Biological Information
Biological Information
Filter Total Items: 8
Water Quality Monitoring and Algal Community Composition Analysis in Support of Eutrophication Beneficial Use Impairment Evaluation in the Grand Calumet River Area of Concern, Northwest Indiana
In cooperation with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Harmful Algae Blooms (HABs)
Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (HABs) are increasingly a global concern because HABs pose a threat to human and aquatic ecosystem health and cause economic damages. Toxins produced by some species of cyanobacteria (called cyanotoxins) can cause acute and chronic illnesses in humans and pets. Aquatic ecosystem health also is affected by cyanotoxins, as well as low dissolved oxygen...
Invasive Carp
Adult bighead, silver, and hybrid carp are invavsive species of fish that spread quickly once they are established in a water body. These carp damage habitat and reduce water-quality for native fish. Invasive carp have been confirmed within the Wabash River basin for at least 15 years. Scientists and natural resource managers are extremely concerned about the carp migrating to the Great Lakes...
Ecological Monitoring
Scientists research biology, botany, microbiology, habitat, climate, water quality, and other fields to achieve a comprehensive view of ecosystems and their health. Ecosystems can be easily stressed by human activities, climate change, sediment, nutrients, contaminants, and many other variables. Ecosystem monitoring is critical to ecosystem health and answers important questions about the...
Pesticides
About 1 billion pounds of conventional pesticides are used each year in the United States to control weeds, insects, and other pests. The use of pesticides has resulted in a range of benefits, including increased food production and reduction of insect-borne disease, but also raises questions about possible adverse effects on the environment, including water quality. The National Water Quality...
Investigations and Monitoring of Mercury in Indiana
Starting in 2000, the U.S. Geological Survey partnered with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, the National Atmospheric Deposition Program, and the Lake Michigan Air Directors Consortium to investigate and monitor mercury in the environment in Indiana. This web page provides a list of publications and links to statewide studies of mercury in Indiana and regional mercury studies...
Biological Response to Nutrients
Eutrophication, or excess nutrients in streams, is typically one of the top reasons that a stream is listed as impaired on the 303(d) list as part of the Clean Water Act.
Cumberland Gap Study: Sediment Acquisition and Modeling of Davis Branch
Davis Branch, a stream within the boundaries of Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, is a designated Warm Water Aquatic Habitat, Primary Contact Recreation, and Outstanding State Resource Water. Historically, the stream has provided a critical habitat to the federally-threatened Blackside Dace, a small cyprinid fish endemic to the upper Cumberland River basin. In recent decades, the...