Barbara C Scudder Eikenberry
Barbara Scudder Eikenberry is a Scientist Emerita, previous Hydrologist with the USGS, where she had worked since 1981.
Her expertise is in water quality assessment using freshwater organisms, with emphasis on chemical bioaccumulation and toxicity, also community ecology of algae, invertebrates, and fish. She has a B.A. in Aquatic Biology (1979, University of CA-Santa Barbara) and a M.S. in Marine Science (1984, CA State University, Hayward at Moss Landing Marine Labs). From 1991 to 2012, she was lead biologist for the Western Lake Michigan Drainages study unit of the USGS NAWQA Program. Since 2004, she has led ecological studies for the Milwaukee Corridor Study. She is currently leading benthos and plankton studies in rivermouths and harbors along the Lake Michigan coastline for decision-making input re Beneficial Use Impairments (BUIs) at Great Lakes Areas of Concern.
Focus: Water-quality assessments using stream organisms, with an emphasis on bioaccumulation, toxicity, and community ecology of benthic algae and invertebrates and fish.
Science and Products
Benthos and plankton community data for selected rivers and harbors along Wisconsin's Lake Michigan shoreline, 2012
Optimizing stream water mercury sampling for calculation of fish bioaccumulation factors
Influence of dietary carbon on mercury bioaccumulation in streams of the Adirondack Mountains of New York and the Coastal Plain of South Carolina, USA
Effects of urban development on stream ecosystems in nine metropolitan study areas across the United States
Mercury bioaccumulation studies in the National Water-Quality Assessment Program--biological data from New York and South Carolina, 2005-2009
Environmental settings of streams sampled for mercury in New York and South Carolina, 2005-09
Biological water-quality assessment of selected streams in the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District Planning Area of Wisconsin, 2007
Evaluation of aquatic biota in relation to environmental characteristics measured at multiple scales in agricultural streams of the Midwest, 1993-2004
Effects of urbanization on stream ecosystems along an agriculture-to-urban land-use gradient, Milwaukee to Green Bay, Wisconsin, 2003-2004
Data on mercury in water, bed sediment, and fish from streams across the United States, 1998-2005
Mercury in fish, bed sediment, and water from streams across the United States, 1998-2005
The Effects of Urbanization and Other Environmental Gradients on Algal Assemblages in Nine Metropolitan Areas across the United States
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Benthos and plankton community data for selected rivers and harbors along Wisconsin's Lake Michigan shoreline, 2012
Four river systems on the Wisconsin shoreline of Lake Michigan are designated Areas of Concern (AOCs) because of severe environmental degradation: the Lower Menominee River, Lower Green Bay and Fox River, Sheboygan River, and Milwaukee Estuary. Each AOC has one or more Beneficial Use Impairments (BUIs) that form the basis of the AOC designation and that must be remediated or otherwise addressed beAuthorsBarbara C. Scudder Eikenberry, Amanda H. Bell, Daniel J. Burns, Hayley T. OldsOptimizing stream water mercury sampling for calculation of fish bioaccumulation factors
Mercury (Hg) bioaccumulation factors (BAFs) for game fishes are widely employed for monitoring, assessment, and regulatory purposes. Mercury BAFs are calculated as the fish Hg concentration (Hgfish) divided by the water Hg concentration (Hgwater) and, consequently, are sensitive to sampling and analysis artifacts for fish and water. We evaluated the influence of water sample timing, filtration, anAuthorsKaren Riva-Murray, Paul M. Bradley, Celeste A. Journey, Mark E. Brigham, Barbara C. Scudder Eikenberry, Christopher Knightes, Daniel T. ButtonInfluence of dietary carbon on mercury bioaccumulation in streams of the Adirondack Mountains of New York and the Coastal Plain of South Carolina, USA
We studied lower food webs in streams of two mercury-sensitive regions to determine whether variations in consumer foraging strategy and resultant dietary carbon signatures accounted for observed within-site and among-site variations in consumer mercury concentration. We collected macroinvertebrates (primary consumers and predators) and selected forage fishes from three sites in the Adirondack MouAuthorsKaren Riva-Murray, Paul M. Bradley, Lia C. Chasar, Daniel T. Button, Mark E. Brigham, Barbara C. Scudder Eikenberry, Celeste A. Journey, Michelle A. LutzEffects of urban development on stream ecosystems in nine metropolitan study areas across the United States
Urban development is an important agent of environmental change in the United States. The urban footprint on the American landscape has expanded during a century and a half of almost continuous development. Eighty percent of Americans now live in metropolitan areas, and the advantages and challenges of living in these developed areas—convenience, congestion, employment, pollution—are part of the dAuthorsJames F. Coles, Gerard McMahon, Amanda H. Bell, Larry R. Brown, Faith A. Fitzpatrick, Barbara C. Scudder Eikenberry, Michael D. Woodside, Thomas F. Cuffney, Wade L. Bryant, Karen Cappiella, Lisa Fraley-McNeal, William P. StackMercury bioaccumulation studies in the National Water-Quality Assessment Program--biological data from New York and South Carolina, 2005-2009
The U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment Program conducted a multidisciplinary study from 2005–09 to investigate the bioaccumulation of mercury in streams from two contrasting environmental settings. Study areas were located in the central Adirondack Mountains region of New York and the Inner Coastal Plain of South Carolina. Fish, macroinvertebrates, periphyton (attached algaeAuthorsKaren M. Beaulieu, Daniel T. Button, Barbara C. Scudder Eikenberry, Karen Riva-Murray, Lia C. Chasar, Paul M. Bradley, Douglas A. BurnsEnvironmental settings of streams sampled for mercury in New York and South Carolina, 2005-09
This report summarizes the environmental settings of streams in New York and South Carolina, where the U.S. Geological Survey completed detailed investigations during 2005-09 into factors contributing to mercury bioaccumulation in top-predator fish and other stream organisms. Descriptions of location, land use/land cover, climate, precipitation, atmospheric deposition, hydrology, water temperatureAuthorsBarbara C. Scudder Eikenberry, Karen Riva-Murray, Martyn J. Smith, Paul M. Bradley, Daniel T. Button, Jimmy M. Clark, Douglas A. Burns, Celeste A. JourneyBiological water-quality assessment of selected streams in the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District Planning Area of Wisconsin, 2007
Changes in the water quality of stream ecosystems in an urban area may manifest in conspicuous ways, such as in murky or smelly streamwater, or in less conspicuous ways, such as fewer native or pollution-sensitive organisms. In 2004, and again in 2007, the U.S. Geological Survey sampled stream organisms—algae, invertebrates, and fish—in 14 Milwaukee area streams to assess water quality as part ofAuthorsBarbara C. Scudder Eikenberry, Amanda H. Bell, Daniel J. Sullivan, Michelle A. Lutz, David A. AlvarezEvaluation of aquatic biota in relation to environmental characteristics measured at multiple scales in agricultural streams of the Midwest, 1993-2004
This study evaluated the relations between algal, invertebrate, and fish assemblages and physical environmental characteristics of streams at the reach, segment, and watershed scale in agricultural settings in the Midwest. The 86 stream sites selected for study were in predominantly agricultural watersheds sampled as part of the U.S. Geological Survey's National Water-Quality Assessment Program. SAuthorsJulie A. Hambrook Berkman, Barbara C. Scudder, Michelle A. Lutz, Mitchell A. HarrisEffects of urbanization on stream ecosystems along an agriculture-to-urban land-use gradient, Milwaukee to Green Bay, Wisconsin, 2003-2004
In 2003 and 2004, 30 streams near Milwaukee and Green Bay, Wisconsin, were part of a national study by the U.S. Geological Survey to assess urbanization effects on physical, chemical, and biological characteristics along an agriculture-to-urban land-use gradient. A geographic information system was used to characterize natural landscape features that define the environmental setting and the degreeAuthorsKevin D. Richards, Barbara C. Scudder, Faith A. Fitzpatrick, Jeffery J. Steuer, Amanda H. Bell, Marie C. Peppler, Jana S. Stewart, Mitchell A. HarrisData on mercury in water, bed sediment, and fish from streams across the United States, 1998-2005
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) and Toxic Substances Hydrology Programs conducted the National Mercury Pilot Study in 1998 to examine relations of mercury (Hg) in water, bed sediment and fish in streams across the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii. Water and bed-sediment samples were analyzed for total Hg (THg), methylmercury (MeHg), and other cAuthorsNancy J. Bauch, Lia C. Chasar, Barbara C. Scudder, Patrick W. Moran, Kerie J. Hitt, Mark E. Brigham, Michelle A. Lutz, Dennis A. WentzMercury in fish, bed sediment, and water from streams across the United States, 1998-2005
Mercury (Hg) was examined in top-predator fish, bed sediment, and water from streams that spanned regional and national gradients of Hg source strength and other factors thought to influence methylmercury (MeHg) bioaccumulation. Sampled settings include stream basins that were agricultural, urbanized, undeveloped (forested, grassland, shrubland, and wetland land cover), and mined (for gold and Hg)AuthorsBarbara C. Scudder, Lia C. Chasar, Dennis A. Wentz, Nancy J. Bauch, Mark E. Brigham, Patrick W. Moran, David P. KrabbenhoftThe Effects of Urbanization and Other Environmental Gradients on Algal Assemblages in Nine Metropolitan Areas across the United States
The U.S. Geological Survey conducted studies from 2000 to 2004 to determine the effects of urbanization on stream ecosystems in nine major metropolitan study areas across the United States. Biological, chemical, and physical components of streams were assessed at 28 to 30 sites in each study area. Benthic algae were sampled to compare the degree to which algal assemblages correlated to urbanizatioAuthorsJames F. Coles, Amanda H. Bell, Barbara C. Scudder, Kurt D. Carpenter