IAN is committed to producing practical, user-centered communications that foster a better understanding of science and enable readers to pursue new opportunities in research, education, and environmental problem-solving. Our publications synthesize scientific findings using effective science communication techniques.

Elucidating terrestrial nutrient sources to a coastal lagoon, Chincoteague Bay, Maryland, USA (Page 1)

Elucidating terrestrial nutrient sources to a coastal lagoon, Chincoteague Bay, Maryland, USA

Fertig BM, O’Neil JM, Beckert KA, Cain CJ, Needham DM, Carruthers TJB, and Dennison WC ·
2013

Long-term non-linear ecosystem-scale changes in water quality and biotic communities in coastal lagoons have been associated with intensification of anthropogenic pressures. In light of incipient changes in Johnson Bay (an embayment of Chincoteague Bay, Maryland-Virginia, USA), examination of nitrogen sources was conducted through synoptic water quality monitoring, stable nitrogen isotope signatures (deltaN-15) of in situ bioindicators, and denitrification estimates.

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Improving management of a mid-Atlantic coastal barrier island through assessment of habitat condition (Page 1)

Improving management of a mid-Atlantic coastal barrier island through assessment of habitat condition

Carruthers TJB, Beckert K, Schupp CA, Saxby TA, Kumer JP, Thomas JE, Sturgis B, Dennison WC, Williams M, Fisher T, and Zimmerman CS ·
2013

To achieve desired environmental outcomes, environmental condition and trends need to be rigorously measured and communicated to resource managers, scientists, and a broader general audience. However, there is often a disconnect between responsive ecosystem monitoring and decision making for strategic long-term management. This project demonstrates how historical monitoring data can be synthesized and used for future planning and decision making, thereby closing the management feedback cycle.

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Oyster deltaN-15 as a Bioindicator of Potential Wastewater and Poultry Farming Impacts and Degraded Water Quality in a Subestuary of Chesapeake Bay (Page 1)

Oyster deltaN-15 as a Bioindicator of Potential Wastewater and Poultry Farming Impacts and Degraded Water Quality in a Subestuary of Chesapeake Bay

Fertig BM, Carruthers TJB, and Dennison WC ·
2013

Anthropogenic nitrogen contributes to water quality degradation, but it is difficult to distinguish sources once they are mixed in coastal ecosystems. Natural abundances of stable nitrogen isotopes (deltaN-15) were measured in oyster (Crassostrea virginica) tissues (muscle, gills, and mantle) during summer 2006 to summer 2008 to identify nitrogen sources in Monie Bay (a subestuary of Chesapeake Bay) receiving freshwater inputs from three tributary creeks. The creeks (estimated flushing times:

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Popular Education for Water Sustainability: Three Lessons from Reflective Practice (Page 1)

Popular Education for Water Sustainability: Three Lessons from Reflective Practice

Oliver P, Dennison WC ·
2013

Between them, the authors of this paper have over sixty years experience in water education working in primary and secondary schools, universities, field study centres, professional development programs; and with community, industry, and government groups, focusing on coastal zones and catchments. Over the last three years, they have undertaken a systematic process of personal and dialogic reflection and deliberation on this experience, particularly in the area of popular education.

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Potential Stream Density in Mid-Atlantic US Watersheds (Page 1)

Potential Stream Density in Mid-Atlantic US Watersheds

Elmore AJ, Julian JP, Guinn SM, and Fitzpatrick MC ·
2013

Stream network density exerts a strong influence on ecohydrologic processes in watersheds, yet existing stream maps fail to capture most headwater streams and therefore underestimate stream density. Furthermore, discrepancies between mapped and actual stream length vary between watersheds, confounding efforts to understand the impacts of land use on stream ecosystems.

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Reduction of the temperature sensitivity of soil organic matter decomposition with sustained temperature increase

Craine JM, Fierer N, McLauchlan KK, and Elmore AJ ·
2013

The degree to which microbial communities adjust their decomposition of soil carbon over time in response to long-term increases in temperature is one of the key uncertainties in our modeling of the responses of terrestrial ecosystems to warming. To better understand changes in temperature sensitivity of soil microbial communities to long-term increases in soil temperature, we incubated 27 soils for one year with both short-term and long-term manipulations of temperature.

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Restoration of overwash processes creates piping plover (Charadrius melodus) habitat on a barrier island (Assateague Island, Maryland)

Schupp CA, Winn NT, Pearl TL, Kumer JP, Carruthers TJB, and Zimmerman CS ·
2013

On Assateague Island, an undeveloped barrier island along Maryland and Virginia, a foredune was constructed to protect the island from the erosion and breaching threat caused by permanent jetties built to maintain Ocean City Inlet. Scientists and engineers integrated expertise in vegetation, wildlife, geomorphology, and coastal engineering in order to design a habitat restoration project that would be evaluated in terms of coastal processes rather than static features.

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Studying Nature In Situ: Immersive Education for Better Integrated Water Management (Page 1)

Studying Nature In Situ: Immersive Education for Better Integrated Water Management

Dennison WC, Oliver P ·
2013

The term immersive education is currently used in two educational areas – language education, which involves students being totally immersed in a language and its culture; and virtual education, where teachers use computers and simulation games to immerse learners in a virtual, computer-generated environment that mimics a real-world environment and allows learners to interact with it.

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Assateague Island is Changing (Page 1)

Assateague Island is Changing

Jane Hawkey, Heath Kelsey ·
31 December 2012

The natural geomorphological processes on Assateague Island, a Mid-Atlantic barrier island, are being exacerbated by increased storm intensity and sea-level rise, impacting the habitats and wildlife. The National Park Service Assateague Island National Seashore management is taking steps to ensure the sustainability of the park and the visitor experience.

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