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Air, Water and Aquatic Environments Science Program - Research Projects

featured Projects

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

featured Science

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

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

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

Briefing Paper   |   GRAIP Website

Air Quality in Mountain Ecosystems - Ozone

Briefing Paper

Briefing Paper

Environmental trends associated with a warming climate are occurring rapidly in the Rocky Mountains. These trends will affect the spatial and temporal distribution of water resources, habitats, and disturbance in aquatic ecosystems. Threats from reduced runoff, increased flow variability, increased temperature, increased wildfires, lost snowpack storage, and reduced vegetation cover affect water users and aquatic biota alike. The complex challenges posed by climate warming will require proactive, informed management if significant alteration of aquatic systems is to be avoided.

Briefing Paper

Wildfires dramatically change watersheds, yielding floods and debris flows that endanger water supplies, human lives, and valuable fish habitats. Fuel management is intended to mitigate the effects of wildfire but poses risks to water quality and aquatic habitat. Solutions are needed for simultaneous restoration of forests and aquatic ecosystems. Although the problem is typically cast as a tradeoff between management actions like fuel reduction, fire suppression, and emergency stabilization versus wildfire, new ideas about appropriate management response to wildfire require understanding how to build resilient ecosystems. There is a need for strategic restoration that addresses terrestrial as well as aquatic needs.

Briefing Paper

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

Stream Temperature Modeling

Briefing Paper  |  Stream Temperature Modeling Website

The Research Analysis and Technology Transfer Team (RATT) provides support for the AWAE Boise scientists during the entire research cycle. Some examples include GIS and remote sensing analysis, database design and management, web development and programming.

Briefing Paper   |   Team Information

Technology Transfer Program - R1/R4/R6/RMRS

The USDA-USFS Boise Aquatic Sciences Lab Technology Transfer program, a shared program established in 1990 between the Rocky Mountain Research Station, and the Intermountain and Northern Regions, is focusing on defining, developing and delivering science and technical tools to assist aquatic practitioners, land managers and their     partners address aquatic issues of today and into the future.

Briefing Paper   |   Home Page