USGS: Biology arrow iconStatus & Trends Home arrow iconEcosystems arrow iconInland Waters
Have a suggestion for new material?


Preyfish Population Assessment

In 2002, scientists from the Great Lakes Science Center assessed the health of the populations of preyfish for the biennial State of the Lakes Ecosystem Conference (SOLEC) to provide information to policy makers on the status of the lakes and future needs. Preyfish population is one of the 80 indicators used by SOLEC to determine the health of the More...

  • blank image

Fish Passage through Dams in Large Temperate Floodplain Rivers: An Annotated Bibliography

This report describes an electronic database containing 474 annotated citations that are relevant to fish passage through dams in large temperate floodplain rivers. The goal of this project was to survey the literature to help define the potential ecological consequences of restricted fish passage through dams in the Upper Mississippi River System More...

  • Upper Mississippi River dam

Bioaccumulation and Effects of PCBs on Tree Swallows Nesting along the Housatonic River, Massachusetts

Research at the Upper Midwest Environmental Center, which gathered detailed observations on tree swallow nesting success and contaminant concentrations in 1998-2000, to guide EPA and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in effectively managing the risk of chemical contaminants to wildlife and the environment.

  • Warning sign near the Housatonic River

Climate Change in Mountain Ecosystems (CCME)

Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center has been monitoring, conducting research, and modeling ecosystem responses to climatic variability since 1991, first at Glacier National Park but eventually throughout the western U.S. in collaboration with other scientists. Coordination with scientists around the world have led to mountain research networks More...

  • blank image

Genetic Analysis of Pacific Salmonids in the Northeast Pacific and the Russian Far East

This U.S./Russian collaboration will investigate genetics and life histories of Kamchatka Peninsula rainbow trout and steelhead (O. mykiss), and Dolly Varden, white-spotted, and arctic char (S. malma, S. leucomaensis, and S. alpinus, respectively). Both anadromous and resident forms of these generally occur in Kamchatka rivers that are free from More...

  • Shown are an adult Siberian white spotted char, or kundza (Salvelinus leucomaensis, top), and a pre-

Zooplankton Assemblages in Lakes of Isle Royale National Park

The long-delayed Inland Lakes Fishery Inventory for Isle Royale was funded in FY95-97. This project will collect biological/physical/chemical samples as part of that project because such information is a logical component to a fishery survey. The objective of this study is to characterize the zooplankton assemblages in selected park lakes.

  • blank image

Progress on the Across Trophic Level System Simulation (ATLSS) Program

This web resource describes the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Across Trophic Level System Simulation (ATLSS) Program, which has produced a set of models, including spatially explicit species index models, population demography models, and ecosystem process models that are designed to evaluate the ecological effects of hydrologic scenarios on More...

  • ATLSS High Resolution Multi-Source Topography (HMDT).

Epidemiology of Fish and Wildlife Diseases: Fish

This page links to samples of genetics and genomics research from the USGS Biological Resources Discipline about the epidemiology of fish diseases.

  • Yellow color shows thiamine degradation on an agar plate of P. thiaminolyticus strain 8120.

Case of the Red Shiner: What Happens When a Fish Goes Bad?

The red shiner (Cyprinella lutrensis) is a hardy, widespread minnow native to the middle and southwestern United States and Mexico. Its native range encompasses the lowland tributaries of the Mississippi River and western Gulf slope drainages to the Rio Grande River. The red shiner peripherally occurs in the southeastern United States, inhabiting More...

  • Male red shiner in near-peak spawning coloration (46 mm Standard Length).

Eurasian Ruffe

Eurasian Ruffe pose a threat to native fish because they(1) mature quickly, (2) have a high reproductive capacity, and (3) easily adapt to new environments. Ruffe were first detected in western Lake Superior in 1986. UMESC scientists are conducting research on various types of piscicides (chemicals that kill fish). They are attempting to develop More...

  • Eurasian ruffe (Gymnocephalus cernuus)

Bioaccumulation of Mercury by Fish and Fish-forage Organisms in Camp Far West Reservoir, Yuba and Placer Counties, California

Mercury contamination from historic gold mining operations is widespread in many rivers, lakes, and reservoirs on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada. A multidisciplinary investigation by USGS is attempting to better understand mercury dynamics and to identify hot spots within Camp Far West Reservoir in order to determine if remediation More...

  • blank image

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...

  • blank image