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Natural Resources Emphasized in WFRC Research
- Pacific salmon. Salmon are in serious decline in
the Pacific Northwest, due to over harvest, habitat destruction, and
loss of genetic diversity. Many populations of salmon are now under
Endangered Species Act (ESA) regulation. The Columbia River, which has
suffered a 90 percent decline in salmon runs, will continue to be a
focal point of the Center's work at the Columbia River Research Laboratory
(CRRL), and other western river systems will receive increased emphasis.
The WFRC will address numerous aspects of salmon restoration, including
fish health, molecular genetics, and ecology. See our fact sheet: Why
Should USGS be Involved in Pacific Salmon Research?
- Western trout and resident riverine fishes. The Center's
expertise in salmonid biology and fish health will be applied to such
problems as whirling disease (affecting rainbow trout and other species
throughout the West) and population dynamics, genetics and diseases
of species such as steelhead and bull trout, now coming under increasing
ESA regulation in the West. Declining native suckers in the Klamath
River basin in Oregon and California have posed huge dilemmas to water
and fisheries managers seeking to balance species recovery and human
water use. Other species, such as white sturgeon and native cyprinids
will also require research.
- Desert/inland fishes. More than half of all threatened
and endangered fish in the U.S. occur in the Great Basin and desert
southwest. Because water is rare, these species have very limited distributions,
and some have already been driven to extinction by human-induced habitat
changes and water development. The Center's Reno Field Station provides
national leadership in conservation ecology and restoration biology
for these unique species.
- Aquatic ecosystems and their resources. Because management
of individual aquatic resources depends upon ecosystem condition (and
because the ecosystems themselves are a resource), managers are adopting
a systems perspective. Estuaries are critical ecosystems for Pacific
Salmon and other resources, and western river basins, water bodies,
and riparian corridors will receive increasing attention at the ecosystem
level.
Research on non-aquatic topics will also be undertaken at times, as specific
partner needs and the uniqueness of WFRC capabilities warrant. For example,
no other BRD Science Center is as well equipped to address the microbiology
of diseases of reptiles and amphibians. Other Center capabilities will
at times make the WFRC the best qualified center for studies in molecular
genetics or other laboratory-based microbiological research, regardless
of the taxa involved.
Capabilities to Support our Mission
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