USGS Science⌕ Search
Home/Archive/USGS

USGS · ds929

Total cylindrospermopsins, microcystins/nodularins, and saxitoxins data for the 2007 United States Environmental Protection Agency National Lake Assessment

Keith A. Loftin·Julie E. Dietze·Michael T. Meyer·Jennifer L. Graham·Megan M. Maksimowicz·Kathryn D. Toyne
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Phytoplankton communities in freshwater lakes, ponds, and reservoirs may be dominated by cyanobacteria (also called blue-green algae) under certain environmental conditions. Cyanobacteria may cause a range of water-quality impairments, including the potential for toxin production. Cyanobacteria toxins (cyanotoxins) may adversely impact human and ecological health. Microcystins are considered to be one of the most commonly found classes of cyanotoxins in freshwater ecosystems, and as such were selected as a recreational indicator of water quality for the 2007 United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Lakes Assessment. However, much less is known about the occurrence of other classes of cyanotoxins in fresh surface water such as anatoxins, cylindrospermopsins, nodularins, and saxitoxins. The 2007 National Lakes Assessment followed a probabilistic study design and was directed by the EPA, in partnership with States, Tribes, and other federal agencies of the United States, to provide an assessment of water quality in the Nation’s lakes, ponds, and reservoirs based on trophic status, and ecological and recreational indicators. Integrated photic zone samples were collected by the EPA, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), States, and Tribes in target water bodies, generally at their deepest point, and analyzed for microcystins by the U.S. Geological Survey. The USGS assisted with this survey by providing technical expertise and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) analysis of microcystins for all survey samples as an indicator for recreational water quality. A small subset of samples ( n =27) was analyzed by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) by the USGS. Additionally, through partnership with the EPA National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory (NHEERL), USGS analyzed all frozen samples by ELISA for two other classes of cyanotoxins, cylindrospermopsins and saxitoxins. Total cylindrospermopsins, microcystins, and saxitoxins were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in a total of 1,331 samples from 1,161 lakes. Samples from this study had detection frequencies of 4.0, 32 (unweighted), and 7.6 percent, mean concentrations (detections only) of 0.56, 3.0, and 0.061 micrograms/L (μg/L), and maximum concentrations of 4.4, 230, and 0.38 μg/L for cylindrospermopsins, microcystins, and saxitoxins by ELISA, respectively in visit 1 and visit 2 samples. Microcystin ELISA results were categorized based on World Health Organization recreational surface-water guidelines for the relative probability of adverse health impacts because of microcystin exposure. The dataset described in this report is the first ever national reconnaissance of cyanotoxins in the United States. At least one microcystin congener was detected by LC/MS/MS in 52 percent of the 27 samples analyzed at a concentration greater than the LC/MS/MS minimum reporting level (MRL) of 0.010 μg/L and included detections for microcystin-LA, microcystin-LR, microcystin-LY, microcystin-RR, and microcystin-YR. Anatoxin-a, cylindrospermopsin, and nodularin-R were detected in 15 percent, 7 percent, and 4 percent of samples, respectively, at concentrations above 0.010 μg/L. Deoxycylindrospermopsin, domoic acid, lyngbyatoxin-a, microcystin-LF, microcystin-LW, and okadaic acid were not detected in the LC/MS/MS subset.

Explore related subjects

Data SeriesReport

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Keith A. Loftin, Julie E. Dietze, Michael T. Meyer, Jennifer L. Graham, Megan M. Maksimowicz, Kathryn D. Toyne. 2016-05-26. Total cylindrospermopsins, microcystins/nodularins, and saxitoxins data for the 2007 United States Environmental Protection Agency National Lake Assessment. https://doi.org/10.3133/ds929

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related USGS reports

USGS2026

Geochemical geodatabase of sedimentary strata (coal, coal-adjacent rocks, tuffaceous oil shale, phosphate-rich rocks) and produced water in the Uinta region, Utah and Colorado

The Geochemical Geodatabase of Sedimentary Strata (Coal, Coal-adjacent Rocks, Tuffaceous Oil Shale, Phosphate-rich Rocks) and Produced Water in the Uinta Region, Utah and Colorado, consists of compiled datasets acquired as part of the Carbon Ore, Rare Earth, and Critical Mineral (CORE-CM) Uinta Region assessment funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DEFE0032046, 2021–2024; Birgenheier et al., 2024). The CORE-CM assessment focused on providing comprehensive geological and geochemical characterization of current and prospective sedimentary-hosted resources including coal, oil shale, phosphatic limestone, and produced water from oil and gas targets present in eastern Utah and northwestern Colorado (Figure 1). This Data Series includes a geodatabase that consists of analytical geochemical data collected September 2021 through December 2024 via portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF), and laboratory measured analyses produced by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). The coal-related geochemical data are derived primarily from the Cretaceous Blackhawk Formation and Ferron Sandstone of Utah, and the Mesaverde Group of Colorado. Additional non-coal resources assessed include oil shale-bearing strata of the Eocene upper Green River Formation (Utah and Colorado), phosphate-rich limestone of the Permian Park City Formation (Utah) and produced water from oil and gas-bearing strata of the Eocene Green River and Wasatch Formations (Uinta Basin) and the Pennsylvanian Paradox Formation (Paradox Basin) (Table 1). The CORE-CM assessment included a wide range of lithologies present in the coal, oil shale, and phosphate geologic resource systems whether or not the specific lithology has current economic value. Geochemical analyses of produced water from oil and gas wells focused on current and emerging hydrocarbon targets in the central Uinta Basin and northern Paradox Basin. A total of 13,092 geochemical analyses from these geologic systems is provided in the included geodatabase. A series of coal quality data (e.g., composition and maceral analyses) is also included in the database and was digitized from archived coal samples from the Utah Geological Survey (Appendix A).

Colorado, Utah↗
USGS2022

Database of the "North America Tapestry of Time and Terrain" map

In 2000, the U.S. Geological Survey published a distinctive map, entitled “A Tapestry of Time and Terrain,” which showed a generalized depiction of the geology in the conterminous United States, draped over shaded-relief topography. In 2003, that map concept was extended geographically, and the resulting new map was published at 1:8,000,000 scale as “The North America Tapestry of Time and Terrain” (NATTT). The NATTT map showed the wide range of ages of the bedrock that underlies North America, as well as the distribution of the principal rock types— sedimentary, igneous (as two subtypes, volcanic and plutonic), and metamorphic. Regional processes active at the land surface, as well as continental-scale tectonic events, are exposed on the maps, in the three dimensions of space and in the fourth dimension, geologic time. This new publication contains the geographic information system (GIS) data from the NATTT map, which, in turn, includes map data from the earlier Tapestry map. The GIS files contain over 20,000 polygons that represent geologic age and rock class. In addition, layer files are provided to facilitate a symbolized display of the map that is similar to that of the original NATTT map publication. The data are intended to be used at the scale of the published source map (1:8,000,000).

Data Series↗
USGS2021

Distribution and abundance of Southwestern Willow Flycatchers (Empidonax traillii extimus) on the upper San Luis Rey River, San Diego County, California—2020 data summary

We surveyed for Southwestern Willow Flycatchers ( Empidonax traillii extimus ; flycatcher) along the upper San Luis Rey River, near Lake Henshaw, in Santa Ysabel, California, in 2020. Surveys were completed at four locations: three downstream from Lake Henshaw, where nest monitoring occurred from 2015 to 2019 (Rey River Ranch [RRR], Cleveland National Forest [CNF], Vista Irrigation District [VID]), and one at VID Lake Henshaw (VLH) that was previously surveyed in 2018 and 2019. There were 62 territorial flycatchers detected at 3 locations (RRR, CNF, VLH); no flycatchers were detected at VID. Within the former nest monitoring study area, 11 flycatchers, including 5 males and 6 females, were detected at RRR and CNF. In total, seven territories were established, consisting of six pairs (two polygynous groups consisting of two males each pairing with two different females) and one male of undetermined breeding status. Upstream from the former nest monitoring study area at VLH, we detected 51 flycatchers, including 24 males and 27 females. There were 28 territories established, containing 27 pairs (23 monogamous pairings and 4 confirmed polygynous pairings consisting of 1 male and 2 females) and 1 male of undetermined breeding status. Brown-headed cowbirds ( Molothrus ater ; cowbird) were detected at all four survey locations. Flycatchers used four different habitat types in the survey area: (1) mixed willow riparian, (2) willow-oak, (3) willow-ash, and (4) willow-sycamore. Eighty percent of the flycatchers were detected in habitat characterized as mixed willow riparian, and 83 percent of the flycatchers were detected in habitat with greater than 50-percent native plant cover. Exotic vegetation was not prevalent in the survey area. There were 17 flycatcher nests incidentally located during surveys: 2 were successful, 3 were seen with nestlings on the last visit, 10 failed, and the outcome of the remaining 2 nests was unknown. Five of these nests were parasitized by cowbirds. There were 10 juveniles detected during surveys: 2 at RRR and 8 at VLH. Of the 17 banded flycatchers detected during surveys, 8 were resighted and confirmed to be adults that held territories in previous years. Seven flycatchers with a single dark blue federal band, indicating that they were banded as nestlings in the former nest monitoring study area downstream from Lake Henshaw, were resighted during surveys; 86 percent of these “natal” flycatchers held territories at VLH. In 2020, we documented both adult and natal flycatchers moving from the former nest monitoring study area downstream from Lake Henshaw upstream to the habitat surrounding Lake Henshaw. Six natal flycatchers that were originally banded as nestlings and two adults that previously held territories downstream dispersed to Lake Henshaw in 2020.

California↗