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Research about Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2024

Monitoring questing winter tick abundance on traditional moose hunting lands

An important symbolic and subsistence animal for many Native American Tribes, the moose ( Alces alces ; mos in Algonquin, Penobscot language) has been under consistent threat in the northeastern United States because of winter tick ( Dermacentor albipictus ) parasitism over the past several decades, causing declines in moose populations throughout the region. This decline has raised concern for Tribes and agencies that are invested in moose. Given this concern, it is increasingly important to effectively monitor and develop strategies to manage winter ticks to address consistent population declines of moose due to winter ticks. The Penobscot Nation developed a novel strategy to sample questing winter ticks (i.e., ticks that are actively seeking hosts) using a plot-based sampling protocol that may be suitable for heterogeneous habitats. We deployed this protocol in the northeastern United States in 2022 during the tick questing period (Sep–Dec) on Penobscot Nation sovereign trust lands, the White Mountain National Forest and Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge, and western-central Massachusetts, USA. We analyzed the data using occupancy and N-mixture models. Detection probability peaked during mid-October and tick occupancy and abundance were greatest at sites with intermediate understory vegetation height. The sampling protocol was successful at sampling ticks in Massachusetts, where abundances were expected to be low, indicating that it may be useful for studies planning to monitor winter tick distribution and abundance in areas with sub-optimal moose habitat and where winter tick abundance is expected to be low. This approach may also benefit managers or researchers intending to monitor many species of hard ticks, and where imperfect detection is expected.

Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire↗
USGS2017

Movements of Atlantic Sturgeon of the Gulf of Maine inside and outside the geographically defined Distinct Population Segment

Identification of potential critical habitat, seasonal distributions, and movements within and between river systems is important for protecting the Gulf of Maine (GOM) Distinct Population Segment of Atlantic Sturgeon. To accomplish these objectives, we captured Atlantic Sturgeon in four GOM rivers (Penobscot, Kennebec system, Saco, and Merrimack), and tagged 144 (83.3–217.4 cm TL) internally with uniquely coded acoustic transmitters. Tagged fish were detected between 2006 to 2014 by primary receiver arrays deployed in the four GOM rivers or opportunistically on a secondary group of receivers deployed within the GOM and along the continental shelf. Atlantic Sturgeon tagged in the four rivers were documented at three spawning areas in the Kennebec system in June and July, including one that became accessible in 1999 when the Edwards Dam was removed. After being tagged, the majority (74%) of Atlantic sturgeon were detected in the estuaries of the four GOM rivers, primarily from May through October. Tagged fish spent most of their time in saline water in the Saco River and Merrimack River, moved into brackish water in the Penobscot River, and were found in saline, brackish, and fresh water in the Kennebec system. Approximately 70% of the tagged fish were detected in GOM coastal waters, and aggregated in the Bay of Fundy (May–January), offshore of the Penobscot River (September-February and May), offshore of the Kennebec River (September–February), in Saco Bay and the Scarborough River (July–November), and along the eastern Massachusetts coast between Cape Ann and Cape Cod (April–February). Nine tagged Atlantic sturgeon (7%) left the GOM, three of which moved as far north as Halifax in Canada and six moved as far south as the James River in Virginia. Information from this study will be used to make recommendations to avoid, reduce or mitigate the impacts of in-water projects and on Atlantic sturgeon.

Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire↗
USGS2004

The effects of urbanization on the biological, physical, and chemical characteristics of coastal New England streams

During August 2000, responses of biological communities (invertebrates, fish, and algae), physical habitat, and water chemistry to urban intensity were compared among 30 streams within 80 miles of Boston, Massachusetts. Sites chosen for sampling represented a gradient of the intensity of urban development (urban intensity) among drainage basins that had minimal natural variability. In this study, spatial differences were used as surrogates for temporal changes to represent the effects of urbanization over time. The degree of urban intensity for each drainage basin was characterized with a standardized urban index (0-100, lowest to highest) derived from land cover, infrastructure, and socioeconomic variables. Multivariate and multimetric analyses were used to compare urban index values with biological, physical, and chemical data to determine how the data indicated responses to urbanization. Multivariate ordinations were derived for the invertebrate-, fish-, and algae-community data by use of correspondence analysis, and ordinations were derived for the chemical and physical data by use of principal-component analysis. Site scores from each of the ordinations were plotted in relation to the urban index to test for a response. In all cases, the primary axis scores showed the strongest response to the urban index, indicating that urbanization was a primary factor affecting the data ordination. For the multimetric analyses, each of the biological data sets was used to calculate a series of community metrics. For the sets of chemical and physical data, the individual variables and various combinations of individual variables were used as measured and derived metrics, respectively. Metrics that were generally most responsive to the urban index for each data set included: EPT (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera) taxa for invertebrates; cyprinid taxa for fish; diatom taxa for algae; bicarbonate, conductivity, and nitrogen for chemistry; and water depth and temperature for physical habitat. The slopes of the responses generally were higher between the urban index values of 0 to 35, indicating that the greatest change in aquatic health may occur between low and moderate levels of urban intensity. Additionally, many of the responses showed that at urban index values greater than 35, there was a threshold effect where the response variable no longer changed with respect to urban intensity. Recognizing and understanding this type of response is important in management and monitoring programs that rely on decisive interpretations of variable responses. Any biological, physical, or chemical variable that is used to characterize stream health over a gradient of disturbance would not be a reliable indicator when a level of disturbance is reached where the variable does not respond in a predictable manner.

Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire↗
USGS1996

Contaminants in the Gulf of Maine-What's here and should we worry?

The Gulf of Maine is a dynamic environment that has highly variable bottom type and localized depositional and transport processes. It is used and impacted by the people around it who hope to use the marine system for many purposes such as fishing, recreation, housing, sewage and dumped disposal, shipping, recreation, and preservation. In order to identify "pollution", which is defined as detrimental effects in the ecosystem that are attributable to human activity, the spatial and temporal distribution of contaminants in Gulf of Maine sediments are established using data that have been compiled into a Contaminated-Sediment Database for the Gulf of Maine. The potential for high contaminant levels in the sediments to induce toxic effects in the Gulf ecosystem is then assessed. In the Gulf of Maine, we have large urban centers that adversely affect the marine ecosystem well offshore through a variety of human activities. We are also in the fortunate position of still having many relatively pristine marine areas. It is unlikely that we will reach an endpoint of "zero toxic effects" in the ecosystem; however, much of the information needed to move closer to the shared goal of managing a sustainable ecosystem in the Gulf of Maine is currently available. Future success will rely on continued efforts to 1) identify rate-limiting physical and biological processes, 2) provide appropriate data synthesis and 3) involve the public.

Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire↗
USGS1989

Timing and mechanisms for the deposition of the glaciomarine mud in and around the Gulf of Maine: A discussion of alternative models

Glaciomarine mud in the Gulf of Maine, characterized by rhythmic seismic layers that mimic the morphology of the underlying surface, is composed of subequal amounts of silt and clay, variable amounts of sand, and sparse gravel-sized clasts. The mud is Wisconsinan in age and was deposited during the retreat of the last ice sheet. A beginning date of 38 ka, proposed by King and Fader (1986) in their chronology of the last deglaciation, is considered too old. An alternative chronology, more consistent with the continental record to the west, is proposed here. ln this interpretation, deposition ofglaciomarine mud began about 18 ka when the late Wisconsinan ice retreated from Georges Bank, Great South Channel, and Northeast Channel and ended around 11 ka, when meltwater ceased to enter the Gulf of Maine. Basal-till melt-out from an ice shelf and bergs as the source of the glaciomarine mud, also proposed by King and Fader (1986), is thought to be inconsistent with the volume, widespread rhythmic bedding, and low stone content of the deposit. More likely the source of the glaciomarine mud was rock-flour-laden meltwater that entered the sea along the grounding line of a calving glacier or by way of subaerial meltwater streams. The rock flour was then dispersed by sediment plumes and was deposited when the sediment fell to the sea floor, aided by flocculation and biological agglutination. Rhythmic layers within the glaciomarine mud could represent annual cyclic sedimentation (varves) or cyclic events of lesser duration.

Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire↗