Publications

Obtaining food following the transition from endogenous to exogenous feeding and during the first year of life is a critical event that strongly influences growth and survival of young-of-year fishes. For shovelnose sturgeon Scaphirhynchus platorynchus, limited information is available on food habits during the first year of life. The objective of this study was to quantify diet...

Following the Louisiana landfalls of Katrina on August 29 and Rita on September 24, 2005, the local population and the American public were concerned about the effects the hurricanes might have on water quality in Lake Pontchartrain. The lake is a major recreational resource for the region and an important fishery. Contamination carried by the storm surge—along with runoff and water...

The present study evaluated the performance and variability in acute toxicity tests with glochidia and newly transformed juvenile mussels using the standard methods outlined in American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). Multiple 48-h toxicity tests with glochidia and 96-h tests with juvenile mussels were conducted within a single laboratory and among five laboratories. All tests...

The U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) National Wetlands Research Center (NWRC) responded to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita by providing geospatial support to Federal, State, and local partners. The NWRC used its data and information management systems to deliver aerial photography and maps to emergency responders in a time of critical need.

The use of passive sampling in monitoring pharmaceuticals and personal-care products (PPCPs) in the aquatic environment is discussed. The utility of passive sampling methods for monitoring the fraction of heavy metals and the biologically available fraction of non-polar organic priority pollutants is recognized and these technologies are being used in surveys of water quality. These...

Hurricane Katrina severely impacted coastal Mississippi, creating large quantities of building and vegetation debris. This paper summarizes techniques to estimate vegetation and nonvegetation debris quantities from light detection and ranging (lidar) data and presents debris volume results for Harrison County, Miss.

Alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus), the major prey fish for Lake Ontario, contain thiaminase. They are associated with development of a thiamine deficiency in salmonines which greatly increases the potential for developing an early mortality syndrome (EMS). To assess the possible effects of thiamine deficiency on salmonine reproduction we measured egg thiamine concentrations for five...

Measurement of near-bed sediment velocities with acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs) is an emerging approach for quantifying bed-load sediment fluxes in rivers. Previous investigations of the technique have relied on conventional physical bed-load sampling to provide reference transport information with which to validate the ADCP measurements. However, physical samples are subject...

A rapid-response expedition was organized after the passage of Hurricane Katrina to investigate potential offshore environmental impacts and storm-induced sediment-transport processes. Both water-column and sediment samples were collected on the Louisiana shelf for a full complement of organic, inorganic, and geochronological tracers. Based on excess lead-210 (210Pb) inventories in cores...

Comparison of classified Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) satellite imagery acquired before and after the landfalls of Hurricanes Katrina (August 29, 2005) and Rita (September 24, 2005) demonstrated that water area increased by 217 mi2 (562 km2) in coastal Louisiana. Approximately 82 mi2 (212 km2) of new water areas were in areas primarily impacted by Katrina (Mississippi River Delta basin...

The ready availability of high-resolution, high-accuracy elevation data proved valuable for development of topographybased products to determine rough estimates of the inundation of New Orleans, La., from Hurricane Katrina. Because of its high level of spatial detail and vertical accuracy of elevation measurements, light detection and ranging (lidar) remote sensing is an excellent...

Thirty gravid, female shovelnose sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus platorynchus) were captured in the Lower Missouri River in March 2004 to evaluate the effectiveness of physiology, telemetry and remote sensor technology coupled with change point analysis in identifying when and where Scaphirhynchus sturgeon spawn. Captured sturgeons were instrumented with ultrasonic transmitters and with...