Fish and Aquatic Species Conservation

Freshwater mussels are considered ecosystems engineers benefiting the streams and rivers they inhabit through filtration, biodeposition, and nutrient cycling, thereby influencing water quality. However, many of these species are rapidly declining due to shifting environmental conditions and habitat loss. Researchers at Leetown Science Center are evaluating how different species of mussels respond...

A major focus of USGS-LSC is the design and evaluation of state-of the-art upstream and downstream fish passage structures for hydropower facilities of different sizes and locations and for different fish species, including endangered sturgeons and Atlantic salmon. Performance, physiology, behavior and energetics of each fish species are tested in-house for each design.

Physiological demands are especially important to anadromous fish because of their need to move between freshwater and seawater and to make long, often difficult migrations.

Recent discoveries of the extent of sturgeon movement in the Gulf of Maine combined with relicensing and water use issues in the Connecticut River demand closer evaluation of shortnose and Atlantic sturgeon migration and behavior patterns.

Natural systems, like rivers and streams, are remarkably complex, with many interacting parts. Data visualization tools make understanding and communicating complex ecological processes easier. Effective visualizations help users learn about patterns in data and how models work. Interactive visualizations are particularly useful, as they let users explore data and develop a personal understanding...

Our goal is to identify the factors that govern population dynamics.

Biomechanics is the study of mechanical laws relating to the movement of living organisms.

Research in population biology is concerned with factors affecting the change in a population over time, including births, deaths, immigration and emigration. Despite the potential importance of immigration and emigration, empirical data on movement patterns are lacking in many systems.

There is growing evidence that headwater stream ecosystems are especially vulnerable to changing climate and land use, but their conservation is challenged by the need to address the threats at a landscape scale, often through coordination with multiple management agencies and landowners.

Striped bass (Morone saxatilis) displaying ulcerative skin lesions and chronic wasting, both typical clinical signs of mycobacteriosis, a bacterial disease that is problematic among many types of fishes around the world.

Whirling disease, caused by the myxosporean parasite Myxobolus cerebralis was identified as an emerging pathogen of trout in the intermountain west region of the U.S. in the early 1990’s. Investigators here worked collaboratively with others to further our understanding of this disease and its impacts on trout and other salmonid fishes.

The image is an investigator performing venipuncture for blood collection for health analysis of a northern snakehead fish collected from a Potomac River tributary in northern Virginia.