Unified Interior Regions
Region 4: Mississippi Basin
Regions L2 Landing Page Tabs
Geologic Evolution of Cat Island, Mississippi
The geologic evolution of Cat Island has been influenced by deltaic, lagoonal/estuarine, tidal, and oceanographic processes, resulting in a complex stratigraphic record.
Use of Remote Sensing Data to Quantify Bird and Bat Distributions and Inform Migratory Bird Conservation Efforts
Three federal wildlife refuge complexes on the upper Texas coast include portions of the Columbia Bottomlands and other forests that are important for migratory birds and possibly bats: Texas Mid-Coast, Trinity River, and Chenier Plain.
Use of Remote Sensing Data to Quantify Bird Distributions and Aid in the Environmental Assessment of Energy Development in the Gulf of Mexico Region
Knowing where migratory birds consistently stop to rest and forage is critical for conservation planning, particularly along the northern and western Gulf where there is increased interest in energy development.
Geologic and Morphologic Evolution of Coastal Margins
A combination of geophysics, sediment sampling, and chronology techniques are used to characterize the regional geomorphologic response of coastal systems to environmental changes.
Barrier Island Evolution
The Barrier Island Evolution Project addresses a research gap between the short time scale of individual storms (hours to days) and the longer time scales associated with the historic and geologic evolution of the coastal system (decades to millennia).
The Gulf of Mexico Water Dashboard: Cross-Center Collaboration Brings Real-time, USGS Water Data to the Gulf Coast through a Spatially Enabled Mapping Application
The USGS Southeast Regional Office has funded a cross-center collaboration between the Wetland and Aquatic Research Center and the Texas Water Science Center for the development of the Gulf of Mexico Water Dashboard. The objective of this effort is to expand the Texas Water Dashboard platform to include the coastal regions of the five Gulf states: Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and...
Detecting Differences in Bacterial Metabolism in the Buffalo National River
Each year, the Buffalo National River (BUFF) attracts 1.6 million visitors, many of whom enjoy recreational water activities. Since 2013, a confined animal feeding operation (CAFO) for swine has been operating on Big Creek, a BUFF tributary.
Hydrologist visits 4th-graders at Baton Rouge public school
Where: Westdale Heights Academic Magnet school, Baton Rouge, LA
Background: Dennis Demcheck has been volunteering at the public school since 2012, discussing bird identification, migration patterns, and drawing birds. The presentation emphasized scientific observation and the importance of accurate data collection.
Partners/Stakeholders: None. Dennis talked to about 75 students...
Pilot Testing and Protocol Development of Apple Snail Suppression at Mandalay National Wildlife Refuge
The maculata apple snail (Pomacea maculata) has invaded many coastal and some inland areas in south Louisiana. Reports have indicated that the freshwater snails have significantly reduced the amount of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) and floating leaved vegetation (FLV) available for waterfowl and other wildlife.
Lower Mississippi-Gulf WSC - Baton Rouge Sediment Lab Price List - 2018 Fiscal Year
LOWER MISSISSIPPI-GULF WSC - BATON ROUGE SEDIMENT LAB PRICE LIST - 2018 FISCAL YEAR
2018
FISCAL YEAR
(Effective date will begin with samples received
by the Laboratory after October 1, 2017)
Ozark Plateaus Groundwater Availability Study
The U.S. Geological Survey's Groundwater Resources Program (GWRP) is conducting an assessment of groundwater availability throughout the United States to gain a better understanding of the status of the Nation's groundwater resources and how changes in water use and climate may affect those resources.
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Sparta Aquifer Recovery Project
The Sparta aquifer is Union County's only source of municipal and industrial ground water. Since development began in the early 1920's ground-water levels have declined more than 390 feet in some areas. As a result, Union was among five southern Arkansas counties designated as the state's first "Critical Ground Water Area" in 1996.
Partners include:...
Estimated groundwater withdrawals from principal aquifers in the United States, 2015
In 2015, about 84,600 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) of groundwater were withdrawn in the United States for various uses including public supply, self-supplied domestic, industrial, mining, thermoelectric power, aquaculture, livestock, and irrigation. Of this total, about 94 percent (79,200 Mgal/d) was withdrawn from principal aquifers, which...
Lovelace, John K.; Nielsen, Martha G.; Read, Amy L.; Murphy, Chid J.; Maupin, Molly A.
Metamorphosis and the impact of contaminants on ecological subsidies
Animals with complex life histories such as aquatic insects and amphibians link freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems when they transition from water to land during development. This transition requires metamorphosis from juvenile to adult life stages. Metamorphosis is a stressful and ecologically sensitive life history event. Exposure to...
Wesner, Jeff; Kraus, Johanna M.; Henry, Brianna L.; Kerby, Jacob Introduction: Ecological subsidies as a framework for understanding contaminant fate, exposure, and effects at the land-water interface
Ecologists have long recognized that ecological subsidies (the flow of organic matter, nutrients, and organisms between ecosystems) can strongly affect ecosystem processes and community structure in the recipient ecosystem. Animal movements, organic matter flows, and food web dynamics between linked aquatic and terrestrial systems can also...
Walters, David; Kraus, Johanna M.; Mills, Marc A. Practical considerations for the incorporation of insect-mediated contaminant flux into ecological risk assessments
Insect-mediated contaminant flux is truly an interdisciplinary concept that merges ideas from many technical areas of science (e.g., environmental chemistry, landscape ecology, and entomology). This chapter introduces risk assessors to this emerging and ecologically relevant concept by distilling the main mechanisms that drive insect-mediated...
Otter, Ryan R.; Beaubien, Gale B.; Olson, Connor I.; Walters, David; Mills, Marc A. Synthesis: A framework for predicting the dark side of ecological subsidies
In this chapter, we synthesize the state of the science regarding ecological subsidies and contaminants at the land-water interface and suggest research and management approaches for linked freshwater-terrestrial ecosystems. Specifically, we focus on movements of animals with complex life histories and the detrital inputs associated with animal...
Kraus, Johanna M.; Wessner, Jeff; Walters, David Cross-ecosystem linkages and trace metals at the land-water interface
At low concentrations, trace metals are critical for sustaining life on Earth. However, at high concentrations, they become a global contaminant with particularly strong effects on freshwater communities. These effects can propagate to terrestrial ecosystems in part by altering production and community structure of adult aquatic insect emergence...
Kraus, Johanna M.; Pomeranz, Justin F.
Estimating flood magnitude and frequency on streams and rivers in Connecticut, based on data through water year 2015
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Connecticut Department of Transportation, updated flood-frequency estimates with 50-, 20-, 10-, 4-, 2-, 1-, 0.5-, and 0.2-percent annual exceedance probabilities (2-, 5-, 10-, 25-, 50-, 100-, 200-, and 500-year recurrence intervals, respectively) for 141 streamgages in Connecticut and 11...
Ahearn, Elizabeth A.; Hodgkins, Glenn A. Effects of early life stage exposure of largemouth bass to atrazine or a model estrogen (17α-ethinylestradiol)
Endocrine disrupting contaminants are of continuing concern for potentially contributing to reproductive dysfunction in largemouth and smallmouth bass in the Chesapeake Bay watershed (CBW) and elsewhere. Exposures to atrazine (ATR) have been hypothesized to have estrogenic effects on vertebrate endocrine systems. The incidence of intersex in male...
Leet, Jessica Kristin; Richter, Catherine A.; Cornman, Robert S.; Berninger, Jason P.; Bhandari, Ramji K.; Nicks, Diane K.; Zajicek, James L.; Blazer, Vicki S.; Tillitt, Donald E.
Distribution of selected hydrogeologic characteristics of the upper glacial and Magothy aquifers, Long Island, New York
The Pleistocene- and Cretaceous-age sediments underlying Long Island, New York, compose an important sole-source aquifer system that is nearly 2,000 feet thick in some areas. Sediment characteristics of importance for water supply include water-transmitting properties—horizontal and vertical hydraulic conductivity—and the distribution of lignite,...
Walter, Donald A.; Finkelstein, Jason S. Changes in ecosystem nitrogen and carbon allocation with black mangrove (Avicennia germinans) encroachment into Spartina alterniflora salt marsh
Increases in temperature are expected to facilitate encroachment of tropical mangrove forests into temperate salt marshes, yet the effects on ecosystem services are understudied. Our work was conducted along a mangrove expansion front in Louisiana (USA), an area where coastal wetlands are in rapid decline due to compounding factors, including...
Macy, Aaron; Osland, Michael; Cherry, Julia A; Cebrian, Just Growth rates for immature Kemp’s ridley sea turtles from a foraging area in the northern Gulf of Mexico
Examining vital rates helps clarify how environmental characteristics, biological resources and human activities affect population growth. Carapace lengths were gathered for 241 Kemp’s ridley Lepidochelys kempii sea turtles that were marked and recaptured (n = 23) between 2011 and 2019 at a foraging location in northwest Florida, USA....
Lamont, Margaret; Johnson, Darren Improved prediction of management-relevant groundwater discharge characteristics throughout river networks
Groundwater discharge zones connect aquifers to surface water, generating baseflow and serving as ecosystem control points across aquatic ecosystems. The influence of groundwater discharge on surface flow connectivity, fate and transport of contaminants and nutrients, and thermal habitat depends strongly on hydrologic characteristics such as the...
Barclay, Janet R.; Starn, J. Jeffrey; Briggs, Martin A.; Helton, Ashley
Pallid sturgeon free embryo at approximately 10 days post-hatch
Pallid sturgeon free embryo at approximately 10 days post-hatch, approximately 19-20 mm (about 0.77 of an inch) in length.
Newly hatched pallid sturgeon free embryos.
Pallid sturgeon free embryos on the day of hatch, approximately 8-9 mm (about 0.33 of an inch) in length.
Pallid sturgeon free embryo at approximately 2 days post-hatch
Pallid sturgeon free embryo at approximately 2 days post-hatch, approximately 11-12 mm (about 0.45 of an inch) in length.
Oaxaca Cave Sleeper is a newly discovered species
This Oaxaca Cave Sleeper is one of thirteen specimens collected from a cave beneath a reservoir on Mexico's Tonto River. It lacks eyes, is unpigmented, and has sensory adaptations characteristic of fish that live in total darkness. Thuis is the holotype, the example used to describe and name this newly identified species. Credit: Howard L. Jelks and Stephen J. Walsh, USGS
A laboratory specimen shows the cavefish's absence of eyes
A laboratory preparation of a Oaxaca Cave Sleeper specimen shows the absence of eyes in this newly identified cavefish species. Credit: Stephen J. Walsh, USGS
Farm in northeast Iowa
A corn farm in northeast Iowa. A new USGS report shows that drought periods followed by rainfall caused nitrate levels to increase to the highest ever measured in some Midwest streams during a 2013 study.
Stan Musial bridge in St. Louis, Missouri
Photo of the Stan Musial bridge in St. Louis, Missouri.
A new assessment of channel bed erosion near 13 highway bridges in the greater St. Louis, Missouri, area is now available in an online report from the U.S. Geological Survey, produced in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Transportation.
View of Old Mans Creek near Iowa City, Iowa
View of Old Mans Creek near Iowa City, Iowa upstream from a bridge used for collecting water-quality samples (USGS Site ID: 05455100). This site was part of the sampling network for the first reconnaissance study to assess
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WRP Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana
Wetlands Reserve Program site in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana. Ten years ago, this landowner worked with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service through the Wetlands Reserve Program to design and construct this slough as part of a plan to restore this field’s natural wetland hydrology.
WRP Morehouse Parish, Louisiana
Wetlands Reserve Program site in Morehouse Parish, Louisiana. Green tree frogs rest on a Wetlands Reserve Program easement boundary sign in Morehouse Parish, Louisiana.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s National Wetlands Research Center in Lafayette and the Southeast Ecological Science Center in Gainesville, Florida will merge under the same leadership effective October 1, 2015.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s Southeast Ecological Science Center in Gainesville and the National Wetlands Research Center in Lafayette, Louisiana will merge under the same leadership effective October 1, 2015.
Fish exposed to the endocrine-disrupting chemicals bisphenol A (BPA) or 17a-ethinylestradiol (EE2) in a laboratory have been found to pass adverse reproductive effects onto their offspring up to three generations later, according to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Missouri.
Newly released US Topo maps for Missouri now feature selected trails and other substantial updates. The data for the trails is provided to the USGS through a nation-wide “crowdsourcing” project managed by the International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA).
BOZEMAN – Pallid sturgeon come from a genetic line that has lived on this planet for tens of millions of years; yet it has been decades since anyone has documented any of the enormous fish successfully producing young that survive to adulthood in the upper Missouri River basin.
Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced today that Interior’s South Central Climate Science Center is awarding nearly $550,000 to universities and other partners for research to guide managers of parks, refuges and other cultural and natural resources in planning how to help species and ecosystems adapt to climate change.
Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced today that Interior’s Northeast Climate Science Center (NE CSC) is awarding nearly $700,000 to universities and other partners for research to guide managers of parks, refuges and other cultural and natural resources in planning how to help species and ecosystems adapt to climate change.
Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced today that Interior’s Southeast Climate Science Center is awarding nearly $150,000 to its host university and other partners for research to guide managers of parks, refuges and other cultural and natural resources in planning how to help species and ecosystems adapt to climate change.
Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced today that Interior’s North Central Climate Science Center in Fort Collins, Colorado, is awarding nearly $400,000 to universities and other partners.
As part of the continued US Topo maps revision and improvement cycle, the USGS will be including mountain bike trails to upcoming quadrangles on a state-aligned basis.
The bear species nicknamed “teddy” more than a century ago that inspired the iconic stuffed toy still popular today will likely survive at least another century, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey study.
Nesting loggerhead sea turtles in the northern Gulf of Mexico feed among areas that were oiled by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill and where human activities occur, several of which are known to pose threats to sea turtles, a new U.S Geological study showed.
Contacts
Locations
Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center - Jackson, MS Office
Phone: (601) 933-2900
Fax: (601) 933-2901
Wetland and Aquatic Research Center - Lafayette, LA
Phone: 337-266-8500
Fax: 337-266-8513
Columbia Environmental Research Center
Phone: 573-875-5399
Central Midwest Water Science Center - Rolla, MO Office
Phone: 573-308-3667
Fax: (573) 308-3645
Central Midwest Water Science Center - Iowa City, IA Office
Phone: 319-337-4191
Fax: (319) 358-3606
Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center - Baton Rouge, LA Office
Phone: (225) 298-5481
Fax: (225) 298-5490
Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center - Little Rock, AR Office
Phone: (501) 228-3600
National Geospatial Technical Operations Center - Rolla, MO
Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center - Fayetteville, AR Office
Phone: (479) 442-4888
Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center - Ruston, LA Office
Phone: (318) 251-9630
Central Midwest Water Science Center - Lee's Summit, MO Office
Phone: 816-554-3489
Fax: 816-554-9273
Central Midwest Water Science Center - Olivette, MO Office
Phone: 314-567-7077 or 314-567-5440
Fax: 314-567-7641
Central Midwest Water Science Center - Council Bluffs, IA Office
Phone: 712-323-0824
Fax: 712-322-7775
Central Midwest Water Science Center - Fort Dodge, IA Office
Phone: 515-576-4571
Fax: 515-576-1692
