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Geology topics

B.A. Martin

Publications and source records attributed to B.A. Martin.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2005

Relation of desert pupfish abundance to selected environmental variables in natural and manmade habitats in the Salton Sea basin

We assessed the relation between abundance of desert pupfish, Cyprinodon macularius, and selected biological and physicochemical variables in natural and manmade habitats within the Salton Sea Basin. Field sampling in a natural tributary, Salt Creek, and three agricultural drains captured eight species including pupfish (1.1% of the total catch), the only native species encountered. According to Bray-Curtis resemblance functions, fish species assemblages differed mostly between Salt Creek and the drains (i.e., the three drains had relatively similar species assemblages). Pupfish numbers and environmental variables varied among sites and sample periods. Canonical correlation showed that pupfish abundance was positively correlated with abundance of western mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis, and negatively correlated with abundance of porthole livebearers, Poeciliopsis gracilis, tilapias (Sarotherodon mossambica and Tilapia zillii), longjaw mudsuckers, Gillichthys mirabilis, and mollies (Poecilia latipinnaandPoecilia mexicana). In addition, pupfish abundance was positively correlated with cover, pH, and salinity, and negatively correlated with sediment factor (a measure of sediment grain size) and dissolved oxygen. Pupfish abundance was generally highest in habitats where water quality extremes (especially high pH and salinity, and low dissolved oxygen) seemingly limited the occurrence of nonnative fishes. This study also documented evidence of predation by mudsuckers on pupfish. These findings support the contention of many resource managers that pupfish populations are adversely influenced by ecological interactions with nonnative fishes. ?? Springer 2005.

California↗
USGS2005

Total mercury concentrations in fillets of bluegill, redear sunfish, largemouth bass, and other fishes from Lake Natoma, Sacramento County, California

This study was conducted during September-October 2002 to verify preliminary findings of elevated total mercury concentrations in skinless fillets of sportfishes inhabiting Lake Natoma. Although we measured total mercury concentrations, most mercury in fish flesh occurs in the methylated form. In August 2000, other investigators collected a small number of fish containing mercury concentrations that exceeded 0.30 ??g/g wet weight, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) tissue residue criterion derived from a reference dose for methylmercury that may cause undesirable neurological abnormalities in human infants exposed in utero when pregnant women consume mercury-contaminated foods. During our study, skinless fillets of bluegill, Lepomis macrochirus, contained as much as 0.19 ??g Hg/g wet weight (1.06 ??g Hg/g dry weight); redear sunfish, L. microlophus, contained as much as 0.39 ??g Hg/g wetweight (1.99 ??g Hg/g dry weight); and largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides, contained as much as 0.86 ??g Hg/g wet weight (3.85 ??g Hg/g dry weight). Maximum concentrations of mercury in other fish species varied from 0.097 ??g/g wet weight (0.537 ??g/g dry weight) in rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, to 0.56 ??g/g wet weight (3.07 ??g/g dry weight) in white catfish, Ameiurus catus. Altogether, 1 of 20 redear sunfish, 14 of 61 largemouth bass, 1 of 1 brown builhead, A. nebulosus, 2 of 3 spotted bass, M. punctulatus, and 1 of 1 white catfish exceeded the USEPA fish tissue methylmercury residue criterion. Only bluegill and largemouth bass exhibited significant correlations between fish total length (TL), weight, and age, and total mercury concentration in fillets. Judging from a best-fit power-curve equation, largemouth bass measuring 273 mm TL (roughly 292g) or larger are estimated to contain total mercury concentrations in their fillets that exceed the USEPA fish tissue methylmercury criterion. These results confirmed that some fish species inhabiting Lake Natoma are contaminated with undesirably high concentrations of mercury in their skinless fillets.

California Fish and Game↗
USGS2001

Effects of an agricultural drainwater bypass on fishes inhabiting the Grassland Water District and the lower San Joaquin River, California

The Grassland Bypass Project, which began operation in September 1996, was conceived as a means of diverting brackish selenium-contaminated agricultural drainwater away from canals and sloughs needed for transporting irrigation water to wetlands within the Grassland Water District (the Grasslands), Merced County, California. The seleniferous drainwater is now routed into the San Luis Drain for conveyance to North Mud Slough and eventual disposal in the San Joaquin River. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which the Grassland Bypass Project has affected fishes in sloughs and other surface waters within and downstream from the Grasslands. During September-October 1997, 9,795 fish representing 25 species were captured at 13 sampling sites. Although several species exhibited restricted spatial distributions, association analysis and cluster analysis failed to identify more than one fish species assemblage inhabiting the various sites. However, seleniferous drainwater from the San Luis Drain has influenced selenium concentrations in whole fish within North Mud Slough and the San Joaquin River. The highest concentrations of selenium (12-23 ??g/g, dry weight basis) were measured in green sunfish Lepomis cyanellus from the San Luis Drain where seleniferous drainwater is most concentrated, whereas the second highest concentrations occurred in green sunfish (7.6-17 ??g/g) and bluegills Lepomis macrochirus (14-18 ??g/g) from North Mud Slough immediately downstream from the drain. Although there was some variation, fish in the San Joaquin River generally contained higher body burdens of selenium when captured immediately below the mouth of North Mud Slough (3.1-4.8 ??g/g for green sunfish, 3.7-5.0 ??g/g for bluegills) than when captured upstream from the mouth (0.67-3.3 ??g/g for green sunfish, 0.59-3.7 ??g/g for bluegills). Waterborne selenium was the single most important predictor of selenium concentrations in green sunfish and bluegills, as judged by results from multiple-regression analyses. Among bluegills, water temperature also contributed to the prediction of selenium body burdens.

California↗