Aquatic Ecology Group Active
Tidal Wetlands
Loss of tidal wetland habitat in the San Francisco Estuary affects fish and other aquatic organisms.
Longfin Smelt
Longfin Smelt is a threatened species found in waters along the Pacific coast. Its complex life cycle makes it vulnerable in both freshwater and at sea.
Sacramento Splittail
Spinal deformities in California native fish species, the Sacramento Splittail, are now attributed to exposure to the chemical element selenium.
The California Water Science Center's Aquatic Ecology Group is making great strides in research and reporting.
The Aquatic Ecology Group at the US Geological Survey’s California Water Science Center is a team of scientists working to solve important natural science challenges facing society.
Our research covers all aspects of aquatic ecology with a focus on freshwater, estuarine and marine fishes and environments. Particular topics include:
- Water resources
- Threatened and endangered species
- Fish habitat
- Food web dynamics
- Climate change
- Drought
We work closely with scientists in other disciplines at USGS to tackle challenges with comprehensive, interdisciplinary research. A particular strength of our group is the ability to use new technology to generate novel solutions to natural resource problems. We also maintain active collaborations with many federal, state, and local agencies, and universities.
We pursue innovative solutions to a diverse array of natural resource problems through applied research. A large portion of our research is field-based and incorporates elements of behavioral, population, and community ecology. Individual projects range from the biology and ecology of individual species to the effects of climate change on ecosystems.
Below are publications associated with the Aquatic Ecology Group
Pelagic nekton abundance and distribution in the northern Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, California
Food webs of the Delta, Suisun Bay and Suisun Marsh: an update on current understanding and possibilities for management
Delta smelt habitat in the San Francisco Estuary: A reply to Manly, Fullerton, Hendrix, and Burnham’s “Comments on Feyrer et al. Modeling the effects of future outflow on the abiotic habitat of an imperiled estuarine fish"
Coupled downscaled climate models and ecophysiological metrics forecast habitat compression for an endangered estuarine fish
Estuarine fish communities respond to climate variability over both river and ocean basins
Assessment of interim flow water-quality data of the San Joaquin River restoration program and implications for fishes, California, 2009-11
Correspondence of biological condition models of California streams at statewide and regional scales
Synthesis of studies in the fall low-salinity zone of the San Francisco Estuary, September-December 2011
Upper Clear Creek watershed aquatic chemistry and biota surveys, 2004-5, Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, Shasta County, California
Predicting biological condition in southern California streams
Associations of benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages with environmental variables in the upper Clear Creek watershed, California
Below are news stories associated with this project.
The following list of partners have helped make the work of the Aquatic Ecology Group possible.
- Overview
The California Water Science Center's Aquatic Ecology Group is making great strides in research and reporting.
The Aquatic Ecology Group at the US Geological Survey’s California Water Science Center is a team of scientists working to solve important natural science challenges facing society.
Our research covers all aspects of aquatic ecology with a focus on freshwater, estuarine and marine fishes and environments. Particular topics include:
- Water resources
- Threatened and endangered species
- Fish habitat
- Food web dynamics
- Climate change
- Drought
We work closely with scientists in other disciplines at USGS to tackle challenges with comprehensive, interdisciplinary research. A particular strength of our group is the ability to use new technology to generate novel solutions to natural resource problems. We also maintain active collaborations with many federal, state, and local agencies, and universities.
- Science
We pursue innovative solutions to a diverse array of natural resource problems through applied research. A large portion of our research is field-based and incorporates elements of behavioral, population, and community ecology. Individual projects range from the biology and ecology of individual species to the effects of climate change on ecosystems.
Filter Total Items: 22 - Data
- Publications
Below are publications associated with the Aquatic Ecology Group
Filter Total Items: 35Pelagic nekton abundance and distribution in the northern Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, California
Knowledge of the habitats occupied by species is fundamental for the development of effective conservation and management actions. The collapse of pelagic fish species in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, California, has triggered a need to better understand factors that drive their distribution and abundance. A study was conducted in summer–fall 2014 in an attempt to identify physical and biologiAuthorsFrederick V. Feyrer, Steven B. Slater, Donald E. Portz, Darren Odom, Tara L. Morgan-King, Larry R. BrownFood webs of the Delta, Suisun Bay and Suisun Marsh: an update on current understanding and possibilities for management
This paper reviews and highlights recent research findings on foodweb processes since an earlier review by Kimmerer et al. (2008). We conduct this review within a conceptual framework of the Delta-Suisun food web, which includes both temporal and spatial components. The temporal component is based on knowledge that the landscape has changed markedly from historical conditions. The spatial componenAuthorsLarry R. Brown, Wim J. Kimmerer, Louise Conrad, Sarah Lesmeister, Anke Mueller-SolgerDelta smelt habitat in the San Francisco Estuary: A reply to Manly, Fullerton, Hendrix, and Burnham’s “Comments on Feyrer et al. Modeling the effects of future outflow on the abiotic habitat of an imperiled estuarine fish"
Manly et al. (2015) commented on the approach we (Feyrer et al. 2011) used to calculate an index of the abiotic habitat of delta smelt Hypomesus transpacificus. The delta smelt is an annual fish species endemic to the San Francisco Estuary (SFE) in California, USA. Conserving the delta smelt population while providing reliability to California’s water supply with water diverted from the SFE ecosysAuthorsFrederick V. Feyrer, Ken B. Newman, Matthew Nobriga, Ted SommerCoupled downscaled climate models and ecophysiological metrics forecast habitat compression for an endangered estuarine fish
Climate change is driving rapid changes in environmental conditions and affecting population and species’ persistence across spatial and temporal scales. Integrating climate change assessments into biological resource management, such as conserving endangered species, is a substantial challenge, partly due to a mismatch between global climate forecasts and local or regional conservation planning.AuthorsLarry R. Brown, Lisa M Komoroske, R Wayne Wagner, Tara Morgan-King, Jason T. May, Richard E Connon, Nann A. FangueEstuarine fish communities respond to climate variability over both river and ocean basins
Estuaries are dynamic environments at the land–sea interface that are strongly affected by interannual climate variability. Ocean–atmosphere processes propagate into estuaries from the sea, and atmospheric processes over land propagate into estuaries from watersheds. We examined the effects of these two separate climate-driven processes on pelagic and demersal fish community structure along the saAuthorsFrederick V. Feyrer, James E. Cloern, Larry R. Brown, Maxfield Fish, Kathryn Hieb, Randall BaxterAssessment of interim flow water-quality data of the San Joaquin River restoration program and implications for fishes, California, 2009-11
After more than 50 years of extensive water diversion for urban and agriculture use, a major settlement was reached among the U.S. Departments of the Interior and Commerce, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Friant Water Users Authority in an effort to restore the San Joaquin River. The settlement received Federal court approval in October 2006 and established the San Joaquin River ResAuthorsMarissa L. Wulff, Larry R. BrownCorrespondence of biological condition models of California streams at statewide and regional scales
We used boosted regression trees (BRT) to model stream biological condition as measured by benthic macroinvertebrate taxonomic completeness, the ratio of observed to expected (O/E) taxa. Models were developed with and without exclusion of rare taxa at a site. BRT models are robust, requiring few assumptions compared with traditional modeling techniques such as multiple linear regression. The BRT mAuthorsJason T. May, Larry R. Brown, Andrew C. Rehn, Ian R. Waite, Peter R Ode, Raphael D Mazor, Kenneth C SchiffSynthesis of studies in the fall low-salinity zone of the San Francisco Estuary, September-December 2011
In fall 2011, a large-scale investigation (fall low-salinity habitat investigation) was implemented by the Bureau of Reclamation in cooperation with the Interagency Ecological Program to explore hypotheses about the ecological role of low-salinity habitat in the San Francisco Estuary—specifically, hypotheses about the importance of fall low-salinity habitat to the biology of delta smelt HypomesusAuthorsLarry R. Brown, Randall Baxter, Gonzalo Castillo, Louise Conrad, Steven Culberson, Gregg Erickson, Frederick Feyrer, Stephanie Fong, Karen Gehrts, Lenny Grimaldo, Bruce Herbold, Joseph Kirsch, Anke Mueller-Solger, Steven B. Slater, Ted Sommer, Kelly Souza, Erwin Van NieuwenhuyseUpper Clear Creek watershed aquatic chemistry and biota surveys, 2004-5, Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, Shasta County, California
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the National Park Service and Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, performed a comprehensive aquatic biota survey of the upper Clear Creek watershed, Shasta County, California, during 2004-5. Data collected in this study can provide resource managers with information regarding aquatic resources, watershed degradation, and regional biodiversity withiAuthorsMarissa L. Wulff, Jason T. May, Larry R. BrownPredicting biological condition in southern California streams
As understanding of the complex relations among environmental stressors and biological responses improves, a logical next step is predictive modeling of biological condition at unsampled sites. We developed a boosted regression tree (BRT) model of biological condition, as measured by a benthic macroinvertebrate index of biotic integrity (BIBI), for streams in urbanized Southern Coastal California.AuthorsLarry R. Brown, Jason T. May, Andrew C. Rehn, Peter R. Ode, Ian R. Waite, Jonathan KennenAssociations of benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages with environmental variables in the upper Clear Creek watershed, California
Benthic macroinvertebrates are integral components of stream ecosystems and are often used to assess the ecological integrity of streams. We sampled streams in the upper Clear Creek drainage in the Klamath—Siskiyou Ecoregion of northwestern California in fall 2004 (17 sites) and 2005 (original 17 plus 4 new sites) with the objectives of documenting the benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages supportAuthorsLarry R. Brown, Jason T. May, Marissa Wulff - News
Below are news stories associated with this project.
- Partners
The following list of partners have helped make the work of the Aquatic Ecology Group possible.