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New research by the U.S. Geological Survey has found that many wetlands created for habitat do very little to improve water quality problems in streams and rivers. Collectively, these wetland design practices represent a missed opportunity to improve the general ecological health of watersheds and wetland ecosystems. 

“Wetlands provide many significant benefits for ecosystems and for people,” said Jerad Bales, acting USGS Associate Director for Water. “While wetlands provide important and unique habitat for great numbers of plants and animals, they also are valuable to humans for flood protection, water quality improvement, and recreation, to name just a few of their benefits. Understanding and improving the contributions of created wetlands to the larger goal of healthy watersheds is a valuable scientific insight.” 

Wetlands are often created for mitigating impacts to wetlands elsewhere. “Restored wetland,” “mitigation wetland,” and “replacement wetland” are similar terms for created wetlands.  Created wetlands typically range from several acres to tens of acres in size and are usually built with berms to regulate water levels precisely.  

These wetland creation practices prevent the exchange of water with adjacent streams and rivers. This lack of hydrologic connectivity to streams then has the consequence of limiting inputs of pollutants (sediment, nitrogen, and phosphorus) to both created and natural wetlands where the detrimental effects of these pollutants could be mitigated. In the watershed of the Chesapeake Bay, reducing sediment, nitrogen, and phosphorus pollution is a focus of large efforts to restore rivers and the Bay. 

USGS ecologist Greg Noe observed, “Unless a wetland can intercept the large amounts of pollutants in streams and rivers, it doesn’t have a chance to remove any of the pollution.” 

Improving habitat for wildlife is one of many reasons for wetland creation and restoration. In some cases, this specific goal may be best managed by limiting nutrient and sediment inputs through limited stream hydrologic connectivity.  However, created wetlands may have poor quality soils which limit the development of these young wetlands and consequently lead to poor habitat.    

USGS scientists, working in collaboration with George Mason University, also found that increasing inputs of sediment, nitrogen, and phosphorus by increasing connectivity to streams stimulated nutrient availability. It is through this process that increased hydrologic connectivity can create more mature wetland systems faster. 

“If you want to maximize the overall water quality benefits of wetland creation,” said Noe, “then design the wetland so that it exchanges water with a stream or river.” 

Learn more

• Research article in Journal of Environmental Quality
• USGS Chesapeake Bay Activities
• USGS National Wetlands Research Center 
• USGS National Research Program

Have you ever dropped a stick into a river and wondered where it might go if it floated all the way downstream? Now you can trace its journey using Streamer – a new on-line service from the National Atlas of the United States^®.

Streamer is an online map service that lets anyone trace downstream along America’s major rivers and streams simply by picking a point on a stream.  Streamer will map the route the stream follows.

You can also trace upstream using Streamer. Imagine that you’re standing along the Mississippi River in New Orleans. You’re wondering not only where the river began but also which other streams drained into the Mississippi River before it made its way to your location.  With Streamer you can also:

• locate your area of interest by specifying stream or place names; by entering latitude and longitude coordinates,
• enter the identification number for a U.S. Geological Survey streamflow gaging station,
• find out the names of streams and waterbodies by clicking on them,
• print maps of your downstream and upstream traces,
• create concise or detailed reports for your upstream and downstream traces,
• learn about current or historic streamflow at thousands of locations along America’s streams, and
• find out about the places your stream trace passes through with just a few mouse clicks.

Streamer is fueled by digital hydrographic data for America at one million-scale (an inch is approximately 15.8 miles on the land surface).  These streams and water bodies are generalized from the highly detailed National Hydrography Dataset from The National Map

Streamer lets you navigate rivers in the United States the way other interactive maps help you drive your vehicle from one place to another.  Unlike our nation’s road network, which provides many choices for traveling between two locations, America’s surface waters are somewhat like a network of one-way streets.  You can certainly navigate upstream, but all water flows one way:  downhill.  Use Streamer to trace downstream along that downhill path or use Streamer to trace upstream to highlight rivers at higher elevations that flow to your starting point.

You could stand by the Mississippi River and wonder, “Where did this water come from? Where is it flowing?”  Or with Streamer you can launch your sense of wonder and discovery up and down any of America’s major rivers with a Web connection from your favorite computer or tablet.

For more information: http://nationalatlas.gov/streamer/

The National Atlas of the United States of America^® is a cooperative effort to make geographic information collected by the United States government easier to find, get, and use. Its development is led by the National Geospatial Program of the USGS.  “The National Atlas of the United States of America^®” and “National Atlas of the United States^®” are registered trademarks of the United States Department of the Interior.

Follow the National Atlas on Twitter @nationalatlas

Map generated by Streamer highlighting a downstream trace along three major streams in Georgia and Florida that empty into the Gulf of Mexico. (Larger image)	Map made by Streamer tracing upstream from the Mississippi River near New Orleans, Louisiana, highlighting more than 7,000 large streams that drain to the Gulf of Mexico. (Larger image)

Should South Africa’s central bank — the SARB – strike first with an interest rate hike before being forced into it?  Gill Marcus and her team started their two-day policy meeting today and no doubt have been keeping an eye on happenings in Turkey, a place where a pre-emptive rate hike (instead of blowing billions of dollars in reserves) might have saved the day.

The SARB is very different from Turkey’s central bank in that it is generally less concerned about currency weakness due to the competitiveness boost a weak rand gives the domestic mining sector. This time things might be a bit different. The bank is battling not only anaemic growth but also rising inflation that may soon bust the upper end of its 3-6 percent target band thanks to a rand that has weakened 15  percent to the dollar this year.

Interest rates of 5 percent, moreover, look too low in today’s world of higher borrowing costs  – real interest rates in South Africa are already negative while 10-year yields are around 2.5 percent (1.5 percent in the United States). So any rise in inflation from here will leave the currency dangerously exposed.

Therefore staying behind the curve could prove a mistake, say Tradition Analytics:

The fear is that, by continuing to run very low interest rates on the premise that it is protecting domestic economic growth…the central bank is setting up the economy for less price stability, more uncertainty and higher variability in the rand outcome.  South Africa can ill-afford another blow-off in the rand…Dismissing the possibility that the SARB may be forced into a hike is dangerous as another bout of rand weakness could push the inflation rate above the 7% mark at which point the question then morphs into how much above the 6% level the SARB will tolerate.

Analysts at Barclays write:

Other EM central banks such as Turkey, Brazil and Indonesia have tightened their respective policy stances of late and the rand  might come under selling pressure over the medium term from a relative real interest rate perspective if inflationary pressures gain traction.

Analysts polled by Reuters expect the SARB to make no move on Thursday, though some reckon a change in stance to neutral from dovish is possible.  Swaps markets, on the other hand, are pricing a 20 basis-point tightening this month and 100 bps over the next 12 months, moving away from the rate cuts they were expecting just a few weeks back.

BlackBerry 10 users get ready because a big update to the Twitter app for BlackBerry 10 lands today. Whether you’re a heavy user, or just a fledgling Twitter fan– the update to Twitter version 10.2 brings new features and a refreshed design to improve the experience. For me personally, I love the new photo save option and the ability to add multiple accounts, so I can balance all of my Twitter personas in one convenient place.

Check out the list of highlighted features below and be sure to swing by BlackBerry World on your BlackBerry 10 device to download the updated app.

The new Twitter for BlackBerry 10 smartphones version 10.2 includes:

• Multiple Accounts – With Twitter 10.2 you can now add additional Twitter accounts within the app.
• Direct Message – Twitter 10.2 allows you to view, reply and send new Direct Messages right within the app.
• Improved Refresh – Improved refresh always maintains your current location in the timeline.
• Discover – Twitter 10.2 offers a new Discover page that delivers a stream of Tweets, accounts to follow and more. Simply pull to refresh or scroll to see more and discover even more fascinating people to follow. Plus the Activity page provides a view into what the people you are following are doing on Twitter including who they’re following and what tweets they’re favoriting.
• Photo Save – With Twitter 10.2 you can save pictures being shared on Twitter directly to your BlackBerry.
• Search Improvements – Now you can view your recent and saved searches and with Type Ahead, search suggestions are provided for you as text is entered in the search field.
• Refreshed UI – A wider timeline in all parts of the app provides a fresh new design and makes it easier to browse.

The Twitter experience on BlackBerry 10 keeps getting better and better with each update. Be sure to check it out for yourself and let the team know what you think of the update in the comments below.

VANCOUVER, Wash. – Scientists and technicians who work at volcano observatories in nine countries are visiting Mount St. Helens and the U.S. Geological Survey Volcano Science Center’s Cascades Volcano Observatory this week to learn techniques for monitoring active volcanoes. Organized by the Center for the Study of Active Volcanoes at the University of Hawaiʻi, Hilo, with support from the VSC-managed joint USGS-USAID Volcano Disaster Assistance Program, the annual program has been training foreign scientists for 22 years. This year’s class includes volcano scientists from Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Canada, Indonesia, Italy, and Papua New Guinea.

The International Training Program in Volcano Hazards Monitoring is designed to assist other nations in attaining self-sufficiency in monitoring volcanoes and reducing the risks from eruptions. Through in-class instruction at two USGS volcano observatories, and field exercises in Hawaiʻi and at Mount St. Helens, U.S. scientists are providing training on monitoring methods, data analysis and interpretation, and volcanic hazard assessment, and participants are taught about the use and maintenance of volcano monitoring instruments. Additionally, participants learn about focusing on forecasting and rapid response during volcanic crises, and how to work with governing officials and the news media to save lives and property.

“Science diplomacy, building friendships, and collaboration between the U.S. and other nations through joint scientific work and training can ultimately save many thousands of lives in nations with active volcanoes,” said USGS geologist and VDAP chief, John Pallister. “Avoiding a major volcano disaster through mitigation and advance training is not only better for humanitarian reasons, but it can also be more cost effective than providing foreign aid after a disaster.”

The annual summer course usually takes place only on the Island of Hawaiʻi at the University in Hilo, the USGS VSC Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, and in the field on the slopes of Kīlauea Volcano. This year, in an added component to the course, students are visiting the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, Wash. and doing field work at Mount St. Helens to give them the experience of working with a geologically different (more explosive) type of volcano.

“Bringing the class to CVO and including field sessions at Mount St. Helens to complement the Hawaiʻi experience takes advantage of two superb natural laboratories for the study of active volcanism,” said Don Thomas, director of CSAV. “Mount St. Helens has a strong legacy and reputation worldwide as a teaching volcano.” One of this year’s participants noted that he is among the second generation from his country to visit and study modern monitoring techniques at Mount St. Helens.

Providing critical training to international scientists began at HVO, leading to the creation of CSAV to continue the legacy. Since 1990 roughly 200 scientists and civil workers from 25 countries have received training in volcano monitoring methods through CSAV. HVO continues to provide instructors and field experiences for the courses, and VDAP has a long-term partnership with CSAV, providing instructors and co-sponsoring participants from developing countries. VDAP scientists are based at CVO in Washington, so with CSAV course instructors visiting CVO for the first time, there is an opportunity for professional scientific exchanges among researchers who don’t often have a chance to collaborate face to face. For many of the students, attending this training is a rare chance to share their experiences and challenges with other participants from around the world.

VDAP is supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development, Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance. Since 1985, VDAP has worked to reduce fatalities and economic losses in countries experiencing volcano emergencies. At the request of host countries, and working through USAID, an experienced team of USGS scientists can rapidly respond to developing volcanic crises worldwide, and provide consultation, assistance with forecasting, remote sensing data, and monitoring equipment. VDAP teams work in the background, providing support to their hosts who are the responsible parties for hazard communication. Between crises, VDAP scientists work with international partners to build and improve volcano-monitoring systems and to conduct joint activities, including workshops and on-the-job training, to reduce volcanic risk and improve understanding of volcanic hazards. 

Description: (for ALL photos): Participants in the 2013 summer “International Training Program in Volcano Hazards Monitoring” organized by the Center for the Study of Active Volcanoes at the University of Hawaiʻi, Hilo, with support from the USGS-USAID Volcano Disaster Assistance Program, visit the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory after having just spent time at the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

USGS volcano scientist, Andy Lockhart discusses telemetry options with Syegi Kunrat of Indonesia.(Larger image)	Domenico Mangione (Italy) and Celina Kattan (El Salvador) assemble the framework of a telemetry station in the parking lot of the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory.(Larger image)
The CSAV International training group practices assembling telemetry stations at the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory.(Larger image)	International members of the 2013 CSAV volcano monitoring summer training class pose at the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory sign.(Larger image)
Mikhail Herry from Papua New Guinea, (wearing a CSAV shirt) watches as McChesney demonstrates how to test a battery in the field.(Larger image)

Long-Range Nesting Patterns Reveal New Habitats and Risks

DAVIE, Fla.– Threatened loggerhead sea turtles in the northern Gulf of Mexico can travel distances up to several hundred miles and visit offshore habitats between nesting events in a single season, taking them through waters impacted by oil and fishing industries. 

Evidence from a U.S. Geological Survey study challenges the widely-held view that sea turtles remain near one beach throughout the nesting season and suggests the threatened species may require broader habitat protection to recover. The findings also cast new uncertainties on current estimates of the size of the species’ Gulf of Mexico subpopulation. 

“This is the first study to locate and quantify in-water habitat use by female loggerheads in the Northern Gulf of Mexico subpopulation during their reproductive periods,” said lead author Kristen Hart, a USGS research ecologist. “Our tracking results show they depend on a much broader range of habitat during this critical part of their lives than was previously thought to be required.” 

The study reveals detailed loggerhead movements during “inter-nesting” periods, showing patterns that vary for individual turtles. Generally, this period begins when a female returns from open seas around May and lasts roughly until September. Up until now, efforts to protect the species generally centered on beaches with high nesting activity under the assumption that once turtles had nested on those beaches, they either remained in their immediate vicinity or migrated back out to sea. 

“The satellite data and our observations on the ground tell the same story: loggerheads in this subpopulation nest at multiple beaches, sometimes hundreds of miles apart,” said Hart. “Some of the females we captured and tagged on beaches in Alabama traveled over 250 miles to nest in Florida, where we recaptured them. Likewise, we also captured some females in Alabama that had previously been tagged at the Florida site in earlier breeding years.”  

Researchers used the same statistical technique for analyzing their movements that enabled them to pinpoint loggerhead feeding hotspots at sea last year and, more recently, locate Kemp’s ridley feeding grounds in the Northern Gulf by differentiating between behavioral modes. They analyzed where 39 adult female sea turtles went after they nested on beaches in Alabama and Florida between 2010 and 2012 to learn where they spent time in the water during the breeding season before migrating back to sea. 

“We were surprised to find a lot of variation in their behavior,” said co-author and USGS biologist Meg Lamont.  “On average, the tagged turtles visited areas about 33 kilometers (20 miles) from shore and moved about 28 kilometers (17 miles) to nest at another beach. Several of them journeyed more than 200 kilometers (124) miles to nest at additional beaches, while others simply cruised back out to sea after the first nest.”  

The results of the study explain a mystery that had puzzled Lamont, who has 16 years of data from the St. Joseph Peninsula in Florida showing that few of the nesting loggerheads they tagged returned to nest again on the Peninsula. “We didn’t know whether they were dying or simply nesting elsewhere,” explained Lamont, “Now we know they aren’t as faithful to one nesting site as was once thought.”  

One of the turtles that Lamont tagged in 2002 appeared at Hart’s site in Alabama, nearly a decade later. In fact, the researchers saw several turtles nesting both in Alabama and the St. Joseph Peninsula (roughly 250 miles apart) within a period of just two weeks.  

“These data show it is not sufficient to just protect habitat around high density nesting beaches – such as the St. Joseph Peninsula – because many turtles that nest on the Peninsula use the entire region from the eastern Florida Panhandle to Louisiana,” said Lamont.

There could also be fewer female loggerheads nesting in the northern Gulf of Mexico than current estimates suggest because they are calculated using nest numbers. “Our research shows that the same turtle could easily deposit eggs in Alabama and Florida if nests are separated by about 2 weeks,” said Hart. “Population numbers based on nest counts may therefore be biased upwards if nests at the two sites were assumed to have come from two different females.”  

The study also noted that the areas the loggerheads used during the inter-nesting period overlapped with human uses, such as shrimp trawling and oil and gas platforms. A map showing sea turtle habitat use in relation to these activities can be found in the article, “Movements and Habitat-Use of Loggerhead Sea Turtles in the Northern Gulf of Mexico during the Reproductive Period,” which was published July 3 in the journal PLOS One.

“We are working towards defining areas where sea turtles concentrate their activities at sea, effectively building a map of in-water turtle hotspots,” said Hart. “The more we know about their habitat use, the more questions are raised about their behavior and ability to adapt. We hope to build a better understanding of how frequently turtles return to these same locations, and whether or not they move to new habitats when those locations are impacted. This type of information would be extremely valuable for developing management strategies to help in population recovery.”

Sanjeev Shah, the Fidelity fund manager who took over the UK portion of Anthony Bolton’s storied Special Situations fund, must wonder what it will take to get clients back on side.

Shah, a 17-year Fidelity veteran, can claim to have turned round a soft patch in performance, and is now consistently outdoing fellow UK equity funds. But the money keeps heading out.

The fund has suffered net outflows in 34 out of the last 35 months, according to estimates from Lipper. Total net outflows over the last three years are put at 1.1 billion pounds. The chart below makes the trend pretty clear.

Fidelity doesn’t comment on flows numbers at individual funds, but did not contradict the Lipper estimates when the numbers were put to them. Understandably, perhaps, the company is more keen to talk about recovering performance at the fund. You can see Lipper’s data on how the fund has performed relative to its UK equity peers in the chart below, which highlights the earlier peaks and troughs that might have startled more skittish investors. For Fidelity’s part, a spokeswoman said that the fund has now beaten 83 percent of its peers over the 5-1/2 years since Shah took over the reins.

Bolton was always going to be a hard act to follow.

He made Special Situations a cornerstone of many UK investors’ portfolios and became a darling of the investment press as assets under management at his combined fund climbed to more than 11 billion pounds at its height.

Now though, it is Bolton stomaching troubled times at the China fund he came out of retirement to run, just as his protege comes good. Fidelity can only hope the clients start to notice.

Prepublication Now Available

The National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) supported by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has played an integral role in cancer research and in establishing the standard of care for cancer patients for more than 50 years. Formerly known as the NCI Clinical Trials Cooperative Group Program, the NCTN is comprised of more than 2,100 institutions and 14,000 investigators, who enroll more than 20,000 cancer patients in clinical trials each year across the United States and internationally.

[Read the full report]

Topics: Health and Medicine

Prepublication Now Available

The childhood obesity epidemic and related health consequences are urgent public health problems. Approximately one-third of America’s young people are overweight or obese. Health problems once seen overwhelmingly in adults, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and hypertension, are increasingly appearing in youth. Though the health of Americans has improved in many broad areas for decades, increases in obesity could erode these and future improvements. The IOM report Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention: Solving the Weight of the Nation recognized the importance of the school environment in addressing the epidemic and recommended making schools a focal point for obesity prevention. The development and implementation of K-12 nutrition benchmarks, guides, or standards (for a discussion of these terms, see the next section of this chapter) would constitute a critical step in achieving this recommendation. National nutrition education curriculum standards could have a variety of benefits, including the following:

[Read the full report]

Topics: Food and Nutrition

• The creation and implementation of an institutional nursing research department at the Children’s Hospital campus to support nurses in designing research, analyzing data and presenting findings.
   
• Joint education efforts to teach the next generation of pediatric nurses, including enhancing the Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Program at the UCLA School of Nursing.
   
• The exchange of scholarly information and materials to keep clinicians and researchers abreast of current findings and best practices.
   
• Attendance at scholarly and technical meetings and at national and international conferences to showcase research results and find new ways to treat and prevent pediatric illnesses.
   
• The organization of joint conferences, symposia and other scientific meetings on subjects of mutual interest.

Final Book Now Available

The roots of health literacy can be traced back to the national literacy movement in India under Gandhi and to aid groups working in Africa to promote education and health. The term health literacy was first used in 1974 and described as “health education meeting minimal standards for all school grade levels”. From that first use the definition of health literacy evolved during the next 30 years with official definitions promulgated by government agencies and large programs. Despite differences among these definitions, they all hold in common the idea that health literacy involves the need for people to understand information that helps them maintain good health.

Although the United States produces a majority of the research on health literacy, Europe has strong multinational programs as well as research efforts, and health literacy experts in developing countries have created successful programs implemented on a community level. Given these distinct strengths of efforts worldwide, there are many opportunities for collaboration. International collaboration can harness the United States’ research power, Europe’s multilingual and multinational experience, and developing nations’ community-based programs to create robust programs and research that reach people—not based on language or nationality but on need and value.

A workshop on international health literacy efforts that feature presentations and discussion about health literacy interventions from various countries as well as other topics related to international health literacy was held as the basis for this report. Health Literacy: Improving Health, Health Systems, and Health Policy Around the World summarizes the findings and discussions at the workshop.

[Read the full report]

Topics: Health and Medicine

Lesser prairie-chicken nest survival may decrease to a level considered too low to sustain the current population by 2050, according to a new report by Texas Tech University and the U.S. Geological Survey. 

The publication assesses the effects of temperature and precipitation change on lesser prairie-chicken reproduction on the Southern High Plains. The authors noted that these findings do not suggest that the prairie chicken will become extinct, but rather indicate potential for population declines in New Mexico and West Texas if no actions are taken. The study can be used by resource managers to identify and offset effects of changes in climate on the lesser prairie-chicken.

Scientists looked at modeled predictions of climate change and reproductive data from lesser prairie-chickens from 2001-2011 to determine how weather conditions affect reproductive success in the Southern High Plains. Scientists focused on prairie chicken habitat in the southwestern part of their distribution in New Mexico and West Texas. The study assessed the potential changes in number of eggs laid in a nest, incubation start date and nest survival for 2050 and 2080. The full peer-reviewed report is available online.

“Results from this study are based on current climate projections, and it doesn’t necessarily mean that lesser prairie-chickens will experience a population decline,” said Blake Grisham, Texas Tech University scientist and lead author of the study. “It is very possible that improving connectivity and quality of existing habitats over the next few decades may offset the negative effects of a changing climate.”

Scientists conducted 1,000 model simulations using future weather variables to predict future reproductive parameters for this species. Climate forecasts indicate that the Southern High Plains will become drier with more frequent extreme heat events and decreased precipitation. Increased temperatures and reduced humidity may lead to lesser prairie-chicken egg death or nest abandonment. The research showed that warm winter temperatures had the largest negative effect on reproductive success. Scientists suggest that above-average winter temperatures were correlated with La Niña events, which were ultimately a good predictor of drought that reduced available nesting cover in the spring.

“Lesser prairie-chicken survival relies on the combination of habitat and climate, and larger areas of habitat provide more opportunities for them to survive a difficult climate,” said USGS scientist and study co-author Clint Boal. “Larger expanses of habitat means that more chickens will live and nest there, allowing for better odds that some nests will be successful.”

The lesser prairie-chicken has experienced widespread declines in abundance and distribution, with some estimates suggesting greater than a 90 percent decrease of the population. The species is currently proposed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and is a priority species under the Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative.  

This is the first study to examine how seasonal weather affects reproductive conditions of the lesser prairie-chicken. One aspect that was not incorporated into this modeling is predicted future frequencies of extreme weather events. This model uses average temperatures and does not take into account how a record hot or cold day might affect nest survival.    

This study was conducted by the Texas Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit in collaboration with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Wildlife Plus Consulting, Grasslans Charitable Foundation, the Kansas Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, the Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative and the Nature Conservancy.

A new USGS report describes how the health of our Nation’s streams is being degraded by streamflow modifications and elevated levels of nutrients and pesticides.

The national assessment of stream health was unprecedented in the breadth of the measurements—including assessments of multiple biological communities as well as streamflow modifications and measurements of over 100 chemical constituents in water and streambed sediments.

“Healthy streams are an essential part of our natural heritage. They are important to everyone — not only for recreation and for public water supply and public health, but also for economic growth,” said USGS acting Director Suzette Kimball. “A broad understanding of the complex factors that affect stream health across the Nation will aid us in making efficient, long term decisions that support healthy streams.”

The ability of a stream to support algal, macroinvertebrate, and fish communities is a direct measure of stream health. USGS image. (High resolution image)

To assess ecological health, USGS scientists examined the relationship of the condition of three biological communities (algae, macroinvertebrates, and fish) to man-made changes in streamflow characteristics and water quality. The ability of a stream to support these biological communities is a direct measure of stream health.

Stream health was reduced at the vast majority of streams assessed in agricultural and urban areas. In these areas, at least one of the three aquatic communities was altered at 83 percent of the streams assessed.

In contrast, nearly one in five streams in agricultural and urban areas was in relatively good health, signaling that it is possible to maintain stream health in watersheds with substantial land and water-use development.

“Understanding the interacting factors that impact multiple aquatic communities is essential to developing effective stream restoration strategies,” said Daren Carlisle, USGS ecologist and lead scientist of this study.

Streamflow modification is a critical factor in stream health because the life cycles of many native fish species are synchronized with—and therefore dependent upon—the timing and variation in natural streamflow patterns.

Annual low and high streamflows were modified in 86 percent of the streams assessed. Over 70,000 dams and diversions contribute to modified streamflows across the Nation. Flood control structures in the East and groundwater withdrawals for irrigation and drinking water in the arid West also contribute to streamflow modification.

Biological alteration associated with elevated nutrient concentrations was most pronounced for algal communities. The occurrence of altered algal communities increased by as much as 40 percent above baseline in streams with elevated nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations.

Macroinvertebrate communities were altered by as much as 40 percent above baseline conditions in streams with elevated pesticide toxicity. Although concentrations of insecticide mixtures, such as chlorpyrifos, carbaryl, and diazinon, in streams are highly variable seasonally and from year to year, they can reach levels that are harmful to aquatic life, particularly in agricultural and urban streams.

Ecological Health in the Nation’s Streams, 1993-2005 (USGS Circular 1391, 132 pp.) is available online.

Learn more about the ecological health of the Nation’s streams from related USGS reports, a fact sheet, and a video. The site also features educational illustrations of natural, agricultural, and urban stream ecosystems (PDF format, suitable for posters).

This study was done by the USGS National Water-Quality Assessment Program, which conducts regional and national assessments of the nation’s water quality to provide an understanding of water-quality conditions, whether conditions are getting better or worse over time, and how natural processes and human activities affect those conditions.

The USGS also continuously monitors water levels and streamflows at thousands of the nation’s streams on a real-time basis. These data are available at USGS Current Streamflow Conditions. Water-quality data from more than 1,300 locations, much of it in real-time, are available through USGS Water Quality Watch.

Finds surprising growth patterns in the Florida Keys

Report is available on-line via open access at the publisher. View the abstract on the SpringerLink website.

Photo of SCUBA diver working on a clacification station at Fowey Rocks, Biscayne National Park, Florida: Photo credit: Carlie Williams (USGS). (High resolution image)

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A new more sensitive weight-based approach for monitoring coral growth in the wild has been developed by U.S. Geological Survey researchers leading to more definitive answers about the status of coral reefs.

Corals and other marine organisms build their skeletons and shells through calcification, the biological process of secreting calcium carbonate obtained from ocean water. This new approach to measuring corals can provide finer-scale resolution than traditional linear measurements of coral growth. 

“A coral may grow two millimeters in height on the left side of the colony and five millimeters on the right, so linear measurements are inherently variable and require sampling hundreds of corals to detect changes in growth over time… our method requires only 10 corals per site,” said Ilsa Kuffner, USGS scientist and lead author of the study.

Using the weight-based approach, Kuffner’s team discovered that colonies of the Massive Starlet coral calcified about 50 percent faster in the remote Dry Tortugas National Park compared to three sites along the rest of the island chain from Miami to Marathon, Fla. The reasons behind this surprising pattern are not clear, leaving a mystery sure to pique the interest of many reef managers.

The new approach could be highly useful to managers because it can detect small changes over space and time due to its high level of precision. Also, the method uses inexpensive and easy-to-find materials, and no corals are harmed in the process.  

“This tool provides the kind of scientific information needed to manage coral reefs at the ecosystem scale by looking at the relationships between coral health, climate change, and water-quality. It provides partners and reef managers with better, more sensitive metrics to assess coral growth, identify the most important variables, and prioritize strategies to protect and preserve these valuable ecosystems,” said Acting USGS Director, Suzette Kimball. “It is also one of the ways USGS science is advancing the National Ocean Policy by supporting a number of on-the-ground priority actions.”

A next step in understanding declines in coral growth is discerning the different components of water-quality that are driving calcification rates, and this can only be achieved through the cooperation of reef managers and scientists around the world. The real power in the new approach will be realized if it is applied across many reefs that naturally have different temperature regimes, water quality, and pH conditions. 

“The study results suggest that we should pay more attention to different aspects of water-quality if we hope to understand and predict what will happen to coral reefs as oceans continue to change,” said Kuffner. 

According to Kuffner, managers already know coral reefs are in decline, but they want to know why. They need a linkage between cause and effect that explains why reefs are not growing like they used to or are not recovering from disease or die-off events. Correlating finely measured coral growth rates with water quality and other environmental information is an important step to making these linkages so they can inform management decisions. 

Photo of coral: Massive Starlet coral, Siderastrea siderea Photo credit: Ilsa B. Kuffner (USGS) (High resolution image)

Coral reefs are in decline globally with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration currently proposing to list 66 reef-building coral species under the Endangered Species Act. Identifying the cause of the decline is not straightforward. Oceanographic instruments have confirmed that the ocean is warming, acidifying, and changing in other aspects of water quality. The first two are a direct result of altered carbon distribution due to burning of fossil fuels; the latter stems largely from land-use changes. Laboratory studies demonstrate that all three of these environmental stressors can hinder coral growth, but linking the causative agents to reef decline in the natural environment requires dependable, precise methods to detect change over time. 

This study is part of a larger USGS Coral Reef Ecosystem Studies project aimed at understanding the status, construction, and resilience of shallow-water reef environments and forecasting future change to inform reef management strategies. Current areas of research include the Dry Tortugas, U.S. Virgin Islands and Biscayne National Parks, and selected areas of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

To learn more about the Coral Reef Ecosystem Studies Project, please visit the website.