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Air, Water and Aquatic Environments Science
Program
about AWAE
The RMRS Air, Water, and Aquatic Environments (AWAE) Science Program is committed to
the development of knowledge and science applications related to air and water
quality, as well as the habitat quality, distribution, diversity, and
persistence of fish and other aquatic species.
Mission Statement: To develop and apply scientific
knowledge to support management, conservation, and
restoration of terrestrial, riparian and aquatic ecosystems while optimizing air
and water quality and delivery in the Interior West.
More about AWAE
Upper
Verde River: Review of Stream-Riparian Monitoring Efforts Conducted by the U.S.
Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station
A review
of RMRS research and monitoring efforts on the Upper Verde River, Arizona
AWAE Scientists
are leaders in integrating research in fisheries, geomorphology, hydrology,
plant physiology and soil science.
Research includes Fluvial Geomorphology and Watershed Processes,
Stream-Riparian Environmental Research, Watershed Hydrology in Natural,
Disturbed, and Managed Systems, Soil Erosion and Fuels Management, Forest Roads
and Erosion, Ecophysiology of Forest Ecosystems, Aquatic Ecology, ESA Fish,
Hydrology and Erosion, Engineering Geomorphology and Landslides, Atmospheric
Deposition and Natural Ecosystems, Semi-Arid Watersheds, Watershed
Biogeochemical Research, Processes that Affect Fish Distributions, Fire and
Erosion, Sediment Transport Processes, Native Fish, Sampling, and Conservation
Biology.
More information about each
Scientist and their projects
Research Field
Unit Locations located throughout the interior west each contribute to the
AWAE science program research.
Albuquerque Lab,
Boise Lab, Flagstaff Lab,
Fort Collins Lab, Missoula Lab,
Moscow Lab
All Field Unit Locations
A list of AWAE program research projects, themes,
science and special projects can be found here:
AWAE Program Research Projects
This information is being continually updated. If you can't
find a Briefing Paper or Focus Paper that you are looking for, please
contact us.
featured Science
Bull Trout and Climate Change - Risks, Uncertainties and
Opportunities for Mapping the Future
Bull trout are a federally listed, native charr species
distributed throughout the Pacific Northwest. Among the critical requirements
for this species are a need for large, interconnected habitats of cold water.
Much uncertainty exists regarding the future of bull trout and their habitats
given environmental trends associated with a warming climate and increasing fire
activity. Presentations at this symposium provide an overview of bull trout,
their relationship to climate, and alternatives for modeling future habitat and
population distributions.
Videos and Abstracts
of the 2008 Western Division
Meeting of the American Fisheries Society
Clean Water -
Insect Outbreaks and Watersheds
Mountain
pine bark beetle outbreaks are causing rapid, unprecedented change in the
headwater forests of Western North America. Infestation and mortality currently
threaten more than 80% of the basal area of many lodgepole pine dominated stands
across the West. In Colorado, bark beetle mortality now exceeds 1.5 million
acres and the outbreak is projected to ravage 85 to 90% of the mature lodgepole
ecosystems in Colorado and Wyoming within the next five years. The consequences
of this extensive canopy disturbance and subsequent management activities will
characterize western watersheds and forest landscapes for decades to come.
Briefing Paper
Invasive Species Managing for Native Trout
Invasive Species are one of the most important threats
to
the integrity of stream ecosystems. Although widely distributed, invasions
and the disruption of native communities
are not
universal. Understanding where invasion risks are most important and what
can be done about it will be key to prioritization of limited management
resources.
Briefing Paper
Air Quality
in Mountain Ecosystems - Ozone
The
monitoring of ozone in remote ecosystems is problematic, since continuous ozone
monitors need electric power to operate. Two solutions to this problem exist.
The first is to use passive samplers to estimate ozone loading. Passive samplers
utilize a chemical reaction of ozone with nitrite to form nitrate. The amount of
nitrate indicates the amount of ozone loading. Nitrite-coated filters are
exposed for 1-2 weeks and then analyzed for nitrate. The second method is to use
portable battery powered ozone monitors for continuous monitoring of ozone in
remote ecosystems.
Briefing Paper
Hyporheic
Exchange in Gravel Bed Rivers with Pool-Riffle Morphology
Hyporheic exchange (the mixing of streamflow and shallow
groundwater) is poorly understood in gravel-bed rivers.
These channels are particularly important habitat
for salmonids, many of which are currently at risk worldwide and which incubate
their offspring within the hyporheic zone.
Briefing Paper
Detecting
Mobile Boreal Toads
Boreal
Toad populations are
declining and are difficult to observe. Factors such as understanding
their
ecology and developing monitoring tools are critical.
Briefing
Paper
Remotely Assessing and Monitoring Channel Physical Habitat
NASA’s Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar (EAARL)
was used to continuously map three-dimensional channel and floodplain
topography, in streams that provide spawning habitat of a federal listed
(threatened) population of Chinook salmon. Data were acquired over 200 km of
streams in low-flow conditions with high water clarity in October, 2004, in
Idaho’s Bear Valley Creek, a tributary stream in the upper Middle Fork Salmon
River drainage.
Briefing Paper
Bull Trout and Climate Change
Bull
trout are an ESA listed species that may be especially vulnerable to
the effects
of a warming climate. As such they may be a useful biological indicator of the
effects climate change will have on mountain stream ecosystems. Understanding
threats to persistence of bull trout will help us understand threats to other
species and ecosystems —information that will be key to prioritization of
limited management resources.
Briefing Paper
Nonnative
Fish Removal
Nonnative brook trout have invaded and replaced
native cutthroat trout in many Rocky Mountain streams. Methods to remove brook
trout, such as chemical treatment and intensive electrofishing, are expensive,
time-consuming, and sometimes controversial. An alternative technique used in
control of unwanted insects, pheromone lures and traps, may be applicable to
fish.
Briefing Paper
GRAIP-
Quantifying and Prioritizing Road Impacts
Forest roads are
the principle source of anthropogenic fine sediment entering streams on Forest
Service lands. How do we
efficiently locate, quantify and prioritize these sediment sources for
remediation?
Briefing Paper
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GRAIP Website
Stream Temperature Modeling Stream thermal regimes are important within regulatory
contexts and strongly affect aquatic ecosystems. Numerous approaches have been
developed for modeling stream temperatures, but broad application of these
models to USFS lands has been constrained by data limitations and poor
predictive ability. RMRS scientists have developed an approach to modeling
stream temperatures that requires a minimum of field effort by using existing
temperature records in combination with GIS and remote sensing technologies. The
approach is being applied in a central Idaho watershed to map thermal habitat
networks for native fish species, but could also be used to forecast future
habitat distributions, improve understanding of factors affecting stream
temperatures, determine compliance with water quality standards, or optimize
temperature sampling strategies.
Briefing Paper
Monitoring bull trout populations
Bull trout are native to much of the Pacific Northwest, but
population declines during the 20th century prompted listing under the
Endangered Species Act. Several national forests have also selected bull trout
as a Management Indicator Species, which makes monitoring a priority. Monitoring
protocols have traditionally focused on tracking site level abundance, but these
approaches can be costly to apply across broad areas and are being replaced in
some instances by distributional monitoring. Researchers at the Boise Aquatic
Sciences Lab have adapted distributional approaches for bull trout to create a
monitoring protocol that can be applied rapidly and inexpensively while
providing powerful trend detection across broader areas relevant to land
management.
Briefing Paper
Science For Kids, Parents and Teachers
The Forest Service
kicked off a national “Get Outdoors” campaign in February, to encourage children and
their parents to take advantage of recreational opportunities on national
forests to
develop a healthier lifestyle and learn about conserving natural resources.
The RMRS Air, Water, and Aquatic Environments Science Program
is doing our part in educating children about our natural resources.
Get Outdoors - The Boise
River Experience
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