Christopher Mebane
Christopher Mebane is the Deputy Center Director of the USGS Idaho Water Science Center in Boise, Idaho.
Chris describes himself as a "dirty water biologist" with interests and experience in water pollution ecology in streams, that is, relating human-influences on stream environments to biological effects and estimating risks of adverse effects. His recent interests and work have included effects of mining and trace elements on stream ecosystems, developing biotic ligand models (BLMs) to predict effects of metal mixtures in natural waters, and studies of nutrient enrichments and eutrophication in streams.
His professional interests and experience are focused on water pollution ecology in streams, that is, relating human-influences on stream environments to biological effects and estimating risks of adverse effects. Particular areas of interests include:
- Effects of nutrient enrichment on stream ecosystems. Particular aspects of interest include 1) factors limiting nuisance growth in rooted aquatic plants vs. algae, 2) integrating experimental and field bioassessment information between factors such nutrients, flows, algae and plants.
- Ecological risk assessment, in particular predicting risks, adverse effects, and safe concentrations of trace metals in freshwater ecosystems. Particular aspects of interest include 1) water quality criteria development; 2) expanding the use of predictive toxicity models, with a recent emphasis on the biotic ligand model (BLM) with cadmium, cobalt, copper, lead, nickel, and zinc; 3) relating ecotoxicology testing to natural systems through population modeling or field studies.
- Use of aquatic bioassessment or biomonitoring techniques to interpret changing environmental conditions.
Science and Products
Recovery of a mining-damaged stream ecosystem
Metal Mixture Modeling Evaluation project: 2. Comparison of four modeling approaches
Sources, transport, and trends for selected trace metals and nutrients in the Coeur d'Alene and Spokane River Basins, Idaho, 1990-2013
Selenium in the upper Blackfoot River watershed, southeastern Idaho, 2001-12
Acute sensitivity of white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) to copper, cadmium, or zinc in water-only laboratory exposures
Chronic sensitivity of white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) to cadmium, copper, lead, or zinc in laboratory water-only exposures
Acute and chronic sensitivity of white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) to cadmium, copper, lead, or zinc in laboratory water-only exposures
Evaluation of a combined macrophyte–epiphyte bioassay for assessing nutrient enrichment in the Portneuf River, Idaho, USA
Monitoring plan for mercury in fish tissue and water from the Boise River, Snake River, and Brownlee Reservoir, Idaho and Oregon
Predicting the toxicity of metal mixtures
Acute toxicity of cadmium, lead, zinc, and their mixtures to stream-resident fish and invertebrates
Assessing time-integrated dissolved concentrations and predicting toxicity of metals during diel cycling in streams
Non-USGS Publications**
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
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Recovery of a mining-damaged stream ecosystem
This paper presents a 30+ year record of changes in benthic macroinvertebrate communities and fish populations associated with improving water quality in mining-influenced streams. Panther Creek, a tributary to the Salmon River in central Idaho, USA suffered intensive damage from mining and milling operations at the Blackbird Mine that released copper (Cu), arsenic (As), and cobalt (Co) into tribuAuthorsChristopher A. Mebane, Robert J. Eakins, Brian G. Fraser, William J. AdamsMetal Mixture Modeling Evaluation project: 2. Comparison of four modeling approaches
As part of the Metal Mixture Modeling Evaluation (MMME) project, models were developed by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (Japan), the U.S. Geological Survey (USA), HDR⎪HydroQual, Inc. (USA), and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UK) to address the effects of metal mixtures on biological responses of aquatic organisms. A comparison of the 4 models, as theyAuthorsKevin J. Farley, Joe Meyer, Laurie S. Balistrieri, Karl DeSchamphelaere, Yuichi Iwasaki, Colin Janssen, Masashi Kamo, Steve Lofts, Christopher A. Mebane, Wataru Naito, Adam C. Ryan, Robert C. Santore, Edward TippingSources, transport, and trends for selected trace metals and nutrients in the Coeur d'Alene and Spokane River Basins, Idaho, 1990-2013
Data collected at 18 streamflow-gaging and water-quality sampling sites in the Coeur d’Alene and Spokane River Basins of northern Idaho were used to estimate mean streamflow‑weighted concentrations and annual loads of total and dissolved cadmium, lead, and zinc, and total phosphorus (TP) and nitrogen (TN) for water years (WYs) 2009–13. Chronic Ambient Water Quality Criteria (AWQC) and AWQC ratiosAuthorsGregory M. Clark, Christopher A. MebaneSelenium in the upper Blackfoot River watershed, southeastern Idaho, 2001-12
The upper Blackfoot River in southeastern Idaho receives runoff from 12 large phosphate mines. Waste shales that are removed to access the phosphate ore are highly enriched with selenium, resulting in elevated selenium in runoff from the mine waste dumps. In 2001, in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began monitoring streamflow, selenium, and other wAuthorsChristopher A. Mebane, Greg Mladenka, Lynn Van Every, Marshall L. Williams, Mark A. Hardy, John R. GarbarinoAcute sensitivity of white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) to copper, cadmium, or zinc in water-only laboratory exposures
The acute toxicity of cadmium, copper, and zinc to white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were determined for 7 developmental life stages in flow-through water-only exposures. Metal toxicity varied by species and by life stage. Rainbow trout were more sensitive to cadmium than white sturgeon across all life stages, with median effect concentrations (hardneAuthorsRobin Calfee, Edward E. Little, Holly J. Puglis, Erinn L. Scott, William G. Brumbaugh, Christopher A. MebaneChronic sensitivity of white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) to cadmium, copper, lead, or zinc in laboratory water-only exposures
Chronic toxicity of cadmium, copper, lead, or zinc to white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) was evaluated in water-only exposures started with newly hatched larvae or approximately 1-mo-old juveniles. The 20% effect concentration (EC20) for cadmium from the sturgeon tests was higher than the EC20 from the trout tests, whereas the EC20 for copper, lead, orAuthorsNing Wang, Christopher G. Ingersoll, Rebecca A. Dorman, William G. Brumbaugh, Christopher A. Mebane, James L. Kunz, Douglas K. HardestyAcute and chronic sensitivity of white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) to cadmium, copper, lead, or zinc in laboratory water-only exposures
White sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) are experiencing poor recruitment in the trans boundary reach of the upper Columbia River in eastern Washington State. Limited toxicity data indicated that early life stages of white sturgeon are sensitive to metals. In acute 4-day (d) exposures with larval white sturgeon, previous studies have reported that the 4-day median lethal concentrations (LC50) basAuthorsChristopher G. Ingersoll, Ning Contributions by Wang, Robin Calfee, Erinn Beahan, William G. Brumbaugh, Rebecca A. Dorman, Doug K. Hardesty, James L. Kunz, Edward E. Little, Christopher A. Mebane, Holly J. PuglisEvaluation of a combined macrophyte–epiphyte bioassay for assessing nutrient enrichment in the Portneuf River, Idaho, USA
We describe and evaluate a laboratory bioassay that uses Lemna minor L. and attached epiphytes to characterize the status of ambient and nutrient-enriched water from the Portneuf River, Idaho. Specifically, we measured morphological (number of fronds, longest surface axis, and root length) and population-level (number of plants and dry mass) responses of L. minor and community-level (ash-free dryAuthorsAndrew M. Ray, Christopher A. Mebane, Flint Raben, Kathryn M. Irvine, Amy M. MarcarelliMonitoring plan for mercury in fish tissue and water from the Boise River, Snake River, and Brownlee Reservoir, Idaho and Oregon
The methylmercury criterion adopted as a water-quality standard in the State of Idaho is a concentration in fish tissue rather than a concentration in water. A plan for monitoring mercury in fish tissue and water was developed to evaluate whether fish in the Boise River, Idaho, upstream and downstream of wastewater-treatment plant discharges, meet the methylmercury water-quality criterion. MonitorAuthorsChristopher A. Mebane, Dorene E. MacCoyPredicting the toxicity of metal mixtures
The toxicity of single and multiple metal (Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn) solutions to trout is predicted using an approach that combines calculations of: (1) solution speciation; (2) competition and accumulation of cations (H, Ca, Mg, Na, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn) on low abundance, high affinity and high abundance, low affinity biotic ligand sites; (3) a toxicity function that accounts for accumulation and potencAuthorsLaurie S. Balistrieri, Christopher A. MebaneAcute toxicity of cadmium, lead, zinc, and their mixtures to stream-resident fish and invertebrates
The authors conducted 150 tests of the acute toxicity of resident fish and invertebrates to Cd, Pb, and Zn, separately and in mixtures, in waters from the South Fork Coeur d'Alene River watershed, Idaho, USA. Field-collected shorthead sculpin (Cottus confusus), westslope cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi), two mayflies (Baetis tricaudatus and Rhithrogena sp.), a stonefly (Sweltsa sp.),AuthorsChristopher A. Mebane, Frank S. Dillon, Daniel P. HennessyAssessing time-integrated dissolved concentrations and predicting toxicity of metals during diel cycling in streams
Evaluating water quality and the health of aquatic organisms is challenging in systems with systematic diel (24 hour) or less predictable runoff-induced changes in water composition. To advance our understanding of how to evaluate environmental health in these dynamic systems, field studies of diel cycling were conducted in two streams (Silver Bow Creek and High Ore Creek) affected by historicalAuthorsLaurie S. Balistrieri, David A. Nimick, Christopher A. MebaneNon-USGS Publications**
Mebane, C.A., Simon, N.S. & Maret, T.R. Hydrobiologia (2014) 722: 143. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-013-1693-4Essig, D. A., C. A. Mebane, and T. W. Hillman. 2003. Update of bull trout temperature requirements. Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, Boise, ID and BioAnalysts, Inc., Eagle, ID, Boise. 48.Mebane, C.A. 1994. Preliminary Natural Resource Survey - Blackbird Mine, Lemhi County, Idaho. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Hazardous Materials Assessment and Response Division, Seattle, WA. 130 pp.Dillon, F. S. and C. A. Mebane. 2002. Development of site-specific water quality criteria for the South Fork Coeur d'Alene River, Idaho: application of site-specific water quality criteria developed in headwater reaches to downstream waters. Idaho Department of Environmental Quality and Windward Environmental, Seattle, WA. 95 pp. Idaho. 44 pp.Royer, T. V. and C. A. Mebane. 2002. River Macroinvertebrate Index. Pages 3-1 to 3-21 in C. S. Grafe, editor. Idaho River Ecological Assessment Framework: an Integrated Approach. Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, Boise.Mebane, C. A. and D. L. Arthaud. 2010. Extrapolating growth reductions in fish to changes in population extinction risks: copper and Chinook salmon. Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: 16(5):1026-1065Mebane, C. A. 2001. Testing bioassessment metrics: macroinvertebrate, sculpin, and salmonid responses to stream habitat, sediment, and metals. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 67:292-322.Maret, T. R. and C. A. Mebane. 2005. Historical and current perspectives on fish assemblages of the Snake River, Idaho and Wyoming. Pages 41-59Mebane, C. A. 2002. Effects of metals on freshwater macroinvertebrates: a review and case study of the correspondence between a multimetric index, toxicity testing, and copper concentrations in sediment and water. Pages 281-306 in T. P. Simon, editor.Janz, D.M., D.K. DeForest, M.L. Brooks, P.M. Chapman, G. Gilron, D. Hoff, W.A. Hopkins, D.O. McIntyre, C.A. Mebane, V.P. Palace, J.P. Skorupa, and M. Wayland. 2010. Selenium toxicity to aquatic organisms. Pages 139-230 in P. M. Chapman, W. J. Adams, M. L. Brooks, C. G. Delos, S. N. Luoma, W. A. Maher, H. M. Ohlendorf, T. S. Presser, and D. P. Shaw, editors.Balistrieri, L.S. and C.A. Mebane. 2012Poole, G. C., J. B. Dunham, M. P. Hicks, D. M. Keenan, J. C. Lockwood, E. J. Materna, D. A. McCullough, C. A. Mebane, J. C. Risley, S. T. Sauter, S. A. Spalding, and D. J. Sturdevant. 2001Dunham, J. B., J. C. Lockwood, and C. A. Mebane. 2001**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
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