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Water Use in Florida, 2005 and Trends 1950-2005

Water is among Florida's most valued resources. The State has more than 1,700 streams and rivers, 7,800 freshwater lakes, 700 springs, 11 million acres of wetlands, and underlying aquifers yielding quantities of freshwater necessary for both human and environmental needs (Fernald and Purdum, 1998). Although renewable, these water resources are More...

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Relations between and among contaminant concentrations and biomarkers in black bass (Micropterus spp.) and common carp (Cyprinus carpio) from large U.S. rivers, 1995-2004

Environmental contaminant and biomarker monitoring data from major U.S. river basins were summarized for black bass (Micropterus spp.) and common carp (Cyprinus carpio) sampled over a nine year period. Cumulative frequency distributions revealed taxon differences for many organochlorine residue concentrations, elemental contaminant concentrations, More...

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Sediment-Contaminant Database for the Upper Mississippi River System (version 2)

The Sediment-Contaminant Database for the Upper Mississippi River System (version 2) contains reliable sediment-contaminant data from a total of 3950 analyzed sediment samples collected from 1974 through 2000 from the Upper Mississippi River, the Illinois River, and selected tributary streams. Groups of contaminants represented in the database More...

  • logo of the Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee

The pulse of the estuary: Monitoring and Managing Water Quality in the San Francisco Estuary

The purpose of The Pulse is to make the most important information available on water quality in the San Francisco Estuary accessible to water quality managers, decision-makers, scientists, and the public. An article by USGS scientists Collin Eagles-Smith and Josh Ackerman on mercury bioaccumulation and effects on birds in San Francisco Bay More...

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Persistence of organochlorine chemical residues in fish from the Tombigbee River (Alabama, USA): Continuing risk to wildlife from a former DDT manufacturing facility

Organochlorine pesticide and total polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) concentrations were measured in largemouth bass from the Tombigbee River near a former DDT manufacturing facility at McIntosh, Alabama. Concentrations of DDT isomers in McIntosh bass remained unchanged from 1974 to 2004 and were four times greater than contemporary concentrations More...

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Chemical Contamination of Hatchery Fish Feed

This project addresses the occurrence of metal and organochlorine contaminant residues in commercial feeds purchased by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) hatcheries. Research into fish feed quality could benefit all hatchery and aquaculture operations and assist in the interpretation of the effects of pollution on wild fish. Results from More...

  • Salmon with broken back syndrome

Environmental contaminants in freshwater fish and their risk to piscivorous wildlife based on a national monitoring program

Organochlorine chemical residues and elemental concentrations were measured in piscivorous and benthivorous fish at 111 sites from large U.S. river basins. Potential contaminant sources such as urban and agricultural runoff, industrial discharges, mine drainage, and irrigation varied among the sampling sites. Our objectives were to provide summary More...

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Transmission of Renibacterium Salmoninarum in Pacific Salmonids

Bacterial kidney disease (BKD) is caused by Renibacterium salmoninarum and is considered to be the most difficult salmonid bacterial disease to control, in part because of its dual modes of transmission. This bacterium, unlike most other fish pathogens, is transmitted vertically from parent fish to progeny in association with the eggs, as well as More...

  • Juvenile chinook salmon with bacterial kidney disease (BKD)

Community Structure and Adaptive Strategies of Fungi in Geothermal Soils

There are approximately 500,000 abandoned mines in the western US. Collectively, these mines pollute rivers, streams, and western reservoirs with millions of tons of metals annually that degrade aquatic habitat and water used by humans for drinking, recreation, and irrigation. However, there is great potential in decreasing or eliminating the flow More...

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Retrospective evaluation of Exxon Valdez oil spill Trustee Council sponsored sea otter studies

An extensive and diverse array of studies were implemented concurrent with and for several years following the Exxon Valdez oil spill to determine the acute and chronic effects to sea otters. In part, this paper describes what activities relative to sea otters should take place prior to, during, and following another spill similar to the Exxon More...

  • sea otter in ocean at time of oil spill

Biomonitoring of Environmental Status and Trends (BEST)

BEST evaluates environmental contaminants and their effects on species and lands under the stewardship of the Department of Interior to provide scientific information and guide management actions. The BEST Program provides the conceptual framework, leadership, and national coordination to identify spatial and temporal trends in contaminant More...

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Sources of Organochlorine Contaminants and Mercury in Seabirds from the Aleutian Archipelago of Alaska

The Aleutian archipelago of Alaska, which separates the North Pacific Ocean from the Bering Sea, supports a diverse and abundant community of resident and migratory seabirds, comprising over 26 species and 10 million birds. However, comparatively little data exist on sources of environmental contaminants for this community despite extensive More...

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