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In 2009, the largest steelhead trout conservation hatchery in the state of Idaho, Dworshak National Fish Hatchery (NFH), lost over 50% of the juvenile steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) population being reared for release. The causative agent of this high mortality was the viral pathogen infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV). This was neither the first...

Digital flood-inundation maps for a total of 19.7 miles of the Grand River, the Red Cedar River, and Sycamore Creek were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the City of Lansing, Michigan, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The flood-inundation maps, which can be accessed...

Digital flood-inundation maps for a 3-mile (mi) reach of the Scioto River that extends about 1/2 mi upstream and 1/2 mi downstream of the corporate boundary for La Rue, Ohio, were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the Village of La Rue, Marion County Commissioners, Montgomery...

Digital flood-inundation maps for an 8.9-mile reach of the St. Marys River at Decatur, Indiana, were developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs. The inundation maps, which can be accessed through the USGS Flood Inundation Mapping Science Web site...

Digital flood-inundation maps for a 7.7-mile reach of the White River at Petersburg, Indiana, were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs. The inundation maps, which can be accessed through the USGS Flood Inundation Mapping Science Web site at...

Documentation of the interacting effects of river regulation and climate on riparian vegetation has typically been limited to small segments of rivers or focused on individual plant species. We examine spatiotemporal variability in riparian vegetation for the Colorado River in Grand Canyon relative to river regulation and climate, over the...

We used tree-ring analysis to examine radial growth response of a common, moderately flood-tolerant species (<i>Fraxinus pennsylvanica</i> Marshall) to hydrologic and climatic variability for > 40 years before and after hydrologic modifications affecting two forest stands in the Mississippi River Alluvial Valley (USA): a stand without levees below dams and...

From August 28 to 29, 2011, Tropical Storm Irene delivered rainfall ranging from approximately 4 to more than 7 inches in the Winooski River Basin in Vermont. The rainfall resulted in severe flooding throughout the basin and significant damage along the Winooski River. In response to the flooding, the U.S....

Channel rehabilitation, or reconfiguration, to mitigate a variety of riverine problems has become a common practice in the western United States. However, additional work to monitor and assess the channel response to, and the effectiveness of, these modifications over longer periods of time (decadal or longer) is still needed. The...

This study evaluated the effects of environmental parameters on the probability of capturing endangered pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus) using trotlines in the lower Mississippi River. Pallid sturgeon were sampled by trotlines year round from 2008 to 2011. A logistic regression model indicated water temperature (T; P < 0.01) and depth (D; P = 0.03)...

The transition from drifting free embryo to exogenously feeding larvae has been identified as a potential life-stage bottleneck for the endangered Missouri River pallid sturgeon. Previous studies have indicated that river regulation and fragmentation may contribute to the mortality of larval pallid sturgeon by reducing the extent of free-flowing river...

Persistence of many desert river species is threatened by a suite of impacts linked to water infrastructure projects that provide human water security where water is scarce. Many desert rivers have undergone regime shifts from spatially and temporally dynamic ecosystems to more stable systems dominated by homogenous physical habitat. Restoration...

This report documents the process of developing and refining conceptual ecological models (CEMs) for linking river management to pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus) population dynamics in the Missouri River. The refined CEMs are being used in the Missouri River Pallid Sturgeon Effects Analysis to organize, document, and formalize an understanding of...

In 2012, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) declared Atlantic Sturgeon Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus to be threatened or endangered throughout its range in U.S. waters. Restoration of the subspecies will require much new information, particularly on the location and timing of spawning. We used a combination of acoustic telemetry and sampling...

A series of nine digital flood-inundation maps were developed for an 8-mile reach of the Hoosic River in North Adams and Williamstown, Massachusetts, by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The coverage of the maps extends from the confluence with the North Branch...

Digital flood-inundation maps for a 6.4-mile reach of the White River in Indianapolis, Indiana, from 0.3 miles upstream of Michigan Street to the Harding Street Generating Station dam (at the confluence with Lick Creek), were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the Indiana Office of Community...

Thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency in the Great Lakes has been attributed to elevated levels of thiaminase I enzyme activity in invasive prey species; however, few studies have investigated thiaminase activity in native prey species. Some of the highest levels of thiaminase activity have been measured in invasive dreissenid mussels with...

Many ecologists have called for mechanism-based investigations to identify the underlying controls on species distributions. Understanding these controls can be especially useful to construct robust predictions of how a species range may change in response to climate change or the extent to which a non-native species may...

A study to assess the potential of the Arkansas River Valley alluvial aquifer in the vicinity of Van Buren, Arkansas, as a viable source of public-supply water was conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Little Rock, District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. An important study component...

The conservation of imperiled species depends upon understanding threats to the species at each stage of its life history. In the case of many imperiled migratory fishes, understanding how timing and environmental influences affect reproductive behavior could provide managers with information critical for species conservation. We used passive acoustic recorders...

Summary 1. Extreme hydrologic events are becoming more common with changing climate. Although the impacts of winter and spring floods on lotic ecosystems have been well studied, the effects of summer floods are less well known. 2. The Upper Esopus Creek Basin in the Catskill Mountains, NY, experienced severe flooding from Tropical...

Juvenile Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha emigrating from natal tributaries of the Sacramento River, California, must negotiate the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (hereafter, the Delta), a complex network of natural and man-made channels linking the Sacramento River with San Francisco Bay. Fish that enter the interior and southern Delta—the region to...

With recent findings of grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella in tributaries of the Great Lakes, information on developmental rate and larval behavior is critical to efforts to assess the potential for establishment within the tributaries of that region. In laboratory experiments, grass carp were spawned and eggs and larvae reared at...

Researchers have cautioned against the borrowing of consumption and growth parameters from other species and life stages in bioenergetics growth models. In particular, the function that dictates temperature dependence in maximum consumption (Cmax) within the Wisconsin bioenergetics model for Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha produces estimates that are lower than those measured in...

Pacific lampreys (Entosphenus tridentatus) have resided in the Columbia River Basin for millennia and have great ecological and cultural importance. The role of habitat contamination in the recent decline of the species has rarely been studied and was the main objective of this effort. A wide range of contaminants (115...