AWAE Program Headquarters
322 East Front St., Ste 401
Boise, ID 83702
(208) 373-4340
Rocky Mountain Research Station Headquarters
2150 Centre Ave., Bldg A
Fort Collins, CO 80526
(970) 295-5923
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Rocky Mountain Research Station Home >
Science Program Areas
> Air, Water and Aquatics
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
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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
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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
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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 Research Field Unit Locations including
experimental forests
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While some are
listed below under "featured science", a more complete 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.
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featured
Science
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Stream
Temperature Modeling
Designed to assist users to better organize and
understand their temperature data as it pertains to broad-scale aquatic habitat
issues, the stream temperature
modeling website contains information on collecting, processing, and
archiving stream temperature data. Application of these data are highlighted in
three research projects that provide a range of modeling alternatives and
predictive accuracy. Each project has links to: primary publications; detailed
methods and metadata; GIS layers; project data; maps; and other related
materials. These sites provide more information than is traditionally available
in a journal article so that the modeling approaches and results may easily be
replicated.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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 |
GRAIP Website
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