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At least 433 records · Page 24Linked to original sources

Final Report: Five years of monitoring reconstructed freshwater tidal wetlands in the urban Anacostia River (2000-2004)

The Anacostia River in Washington, D.C. USA consisted of over 809 hectares (2000 acres) of freshwater tidal wetlands before mandatory dredging removed most of them in the first half of the 20th century. Much of this13 kilometer (8 mile) reach was transferred to the National Park Service (NPS). Planning processes in the 1980?s envisioned a restoration (rejuvenation) of some wetlands for habitat, aesthetics, water quality and interpretative purposes. Subsequently, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in a cost share agreement with the District of Columbia reconstructed wetlands on NPS lands at Kenilworth - 12.5 hectares (1993), Kingman - 27 hectares (2000), a Fringe Marsh - 6.5 hectares (2003) and is currently constructing Heritage Marsh - 2.5 hectares (2005/2006). The USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in conjunction with the University of Maryland Biological Engineering Department was contracted to conduct post-reconstruction monitoring (2000-2004) to document the relative success and progress of the Kingman Marsh reconstruction primarily based on vegetative response but also in conjunction with seed bank and soil characteristics. Results from Kingman were compared to Kenilworth Marsh (reconstructed 7 years prior), Dueling Creek Marsh (last best remaining freshwater tidal wetland bench in the urbanized Anacostia watershed) and Patuxent River Marsh (in a more natural adjacent watershed). Vegetation establishment was initially strong at Kingman, but declined rapidly as measured by cover, richness, diversity , etc. under grazing pressure from resident Canada geese and associated reduction in sediment levels. This decline did not occur at the other wetlands. The decline occurred despite a substantial seed bank that was sustained primarily be water born propagules. Soil development, as true for most juvenile wetlands, was slow with almost no organic matter accumulation. By 2004 only two of 7 planted species remained (mostly Peltandra virginica) at Kingman which did provide almost 50% of the approximately 1/3 total vegetation cover remaining.

Book↗

Five years (2000-2004) of post-reconstruction monitoring of freshwater tidal wetlands in the urban Anacostia River, Washington, D.C. USA

The Anacostia River in Washington, D.C. USA consisted of over 809 hectares (2000 acres) of freshwater tidal wetlands before mandatory dredging removed most of them in the first half of the 20th century. Much of this13 kilometer (8 mile) reach was transferred to the National Park Service (NPS). Planning processes in the 1980's envisioned a restoration (rejuvenation) of some wetlands for habitat, aesthetics, water quality and interpretative purposes. Subsequently, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in a cost share agreement with the District of Columbia reconstructed wetlands on NPS lands at Kenilworth - 12.5 hectares (1993), Kingman 27 hectares (2000), a Fringe Marsh - 6.5 hectares (2003) and is currently constructing Heritage Marsh - 2.5 hectares (2005/2006). The USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in conjunction with the University of Maryland Biological Engineering Department was contracted to conduct post-reconstruction monitoring (2000-2004) to document the relative success and progress of the Kingman Marsh reconstruction primarily based on vegetative response but also in conjunction with seed bank and soil characteristics. Results from Kingman were compared to Kenilworth Marsh (reconstructed 7 years prior), Dueling Creek Marsh (last best remaining freshwater tidal wetland bench in the urbanized Anacostia watershed) and Patuxent River Marsh (in a more natural adjacent watershed). Vegetation establishment was initially strong at Kingman, but declined rapidly as measured by cover, richness, diversity, etc. under grazing pressure from resident Canada geese and associated reduction in sediment levels. This decline did not occur at the other wetlands. The decline occurred despite a substantial seed bank that was sustained primarily be water born propagules. Soil development, as true for most juvenile wetlands, was slow with almost no organic matter accumulation. By 2004 only two of 7 planted species remained (mostly Peltandra virginica) at Kingman which did provide almost 50% of the approximately 1/3 total vegetation cover remaining.

Book chapter↗

Hypotheses from recent assessments of climate impacts to biodiversity and ecosystems in the United States

Climate change poses multiple threats to biodiversity, and has already caused demonstrable impacts. We summarize key results from a recent national assessment of observed climate change impacts to terrestrial, marine, and freshwater ecosystems in the United States, and place results in the context of commonly articulated hypotheses about ecosystem response to climate change for global implications. Specific impacts we consider include: range shifts; phenological shifts; phenotypic changes; primary production changes; biological invasions; and novel communities. Significant effort has been made recently to incorporate adaptation measures into land and water management at both national and international scales, but the scale of impacts and associated uncertainties pose challenges to existing management institutions. Using commonly articulated hypotheses about climate change, biodiversity, and ecosystem response can provide context for informed decisions at multiple scales and can help to provide a clearer understanding of the ecological and mechanistic linkages between climate change and biodiversity.

Book chapter↗

The effectiveness of surrogate taxa to conserve freshwater biodiversity

Establishing protected areas has long been an effective conservation strategy, and is often based on more readily surveyed species. The potential of any freshwater taxa to be a surrogate of other aquatic groups has not been fully explored. We compiled occurrence data on 72 species of freshwater fish, amphibians, mussels, and aquatic reptiles for the Great Plains, Wyoming. We used hierarchical Bayesian multi-species mixture models and MaxEnt models to describe species distributions, and program Zonation to identify conservation priority areas for each aquatic group. The landscape-scale factors that best characterized aquatic species distributions differed among groups. There was low agreement and congruence among taxa-specific conservation priorities (<20%), meaning that no surrogate priority areas would include or protect the best habitats of other aquatic taxa. We found that common, wide-ranging aquatic species were included in taxa-specific priority areas, but rare freshwater species were not included. Thus, the development of conservation priorities based on a single freshwater aquatic group would not protect all species in the other aquatic groups.

Conservation Biology↗

A comprehensive freshwater mussel database for the Duck River Drainage, Tennessee

We have developed a comprehensive database for freshwater mussels for the Duck River drainage in Tennessee, including its largest tributary, the Buffalo River. This database is intended to serve as an expandable template that could be applied statewide. The Duck River is one of the most biologically diverse rivers in the world, with historically over 70 mussel species, and it has been selected as a priority watershed by multiple management and conservation entities. The database for this system compiles over 7,000 mussel records, spanning 200 years, from multiple Federal, State, academic, and private entities, representing 77 native species. The database is spatially explicit and includes temporal and methodological data for each record, and notes of negative survey data were made when possible. The database can facilitate the creation of distribution maps for each species and temporal maps of species richness to show watershed-wide trends. This project addresses the present lack of a centralized mussel database in Tennessee for a critical system. It will be available to facilitate species status assessments, inform conservation planning, and serve as a model for similar databases for other Tennessee watersheds.

Tennessee↗

Freshwater and saline loads of dissolved inorganic nitrogen to Hood Canal and Lynch Cove, western Washington

Hood Canal is a long (110 kilometers), deep (175 meters) and narrow (2 to 4 kilometers wide) fjord of Puget Sound in western Washington. The stratification of a less dense, fresh upper layer of the water column causes the cold, saltier lower layer of the water column to be isolated from the atmosphere in the late summer and autumn, which limits reaeration of the lower layer. In the upper layer of Hood Canal, the production of organic matter that settles and consumes dissolved oxygen in the lower layer appears to be limited by the load of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN): nitrate, nitrite, and ammonia. Freshwater and saline loads of DIN to Hood Canal were estimated from available historical data. The freshwater load of DIN to the upper layer of Hood Canal, which could be taken up by phytoplankton, came mostly from surface and ground water from subbasins, which accounts for 92 percent of total load of DIN to the upper layer of Hood Canal. Although DIN in rain falling on land surfaces amounts to about one-half of the DIN entering Hood Canal from subbasins, rain falling directly on the surface of marine waters contributed only 4 percent of the load to the upper layer. Point-source discharges and subsurface flow from shallow shoreline septic systems contributed less than 4 percent of the DIN load to the upper layer. DIN in saline water flowing over the sill into Hood Canal from Admiralty Inlet was at least 17 times the total load to the upper layer of Hood Canal. In September and October 2004, field data were collected to estimate DIN loads to Lynch Cove - the most inland marine waters of Hood Canal that routinely contain low dissolved-oxygen waters. Based on measured streamflow and DIN concentrations, surface discharge was estimated to have contributed about one-fourth of DIN loads to the upper layer of Lynch Cove. Ground-water flow from subbasins was estimated to have contributed about one-half of total DIN loads to the upper layer. In autumn 2004, the relative contribution of DIN from shallow shoreline septic systems to the upper layer was higher in Lynch Cove (23 percent) than in the entire Hood Canal. Net transport of DIN into Lynch Cove by marine currents was measured during August and October 2004-a time of high biological productivity. The net transport of lower-layer water into Lynch Cove was significantly diminished relative to the flow entering Hood Canal at its entrance. Even though the net transport of saline water into the lower layer of Lynch Cove was only 119 cubic meters per second, estuarine currents between 33 and 47 m were estimated to have carried more than 35 times the total freshwater load of DIN to the upper layer from surface and ground water, shallow shoreline septic systems, and direct atmospheric rainfall. The subsurface maximums in measured turbidity, chlorophyll a, particulate organic carbon, and particulate organic nitrogen strongly suggest that the upward mixing of nitrate-rich deeper water is a limiting factor in supplying DIN to the upper layer that enhances marine productivity in Lynch Cove. The presence of phosphate in the upper layer in the absence of dissolved inorganic nitrogen also suggests that the biological productivity that leads to low dissolved-oxygen concentrations in the lower layer of Lynch Cove is limited by the supply of nitrogen rather than by phosphate loads. Although the near-shore zones of the shallow parts of Lynch Cove were sampled, a biogeochemical signal from terrestrial nitrogen was not found. Reversals in the normal estuarine circulation suggest that if the relative importance of the DIN load of freshwater terrestrial and atmospheric sources and the DIN load from transport of saline water by the estuarine circulation in controlling dissolved-oxygen concentrations in Lynch Cove is to be better understood, then the physical forces driving Hood Canal circulation must be better defined.

Scientific Investigations Report↗

Nowcasting recreational water quality

Advances in molecular techniques may soon provide new opportunities to provide more timely information on whether recreational beaches are free from fecal contamination. However, an alternative approach is the use of predictive models. This chapter presents a summary of these developing efforts. First, we describe documented physical, chemical, and biological factors that have been demonstrated by researchers to affect bacterial concentrations at beaches and thus represent logical parameters for inclusion in a model. Then, we illustrate how various types of models can be applied to predict water quality at freshwater and marine beaches.

Book chapter↗

Global challenges for nitrogen science-policy interactions: Towards the International Nitrogen Management System (INMS) and improved coordination between multi-lateral environmental agreements

Human interference with the nitrogen cycle has doubled reactive nitrogen inputs to the global biosphere over the past century, leading to changes across multiple environmental issues that require urgent action. Nitrogen fertilizers and biological nitrogen fixation have allowed benefits of increased crop harvest and livestock production, while in some areas there is insufficient nitrogen to fertilize crops. Whether in excess or deficit, nitrogen losses from its inefficient use are causing a combination of freshwater and marine pollution, air pollution, alteration of climate balance, stratospheric ozone loss, biodiversity loss and reduction of soil quality. The resulting nitrogen pollution affects human health, well-being and livelihoods. Scientific efforts have begun to bring these issues together. However, there is still a high degree of fragmentation between research on the different benefits and threats of reactive nitrogen and between the respective policy frameworks, especially at the global scale. We argue that a more joined-up approach to managing the global nitrogen cycle is needed to develop the ‘gravity of common cause’ between nitrogen issues and to avoid policy trade-offs. We describe how a coherent system for science evidence provision is being developed to support policy development through the ‘International Nitrogen Management System’ (INMS). There is now a matching challenge to bring together the multiple policy agreements relevant for nitrogen as a foundation to address synergies/trade-offs and to set priorities. Based on review of existing frameworks, we outline the concept for an Interconvention nitrogen coordination mechanism. This could make a major contribution to multiple Sustainable Development Goals by stimulating the next generation of international nitrogen strategies: maximizing the benefits of efficient nitrogen use, while minimizing its many environmental threats.

Book chapter↗

Does water chemistry affect the dietary uptake and toxicity of silver nanoparticles by the freshwater snail Lymnaea stagnalis ?

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are widely used in many applications and likely released into the aquatic environment. There is increasing evidence that Ag is efficiently delivered to aquatic organisms from AgNPs after aqueous and dietary exposures. Accumulation of AgNPs through the diet can damage digestion and adversely affect growth. It is well recognized that aspects of water quality, such as hardness, affect the bioavailability and toxicity of waterborne Ag. However, the influence of water chemistry on the bioavailability and toxicity of dietborne AgNPs to aquatic invertebrates is largely unknown. Here we characterize for the first time the effects of water hardness and humic acids on the bioaccumulation and toxicity of AgNPs coated with polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) to the freshwater snail Lymnaea stagnalis after dietary exposures. Our results indicate that bioaccumulation and toxicity of Ag from PVP-AgNPs ingested with food are not affected by water hardness and by humic acids, although both could affect interactions with the biological membrane and trigger nanoparticle transformations. Snails efficiently assimilated Ag from the PVP-AgNPs mixed with diatoms (Ag assimilation efficiencies ranged from 82 to 93%). Rate constants of Ag uptake from food were similar across the entire range of water hardness and humic acid concentrations. These results suggest that correcting regulations for water quality could be irrelevant and ineffective where dietary exposure is important.

Environmental Pollution↗

Disentangling the effects of low pH and metal mixture toxicity on macroinvertebrate diversity

One of the primary goals of biological assessment of streams is to identify which of a suite of chemical stressors is limiting their ecological potential. Elevated metal concentrations in streams are often associated with low pH, yet the effects of these two potentially limiting factors of freshwater biodiversity are rarely considered to interact beyond the effects of pH on metal speciation. Using a dataset from two continents, a biogeochemical model of the toxicity of metal mixtures (Al, Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn) and quantile regression, we addressed the relative importance of both pH and metals as limiting factors for macroinvertebrate communities. Current environmental quality standards for metals proved to be protective of stream macroinvertebrate communities and were used as a starting point to assess metal mixture toxicity. A model of metal mixture toxicity accounting for metal interactions was a better predictor of macroinvertebrate responses than a model considering individual metal toxicity. We showed that the direct limiting effect of pH on richness was of the same magnitude as that of chronic metal toxicity, independent of its influence on the availability and toxicity of metals. By accounting for the direct effect of pH on macroinvertebrate communities, we were able to determine that acidic streams supported less diverse communities than neutral streams even when metals were below no-effect thresholds. Through a multivariate quantile model, we untangled the limiting effect of both pH and metals and predicted the maximum diversity that could be expected at other sites as a function of these variables. This model can be used to identify which of the two stressors is more limiting to the ecological potential of running waters.

Environmental Pollution↗

Groundwater's significance to changing hydrology, water chemistry, and biological communities of a floodplain ecosystem, Everglades, South Florida, USA

The Everglades (Florida, USA) is one of the world's larger subtropical peatlands with biological communities adapted to waters low in total dissolved solids and nutrients. Detecting how the pre-drainage hydrological system has been altered is crucial to preserving its functional attributes. However, reliable tools for hindcasting historic conditions in the Everglades are limited. A recent synthesis demonstrates that the proportion of surface-water inflows has increased relative to precipitation, accounting for 33% of total inputs compared with 18% historically. The largest new source of water is canal drainage from areas of former wetlands converted to agriculture. Interactions between groundwater and surface water have also increased, due to increasing vertical hydraulic gradients resulting from topographic and water-level alterations on the otherwise extremely flat landscape. Environmental solute tracer data were used to determine groundwater's changing role, from a freshwater storage reservoir that sustained the Everglades ecosystem during dry periods to a reservoir of increasingly degraded water quality. Although some of this degradation is attributable to increased discharge of deep saline groundwater, other mineral sources such as fertilizer additives and peat oxidation have made a greater contribution to water-quality changes that are altering mineral-sensitive biological communities. ?? Springer-Verlag 2008.

Hydrogeology Journal↗

Natural resource condition assessment: Olympic National Park

The Natural Resource Assessment Program aims to document condition and trends of selected park resources while identifying emerging issues and information needs. This information is intended to serve as a platform for natural resource managers to use in developing future resource stewardship priorities and planning. Olympic National Park (OLYM) on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula protects remarkable examples of several Pacific Northwestern ecosystems, including the glacier-capped Olympic Mountains, oldgrowth temperate rainforests, pristine river systems, and wild Pacific coastline and islands. The park provides habitat for numerous plants and animals, including at least 16 animal and eight plant taxa endemic to the Olympic Peninsula. The park’s lakes and rivers support over 70 stocks of Pacific salmonids and 29 native freshwater fish species. The rocky intertidal community is one of the most complex and diverse shorelines in the United States. Although we conducted in-depth assessments on a limited number of resources, the general condition of several other physical and biological components of OLYM ecosystems is described in Chapter 2, along with an overview of park history and ecology. In Chapter 3, we describe how we chose our focal resources and measures, as well as our protocol for conducting the assessment. In Chapter 4, we provide a detailed assessment of each resource, with a summary of condition and trends. In Chapter 5, we further interpret and discuss the implications of each focal resource status, highlighting future areas for monitoring and research. We summarize the general findings from our assessments below.

Washington↗

Biological and ecological science for Florida—The Sunshine State

Florida is rich in sunshine and other natural resources essential to the State's economy. More than 100 million tourists visit Florida's beaches, wetlands, forests, oceans, lakes, and streams where they generate billions of dollars and sustain more than a million jobs. Florida also provides habitat for several thousand freshwater and marine fish, mammals, birds, and other wildlife that are viewed, hunted, or fished, or that provide valuable ecological services. Fertile soils and freshwater supplies support agriculture and forest industries and generate more than $8 billion of revenue annually and sustain thousands of jobs.

Florida↗

Broadscale distribution, abundance and habitat associations of the invasive Asian clam (Corbicula fluminea) in the lower Columbia River, USA

The Asian clam, Corbicula fluminea , is an invasive freshwater bivalve that has established populations across the globe and is known to have deleterious effects on natural and human systems. Yet, despite being present in the Columbia River (CR) for nearly a century, little is known about this invader's basic biology and ecology in this large river system. Thus, we undertook a field study to assess its i) broadscale distribution and abundance, and ii) associations with habitat characteristics in the lower CR. During 2019-20, C. fluminea were collected from 27 shore-based stations spanning 481 river kilometers of the lower CR, along with several habitat characteristics (bank slope, temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, salinity, conductivity, chlorophyll- a concentration, and sediment composition and % organic matter). C. fluminea abundance ranged from 0-430 ind. m -2 . Most sites with abundances >100 ind. m -2 were located downstream of Bonneville Dam, while most sites with abundances < 100 ind. m -2 were located upstream. Generalized linear models predicting the abundance of C. fluminea indicated significantly positive correlations with water temperature and % sand, and negative correlations with bank slope and sedimentary % organic matter. We also reviewed the global literature on abundance and habitat associations of C. fluminea and compared this with our own results. Our investigation represents the greatest spatial extent at which C. fluminea has been studied in the CR and our results provide a better understanding of the basic biology and ecology of this global invader, as well as provide natural resource managers with information on habitat conditions favorable for this invasive bivalve within temperate river ecosystems.

Oregon, Washington↗

Hydrologic support of carbon dioxide flux revealed by whole-lake carbon budgets

Freshwater lakes are an important component of the global carbon cycle through both organic carbon (OC) sequestration and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emission. Most lakes have a net annual loss of CO 2 to the atmosphere and substantial current evidence suggests that biologic mineralization of allochthonous OC maintains this flux. Because net CO 2 flux to the atmosphere implies net mineralization of OC within the lake ecosystem, it is also commonly assumed that net annual CO 2 emission indicates negative net ecosystem production (NEP). We explored the relationship between atmospheric CO 2 emission and NEP in two lakes known to have contrasting hydrologie characteristics and net CO 2 emission. We calculated NEP for calendar year 2004 using whole-lake OC and inorganic carbon (IC) budgets, NEP oc and NEP IC , respectively, and compared the resulting values to measured annual CO 2 flux from the lakes. In both lakes, NEP Ic and NEP Ic were positive, indicating net autotrophy. Therefore CO 2 emission from these lakes was apparently not supported by mineralization of allochthonous organic material. In both lakes, hydrologie CO 2 inputs, as well as CO 2 evolved from netcalcite precipitation, could account for the net CO 2 emission. NEP calculated from diel CO 2 measurements was also affected by hydrologie inputs of CO 2 . These results indicate that CO 2 emission and positive NEP may coincide in lakes, especially in carbonate terrain, and that all potential geologic, biogeochemical, and hydrologie sources of CO 2 need to be accounted for when using CO 2 concentrations to infer lake NEP. Copyright 2009 by the American Geophysical Union.

Journal of Geophysical Research G: Biogeosciences↗

The value of electronic tagging and tracking studies for understanding fish–hypoxia interactions

Objective Hypoxia (i.e., low dissolved oxygen availability) is a natural phenomenon but can also be induced by human activities (e.g., nutrient enrichment from runoff). Given that dissolved oxygen is essential for aquatic life, periods of hypoxia tend to have negative consequences (e.g., sublethal disturbances, mortality) for most fishes. Extensive laboratory research has documented hypoxia thresholds and physiological and behavioral outcomes for a variety of freshwater and marine fishes and there is also an extensive body of fieldwork assessing population-level responses (e.g., survival, distribution). Yet, studying how individual fish respond to hypoxia in the wild has proved challenging; electronic tagging and tracking tools (e.g., biotelemetry, biologging) have made it easier to study individual responses to hypoxia and complement other tools like hydroacoustics that tend to focus on population-level responses. Methods We review what has been learned from contemporary studies that employ electronic tagging and tracking tools to understand how fish respond to hypoxia in the wild. Topics explored include identifying and validating hypoxia thresholds, habitat compression, connectivity, mortality, physiological and bioenergetic consequences, and extreme weather conditions. We also consider what we have learned about evaluating various management plans for hypoxia and reflect on how electronic tags have also been used in aquaculture systems and in hybrid studies that combine laboratory and field research. We highlight fishes in Lake Erie as a research narrative to demonstrate how electronic tagging and tracking have markedly improved our understanding of a longstanding hypoxia issue. Results Our synthesis revealed that electronic tagging and tracking have provided critical information on how fish respond to hypoxia in the field, revealing complex trade-offs and compensatory mechanisms as well as cryptic hypoxia-induced mortality. Beyond just illuminating space use and mortality, tags equipped with various sensors are revealing how fish deal with hypoxia in real time in terms of physiology, bioenergetics, and behavior. Conclusions As electronic tagging and tracking methods experience further innovation and are increasingly applied to understand the effects of hypoxia on fish, we expect more unanticipated findings about the effects of hypoxia on fish in all aquatic ecosystems, which will strengthen our ability to manage and mitigate hypoxia. Combining tools and approaches (e.g., lab and field) is perhaps the best way to generate comprehensive understanding.

Transactions of the American Fisheries Society↗

Mechanisms controlling climate warming impact on the occurrence of hypoxia in Chesapeake Bay

A Climate change represents an increasing stressor on estuarine and coastal ecosystems. A series of simulations were run using the Integrated Compartment Water Quality Model to determine the magnitude of various mechanisms controlling the effect of climate warming on dissolved oxygen (DO) in the Chesapeake Bay. The results suggested that the average hypoxic volume in the summer would increase by 9% (410 Mm 3 ) from 1995 to 2025 as air temperature increases by 1.06°C and water temperature by 0.9°C. The change in DO solubility contributes 55% of the total climate warming effect, biological rates 33%, and stratification 11%. The Rappahannock Shoal, a hydraulic control point, plays a major role in determining the effect of climate warming on DO in the Bay. Due to the abrupt change in bathymetry, the convergence between seaward-moving freshwater and landward-moving saltwater causes downwelling and enhanced vertical mixing which introduces surface water of higher temperature to the deep channel and accelerates organic matter remineralization and oxygen consumption in deep waters. Surface water DO concentrations will decrease under climate warming conditions due to lower DO solubility, reducing DO flux to the deep channel and contributing to hypoxia development. These findings provide critical information for future management decision making regarding the effects of climate warming on DO in Chesapeake Bay and other estuaries.

Maryland, Virginia↗