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Teresa Newton

Position title:  Fishery Biologist

Email: tnewton@usgs.gov
Phone: 608.781.6217
Fax: 608.783.6066

Education:
1990 Ph.D., Fisheries Biology and Toxicology, Iowa State University
1987 M.S., Biology, Tennessee Technological University
1985 B.S., Biology, Central Michigan University

Primary Responsibilities/Activities:
My research interests focus on the conservation and ecology of freshwater mussels, a group of benthic animals in which 70% of the North American species are considered threatened.  Mussels are keystone species in many rivers and their catastrophic decline may lead to the decline of other faunal groups and the alteration of ecosystem processes.  I use a combination of comparative and experimental approaches to understand factors affecting the distribution and abundance of freshwater mussels and to determine the roles that mussels may play in large river food webs.  I also investigate the effects of sediment-associated contaminants on freshwater mussels.

Research Interests:

• Conservation and ecology of freshwater mussels
• Food web research
• Ecotoxicology
• Survey design
• Large river ecology
• Freshwater community ecology

Active Projects:

• Factors limiting the distribution, abundance, and species richness of unionids in large rivers (mussel team)
• Development of hydrophysical models to conserve and restore mussel populations in large floodplain rivers (mussel team plus external collaborators)
• Identification of critical dietary needs for unionid mussels across a broad geographic scale (mussel team plus external collaborators)
• Population estimates of freshwater mussels in shallow water areas in Pool 6 of the Upper Mississippi River (mussel team)
• Experimental designs for obtaining poolwide mussel population estimates in the Upper Mississippi River (mussel team)
• Development of sampling designs for estimating mussel abundances associated with habitat rehabilitation and enhancement projects (mussel team plus scientists from the USGS Leetown Science Center)
  

Select Publications:
Kesler, D.H., T.J. Newton, and L. Green.  2007.  Long term monitoring of growth in the Eastern Elliptio (Elliptio complanata) in southern New England: a transplant experiment.  Journal of the North American Benthological Society 26:123-133.

Newton, T.J. and M.R. Bartsch.  2007.  Assessing contaminant sensitivity of early life stages of freshwater mussels (Unionidae): lethal and sublethal effects of ammonia to juvenile Lampsilis mussels in sediment and water-only exposures.  Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 26: in press.

Newton T.J. and W.G. Cope.  2007.  Biomarker responses of unionid mussels to environmental contaminants.  Pages 257 to 284 in Freshwater Bivalve Ecotoxicology, J.L. Farris and J.H. Van Hassel, eds., SETAC Press, Pensacola, FL and Taylor & Francis, Boca Raton, FL.

Morales, Y., L.J. Weber, A.E. Mynett, and T.J. Newton.  2006.  Effects of substrate and hydrodynamic conditions on the formation of mussel beds in a large river.  Journal of the North American Benthological Society 25:664-676.

Strayer, D.L., J.A. Downing, W.R. Haag, T.L. King, J.B. Layzer, T.J. Newton, and S.J. Nichols.  2004.  Changing perspectives on pearly mussels, North America’s most imperiled animals.  BioScience 54:429 439.

Newton, T.J., E.M. Monroe, R. Kenyon, S. Gutreuter, K.I. Welke, and P.A. Thiel.  2001.  Evaluation of relocation of unionid mussels into artificial ponds.  Journal of the North American Benthological Society 20:468-485.

Links:
Effects of ammonia on unionid mussels: a potential threat to their biodiversity in the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway

Landscape analysis of mussels in the Upper Mississippi River Basin

Freshwater mussels of the Upper Mississippi River Basin

Assessment of the biological effects of the Finger Lakes Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement Project: Responses of fish and aquatic invertebrates

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