Aquatic Ecosystems & Water
Aquatic Ecosystems & Water
Native fish and amphibian populations have declined drastically throughout North America over the past century as a consequence of habitat degradation and nonnative species introductions. Although management actions have improved the probability of persistence of the these taxa in some areas, recent invasions of nonnative species (e.g., lake trout, rainbow trout, New Zealand mud snails, American bullfrogs, and Northern pike) present challenges to the persistence of native species. NOROCK works closely with managers to understand the most pressing management issues and to develop research that supports their efforts.
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READI-Net: Providing Tools for the Early Detection and Management of Aquatic Invasive Species
The USGS has developed the Rapid environmental (e)DNA Assessment and Deployment Initiative & Network (READI-Net) to accelerate the implementation of environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis as a best practice for the early detection of aquatic biological threats. READI-Net provides tools and a strategy to collect and deliver early detection data for natural resource managers and public health protection...
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Biological Threats and Invasive Species Research Program, Columbia Environmental Research Center, Eastern Ecological Science Center, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, New York Water Science Center, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center , Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center, Pacific Northwest Environmental DNA Laboratory
Climate change links fate of glaciers and rare alpine stream invertebrates in Glacier National Park
The extensive loss of glaciers in Glacier National Park (GNP) is iconic of the global impacts of climate warming in mountain ecosystems. However, little is known about how climate change may threaten alpine stream species, especially invertebrates, persisting below disappearing snow and ice masses in GNP. Two alpine stream invertebrates – the meltwater stonefly and the glacier stonefly – are...
Opportunities at NOROCK
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Environmental DNA (eDNA): Combining Technology and Biology to Detect Aquatic Invasive Species and Pathogens
Using DNA, USGS researchers are able to detect the presence of invasive species in aquatic ecosystems. The DNA they use is literally floating around in the environment and is called environmental DNA (eDNA) and is a powerful tool for the early detection of invasive species and pathogens, which can cause serious ecological and economic damage. USGS researchers are also combining the use of eDNA...
Using Robots in the River: Biosurveillance at USGS streamgages
For more than a decade, researchers around the world have shown that sampling a water body and analyzing for DNA (a method known as eDNA) is an effective method to detect an organism in the water. The challenge is that finding organisms that are not very abundant requires a lot of samples to locate this needle in a haystack. Enter the "lab in a can", the water quality sampling and processing robot...
Integrated Ecohydrological Science in the Northern Rocky Mountains — the variability of water availability and the effects on ecosystems
Our primary goal is to better understand and characterize how stream environments and the ecosystems they support are influenced by climate change and drought in the Northern Rocky Mountains.
Multi-century perspectives on current and future streamflow in the Missouri River Basin
The Missouri River system is the life-blood of the American Midwest providing water resources that drive agriculture, industry, hydroelectric power generation, and ecosystems. However, the Missouri River Basin (MRB) (Figure 1) is the only major river in the western U.S. for which hydrologic reconstructions from tree rings have not been generated in any systematic way. This knowledge gap is...
Experimental suppression of invasive lake trout: Implications for conservation of imperiled bull trout in Glacier National Park
After 14,000 years of dominance, Glacier National Park’s (GNP) greatest native aquatic predator is at high risk of extirpation (local extinction) in several lakes on the western slopes of the Continental Divide. The decline of threatened bull trout in GNP is directly attributed to the invasion and establishment of nonnative lake trout, which consistently displace bull trout in systems where lake...
Western Waters Invasive Species and Disease Research Program
Researchers at the Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center's Western Waters Invasive Species and Disease Research Program work extensively with federal, state, tribal, regional, and local partners to deliver science to improve early detection and prevention of invasive species and disease; understand complex interactions that promote invasive species and disease, and their impacts (and associated...
Wetland State-and-Transition Model Project
The Wetland STM project is creating a state-and-transition model to inform management of semi-permanently flooded wetlands in the Intermountain West and western Prairie Pothole Region, as well as designing a monitoring scheme to allow determination of current wetland condition.
Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative: Rocky Mountain Region
The Rocky Mountain Region of Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (ARMI) encompasses Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. Two USGS Science Centers initiate and develop ARMI projects in this region. Investigations at NOROCK are headed by Dr. Blake Hossack. Investigations at the Fort Collins Science Center (FORT), Colorado, are headed by Dr. Erin Muths. The ARMI program is based on a...
Yellowstone Lake Acoustic Biotelemetry Project Home Page
Fishery biologists and managers are increasingly consumed with the recovery and restoration of native trout and salmon throughout the western United States. These fish historically inhabited a variety of freshwater habitats, but have declined due to habitat degradation, fragmentation and introduction of nonnative species. Introduced fishes constitute a major threat to the persistence of native...