urdry, Michael A. Velbel, Meenakshi Wadhwa, Frances Westall, Maria-Paz Zorzano

Geoscience Faculty Research

The Mars Sample Return Planning Group 2 (MSPG2) was tasked with identifying the steps that encompass all the curation activities that would happen within the MSR Sample Receiving Facility (SRF) and any anticipated curation-related requirements. An area of specific interest is the necessary analytical instrumentation. The SRF would be a Biosafety Level-4 facility where the returned MSR flight hardware would be opened, the sample tubes accessed, and the martian sample material extracted from the tubes. Characterization of the essential attributes of each sample would be required to provide enough information to prepare a sample catalog used in guiding the preparation …

Science And Curation Considerations For The Design Of A Mars Sample Return (Msr) Sample Receiving Facility (Srf), Brandi L. Carrier, David W. Beaty, Aurore Hutzler, Alvin L. Smith, Gerhard Kminek, Michael A. Meyer, Timothy Haltigin, Lindsey E. Hays, Carl B. Agee, Henner Busemann, Barabara Cavalazzi, Charles S. Cocksell, Vinciane Debaille, Daniel P. Glavin, Monica M. Grady, Ernst Hauber, Bernard Marty, Francis M., Lisa M. Pratt, Aaron B. Regberg, Caroline L. Smith, Roger E. Summons, Timothy D. Swindle, Kimberly T. Taiit, Nocholas J. Tosca, Arya Urdry, Tomohiro Usui, Michael A. Velbel, Meenakshi Wadhwa, Frances Westall, Maria-Paz Zorzano

Geoscience Faculty Research

The most important single element of the “ground system” portion of a Mars Sample Return (MSR) Campaign is a facility referred to as the Sample Receiving Facility (SRF), which would need to be designed and equipped to receive the returned spacecraft, extract and open the sealed sample container, extract the samples from the sample tubes, and implement a set of evaluations and analyses of the samples. One of the main findings of the first MSR Sample Planning Group (MSPG, 2019a) states that “The scientific community, for reasons of scientific quality, cost, and timeliness, strongly prefers that as many sample-related investigations …

The Scientific Importance Of Returning Airfall Dust As A Part Of Mars Sample Return (Msr), Monica M. Grady, Roger E. Summons, Timothy D. Swindle, Frances Westall, Gerhard Kminek, Michael A. Meyer, David W. Beaty, Brandi L. Carrier, Timothy Haltigin, Lindsay E. Hays, Carl B. Agee, Henner Busemann, Barabara Cavalazzi, Charles S. Cockell, Vinciane Debaille, Daniel P. Galvin, Ernst Hauber, Aurore Hutzler, Bernard Marty, Francis M. Mccubbin, Lisa M. Pratt, Aaron B, Regberg, Alvin L. Smith, Caroline L. Smith, Kimberly T. Tait, Nicholas J. Tosca, Arya Udry, Tomohiro Usui, Michael A. Velbel, Meenakshi Wadhwa, Maria-Paz Zorzano

Geoscience Faculty Research

Dust transported in the martian atmosphere is of intrinsic scientific interest and has relevance for the planning of human missions in the future. The MSR Campaign, as currently designed, presents an important opportunity to return serendipitous, airfall dust. The tubes containing samples collected by the Perseverance rover would be placed in cache depots on the martian surface perhaps as early as 2023–24 for recovery by a subsequent mission no earlier than 2028–29, and possibly as late as 2030–31. Thus, the sample tube surfaces could passively collect dust for multiple years. This dust is deemed to be exceptionally valuable as it …

Time-Sensitive Aspects Of Mars Sample Return (Msr) Science, Nicholas J. Tosca, Carl B. Agee, Charles S. Cockell, Daniel P. Glavin, Aurore Hutzler, Bernard Marty, Francis M. Mccubbin, Aaron B. Regberg, Michael A. Velbel, Gerhard Kminek, Michael A. Meyer, David W. Beaty, Brandi L. Carrier, Timothy Haltigin, Lindsay E. Hays, Henner Baumann, Barbara Cavalazzi, Vinviane Debaille, Monica M. Grady, Ernst Hauber, Lisa M. Pratt, Alvin L. Smith, Caroline L. Smith, Roger E. Summons, Timothy D. Swindle, Kimberly T. Tait, Arya Udry, Tomohiro Usui, Meenakshi Wadhwa, Frances Westall, Maria-Paz Zorzano

Geoscience Faculty Research

Samples returned from Mars would be placed under quarantine at a Sample Receiving Facility (SRF) until they are considered safe to release to other laboratories for further study. The process of determining whether samples are safe for release, which may involve detailed analysis and/or sterilization, is expected to take several months. However, the process of breaking the sample tube seal and extracting the headspace gas will perturb local equilibrium conditions between gas and rock and set in motion irreversible processes that proceed as a function of time. Unless these time-sensitive processes are understood, planned for, and/or monitored during the quarantine …

Planning Implications Related To Sterilization-Sensitive Science Investigations Associated With Mars Sample Return (Msr), Michael A. Velbel, Charles S. Cockell, Daniel P. Glavin, Bernard Marty, Aaron B. Regberg, Alvin L. Smith, Nicholas J. Tosca, Meenakshi Wadhwa, Gerhard Kminek, Michael A. Meyer, David W. Beaty, Brandi Lee Carrier, Timothy Haltigin, Lindsay E. Hays, Carl B. Agee, Henner Busemann, Barbara Cavalazzi, Vinciane Debaille, Monica M. Grady, Ernst Hauber, Aurore Hutzler, Francis M. Mccubbin, Lisa M. Pratt, Caroline L. Smith, Roger E. Summons, Timothy D. Swindle, Kimberly T. Tait, Arya Udry, Tomohiro Usui, Frances Westall, Maria-Paz Zorzano

Geoscience Faculty Research

The NASA/ESA Mars Sample Return (MSR) Campaign seeks to establish whether life on Mars existed where and when environmental conditions allowed. Laboratory measurements on the returned samples are useful if what is measured is evidence of phenomena on Mars rather than of the effects of sterilization conditions. This report establishes that there are categories of measurements that can be fruitful despite sample sterilization and other categories that cannot. Sterilization kills living microorganisms and inactivates complex biological structures by breaking chemical bonds. Sterilization has similar effects on chemical bonds in non-biological compounds, including abiotic or pre-biotic reduced carbon compounds, hydrous minerals, …

Final Report Of The Mars Sample Return Science Planning Group 2 (Mspg2), Michael A. Meyer, Gerhard Kminek, David W. Beaty, Brandi L. Carrier, Timothy Haltigin, Lindsay E. Hays, Carl B. Agree, Henner Busemann, Barbara Cavalazzi, Charles S. Cockell, Vinciane Debaille, Daniel P. Glavin, Monica M. Grady, Ernst Hauber, Aurore Hutzler, Bernard Marty, Francis M. Mccubbin, Lisa M. Pratt, Aaron B. Regberg, Alvin L. Smith, Carolina L. Smith, Roger E. Summons, Timothy D. Swindle, Kimberly T. Tait, Nicholas J. Tosca, Arya Udry, Tomohiro Usui, Michael A. Velbel, Meensakshi Wadhwa, Frances Westall, Maria-Paz Zorzano

Geoscience Faculty Research

The Mars Sample Return (MSR) Campaign must meet a series of scientific and technical achievements to be successful. While the respective engineering responsibilities to retrieve the samples have been formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding between ESA and NASA, the roles and responsibilities of the scientific elements have yet to be fully defined. In April 2020, ESA and NASA jointly chartered the MSR Science Planning Group 2 (MSPG2) to build upon previous planning efforts in defining 1) an end-to-end MSR Science Program and 2) needed functionalities and design requirements for an MSR Sample Receiving Facility (SRF). The challenges for the …

Rationale And Proposed Design For A Mars Sample Return (Msr) Science Program, Timothy Haltigin, Ernst Hauber, Gerhard Kminek, Michael A. Meyer, Carl B. Agee, Henner Busemann, Brandi L. Carrier, Daniel P. Glavin, Lindsay E. Hays, Bernard Marty, Lisa M. Pratt, Arya Udry, Maria-Paz Zorzano, David W. Beaty, Barbara Cavalazzi, Charles S. Cockell, Vinciane Debaille, Monica M. Grady, Aurore Hutzler, Francis M. Mccubbin, Aaron B. Regberg, Alvin L. Smith, Caroline L. Smith, Roger E. Summons, Timothy D. Swindle, Kimberly T. Tait, Nicholas J. Tosca, Tomohiro Usui, Michael A. Velbel, Meenakshi Wadhwa, Frances Westall

Geoscience Faculty Research

The Mars Sample Return (MSR) Campaign represents one of the most ambitious scientific endeavors ever undertaken. Analyses of the martian samples would offer unique science benefits that cannot be attained through orbital or landed missions that rely only on remote sensing and in situ measurements, respectively. As currently designed, the MSR Campaign comprises a number of scientific, technical, and programmatic bodies and relationships, captured in a series of existing and anticipated documents. Ensuring that all required scientific activities are properly designed, managed, and executed would require significant planning and coordination. Because there are multiple scientific elements that would need to …

Fossils On The Floor Mosaics In The Rotunda Of The Nebraska State Capitol Second Edition, Robert F. Diffendal Jr.

Robert F. Diffendal, Jr., Publications

The idea for this project arose during a field trip to the Nebraska State Capitol led by my long-time friend and colleague, Joe Hannibal, of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, during the Geological Society of America’s North-Central Section Meeting in Lincoln, Nebraska, on Saturday, April 26, 2014. One of Joe’s interests is historical buildings and their building stones. He put together a very useful guidebook to the building and its decorative stones (Hannibal, 2014) that we used on our tour.

One of the many places that we visited was the State Capitol Archives, located in the basement, where the …

College Of Natural Sciences Newsletter, May & June 2022, College Of Natural Sciences

College of Natural Sciences Newsletters and Reports

Volume 3, Issue 4

Page 1 Dean's Message
Page 2 Awards and Recognition
Page 3-4 The path to a Doctorate Degree
Page 4 American Indian Student Center Native Graduate Honoring Ceremony
Page 5 Celebrating the lives of those who touched the College
Page 6 Media coverage of CNS
Page 7 Open PRAIRIE
Page 8-10 CNS Graduation Festivities
Page 11-14 Spring 2022 Dean's List
Page 16 Richard and Janice Vetter Endowed Professorship in Biotechnology.position

Reconceptualizing The Hyporheic Zone For Nonperennial Rivers And Streams, Kendra E. Kaiser

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Nonperennial streams dominate global river networks and are increasing in occurrence across space and time. When surface flow ceases or the surface water dries, flow or moisture can be retained in the subsurface sediments of the hyporheic zone, supporting aquatic communities and ecosystem processes. However, hydrological and ecological definitions of the hyporheic zone have been developed in perennial rivers and emphasize the mixing of water and organisms from both the surface stream and groundwater. The adaptation of such definitions to include both humid and dry unsaturated conditions could promote characterization of how hydrological and biogeochemical variability shape ecological communities within …

Water And Soil Gas Sampling Near Richardton, North Dakota, University Of North Dakota. Energy And Environmental Research Center

EERC Brochures and Fact Sheets

Fact sheet on a 2019 Energy & Environmental Research Center project to collect water and soil gas samples near Richardton, North Dakota, as part of the Red Trail Energy carbon capture and storage (CCS) research effort. [This item is an outdated or superseded version and retained for historical purposes only. It may no longer reflect current information, policies, or practices.]

Fluid Pathways In Magmatic Fluid-Dominated Hydrothermal System: Upper Resurgent Cone, Brothers Volcano, New Zealand, Esther G. Goita

Honors Theses

The Tonga-Kermadec Arc is an active volcanic arc located between New Zealand and Fiji. The arc expands over an approximate distance of 2530 km. The Kermadec Arc is currently host to over 30 volcanoes, the majority of which are submarine. The magmatic activity along the arc is characterized by the convergence between the Pacific and Australian plates. Brothers volcano is the most active hydrothermal system along the Kermadec arc and hosts two distinct hydrothermal systems, one magmatic fluid dominated, and the other seawater dominated, making the site perfect for studying nascent volcanogenic massive sulfide formation and fluid pathways. The International …

The Role Of Carbonate Factories And Sea Water Chemistry On Basin-Wide Ramp To High-Relief Carbonate Platform Evolution: Triassic, Nanpanjiang Basin, South China, Daniel J. Lehrmann, Leanne M. Stepchinski, Hannah E. Wolf, Liangzi Li, Xiaowei Li, Marcello Minzoni, Meiyi Yu, Jonathan L. Payne

Earth and Environmental Geosciences Faculty Research

The end-Permian extinction and its aftermath altered carbonate factories globally for millions of years, but its impact on platform geometries remains poorly understood. Here, the evolution in architecture and composition of two exceptionally exposed platforms in the Nanpanjiang Basin are constrained and compared with geochemical proxies to evaluate controls on platform geometries. Geochemical proxies indicate elevated siliciclastic and nutrient fluxes in the basal Triassic, at the Induan—Olenekian boundary and in the uppermost Olenekian. Cerium/Ce* shifts from high Ce/Ce* values and a lack of Ce anomaly indicating anoxia during the Lower Triassic to a negative Ce anomaly indicating oxygenation in the …

Speciation With Gene Flow In A Narrow Endemic West Virginia Cave Salamander (Gyrinophilus Subterraneus), Evan H. Campbell Grant, Kevin P. Mulder, Adrianne B. Brand, Douglas B. Chambers, Addison H. Wynn, Grace Capshaw, Matthew L. Niemiller, John G. Phillips, Jeremy F. Jacobs, Shawn R. Kuchta, Rayna C. Bell

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Due to their limited geographic distributions and specialized ecologies, cave species are often highly endemic and can be especially vulnerable to habitat degradation within and surrounding the cave systems they inhabit. We investigated the evolutionary history of the West Virginia Spring Salamander (Gyrinophilus subterraneus), estimated the population trend from historic and current survey data, and assessed the current potential for water quality threats to the cave habitat. Our genomic data (mtDNA sequence and ddRADseq-derived SNPs) reveal two, distinct evolutionary lineages within General Davis Cave corresponding to G. subterraneus and its widely distributed sister species, Gyrinophilus porphyriticus, that …

The Estuarine Ecological Knowledge Network Makes Progress: International Project Sites And Potential Ways Forward, Grant S. Mccall, Anthony Akpan, Doru Banaduc, Diego F. Figueroa, Nelson Fontoura, Robert Hitchcock, Sherman Horn, Devashish Kar, Thong Tran

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

The Estuarine Ecological Knowledge Network (EEKN) brings together scientists and coastal fishing communities in seeking new ways forward for Earth's major river deltas and estuaries, including the Mississippi (United States), Rio Grande (United States), Danube (Romania/Ukraine), Ganges (India/Bangladesh), Niger (Nigeria), and Mekong (Vietnam) river deltas, and the Patos Lagoon (Brazil). Such environments are universally understood as crucial for the biological productivity of oceans and they are home to hundreds of millions of human inhabitants, many of whom directly depend on that marine richness in terms of the operation of their socioeconomic systems. As human-induced climate change and its consequences for …

Petrographic And Geochemical Records Of Climate Perturbation In Carbonates From A Perennially Ice-Covered Antarctic Lake, Jared Clance

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Carbonate precipitation in perennially ice-covered Lake Fryxell, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica produces a modern analog for Antarctic paleolake carbonates. Lake Fryxell contains a steep oxycline in the photic zone, where dissolved oxygen falls from supersaturation to zero. In the lake’s benthic microbial mats, oxygen concentrations are higher than in the water column due to microbial photosynthesis. These mats contain carbonate cements that precipitated in a discrete episode from mat pore waters. Precipitation continued through seasonal fluctuations in oxygenation, demonstrated by variable concentrations of oxidized and reduced manganese and iron within carbonates. Carbonates precipitated out of isotopic equilibrium with the lake …

Spatial Distribution Of Harmful Trace Elements In Chinese Coals, Cao Qingyi, Ren Wenying, Liang Chaoming, Zhang Yufei, Yang Liu

Coal Geology & Exploration

The potential impact of harmful trace elements in coal on the ecological environment and human health is one of the hot topics in the fields of geochemistry and energy environment. Geochemical mapping plays an important role in the deep understanding of geochemical processes and their changing laws. However, previous studies have not provided the national geochemical maps of harmful trace elements in Chinese coals. In this study, the content data of 1 167 Be, 1 315 Co, 1 406 Cu, 1 191 Mo, 1 247 Th, and 1 390 Zn in Chinese coal samples are analyzed, and their average contents …

Accumulation Mode Of Middle-Low Rank Coalbed Methane In Houxia Basin，Xinjiang, Tu Zhimin, Che Yanqian, Li Peng, Lin Wenji

Coal Geology & Exploration

There are successful cases of large-scale CBM development of low-rank coal abroad. Though China is rich in low-rank CBM resources, their exploration and development progress is slow. Considering the low exploration degree and for the purpose of further understanding the accumulation conditions of medium-low rank CBM and guiding exploration practice in Houxia Basin, seismic and geological analysis, as well as coal petrography analysis and drainage production data of drilled wells are carried out in the study area. The results show that the coal seams are characterized by complex structure, large thickness (4.1-24.3 m), stable development, large difference in gas content …

The Mitogenome Relationships And Phylogeography Of Barn Swallows (Hirundo Rustica), Gianluca Lombardo, Nicola Rambaldi Migliore, Giulia Colombo, Marco Rosario Capodiferro, Giulio Formenti, Manuela Caprioli, Elisabetta Moroni, Leonardo Caporali, Hovirag Lancioni, Simona Secomandi, Cristina Cereda, Valerio Carelli, Lauren Gillespie, Yang Liu, Yosef Kiat, Alfonso Marzal, Cosme López-Calderón, Javier Balbontín, Timothy Mousseau, Piotr Matyjasiak, Anders Pape Møller, Et. Al.

Faculty Publications

The barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) poses a number of fascinating scientific questions, including the taxonomic status of postulated subspecies. Here, we obtained and assessed the sequence variation of 411 complete mitogenomes, mainly from the European H. r. rustica, but other subspecies as well. In almost every case, we observed subspecies-specific haplogroups, which we employed together with estimated radiation times to postulate a model for the geographical and temporal worldwide spread of the species. The female barn swallow carrying the Hirundo rustica ancestral mitogenome left Africa (or its vicinity) around 280 thousand years ago (kya), and her descendants …

Within‑Marsh And Landscape Features Structure Ribbed Mussel Distribution In Georgia, Usa, Marshes, William K. Annis, Elizabeth A. Hunter, John M. Carroll

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Ribbed mussels, Geukensia demissa, are marsh fauna that are used in coastal management and restoration due to the ecosystem services they provide. Ribbed mussel restoration efforts may be improved with a greater understanding of the environmental drivers of ribbed mussel distribution at multiple spatial scales to predict areas where restoration could be successful. This study sought to estimate the effects of within-marsh (4 m) and landscape (500 m) factors on ribbed mussel distribution. Ribbed mussel densities were surveyed at 11 sites along the coast of Georgia, USA, and overlaid with spatial data for within-marsh factors (elevation, distance to marsh …

Utilizing Novel Field And Data Exploration Methods To Explore Hot Moments In High-Frequency Soil Nitrous Oxide Emissions Data: Opportunities And Challenges, Christine S. O'Connell, Tyler L. Anthony, Melanie A. Mayes, Tibisay Pérez, Debjani Sihi, Whendee L. Silver

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Soil nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions are an important driver of climate change and are a major mechanism of labile nitrogen (N) loss from terrestrial ecosystems. Evidence increasingly suggests that locations on the landscape that experience biogeochemical fluxes disproportionate to the surrounding matrix (hot spots) and time periods that show disproportionately high fluxes relative to the background (hot moments) strongly influence landscape-scale soil N₂O emissions. However, substantial uncertainties remain regarding how to measure and model where and when these extreme soil N₂O fluxes occur. High-frequency datasets of soil N₂O fluxes are newly possible …

Meningococcal Meningitis In Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review, Amit U. Raysoni

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

The scourge of Meningococcal Meningitis in the Sub-Saharan African nations is well known. This review paper focuses on this very important topic and describes the symptoms, diagnoses, and available vaccines for the same. The review then focuses on the Meningitis Belt of Africa and elucidates on the introduction of MenAfriVac™ vaccine. The review ends with the success of this vaccine and the future of Meningococcal Meningitis in the context of overall global climate change.

Influences Of Seasonality And Habitat Quality On Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Fish Community Composition And Diets, Sara N. Diller, Anna M. Harrison, Kurt P. Kowalski, Valerie J. Brady, Jan J. H. Ciborowski, Matthew J. Cooper, Joshua D. Dumke, Joseph P. Gathman, Carl R. Ruetz Iii, Donald G. Uzarski, Douglas A. Wilcox, Jeffrey S. Schaeffer

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Great Lakes coastal wetlands (GLCW) have been severely degraded by anthropogenic activity over the last several decades despite their critical role in fish production. Many Great Lakes fish species use coastal wetland habitats for spawning, feeding, shelter, and nurseries throughout the year. The goal of our study was to compare GLCW fish community composition in the spring, summer, and fall months and investigate how water quality relates to fish diversity, the presence of functional groups, and juvenile fish diets. We summarized fish data collected from GLCW across the basin and used the coastal wetland monitoring program’s water quality-land use indicator …

Hydrodynamic Limitations To Mangrove Seedling Retention In Subtropical Estuaries, Kelly M. Kibler, Christian Pilato, Linda Walters, Melinda Donnelly, Jyotismita Taye

Flow-biota Interaction and Natural Infrastructure Design

Mangrove forest sustainability hinges upon propagule recruitment and seedling retention. This study evaluates biophysical limitations to mangrove seedling persistence by measuring anchoring force of two mangrove species (Rhizophora mangle and Avicennia germinans). Anchoring force was measured in 362 seedlings via lateral pull-tests administered in mangrove forests of two subtropical estuaries and in laboratory-based experiments. Removal mechanism varied with seedling age: newly-established seedlings failed due to root pull-out while seedlings older than 3 months failed by root breakage. Anchoring force of R. mangle seedlings was consistently and significantly greater than A. germinans (GLM: p = 0.002), however force to …

A Critical Review Of Bioaccumulation And Biotransformation Of Organic Chemicals In Birds, Dave T. F. Kuo, Barnett A. Rattner, Sarah C. Marteinson, Robert Letcher, Kim J. Fernie, Gabriele Treu, Markus Deutsch, Mark S. Johnson, Sandrine Deglin, Michelle Embry

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

A literature review of bioaccumulation and biotransformation of organic chemicals in birds was undertaken, aiming to support scoping and prioritization of future research. The objectives were to characterize available bioaccumulation/ biotransformation data, identify knowledge gaps, determine how extant data can be used, and explore the strategy and steps forward. An intermediate approach balanced between expediency and rigor was taken given the vastness of the literature. Following a critical review of >500 peer-reviewed studies, >25,000 data entries and 2 million information bytes were compiled on >700 organic compounds for ~ 320 wild species and 60 domestic breeds of birds. These data …

Trace Metal Speciation And Impacts On Iron Oxide Transformations And Biogeochemical Cycling, Jinshu Yan

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Trace metals in anoxic aquatic systems are of great importance for iron oxide transformations and biogeochemical cycling. The presence of trace metal can alter iron oxide transformations under anoxic conditions. Trace metals are also essential for microbially-mediated biogeochemical processes occurring in anoxic wetland soils and stream bed sediments, but low availability of these elements may inhibit anaerobic element cycling and transformations. Trace metal speciation is also vital for understanding the environmental control on nutrients and contaminants. Three projects were conducted to explore trace metal speciation and its associated effect on iron oxide transformations and biogeochemical cycling. First, the Fe(II)-promoted conversion …

Stable Carbon And Nitrogen Isotopes Of Shell Bound Organic Matter, Implications For Modern And Ancient Food Web Dynamics, Shibajyoti Das

Dissertations - ALL

Stable isotopes are an important tool for solving biogeochemical problems and have been increasingly applied in ecosystem studies because of their utility as source-to-sink tracers and for ecological information. Elements like C and N have more than one stable isotope, and their isotopic compositions (δ15N and δ13C) vary in a foreseeable way and are specifically useful in studying global elemental cycles and energy flow through ecosystems. δ15N and δ13C of organic matter (OM) are diagnostic of an organism's diet and have been used as a proxy for trophic level reconstructions. However, because of several analytical constraints, the use of stable …