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Michael R Meador

Mike has more than 35 years of experience working with fish ecology and habitat assessment in streams and rivers across the U.S.  He coordinated the national collection of fish community and habitat assessment data as part of the USGS NAWQA Program. Mike’s research includes bioassessment, water-quality stressors and aquatic biota, and effects of streamflow alteration on fish communities.

Science and Products

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Island near Durango, Colorado

Regional Stream Quality Assessment (RSQA)

The goals of the Regional Stream Quality Assessment (RSQA) are to characterize multiple water-quality factors that are stressors to aquatic life (contaminants, nutrients, sediment, and streamflow alteration) and to develop a better understanding of the relation of these stressors to ecological conditions in streams throughout the region.
By
Water Resources Mission Area
link

Regional Stream Quality Assessment (RSQA)

The goals of the Regional Stream Quality Assessment (RSQA) are to characterize multiple water-quality factors that are stressors to aquatic life (contaminants, nutrients, sediment, and streamflow alteration) and to develop a better understanding of the relation of these stressors to ecological conditions in streams throughout the region.
Learn More
link
Sampling during ecological surveys as part of the Regional Stream Quality Assessment

Stream Ecology

Who lives in your stream? Rivers and streams, even small ones, are teeming with a vast number of species, including fish, aquatic invertebrates, and algae. Stream ecology is the study of those aquatic species, the way they interrelate, and their interactions with all aspects of these flowing water systems.
By
Water Resources Mission Area, National Water Quality Program
link

Stream Ecology

Who lives in your stream? Rivers and streams, even small ones, are teeming with a vast number of species, including fish, aquatic invertebrates, and algae. Stream ecology is the study of those aquatic species, the way they interrelate, and their interactions with all aspects of these flowing water systems.
Learn More

Data from Assessing the added value of antecedent streamflow alteration in modelling stream condition

The dataset contains long-term and short-term summaries of streamflow alteration and measures of biological condition (fish multi-metric index). Streamflow alteration metrics include the magnitude, duration, frequency, and seasonality of high and low flow streamflow. Biological condition was estimated from the National Rivers and Streams Assessment and National Water Quality Assessment fish sampli
By
Eastern Ecological Science Center

Fish and selected physical and chemical water-quality data for the U.S. Geological Survey Midwest Stream Quality Assessment

In 2013, the first of several Regional Stream Quality Assessments (RSQA) was done in the Midwest United States. The Midwest Stream Quality Assessment (MSQA) was a collaborative study by the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Assessment and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency National Rivers and Streams Assessment. One of the objectives of the RSQA, and thus the MSQA, is to characte
By
Water Resources Mission Area, National Water Quality Program
Filter Total Items: 38

Assessing the added value of antecedent streamflow alteration information in modeling stream biological condition

In stream systems, disentangling relationships between biology and flow and subsequent prediction of these relationships to unsampled streams is a common objective of large-scale ecological modeling. Often, streamflow metrics are derived from aggregating continuous streamflow records available at a subset of stream gages into long-term flow regime descriptors. Despite demonstrated value, shortcomi
Authors
Taylor E Woods, Ken Eng, Daren Carlisle, Matthew Joseph Cashman, Michael Meador, Karen R. Ryberg, Kelly O. Maloney
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Eastern Ecological Science Center, Dakota Water Science Center

Integrated water resources trend assessments: State of the science, challenges, and opportunities for advancement

Water is vital to human life and healthy ecosystems. Here we outline the current state of national-scale water resources trend assessments, identify key gaps, and suggest advancements to better address critical issues related to changes in water resources that may threaten human development or the environment. Questions like, “Do we have less suitable drinking water now than we had 20 years ago?”
Authors
Sarah M. Stackpoole, Gretchen P. Oelsner, Edward G. Stets, Jory Seth Hecht, Zachary Johnson, Anthony J. Tesoriero, Michelle A. Walvoord, Jeffrey G. Chanat, Krista A. Dunne, Phillip J. Goodling, Bruce D. Lindsey, Michael Meador, Sarah Spaulding
By
Water Resources Mission Area

A call for strategic water-quality monitoring to advance assessment and prediction of wildfire impacts on water supplies

Wildfires pose a risk to water supplies in the western U.S. and many other parts of the world, due to the potential for degradation of water quality. However, a lack of adequate data hinders prediction and assessment of post-wildfire impacts and recovery. The dearth of such data is related to lack of funding for monitoring extreme events and the challenge of measuring the outsized hydrologic and e
Authors
Sheila F. Murphy, Charles N. Alpers, Chauncey W. Anderson, John R. Banta, Johanna Blake, Kurt D. Carpenter, Gregory D. Clark, David W. Clow, Laura A. Hempel, Deborah A. Martin, Michael Meador, Gregory Mendez, Anke Mueller-Solger, Marc A. Stewart, Sean E. Payne, Cara L. Peterman-Phipps, Brian A. Ebel
By
Water Resources Mission Area, California Water Science Center, Colorado Water Science Center, Kansas Water Science Center, New Mexico Water Science Center, Oregon Water Science Center, Oklahoma-Texas Water Science Center

Understanding the relationship between stream metabolism and biological assemblages

Biological assemblages are commonly used for assessing stream health, but there is increased interest among the freshwater research community in incorporating measures of stream function, such as metabolism, to strengthen stream-health assessments. Presently, there is limited information about the relationships between stream metabolism and biological assemblages, along with the measurement period
Authors
Mark D. Munn, Rich W. Sheibley, Ian R. Waite, Michael Meador
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Oregon Water Science Center, Washington Water Science Center

Projected urban growth in the Southeastern USA puts small streams at risk

Future land-use development has the potential to profoundly affect the health of aquatic ecosystems in the coming decades. We developed regression models predicting the loss of sensitive fish (R2=0.39) and macroinvertebrate (R2=0.64) taxa as a function of urban and agricultural land uses and applied them to projected urbanization of the rapidly urbanizing Piedmont ecoregion of the southeastern US
Authors
Peter C. Van Metre, Ian R. Waite, Sharon L. Qi, Barbara Mahler, Adam Terando, Michael Wieczorek, Michael R. Meador, Paul M. Bradley, Celeste A. Journey, Travis S. Schmidt, Daren Carlisle
By
Water Resources Mission Area

Historical changes in fish communities in urban streams of the southeastern U.S. and the relative importance of water-quality stressors

A total of 71 stream sites representing a gradient of urban land use was sampled across the Piedmont of the southeastern U.S. in 2014. Fish data collected (observed) at each site were compared to an expected community based on georeferenced historical (~1950 - ~1990) species occurrence records for stream segments (1:100,000 scale) containing the sampled stream sites. Loss of expected fish specie
Authors
Michael Meador
By
Water Resources Mission Area

Effects of urban multi-stressors on three stream biotic assemblages

During 2014, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment(NAWQA) project assessed stream quality in 75 streams across an urban disturbance gradient within the Piedmont ecoregion of southeastern United States. Our objectives were to identify primary instream stressors affecting algal, macroinvertebrate and fish assemblages in wadeable streams. Biotic communities were surveyed
Authors
Ian R. Waite, Mark D. Munn, Patrick W. Moran, Christopher P. Konrad, Lisa H. Nowell, Michael R. Meador, Peter C. Van Metre, Daren Carlisle
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Oregon Water Science Center

Relative importance of water-quality stressors in predicting fish community responses in midwestern streams

Fish, habitat, and water chemistry data were collected from 98 streams in the midwestern United States, an area dominated by intense cultivation of row crops, in order to identify important water‐quality stressors to fish communities. We focused on 10 stressors including riparian disturbance, riparian vegetative cover, instream fish cover, streambed sedimentation, streamflow variability, total nit
Authors
Michael R. Meador, Jeffrey W. Frey
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Water Science Center

Life history strategies of fish species and biodiversity in eastern USA streams

Predictive models have been used to determine fish species that occur less frequently than expected (decreasers) and those that occur more frequently than expected (increasers) in streams in the eastern U.S. Coupling life history traits with 51 decreaser and 38 increaser fish species provided the opportunity to examine potential mechanisms associated with predicted changes in fish species distribu
Authors
Michael R. Meador, Larry M. Brown
By
Water Resources Mission Area, California Water Science Center

Nutrient enrichment and fish nutrient tolerance: Assessing biologically relevant nutrient criteria

Relationships between nutrient concentrations and fish nutrient tolerance were assessed relative to established nutrient criteria. Fish community, nitrate plus nitrite (nitrate), and total phosphorus (TP) data were collected during summer low-flow periods in 2003 and 2004 at stream sites along a nutrient-enrichment gradient in an agricultural basin in Indiana and Ohio and an urban basin in the Atl
Authors
Michael R. Meador
By
Water Resources Mission Area

The quality of our Nation’s waters--ecological health in the Nation's streams, 1993-2005

This report summarizes a national assessment of the ecological health of streams done by the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA). Healthy functioning stream ecosystems provide society with many benefits, including water purification, flood control, nutrient recycling, waste decomposition, fisheries, and aesthetics. The value to society of many of these
Authors
Daren Carlisle, Michael R. Meador, Terry M. Short, Cathy M. Tate, Martin E. Gurtz, Wade L. Bryant, James A. Falcone, Michael D. Woodside
By
Water Resources Mission Area

Effectiveness of seining after electrofishing to characterize stream fish communities

The richness and composition of species collected uniquely to electrofishing and subsequent seining efforts were examined at 271 stream sites across the USA by using wadeable electrofishing methods (backpack or barge electrofishing) or boat electrofishing followed by seining. Seining after wadeable electrofishing resulted in the collection of new species at 42% of sites, whereas seining after boat
Authors
Michael R. Meador
By
Water Resources Mission Area
Southeast streams see loss of native fish species and increased species “homogenization” among streams

Southeast streams see loss of native fish species and increased species “homogenization” among streams

Southeast streams are becoming less biologically unique, according to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey. Fish species present in any given...

Read Article

Science and Products

link
Island near Durango, Colorado

Regional Stream Quality Assessment (RSQA)

The goals of the Regional Stream Quality Assessment (RSQA) are to characterize multiple water-quality factors that are stressors to aquatic life (contaminants, nutrients, sediment, and streamflow alteration) and to develop a better understanding of the relation of these stressors to ecological conditions in streams throughout the region.
By
Water Resources Mission Area
link

Regional Stream Quality Assessment (RSQA)

The goals of the Regional Stream Quality Assessment (RSQA) are to characterize multiple water-quality factors that are stressors to aquatic life (contaminants, nutrients, sediment, and streamflow alteration) and to develop a better understanding of the relation of these stressors to ecological conditions in streams throughout the region.
Learn More
link
Sampling during ecological surveys as part of the Regional Stream Quality Assessment

Stream Ecology

Who lives in your stream? Rivers and streams, even small ones, are teeming with a vast number of species, including fish, aquatic invertebrates, and algae. Stream ecology is the study of those aquatic species, the way they interrelate, and their interactions with all aspects of these flowing water systems.
By
Water Resources Mission Area, National Water Quality Program
link

Stream Ecology

Who lives in your stream? Rivers and streams, even small ones, are teeming with a vast number of species, including fish, aquatic invertebrates, and algae. Stream ecology is the study of those aquatic species, the way they interrelate, and their interactions with all aspects of these flowing water systems.
Learn More

Data from Assessing the added value of antecedent streamflow alteration in modelling stream condition

The dataset contains long-term and short-term summaries of streamflow alteration and measures of biological condition (fish multi-metric index). Streamflow alteration metrics include the magnitude, duration, frequency, and seasonality of high and low flow streamflow. Biological condition was estimated from the National Rivers and Streams Assessment and National Water Quality Assessment fish sampli
By
Eastern Ecological Science Center

Fish and selected physical and chemical water-quality data for the U.S. Geological Survey Midwest Stream Quality Assessment

In 2013, the first of several Regional Stream Quality Assessments (RSQA) was done in the Midwest United States. The Midwest Stream Quality Assessment (MSQA) was a collaborative study by the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Assessment and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency National Rivers and Streams Assessment. One of the objectives of the RSQA, and thus the MSQA, is to characte
By
Water Resources Mission Area, National Water Quality Program
Filter Total Items: 38

Assessing the added value of antecedent streamflow alteration information in modeling stream biological condition

In stream systems, disentangling relationships between biology and flow and subsequent prediction of these relationships to unsampled streams is a common objective of large-scale ecological modeling. Often, streamflow metrics are derived from aggregating continuous streamflow records available at a subset of stream gages into long-term flow regime descriptors. Despite demonstrated value, shortcomi
Authors
Taylor E Woods, Ken Eng, Daren Carlisle, Matthew Joseph Cashman, Michael Meador, Karen R. Ryberg, Kelly O. Maloney
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Eastern Ecological Science Center, Dakota Water Science Center

Integrated water resources trend assessments: State of the science, challenges, and opportunities for advancement

Water is vital to human life and healthy ecosystems. Here we outline the current state of national-scale water resources trend assessments, identify key gaps, and suggest advancements to better address critical issues related to changes in water resources that may threaten human development or the environment. Questions like, “Do we have less suitable drinking water now than we had 20 years ago?”
Authors
Sarah M. Stackpoole, Gretchen P. Oelsner, Edward G. Stets, Jory Seth Hecht, Zachary Johnson, Anthony J. Tesoriero, Michelle A. Walvoord, Jeffrey G. Chanat, Krista A. Dunne, Phillip J. Goodling, Bruce D. Lindsey, Michael Meador, Sarah Spaulding
By
Water Resources Mission Area

A call for strategic water-quality monitoring to advance assessment and prediction of wildfire impacts on water supplies

Wildfires pose a risk to water supplies in the western U.S. and many other parts of the world, due to the potential for degradation of water quality. However, a lack of adequate data hinders prediction and assessment of post-wildfire impacts and recovery. The dearth of such data is related to lack of funding for monitoring extreme events and the challenge of measuring the outsized hydrologic and e
Authors
Sheila F. Murphy, Charles N. Alpers, Chauncey W. Anderson, John R. Banta, Johanna Blake, Kurt D. Carpenter, Gregory D. Clark, David W. Clow, Laura A. Hempel, Deborah A. Martin, Michael Meador, Gregory Mendez, Anke Mueller-Solger, Marc A. Stewart, Sean E. Payne, Cara L. Peterman-Phipps, Brian A. Ebel
By
Water Resources Mission Area, California Water Science Center, Colorado Water Science Center, Kansas Water Science Center, New Mexico Water Science Center, Oregon Water Science Center, Oklahoma-Texas Water Science Center

Understanding the relationship between stream metabolism and biological assemblages

Biological assemblages are commonly used for assessing stream health, but there is increased interest among the freshwater research community in incorporating measures of stream function, such as metabolism, to strengthen stream-health assessments. Presently, there is limited information about the relationships between stream metabolism and biological assemblages, along with the measurement period
Authors
Mark D. Munn, Rich W. Sheibley, Ian R. Waite, Michael Meador
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Oregon Water Science Center, Washington Water Science Center

Projected urban growth in the Southeastern USA puts small streams at risk

Future land-use development has the potential to profoundly affect the health of aquatic ecosystems in the coming decades. We developed regression models predicting the loss of sensitive fish (R2=0.39) and macroinvertebrate (R2=0.64) taxa as a function of urban and agricultural land uses and applied them to projected urbanization of the rapidly urbanizing Piedmont ecoregion of the southeastern US
Authors
Peter C. Van Metre, Ian R. Waite, Sharon L. Qi, Barbara Mahler, Adam Terando, Michael Wieczorek, Michael R. Meador, Paul M. Bradley, Celeste A. Journey, Travis S. Schmidt, Daren Carlisle
By
Water Resources Mission Area

Historical changes in fish communities in urban streams of the southeastern U.S. and the relative importance of water-quality stressors

A total of 71 stream sites representing a gradient of urban land use was sampled across the Piedmont of the southeastern U.S. in 2014. Fish data collected (observed) at each site were compared to an expected community based on georeferenced historical (~1950 - ~1990) species occurrence records for stream segments (1:100,000 scale) containing the sampled stream sites. Loss of expected fish specie
Authors
Michael Meador
By
Water Resources Mission Area

Effects of urban multi-stressors on three stream biotic assemblages

During 2014, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment(NAWQA) project assessed stream quality in 75 streams across an urban disturbance gradient within the Piedmont ecoregion of southeastern United States. Our objectives were to identify primary instream stressors affecting algal, macroinvertebrate and fish assemblages in wadeable streams. Biotic communities were surveyed
Authors
Ian R. Waite, Mark D. Munn, Patrick W. Moran, Christopher P. Konrad, Lisa H. Nowell, Michael R. Meador, Peter C. Van Metre, Daren Carlisle
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Oregon Water Science Center

Relative importance of water-quality stressors in predicting fish community responses in midwestern streams

Fish, habitat, and water chemistry data were collected from 98 streams in the midwestern United States, an area dominated by intense cultivation of row crops, in order to identify important water‐quality stressors to fish communities. We focused on 10 stressors including riparian disturbance, riparian vegetative cover, instream fish cover, streambed sedimentation, streamflow variability, total nit
Authors
Michael R. Meador, Jeffrey W. Frey
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Water Science Center

Life history strategies of fish species and biodiversity in eastern USA streams

Predictive models have been used to determine fish species that occur less frequently than expected (decreasers) and those that occur more frequently than expected (increasers) in streams in the eastern U.S. Coupling life history traits with 51 decreaser and 38 increaser fish species provided the opportunity to examine potential mechanisms associated with predicted changes in fish species distribu
Authors
Michael R. Meador, Larry M. Brown
By
Water Resources Mission Area, California Water Science Center

Nutrient enrichment and fish nutrient tolerance: Assessing biologically relevant nutrient criteria

Relationships between nutrient concentrations and fish nutrient tolerance were assessed relative to established nutrient criteria. Fish community, nitrate plus nitrite (nitrate), and total phosphorus (TP) data were collected during summer low-flow periods in 2003 and 2004 at stream sites along a nutrient-enrichment gradient in an agricultural basin in Indiana and Ohio and an urban basin in the Atl
Authors
Michael R. Meador
By
Water Resources Mission Area

The quality of our Nation’s waters--ecological health in the Nation's streams, 1993-2005

This report summarizes a national assessment of the ecological health of streams done by the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA). Healthy functioning stream ecosystems provide society with many benefits, including water purification, flood control, nutrient recycling, waste decomposition, fisheries, and aesthetics. The value to society of many of these
Authors
Daren Carlisle, Michael R. Meador, Terry M. Short, Cathy M. Tate, Martin E. Gurtz, Wade L. Bryant, James A. Falcone, Michael D. Woodside
By
Water Resources Mission Area

Effectiveness of seining after electrofishing to characterize stream fish communities

The richness and composition of species collected uniquely to electrofishing and subsequent seining efforts were examined at 271 stream sites across the USA by using wadeable electrofishing methods (backpack or barge electrofishing) or boat electrofishing followed by seining. Seining after wadeable electrofishing resulted in the collection of new species at 42% of sites, whereas seining after boat
Authors
Michael R. Meador
By
Water Resources Mission Area
Southeast streams see loss of native fish species and increased species “homogenization” among streams

Southeast streams see loss of native fish species and increased species “homogenization” among streams

Southeast streams are becoming less biologically unique, according to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey. Fish species present in any given...

Read Article
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