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Folders: ROOT > ScienceBase Catalog > USGS Wetland and Aquatic Research Center ( Show all descendants )

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Freshwater mussels (Unionidae) are among the most imperiled groups of organisms in the world. Unionids are plagued with a lack of basic information regarding species distributions, life history characteristics, and ecological and biological requirements. We assessed the influence of hydrologic factors on the occurrence of the Suwannee Moccasinshell, Medionidus walkeri, a federally threatened freshwater mussel species endemic to the Suwannee River basin in Georgia and Florida. We also assessed the influence of survey effort on detection of M. walkeri during field surveys. All current (2013-2016) mussel survey records in the Suwannee River Basin were compiled, and cumulative discharge contributed by upstream springs...
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These data represent surface elevation change and vertical accretion time series collected from a series of degraded tidal wetland sites near Goodland, Florida, USA. Surface elevation was measured using a combination of rod surface elevation tables (SETs) and feldspar marker horizons. Here, we document mangrove forest and soil structural changes within transects established in tidally restricted areas on Marco Island (Collier County, Florida, USA), which has broad swaths of dead-standing or unhealthy mangroves. Original data were collected in January 2015, and re-collected in August 2015, January 2016, July 2016, January 2017, June 2018 and June 2019.
Recurring drying and wetting events are likely to increase in frequency and intensity in predicted future droughts in the central United States and alter the regeneration potential of species. We explored the resistance of seed banks to successive droughts in 53 sites across the nine locations in baldcypress swamps in the southeastern United States. Along the Mississippi River Alluvial Valley and northern Gulf of Mexico, we investigated the capacity of seed banks to retain viable seeds after successive periods of drying and wetting in a greenhouse study. Mean differences of species richness and seed density were compared to examine the interactions of successive droughts, geographical location and water regime....
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The decline of Taxodium distichum, bald cypress, forests along the Gulf Coast of North America is partly due to elevation loss and subsequent flooding. In many coastal wetlands, a common approach for coastal restoration is to rebuild elevation through the application of dredge spoil, but this technique has not been used widely in coastal forests due to concerns of negatively impacting trees. This experiment explored health responses of Nyssa aquatica, water tupelo, and T. distichum saplings to applications of low salinity dredge spoil in a greenhouse setting. Compared to controls, saplings of T. distichum grown in 7 and 15 cm sediment depths had higher final heights, and stem and total biomass while N. aquatica...
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This release consists of soil surface elevation, also called vertical land motion of the wetland (VLMw), and vertical accretion data collected over time across an environmental gradient at Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge near Naples, Florida, USA. VLMw was measured using rod surface elevation tables, while accretion was measured using feldspar marker horizons (i.e., RSET-MH technique). Stations were located in the following wetland types: brackish marsh, salt marsh, transition marsh, and mangrove forest. Vegetation cover in the vicinity of the RSET-MH stations was described. The study spanned six years, from 2011 to 2017.
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Examination of food webs and trophic niches provide insight into organisms’ functional ecology, yet few studies have examined the trophodynamics within submarine canyons, where the interaction of morphology and oceanography influences food deposition. Stable isotope analysis and Bayesian ellipses documented deep-sea food web structure and trophic niches in Baltimore Canyon and the adjacent open slopes in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic Region. Results revealed isotopically diverse feeding groups, comprising approximately 5 trophic levels. Regression analysis indicated that consumer isotope data are structured by site (canyon vs. slope), feeding group, and depth. Benthic feeders were enriched in 13C and 15N relative to suspension...
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These data represent several benthic cores collected near chemosynthetic seep habitats during 2009 and 2012. Sediment cores were collected near several natural hydrocarbon seeps with ROV deployed push cores. The purpose of these samples is to examine benthic communities associated with natural hydrocarbon seepage in the deep sea as well as compare these communities to areas associated with the Deepwater Horizon oil blowout. Samples were collected in the northern Gulf of Mexico, mostly south of Louisiana, and at depths ranging from 500 to 2600 meters. Sample processing and species identification occurred from 2014 – 2016. Macrofauna (>300 um) were identified to the lowest taxonomic unit.
Conservation of imperiled species is frequently challenged by insufficient knowledge of life history and the environmental factors that affect various life stages. The larvae (glochidia) of most freshwater mussels in the family Unionidae are obligate ectoparasites of fishes. We describe the early life history of the federally endangered Southern Kidneyshell, Ptychobranchus jonesi, and compare methods for estimating fecundity and conducting host trials on conglutinate-producing mussel species. Both the glochidial inoculation baths and direct feeding of conglutinates to Percina nigrofasciata, Etheostoma edwini, and Etheostoma fusiforme resulted in successful metamorphosis to the juvenile life stage. Ptychobranchus...
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Mesopelagic fishes represent an important component of the marine food web due to their global distributions, high abundances and ability to transport organic material throughout a large part of the water column. This study combined stable isotope (SIA) and gut content analyses (GCA) to characterize the trophic structure of mesopelagic fishes in the north central Gulf of Mexico. Additionally this study examined whether mesopelagic fishes utilized chemosynthetic energy from cold seeps. Specimens were collected (9-25 August 2007) over three deep (>1000 m) cold seeps at discrete depths (surface to 1503 m) over the diurnal cycle. Gut content analyses classified 31 species (5 families) of mesopelagic fishes into 5 feeding...
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Model generated soil pore water salinity (psu) values under scenarios of drought and normal conditions at Tidal Freshwater Forested Wetlands (TFFW) sites along the Waccamaw River and Savannah River in the Southeastern United States.
Dataset of sediment geochemistry, water column parameters, and macrofaunal functional traits associated with sediment communities collected in Norfolk Canyon axis, hard substrates, and adjacent slope habitats in 2012 and 2013.
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Dataset includes observations of Piping Plovers made during winter shorebird surveys on Whiskey and Trinity Islands in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana during the winter of 2013-2014. Attributes include location, behavioral, and microhabitat data as well as references to these data points in our local Access database.
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The study area included the coasts of all five U.S. states along the northern Gulf of Mexico (i.e., Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas). We contacted federal, state, and university-affiliated scientists working with SET-MH data within this area to obtain the geographic coordinates and the installation year for each SET-MH station. Please note that while our inventory is extensive and includes most SET-MH stations in the region, our inventory is not fully exhaustive; in other words, it is possible that some stations in the region are not contained within this inventory. The SET-MH stations in our dataset include original SET, deep rod SET (RSET), and shallow RSET benchmarks.
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Global climate change is leading to large-scale shifts in species’ range limits. For example, rising winter temperatures are shifting the abundance and distributions of tropical, cold sensitive plant species towards higher latitudes. Coastal wetlands provide a prime example of such shifts, with tropical mangrove forests expanding into temperate salt marshes as winter warming alleviates past geographic limits set by cold intolerance. These rapid changes are dynamic and challenging to monitor, and uncertainty remains regarding the extent of mangrove expansion near poleward range limits. Here, we synthesized existing datasets and expert knowledge to assess the current (i.e., 2021) distribution of mangroves near dynamic...
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In coastal wetlands, one of the most striking examples of climate change is the poleward range expansion of mangrove forests in response to warming winters. In North America, the Cedar Key region has often been considered the range limit for mangroves along the western coast of Florida (USA). However, within the past several decades, robust stands of Avicennia germinans and Rhizophora mangle have been observed in the Apalachicola Bay region, which is 200 km northwest of Cedar Key. This dataset characterizes the distribution and structure of the mangroves in the Apalachicola Bay area of Florida identified via extensive ground surveys and photointerpretation of aerial imagery from 2018 to 2019.
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Environmental DNA (eDNA) water samples were collected at 15 tree islands containing wading bird breeding colonies (order Pelecaniformes) and 15 empty control islands in the central Everglades of Florida in spring of 2017 (April through June) and analyzed for the presence of eDNA from invasive Burmese pythons (Python bivittatus). The Burmese python is now established as a breeding population throughout south Florida, USA. Pythons can consume large quantities of prey and may be a particular threat to wading bird breeding colonies in the Everglades. To quantify python occupancy rates at tree islands where wading birds breed, we utilized environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis—a genetic tool which detects shed DNA in water...
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Due to their position at the land-sea interface, coastal wetlands are sensitive to sea-level rise and many other aspects of global change. Small changes in coastal wetland surface elevation can lead to comparatively large changes in coastal wetland ecosystem structure and function, and in some cases wetland loss. The surface elevation table (SET)-marker horizon (MH) approach (SET-MH, together) is a method for quantifying net wetland surface elevation change while accounting for the relative contributions of various biological, geological, and hydrological processes that can occur within different segments of the soil profile (e.g., deep, shallow subsurface, and surface soil depths). This data release includes long-term...
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Dataset of segments (e.g. phrases, sentences, paragraphs) associated with ecological values, human community values, stressors, or restoration strategies found within Gulf Coast state management plans and restoration project descriptions, collected 2019-2020.
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These data were collected from a small (14 ha), created salt marsh in Carteret County, North Carolina (34.82 deg. N; 76.61 deg. W). This site was created in 2007 following an engineering plan developed by Dr. Michael Burchell (NC-State University). This data collection was to support the development of a site-specific carbon budget. Data were collected from 2011 to 2013, or approximately 4-6 years post-creation. The data collection specifically funded by the U.S. Geological Survey includes plant carbon biomass, plant above ground biomass, plant below ground biomass, plant decomposition, and soil greenhouse gas fluxes, and these data are being made available. These data represent critical components of the carbon...
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Hurricanes periodically deliver sediment to coastal wetlands, such as those in the Mississippi River Delta Complex (MRDC), slowing elevation loss and improving resilience to sea-level rise. However, the amount of hurricane sediment deposited and retained in a wetland may vary depending on the dominant vegetation. In the subtropical climate of the MRDC, the black mangrove (Avicennia germinans (L.) L.) has been expanding and replacing salt marsh (Spartina alterniflora Loisel). Because these vegetation types differ in aboveground structure, their influence on sedimentation may also differ. We conducted a survey for 160 km along the outer coast of Louisiana, USA from Oyster Bayou to the Mississippi River to determine...


map background search result map search result map Trophic structure of mesopelagic fishes in the Gulf of Mexico revealed by gut content and stable isotope analyses Plant biomass, carbon content, decomposition, and soil greenhouse gas fluxes to support carbon budget development for a created salt marsh in eastern North Carolina, USA Food-web dynamics and isotopic niches in deep-sea communities residing in a submarine canyon and on the adjacent open slopes Factors affecting prey availability and habitat use of nonbreeding piping plovers (Charadrius melodus) in coastal Louisiana Everglades National Park sediment elevation and marker horizon data release Data for sediment application to cypress and tupelo seedlings in greenhouse study - 2016 Assessing coastal wetland vulnerability to sea-level rise along the northern Gulf of Mexico coast: gaps and opportunities for developing a coordinated regional sampling network Macrobenthic infaunal communities associated with deep-sea hydrocarbon seeps in the Gulf of Mexico, 2009-2010 Soil surface elevation dynamics in a mangrove-to-marsh ecotone characterized by vegetation shifts Modeling soil pore water salinity response to drought in tidal freshwater forested wetlands Burmese python environmental DNA data, and environmental covariates, collected from wading bird aggregations and control sites in the Greater Everglades Ecosystem, United States, in 2017 Hurricane sedimentation in a subtropical salt marsh-mangrove community in the Mississippi River Delta Complex unaffected by vegetation type Soil surface elevation change and vertical accretion data to support the Fruit Farm Creek Mangrove Restoration Project, Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Marco Island, Florida, 2015-2019 Sediment grain size, geochemistry, and polychaete functional traits of Norfolk Canyon (western Atlantic) axis, hard substrate, and adjacent slope habitats, 2012-2013 The distribution and structure of mangroves (Avicennia germinans and Rhizophora mangle) near a rapidly changing range limit in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico Synthesis of Gulf Coast Management Plans and Restoration Project Values, Stressors, and Strategies (2020-2021) Mangrove distribution in the southeastern United States in 2021 Sediment grain size, geochemistry, and polychaete functional traits of Norfolk Canyon (western Atlantic) axis, hard substrate, and adjacent slope habitats, 2012-2013 Soil surface elevation change and vertical accretion data to support the Fruit Farm Creek Mangrove Restoration Project, Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Marco Island, Florida, 2015-2019 Soil surface elevation dynamics in a mangrove-to-marsh ecotone characterized by vegetation shifts Everglades National Park sediment elevation and marker horizon data release Plant biomass, carbon content, decomposition, and soil greenhouse gas fluxes to support carbon budget development for a created salt marsh in eastern North Carolina, USA Food-web dynamics and isotopic niches in deep-sea communities residing in a submarine canyon and on the adjacent open slopes Burmese python environmental DNA data, and environmental covariates, collected from wading bird aggregations and control sites in the Greater Everglades Ecosystem, United States, in 2017 The distribution and structure of mangroves (Avicennia germinans and Rhizophora mangle) near a rapidly changing range limit in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico Hurricane sedimentation in a subtropical salt marsh-mangrove community in the Mississippi River Delta Complex unaffected by vegetation type Macrobenthic infaunal communities associated with deep-sea hydrocarbon seeps in the Gulf of Mexico, 2009-2010 Modeling soil pore water salinity response to drought in tidal freshwater forested wetlands Data for sediment application to cypress and tupelo seedlings in greenhouse study - 2016 Trophic structure of mesopelagic fishes in the Gulf of Mexico revealed by gut content and stable isotope analyses Mangrove distribution in the southeastern United States in 2021 Assessing coastal wetland vulnerability to sea-level rise along the northern Gulf of Mexico coast: gaps and opportunities for developing a coordinated regional sampling network Synthesis of Gulf Coast Management Plans and Restoration Project Values, Stressors, and Strategies (2020-2021)