USGS Columbia Environmental Research Center Projects

Research Studies

• A National Assessment of Impaired Water Bodies and Corrective Management Decisions for the National Wildlife Refuges System and the National Fish Hatchery System
• Algal Toxins in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon: Linking Water Quality to Juvenile Sucker Health
• An Assessment of the Occurrence, Fate, and Effects of Cyanotoxins in the Upper Klamath Lake, OR: Are Endangered Lost River Sucker Populations at Risk?
• An Integrated Assessment of the Water Quality and Eutrophication of Fort Cobb Reservoir, OK
• Analysis of SPMDs Potentially Exposed to Oil Along the Florida Coast
• Analytical Approach to Evaluating Effects of Pollutant Concentrations on Threatened and Endangered Species
• Anthropogenic Organic Contaminants on Coral Reefs - Global Atmospheric Deposition or Local Sources?
• Aquatic Biota Assessment: Document the Present Health of Aquatic Biota in the New Exploration Area, and Evaluate the Effects of Lead-Zinc Mining in the Viburnum Trend on the Ecological Health of Streams Draining the Viburnum Trend
• Assessing Amphibian Exposure to Brominated Contaminants
• Assessing the Sensitivity of Endangered Freshwater Mussels to Coal Mining Effluents to Enhance Recovery Efforts in Biodiversity Hotspots of the Tennessee and Cumberland River Drainages
• Assessment and Conditioning of Non-reproductive Hatchery-held Wild Pallid Sturgeon at Neosho National Fish Hatchery in Preparation for Future Spawning
• Assessment of Selenium and Atrazine Exposure and Effects to Wildlife at the North Platte National Wildlife Refuge, Scottsbluff, Nebraska,
• Assessment of Side-Channel Chute Dynamics, Lower Missouri River
• Backyard Bird Washington DC Study to Determine if Homes and Buildings are Sources of PBDE and Pesticide Chemical Contaminants
• Behavioral and Toxicological Evaluation of Ore Slags to White Sturgeon of the Columbia River
• BEST Program Support
• Bioassessment of Multiple Environmental Stressors Influencing Aquatic Species and their Habitats
• Biological Pathways of Exposure and Toxicity Thresholds for Uranium Associated with Proposed Mining in the Area Near the Grand Canyon
• Channel Classification of the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River System for Aquatic Habitat Response to Climate Change
• Characterization and Development of Repellant and Attractant Pheromones to Control Invasive Bighead and Silver Carp
• Characterization of Contaminants in Eggs of Lower Columbia River Bald Eagles in Relation to Productivity Values During Navigation Channel Dredging Operations
• Classification and Mapping of Natural and Semi-Natural Vegetation Communities at Big Muddy National Fish and Wildlife Refuge
• Coal Creek Slough: Contaminant Monitoring in a Columbia River Tributary
• Columbia River Contaminants and Habitat Characterization (CR ConHab)
• Community Characteristics of Benthic Invertebrates
• Complex Chemical Contaminant Mixtures: Development of Methods for Accurate Identification and Quantification of Components
• Conduct Acute Toxicity Tests with White Sturgeon and Rainbow Trout with Copper, Cadmium, and Zinc
• Conduct Chronic Toxicity Tests with White Sturgeon and Rainbow Trout with Copper, Cadmium, Zinc, and Lead
• Contaminant Assessment of Distinct Population Segment Atlantic Salmon Rivers in Maine
• Contaminant Assessment of Distinct Population Segment Atlantic Salmon Rivers in Maine
• Department of the Interior-NRDAR Links and Updates
• Determine the Sensitivity of Ozark Mussels to Zinc, Lead, and Cadmium in Water and Sediment
• Determine the Toxicological Effect of Degraded Water Quality on Aquatic Resources in the Western United States
• Developing Water Quality Standards for Recovery of Imperiled Freshwater Mussels (Family Unionidae)
• Development and Validation of a Potentially Non-lethal Sampling Strategy for Environmental Contaminants of Concern in the NPS Ozark National Scenic Riverways
• Development of a Bioassay to Quantify Vitellogenin in the Endangered Razorback Sucker followed by Annual Cycle Characterization of Vitellogenin and Steroid Hormones as a Measure of Reproductive Health
• Development of a Bioassay to Quantify Vitellogenin in the Endangered Razorback Sucker followed by Annual Cycle Characterization of Vitellogenin and Steroid Hormones as a Measure of Reproductive Health
• Development of a Sediment Profile Imaging and Micro-sampling System (SPIMS) for Evaluating the Quality of Bedded Sediments
• Development of an Abiotic Habitat Potential Index
• Development of Behavioral and Population Level Indices of Environmental Stress
• Development of Methods for Assessing the Quality of Marine and Estuarine Ecosystems
• Development of Methods to Determine the Reproductive Status of Pallid Sturgeon in the Missouri River
• Development of Passive Samplers for Atmospheric Ionic Pollutants in Alaska National Parks
• Diagnostic Biomarkers of Thiamine Deficiency in Trout
• Ecological Impacts of Non-Native Asian Carp in the Lower Missouri River Ecosystem
• Ecological Importance of Biodiversity Hotspots to Coastal Sharks: Characterizing Apex Predator Usage of Padre Island Seashore
• Ecological Risk Assessment of Wildland Fire Chemical Retardants and Suppressants
• Ecotoxicological Studies of the Health of Cold-water Fish Populations in the Western United States
• Effects of Antimycin A, Garlon, Roundup, Arsenal, Copper, Cadmium and Selenium on the Threatened Chiricahua Leopard Frog (Rana chiricahuensis)
• Effects of Emerging Agricultural Practices on Aquatic and Terrestrial Ecosystems
• Effects of Endocrine Disruptors on Fish Populations
• Effects of Fire Retardant and Fire Suppressant Chemicals on Fish and Amphibians, Including Potential Effects Induced by Exposure to Ultraviolet Radiation
• Effects of Zinc Contamination on Plant Germination, Growth and Survival
• Embryonic, Developmental, and Early Life Stage Toxicity of Environmental Contaminants in Fish
• Emerging Contaminants: Chemical Sampling and Measurement Approaches
• Environmental Effects of Dust Suppressant Chemicals on Roadside Plant and Animal Communities
• Environmental Health in the U.S. - Mexico Border Region
• Evaluating the Bioavailability of Contaminants Associated with Sediment
• Evaluation of Contaminant Risks to the Endangered Tumbling Creek Cavesnail
• Evaluation of the Effects of Dietary Selenium on the Desert Pupfish (Cyprinodon macularius)
• Exposure of Wildlife to Metals at NRDA and Other Contaminated Sites
• Factors Affecting the Reproductive Status, Movements, and Habitat Use of Pallid Sturgeon and Shovelnose Sturgeon in the Missouri River
• Framework for Assessment of Risks to Fish and Wildlife Associated with Potential Use of Biosolids, Wastewater, and Stormwater on Units of the National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS)
• Geomorphic Classification of the Lower Platte River for Least Tern and Piping Plover Management
• Grassland Birds of US Navy Lands in Southern Texas
• Identification of Lethal Chlorine and Ozone Threshold Concentrations for Use in Preventing the Release of Commonly-Cultured Freshwater Organisms
• Impacts to FWS Refuges Linked to Habitat Adaptations to Climate Change: Integrated Field and Laboratory Studies Contributing to Informed Adaptive Management Plans
• Individual Based, Spatially-Explicit Modeling of Fish Populations
• Influence of Modified Discharge and Water Temperature Regimes from Fort Peck Dam on Pallid Sturgeon and Other Native Fishes
• Integrative Sampling Devices as Environmental Dosimeters for Contaminants in Water, Air, Sediment, and Soil
• Intersex in Largemouth Bass Induced by Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals: A Time Course of Histopathology and Molecular Events along the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Gonad (HPG) Axis
• Investigate the Avifauna in Texas and Northern Mexico
• Investigate the Interactions Between Stocked and Naturalized Populations of Various Fish Species
• Investigation of Contaminant Effects of Frog Development at Kenai NWR, Alaska
• Investigation of Unidentified Purple Color in Eggs of Blue Catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) from Lake Eufaula, Oklahoma
• Lake Mead Endocrine Disrupting Contaminants Investigation: Passive Sampling of Estrogenics, Method Development, Contaminants Analyses
• Mapping Vegetation Communities in Ozark National Scenic Riverways
• Mark Twain National Forest: Investigation of Elemental Bioaccumulation in Springs, Streams, and Rivers Due to Mining Impacts
• Mercury Dynamics in Missouri Ozark Streams
• Mingo NWR: Implications of Wetland Management on Mercury Bioavailability and Exposure to Resident Waterfowl, Fish, and Macrobenthic Invertebrate Populations at Mingo National Wildlife Refuge
• Missouri Department of Conservation Fish Contaminants Monitoring Program 2005-2008: PCBs, Pesticides, Toxic Elements and Brominated Flame Retardants
• Missouri River Benthic Fish
• MO-EWEB Source Water Protection
• Mokapu: Diphacinone Residues in Sea Water, Invertebrates, Vertebrates and Bait Pellet Formulations Following February 2008 Eradication of Polynesian Rats (Rattus exulans) from Mokapu Island, Hawaii
• New Mexico Fish Health Monitoring and Assessment in the Middle Rio Grande
• Ozark Communities Initiative
• Ozark Mining: Impacts of Mining-Derived Metals on Functional Processes of Ecosystems of the Ozark Plateau Ecoregion
• Ozark Stream Geomorphology
• Palmyra Atoll: WWII Naval Air Station Contaminant Impacts on Terrestrial and Marine Ecosystems within the USFWS National Wildlife Refuge
• Paper Birch Decline in the Niobrara Valley: Interactions of Weather, Microclimate, and Genetics
• Past and Present Tree Density in Niobrara Valley Forest: Implications for Managing Paper Birch Populations
• Penobscot River Maine RARE EPA Study
• Performance Improvements for Environmental Chemistry Research Program Assessment Rating Tool
• Pesticide Fishing: Assessing Fish and Sediment Contamination in Burma Myanmar
• Pheromone Attractants in Asian Carp Control
• Phylogeographic Patterns of Thermal Tolerance: Predicting Ozark Crayfish Population Response to Climate Change
• Pilot Project to Develop a Conceptual Model for the Complete Life-cycle Assessment of Biofuels Production in the Midwest
• Pilot Remote Camera Deployment, Platte River
• Plant and Animal Community Interactions in Coastal Wetlands of the Northwest Gulf of Mexico
• Plant Community Classification and Vegetation and Fuels Mapping
• POCIS technology for the monitoring of herbicides in National Forests
• Population Trends in Relation to Hydrologic Condition of the Neosho Madtom
• Population Trends, Environmental Ecology, and Reproductive Biology of the Federally-listed as Threatened Neosho Madtom (Noturus placidus)
• Post Remediation/Restoration Monitoring of Abandoned Mine Sites
• Potential Biological Invasions Associated with Interbasin Water Transfers
• Potential Impact from CAFOs on the Buffalo Lake NWR
• Protectiveness of Aquatic Life Water Quality Criteria for Early Life Stages of Freshwater Mussels
• Protectiveness of Aquatic Life Water Quality Criteria for Endangered Species Act Listed Gastropod Molluscs
• Protectiveness of Aquatic Life Water Quality Criteria for Endangered Species Act Listed Gastropod Molluscs
• Reproductive Effects of Contaminants on Shovelnose Sturgeon
• Review of BEST Methods Suite
• Rigs to Reef: Comparison of Levels and Profiles of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Metabolites in Bile of Fishes from Off-Shore Oil Platforms and Natural Reefs along the California Coast
• Risk Assessment of Potential Endocrine Disruptors in Lake Mead
• River Corridor Habitat Dynamics
• Russia: Scientific Exchange with the Institute for Biology of Inland Waters, Russian Academy of Sciences
• Salton Sea: Investigation of Selenium and Selenium Species in Water, Sediment, and Biota of Irrigation Drains
• Science in Support of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration Program
• Sediment toxicity assessment studies for the Puget Sound Assessment and Monitoring Program (PSAMP)
• Sediment Toxicity Testing Associated with Implementation of the Spring River/Tar Creek Watershed Management Framework, Phase I
• Sediment Toxicity: Development, Validation, and Application of Methods for Assessing the Toxicity of Contaminants in Water or Sediment
• Sensitivity of Adult and Early Life Stage Tropical Corals to Metal Toxicity: Influence of Temporal Variation on Risk Assessment and Toxicological Function
• Shenandoah River 2008: Reconnaissance of Organic Contaminants Using Passive Samplers
• Shenandoah River: Investigation of Fish Kills and Intersex Phenomenon in the North Fork of the Shenandoah River
• Siberia: Ecological Risk Assessment of Long-term Oil Pollution of Freshwater Ecosystems in West Siberia
• Synthesis of River Habitat Dynamics
• Thiaminase in the Lower Food-web: Spatial and Temporal Trends, and Potential Impacts on Growth and Survival of Juvenile Fish
• Toxic Elements: Development of Methods for Toxic Elemental Constituents to Assess Bioavailability and Evaluate Ecosystem Health
• Toxicity Assessment of Fire Chemicals Under Consideration for Approval by the U.S. Forest Service
• Toxicity of Chlorine to Endangered Kootenai River White Sturgeon
• Toxicity of Metals to White Sturgeon and Rainbow Trout in Water-only Exposures
• Toxicity of Total Dissolved Solids to Appalachian Aquatic Invertebrates
• Toxicity Testing of Kootenai River White Sturgeon and Bull Trout to Three Herbicides Used in the Treatment of Eurasian Milfoil
• Trinidad: Application of Ecological Risk Assessment Approach to Evaluate the Impacts of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in the Coastal Nearshore Environment of Trinidad
• Understanding Life History and Ecosystem Processes Important in Maintaining Viable Populations of Native Birds, Freshwater Fishes and Invertebrates
• Yosemite NP: Contaminant Monitoring in High Elevation Lakes