Development of methods and indicators for evaluating conditions, assessing restoration in response to mitigation, and determining exposures of aquatic communities to different classes of stressors (i.e., pesticides, sedimentation, habitat alteration).

A completely developed indicator of genetic diversity will bring significant new data to the assessment of the biological integrity of aquatic resources and the sustainability of fish communities.

Core and applied research focused on development of molecular indicators diagnostic for exposure to specific xenobiotic, natural stressors, and complex mixtures, in freshwater fish and invertebrates.

This biotechnology effort will provide the genetic risk assessment tools for evaluating long-term risks of genetically modified (GM) crops, especially trends in both pest populations targeted by plant-incorporated pesticides (PIPs) and non-target populations.

Invasions of non-indiginous species (NIS) are one of the foremost threats to the integrity of aquatic ecosystems, but little is known about the invasion dynamics of non-indiginous fishes in U.S. streams.

This research focuses on the characterization, at multiple spatial and temporal scales, of aquatic resources and the responses of aquatic assemblages and ecosystem processes to anthropogenic disturbance. These methods and indicators will be evaluated for their statistical properties and abilities to detect specific stressors, mixtures, landscape and riparian measures of watershed disturbance, and early indicators of restoration and recovery.

Contaminated sediments are of interest to a broad group of programs in the agency interested in monitoring contaminated sediments to characterize/assess existing conditions, determine remediation alternatives, track spatial and temporal changes, and determine if post-remediation goals have been achieved.