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The assessment and monitoring of soil disturbance and its effect on soil quality (i.e., ability to support a range of ecosystem services) has been hindered due to the shortcomings of many traditional analytical techniques, including high cost, long-term time investment and diffic...

Carbon and nutrient dynamics in aquatic systems often emerge as the result of hydrological, biogeochemical, and ecological interactions. Due to the multi&#8208;scale and multi&#8208;disciplinary nature of these process interactions, research into aquatic carbon and nutrient dynam...

Most of us have heard the axiom, &ldquo;canary in the coal mine&rdquo;. These melodious exposure indicators - a necessity in U.K. mines well into the 20th century - were especially sensitive to methane and carbon monoxide gases, and would cease singing (and oftentimes die) at le...

The ability to assess, report, map, and forecast the life support functions of ecosystems is absolutely critical to our capacity to make informed decisions to maintain the sustainable nature of our environment now and into the future. Because of the variability among living orga...

Satellite data has been found to be an effective way to quantify cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cyanoHAB). CyanoHABs are a significant environmental concern. High abundances of cyanoHABs in aquatic ecosystems can be detrimental to human health through exposure during recrea...

Cell-based metabolomics was used in a proof-of-concept fashion to investigate the biological effects of contaminants as they traveled from a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) discharge to a drinking water treatment plant (DWTP) intake in a surface water usage cycle. Zebrafish liv...

Non-native species pose one of the greatest threats to native biodiversity, and can have severe negative impacts in freshwater ecosystems. Identifying regions of spatial overlap between high freshwater biodiversity and high invasion pressure may thus better inform the prioritizat...

Uncertainty in measurements of atmospheric deposition results from analytical uncertainty in the measurements themselves, from the completeness of the suite of species analyzed with respect to the significant forms of nitrogen that impact the deposition budget, and from &lsquo;sc...

Cities and urban agglomerations are undeniably becoming humanity&rsquo;s habitat as they embody the centers of economic, educational, and social activities; in fact, about 70% of the world&rsquo;s population is expected to live in urban areas by 2050. These urban areas significan...

Ballast water remains a potent vector of non-native aquatic species introductions, despite increased global efforts to reduce risk of ballast water mediated invasions. This is particularly true of intracoastal vessel traffic, whose characteristics may limit the feasibility and ef...

Ecological restoration projects are often performed to reestablish the flow of Ecosystem Goods and Services (EGS) that provide valuable benefits to people. However, the realized benefits people actually receive and how they value those benefits may differ even when production of ...

Nonuse values are the values people place on nature&rsquo;s goods and services that they do not directly use, appreciate, or enjoy now or in the future. Metrics of nonuse aspects are an essential part of the total economic valuation of ecosystem goods and services. However, there...

Graphene is a two-dimensional nanomaterial composed of sp2 hybridized carbon atoms. Due to its unique mechanical, thermal, electrical, and optical properties, the use of graphene family nanomaterials (GFNs) in electronics, biomedicine, surface coatings, filtration devices, and co...

One of the challenges remaining before ecosystem services assessments can become part of mainstream decision making is how to spatially represent the interplay of nature as a whole and humans. Nature&rsquo;s ecosystems act as natural capital by producing things (i.e. stocks and ...

Coastal ecosystems are inherently complex and potentially adaptive as they respond to changes in nutrient loads and climate. We documented the role that carbon stable isotope (&delta;13C) measurements could play in understanding that adaptation with a series of three Ecostat (i.e...

Increased consumption and improper disposal of prescription medication, such as beta (&beta;)-blockers, contribute to their introduction into waterways and may pose threats to non-target aquatic organisms. There has been rising concern about the impacts of these prescription drug...

A detailed understanding of the distribution and fate of atmospheric sulfur (SOx) and reactive nitrogen compounds (NOy and NHx) is desirable given their role in determining tropospheric acidic substances and particulate matter budgets and potential altering of sensitive ecosystem...

Accounting for ecosystem services in environmental decision making is an emerging research topic. Modern frameworks for ecosystem services assessment emphasize evaluating the social benefits of ecosystems, in terms of who benefits and by how much, to aid in comparing multiple cou...

Synthetic nitrogen (N) fertilizers have enabled massive gains in global agricultural productivity, but widespread use of excessive amounts of chemical fertilizers has resulted in diminished air and water quality. Human health problems can arise from elevated levels of these agric...

We applied regional SPARROW (SPAtially Referenced Regressions On Watershed attributes) models to estimate status and trends of potential nitrogen loads to estuaries of the conterminous United States. The original Regional SPARROW models predict average detrended loads by source ...

Interest in connectivity has increased in the aquatic sciences, partly because of its relevance to the Clean Water Act. This paper has two objectives: (1) Provide a framework to understand hydrological, chemical, and biological connectivity, focusing on how headwater streams and ...

Differences in animal distributions and metabolic demands can influence energy and nutrient flow in an ecosystem. Through taxa-specific nutrient consumption, storage, and remineralization, animals may influence energy and nutrient pathways in an ecosystem. Here we show these taxa...

Coral reefs worldwide have degraded during the last five decades. Protection of reefs is challenging because of the many watershed, coastal and oceanic stressors that affect them. The Clean Water Act (CWA) is available to States and jurisdictions to protect reefs, but physical an...

This paper evaluates the current state of life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) methods used to estimate potential eutrophication impacts in freshwater and marine ecosystems and presents a critical review of the underlying surface water quality, watershed, marine, and air fate and ...

In aquatic ecosystems, biological indicators are used in concert with nutrient concentration data to identify habitat impairments related to cultural eutrophication. This approach has been less commonly implemented in coastal areas due to the dominance of physical conditions in s...