USGS Newsroom

USGS to Receive New Great Lakes Research Vessel

OC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing) — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 10:00:00 EDT

Ann Arbor, Mich. – The U.S. Geological Survey awarded a contract last Friday for the construction of a large research vessel for Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior to Burger Boat Company of Manitowoc, Wis.

The vessel will replace the 38-year-old Grayling, bringing the USGS Great Lakes Science Center (GLSC) large vessel fleet up-to-date. The new Grayling will be stationed at the USGS base in Cheboygan, Mich., and will incorporate modern marine standards and state-of-the-art technology to more safely and effectively conduct fisheries research.

"I am delighted to have achieved this important milestone that will benefit the Great Lakes region for many decades," said USGS GLSC Director Russell Strach. "This investment would not have been possible without the support from many key partners. The new research vessel will come fully equipped with 21^st century laboratories and scientific instrumentation to support fishery science for the Great Lakes."

The funding for this expenditure was accrued from two prior appropriations and held in an account that was not affected by the sequester.

The replacement vessel is expected to be a commercial grade 78-foot vessel, and will be designed and constructed for a 40 to 50-year service life. This vessel will be capable of performing critical scientific and mission-related tasks, including dragging nets along the lake bottom, catching fish, and using sound-waves to detect fish and assess their abundance.

"The entire Burger team is very excited to be awarded this significant contract," said Jim Ruffolo, President and CEO of Burger Boat Company. "The Grayling will further reinforce Burger’s commitment to designing and constructing quality vessels that meet each owner’s specific requirements, whether they are custom yachts or commercial vessels."

This new contract will create additional highly skilled shipbuilding jobs at the Manitowoc shipyard, and the project will help support numerous companies that supply raw materials and equipment for the project.

For over 50 years the USGS GLSC has operated a unique and valuable deepwater fish ecology and assessment program that is the foundation for fisheries management throughout the Great Lakes.

Burger, at 150 years old, is one of the world's oldest shipyards. From its facility in Manitowoc, Wis., Burger's craftsmen have built hundreds of high quality vessels as long as 260 feet (80 meters) that can be found in ports around the world. Today, Burger continues its legacy of designing and building vessels to the highest standard from its fully updated shipyard.

JMS Naval Architects of Mystic, Conn., developed the preliminary design of the new Grayling.

The USGS GLSC maintains a fleet of fishery research vessels on each of the Great Lakes to meet the scientific research needs of state, tribal, and federal resource managers for understanding and effectively managing the Great Lakes fishery.

For more information on the USGS GLSC, visit their website.

New Water Science Tools Help Communities Prepare for Floods

OC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing) — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 16:48:05 EDT

Commemorating the Great Flood of 1913

Editors: A USGS video about the 1913 flood is available online.

The WaterNow allows you to send an email or text message containing a USGS current-conditions streamgaging site number and quickly receive a reply with its most recent observation(s).
(High resolution image)

New flood inundation maps (bottom) are now available for Findlay, Killbuck, and Ottawa, Ohio. These maps show where flooding would occur at various high river levels. They are just one example of U.S. Geological Survey products and services developed in the 100 years since Ohio’s devastating Great Flood of 1913.

The 100-year anniversary of the Great Flood of 1913 falls during the 2013 Flood Safety Awareness Week.

The USGS prepared the new maps to help emergency managers and the public make more informed decisions when flooding is forecast. Flood inundation maps are connected to real-time river levels at USGS streamgages to help communities identify immediate risks during a flood. Since the historic flood of March 23-27, 1913, which caused more than 400 deaths and $300 million in damages throughout the Ohio River Valley, the USGS has developed streamgage networks and tools to better support flood preparedness and provide flood warnings.

“The 1913 statewide flood is Ohio’s ‘Greatest Natural Disaster’. Since then, the number of USGS streamgages increased from one to about 230 currently operating in Ohio,” said Scott Jackson, USGS Ohio Water Science Center Deputy Director. “Today, the USGS and its partners maintain about 8,000 streamgages nationwide.”

This collection of stream data is necessary to flood science because it provides real-time information and a database of field-measurement data, streamflow statistics, and annual peak streamflows that are available online through the USGS National Water Information System.

“The USGS and its partners are currently developing flood warning systems that serve as a foundation for making science-based decisions to better manage flood risks and mitigate flood impacts,” Jackson said.

New USGS flood inundation maps are underway for Marietta, Beverly, McConnellsville, and multiple sites in Licking County, Ohio.

The USGS WaterAlert service allows subscribers to receive daily or hourly updates about current conditions in rivers, lakes, and groundwater.
(High resolution image)

Other USGS flood-related tools include:

WaterWatch, a website that displays maps, graphs, and tables describing real-time, recent, and past streamflow conditions in the U.S.;
WaterNow which relays on-demand current conditions and water data to a user’s mobile phone or e-mail;
WaterAlert which sends an e-mail or text message when streamflow or streamgage measurements exceed user-defined thresholds.

Historical information on the 1913 flood and current-day tips on flood preparedness, mitigation, and more can be found on the Silver Jackets “Flood of 1913” website. The Silver Jackets program assembles teams of local, State, and Federal agencies, including the USGS, to work together to prepare and respond to natural disasters such as floods.

More information about USGS streamgaging in Ohio is available online.

The USGS network of about 8,000 streamgages are used to track rising water in order to minimize or mitigate flood damages. ((High resolution image)

Media Advisory: Volcano Notification Service Available

OC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing) — Tue, 9 Oct 2012 14:09:59 EDT

MENLO PARK, Calif. — The U.S. Geological Survey Volcano Notification Service is now available for subscription.

VNS is a free service that sends email notifications about the status of volcanic activity and other significant events at volcanoes in the United States. VNS can be customized to deliver reports for certain volcanoes, or a region of volcanoes, and for the types of notifications desired.

The five USGS Volcano Observatories issue notifications on a regular basis and when activity is elevated within their area of responsibility:

Alaska and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (Alaska Volcano Observatory)
Washington, Oregon, and Idaho (Cascades Volcano Observatory)
Hawaii (Hawaiian Volcano Observatory)
California and Nevada (California Volcano Observatory)
Arizona, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming (Yellowstone Volcano Observatory)

Reporters and news media outlets can now have critical information about current U.S. volcanic activity delivered via email directly from the USGS as soon as it’s available.

To subscribe, visit http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/vns/.

For additional information about subscription parameters, visit http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/vns/help.php.

A Big Day for Science: Citizens Have Contributed One Million Observations to Top Nature Database

OC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing) — Thu, 3 May 2012 9:00:00 EDT

RESTON, Va. — Thanks to citizen-scientists around the country, the USA National Phenology Network hit a major milestone this week by reaching its one millionth nature observation.

The millionth observation was done by Lucille Tower, a citizen-scientist in Portland, Ore., who entered a record about seeing maple vines flowering. Her data, like all of the entries, came in through USA-NPN’s online observation program, Nature's Notebook, which engages more than 4,000 volunteers across the country to observe and record phenology – the timing of the recurring life events of plants and animals such as when cherry trees or lilacs blossom, when robins build their nests, when salmon swim upstream to spawn or when leaves turn colors in the fall.

Each record not only represents a single data point — the status of a specific life stage of an individual plant or animal on one day – but also benefits both science and society by helping researchers understand how plants and animals are responding to climate change and, in turn, how those responses are affecting people and ecological systems.

"My dream is that through the wonders of modern technology and the National Phenology Network we could turn the more than six billion people on the planet into components of our scientific observing system," said USGS Director Marcia McNutt. "We could make giant leaps in science education, improve the spatial and temporal coverage of the planet, lower the cost of scientific data collection, and all while making ordinary citizens feel a part of the scientific process."

Jake Weltzin, a U.S. Geological Survey scientist and the executive director of USA-NPN, concurs. "Hitting the one millionth observation is exciting because researchers and decision-makers need more information to understand and respond to our rapidly changing planet. More information means better-informed decisions that ensure the continued vitality of our natural areas that we all depend on and enjoy."

For example, said Weltzin, the data in Nature's Notebook are already being used to benefit society, including the development of more accurate indicators of spring, forecasting the onset of allergy seasons or the chances of western wildfires, managing wildlife and invasive plants, and setting goals for habitat restoration. Ultimately, such information can be used for better managing water resources, wildlife and ecosystem management, and even help farmers and ranchers across the nation.

Changes in phenology are among the most sensitive biological indicators of global change. Across the world, many springtime events are occurring earlier — and fall events happening later — than in the past. These changes are happening quickly for some species and more slowly, or not at all, for others, altering relationships and processes that have been dynamically stable for thousands of years. Some wildlife —like caribou and butterflies — are becoming mismatched from their plant food resources, which are responding differently. Migrations for some birds are changing too, as they can now overwinter instead of moving south for the winter, or as they fly north more quickly to keep pace with an advancing front of spring flowering.

Because of this, said Weltzin, scientists need more and better information about the pace and pattern of nature — locally to nationally — to answer important scientific and societal questions, and to build the tools and models needed to help people understand and adapt to the changes.

"So much of our improved understanding about global environmental changes is driven by varied and valuable sources of information that include networks of citizen-scientists," said John Wingfield, National Science Foundation’s assistant director for biological sciences. "The public at large has played an important role collecting observations and data for a hundred years and more. Knowledge and data gained from their work will continue to have a lasting effect on how we understand regularly recurring biological phenomena for hundreds of plant and animal species and contribute to the policy arena."

Gwen Lundburg in Seattle is one citizen-scientist who has contributed hundreds of entries into Nature’s Notebook. "Just noticing small changes like tiny purple lilac buds suddenly turning green has taught me to look more closely at my plants," Lundburg said. "I see things in my garden I never saw before."

With the help of citizen-scientist volunteers, working in concert with professionals, the USA-NPN, which was established in 2007, collects, stores and freely shares phenological data on more than 800 species of plants and animals. The Nature’s Notebook observing program has been in operation since 2009. The coordinating office of the organization is located at 1955 E. 6^th St., Tucson, Ariz., 85721. For more information, visit the USA National Phenology Network, or contact Jake Weltzin at 520-626-3821 or jweltzin@usgs.gov.

Media Advisory: Hazards Maps Show Quake Risk In and Around Evansville

OC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing) — Fri, 3 Feb 2012 9:00:34 EDT

A new series of seismic hazard maps that outline the effects from quakes occurring in the Evansville, Ind., area will be unveiled by the U.S. Geological Survey and local and regional partners. These earthquake hazard maps are critical tools for business leaders, city planners, emergency management and homeowners since the area is at risk from both the New Madrid and the Wabash Valley seismic zones.

When:	Tuesday, Feb. 7 1 to 5 p.m.: Technical program will be presented, targeted to business leaders, planners, engineers, building officials, and first responders. 5:30 to 7p.m.: The program will be geared toward a general audience.
Where:	Southern Indiana Career & Technology Center, 1901 Lynch Road, Evansville, Ind.
Why:	The maps can be used by business leaders, city planners, utilities, and emergency managers to better prepare for future earthquakes and reduce losses. The maps are also of interest to property owners and the general public.
Who:	The USGS and other project contributors will host. There will be a special portrayal of Eliza Bryan, who lived in New Madrid from 1780 until 1866. She survived the 1811–1812 New Madrid earthquakes and left detailed accounts of her experiences. Earthquake geologist Phyllis Steckel will portray Eliza Bryan and share the survivor’s recollections of the Mississippi River running backwards and upheavals of the earth’s surface during those earthquakes.

The Evansville Area Earthquake Hazards Mapping Project is funded by the USGS National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program. The USGS, Southwest Indiana Disaster Resistant Community Corporation, Purdue University, the Center for Earthquake Research and Information at the University of Memphis and the Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois state geological surveys are project leaders. The Central U.S. Earthquake Consortium State Geologists are also involved.

For more information about the earthquake hazard maps, please contact Oliver Boyd at 901-678-3463 or olboyd@usgs.gov, or visit the Evansville Area Earthquake Hazards Mapping Project. Register for the event by sending an e-mail to: eqworkshop2012@gmail.com. There is no charge to attend.

Invasive Carps Could Find a Home in Lake Erie

OC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 11:00:00 EDT

Lake Erie and its largest tributaries are suitable habitats for invasive Asian carps to reproduce and mature, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey study.

The USGS study found that the Maumee, Sandusky, and Grand rivers are hospitable environments for Asian carps, potentially allowing the invasive fish to establish a self-sustaining population in western Lake Erie. Currently, federal agencies are working in partnership with Great Lakes States to implement a series of measures to prevent Asian carps from entering the Great Lakes Basin and possibly damaging native fish populations and the Great Lakes economy.

"While the finding of a hospitable environment is not the scientific outcome we and our partners might have hoped for, the clear implication is that conditions exist which could allow for the establishment of breeding populations of Asian carps in Lake Erie," said USGS director Marcia McNutt. "Experience has shown that if they do, the native fish, and the economy that depends on them, could suffer gravely.”

Silver, bighead, and grass carps are Asian carp species that typically spawn in rivers during high summer flows, and, as demonstrated by previous research, can threaten ecosystems by competing with native fish for food. At present, there are no known self-sustaining bighead or silver carp populations in the Great Lakes.

To determine if these and other species of Asian carp can potentially mature in Lake Erie and if river conditions are favorable for them to spawn, the USGS researchers studied water temperatures in the lake and water velocity during flood events in eight major tributaries over the past 20 years.

The new study found that the Maumee River, which enters western Lake Erie at Toledo, is highly suitable for Asian carps to mature and spawn, and the Sandusky River, which enters western Lake Erie near Sandusky, Ohio, and the Grand River, which enters central Lake Erie at Fairport Harbor, are moderately suitable.

"We are getting a clearer picture of the threat Asian carps pose to western Lake Erie, and that picture suggests there is cause for concern," said Patrick Kocovsky, USGS scientist and an author of the report.

This USGS research effort, coupled with previously published research on Asian carp food availability in western Lake Erie, is the first to demonstrate the potential for Asian carps to successfully reproduce within the Great Lakes Basin.

Federal and state agencies and other partners are undertaking aggressive tracking and monitoring of the invasive species, have installed electric barriers in the Chicago Area Waterways System to keep Asian carp from moving toward Lake Michigan, and constructed a 1,500-foot fence to block advancement of Asian carp from the Wabash River to the Maumee and Lake Erie.

The USGS study, published in the Journal of Great Lakes Research, can be accessed online.

Local Information May Prevent Many Great Lakes Beach Closures

OC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing) — Tue, 3 Jan 2012 14:53:40 EDT

Porter, IN – Water quality information collected by local officials may provide increased beach access while minimizing swimming-related illnesses from harmful bacteria, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey study.

The USGS study found that current water quality testing at Great Lakes beaches may be applied too broadly, possibly resulting in as many as 681 more Chicago-area beach closings between 2004 and 2010 than may have occurred if a more localized approach was taken.

"Recent studies have determined that closure of Great Lakes beaches to recreational use represents significant economic losses that are compounded if all beaches in one area are simultaneously closed down," said USGS director Marcia McNutt. "Any time that science can be used to prevent unnecessary closures such that human health is still protected and the economy doesn't needlessly suffer, everyone wins."

The commonly applied federal health study guidelines, set forth by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, were based on studies conducted at beaches directly affected by sewage contamination. Although the EPA criteria provide flexibility for the use of local data, they are currently applied at all beaches when determining whether to close a beach or issue a swimming advisory, regardless of whether there is a sewage source.

"By basing their beach closure decisions on local variations in bacteria concentrations, beach managers likely will be able to keep their beaches open more often, without increasing the presumed health risk or violating the EPA guidelines," said Meredith Nevers, a scientist with the USGS Lake Michigan Ecological Research Station. "Our goal is to make local beach managers fully aware of the flexibility that the EPA is providing in its current guidelines."

The USGS study examined historic monitoring data from 50 Lake Michigan beaches in Illinois and Indiana. New calculations using local monitoring results for the 50 sites indicated that the current applications may be more conservative than necessary for these and most coastal beaches across the country.

The EPA is expected to release new recreational water quality criteria in October 2012 that, like the current guidelines, will apply to all coastal marine and Great Lakes beaches.

This USGS Great Lakes Science Center research was funded by the USGS Ocean Research Priorities Plan and the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

The article, published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, can be downloaded here (PDF).

Picky Pollinators

OC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing) — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 12:00:00 EDT

Native Bees are Selective about Where They Live and Feed

Note to Editors: It’s National Pollinator Week, June 20-26

INDIANA DUNES NATIONAL LAKESHORE, Ind. — Native bees – often small, stingless, solitary and unnoticed in the flashier world of stinging honeybees – are quite discriminating about where they live, according to U.S. Geological Survey research.

The study found that, overall, composition of a plant community is a weak predictor of the composition of a bee community, which may seem counterintuitive at first, said USGS scientist and study lead Ralph Grundel. This may be because specialized plant-bee interactions, in which a given bee species only pollinates one plant species and that plant species is only pollinated by that bee species are not common. More common is for a plant species to be pollinated by many pollinator species and each pollinator species pollinating many species of plants.

Given this complex network of interaction between plants and their pollinators, it is not surprising that knowing which plants occur in an area does not necessarily allow us to predict which bees will occur in that area, Grundel said.

Unraveling such mysteries surrounding how native bees inhabit and use different habitats is especially essential now -- the National Academy of Sciences has reported that not only is there direct evidence for decline of some pollinator species in North America, but also very little is known about the status and health of most of the world's wild pollinators. Yet without them, the ability of agricultural crops and wild plants to produce food products and seeds is jeopardized.

"The issues facing honeybees introduced pollinators whose populations are spiraling downward, means that it is even more vital to understand the role of native bees as pollinators and how they divide up and use a landscape," said Grundel.

Many studies have been conducted to determine how a variety of animals – birds, mammals, and reptiles, for example – use their native landscapes, but few such studies have been undertaken for native bees. “That’s why this type of study is fundamental for enhancing our understanding of native bee distribution,” Grundel said. “Our research findings clearly reveal that maintenance of a diverse and abundant bee community requires that managers consider a suite of local and landscape characteristics and management actions.”

Grundel and his colleagues wanted to find out if the kinds of plants that live in different habitats can predict what kinds of bees will be there or if other factors – such as soil type, tree density or even fire -- are more important. To do this, the team surveyed landscapes and collected and identified nearly 5,000 native bees representing at least 175 species in five kinds of habitats at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and nearby natural areas around northwestern Indiana. These habitats ranged from dense forests to open fields.

"We had suspected that the closer our collecting sites were to each other the more similar the bees communities we found would be – but we were wrong," Grundel said. "In fact, mere physical proximity wasn't a very good predictor of how similar bee communities at different sites would be to each other. Instead, local factors – and even the micro-habitats that we often ignore – are really important in determining what kinds of bees use an area."

Because many native bees are ground- and cavity-nesters, the scientists weren’t surprised to find that an abundant supply of dead wood, such as woody debris and dead tree limbs, was essential in determining what kinds of bees lived where. They were surprised, however, at how important other factors were, including bee preferences for specific soil characteristics and for areas that had burned in the previous two years.

Bee abundance – how many bees were captured at a site – was lower in areas with a dense tree canopy and higher if a fire had occurred recently in the area. Bee diversity – the number of different kinds of bees – was higher in areas with less tree canopy, but with a higher diversity of flowering plants and an abundance of nesting resources, such as woody debris.

The presence of suitable nesting material was at least as important in determining how many types of bees might use a site as was diversity of plants, which provide nectar and pollen to the bees. The composition of an entire bee community was linked to higher plant variety, less canopy cover and soil characteristics that may be best-suited for nesting.

The study found that specialist bees – those picky native bees that gather pollen from only a few kinds of plants – were more likely to live in open areas than areas with a higher density of trees.

"Specialist bees, not surprisingly, were also more associated with the presence of native plants in the areas, but a lot of these native plants were more likely to occur in disturbed areas, including areas that had recently been burned and, somewhat to our surprise, residential areas where soil disturbance is commonplace," Grundel said.

However, specialist bees were often rarer and mainly used open habitats, such as grasslands and savannas. According to a 2005 study, said Grundel, such open Midwest habitats are today perhaps the most poorly conserved habitats on the planet, causing concern about long-term conservation of such bee species.

"At several locations around the world, specialist bumblebees living in plant rich areas, such as these open habitats, have declined significantly," Grundel said. "Similar bumblebee declines have been documented in the Midwest U.S. Documenting how diet breadth, rarity and habitat use are related is important for understanding such patterns of decline and was one of the main objectives of our study. We collected six bumblebee species in our study while a 1930s study in this area collected twelve species. Four of the species we did not find in our study have been identified as bumblebees of special concern due to their disappearance from sites across the Midwest."

USGS researchers in Indiana and Maryland are following up on this research with a recently initiated study examining how native bee populations across the national park system might be affected by climatic variation.

The paper, Floral and nesting resources, habitat structure, and fire influence bee distribution across an open-forest gradient, was published in Ecological Applications and may be read online . Primary authors are Ralph Grundel, USGS; Robert Jean, Indiana State University; and Krystalynn Frohnapple and Noel Pavlovic, USGS.

[Access images for this release at: &amp;lt;a href="http://gallery.usgs.gov/tags/NR2011_06_21" _mce_href="http://gallery.usgs.gov/tags/NR2011_06_21"&amp;gt;http://gallery.usgs.gov/tags/NR2011_06_21&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;]

USGS Crews Measure Flooding in Indiana

OC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing) — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 17:22:47 EDT

Reporters: Do you want to accompany a USGS field crew as they measure flooding? Please contact Paul Baker: 317-290-3333 x 181, 317-697-1619 (cell), or prbaker@usgs.gov.

Widespread moderate and isolated major flooding is occurring within the southern portion of Indiana. Most impacted include the Lost River basin in Orange County, along the Patoka River near Princeton, the East Fork of the White River from Seymour to Shoals, the Wabash River below Vincennes, and along the lowest reaches of the White River in the southern third of Indiana at this time. Daily updates of flood conditions impacting Indiana may be found online .

This morning, April 25, 2011, water levels exceeded flood stage at 22 USGS streamgage sites around Indiana. Moderate flooding is occurring on the East Fork White River, Lower White River, and the Lower Wabash River, all located in the southwestern portion of the state. Forecast heavy precipitation may push these sites to major flood levels by the end of this week.

Multiple USGS field crews are measuring discharge at USGS streamflow sites today and keeping the gage network operational. Since Tuesday, April 19th, USGS crews have made approximately 18 discharge measurements throughout the southern half of the state.

During and after storms and floods, USGS field crews measure the flow and height of rivers and verify the accuracy of streamgages. Field crews continue to work as waters recede, gathering high water marks for post flood analysis. This information is important because it is used to issue flood warnings and to characterize flood hazards.

“These are major floods and we know that people’s lives are at risk, so we work rapidly to make accurate flood measurements and keep our real-time streamgages operating,” said Scott Morlock USGS Supervisory Hydrologist. “If any of the streamgages are damaged or destroyed, we will repair them as quickly as possible to ensure that the data are available to State and local emergency managers, the National Weather Service for flood-forecasting, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for flood-control operations.”

For more than 125 years, the USGS has monitored flow in selected streams and rivers across the U.S. The information is routinely used for water supply and management, monitoring floods and droughts, bridge and road design, determination of flood risk, and for many recreational activities.

Access current flood and high flow conditions across the country by visiting the USGS WaterWatch website. Receive instant, customized updates about water conditions in your area via text message or email by signing up for USGS WaterAlert.

The USGS operates a network of about 7500 streamgages throughout the U.S. The gages provide critical information within minutes to many users including the National Weather Service, which issues flood warnings.

USGS Water Science Centers are located in each state. They can provide more detailed information on stream conditions and on the USGS response to local events.

Tattered Wings: Bats Grounded by White-Nose Syndrome's Lethal Effects on Life-Support Functions of Wings

OC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing) — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 11:47:54 EDT

Madison, Wisconsin—Damage to bat wings from the fungus associated with white-nose syndrome (WNS) may cause catastrophic imbalance in life-support processes, according to newly published research.

This imbalance may be to blame for the more than 1 million deaths of bats due to WNS thus far, proposes Carol Meteyer, a pathologist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Wildlife Health Center and a lead author of the research published in BMC Biology.

Physiological problems caused by the novel fungus, may, in fact, represent a completely new disease paradigm for mammals, Meteyer and her colleagues wrote. Other skin infections in mammals due to fungi (ringworm, athlete’s foot) remain superficial and do not invade living tissue—typically they only affect the surface of skin, hair and nails.

Not so for the aptly named Geomyces destructans.

Related Podcasts

Tattered Wings: Bats Grounded by White-Nose Syndrome’s Lethal Effects on Life-Support Functions of Wings

Download directly | Details

or subscribe by e-mail.

“This fungus is amazingly destructive — it digests, erodes, and invades the skin — particularly the wings — of hibernating bats,” said Meteyer. “The ability of this fungus to invade bats’ wing skin is unlike that of any known skin fungal pathogen in land mammals.”

The authors examined nearly 200 bats that had died from WNS, and also reviewed the critical function and physiology of bat wings during hibernation. As a result, they propose that G. destructans may cause unsustainable dehydration in hibernating bats, triggering thirst-associated arousals. In addition to the direct damage to the wings that would alter flight control, the erosion and invasion of skin may also cause significant changes in circulation, body-temperature regulation and respiratory function.

Since signs of the disease were first observed in New York during the winter of 2006-07, the fungus has spread through 11 states and 2 Canadian provinces, resulting in the first sustained high-mortality disease affecting bats in recorded history. Biologists assume that as the disease spreads to new areas, cave-hibernating bats in those areas will also be at risk, including some that are endangered.

“The high number of bat deaths and range of species being affected far exceeds the rate and magnitude of any previously known natural or human-caused mortality event in bats, and possibly in any other mammals,” said Paul Cryan, a lead author of the paper and a USGS bat ecologist at the Fort Collins Science Center.

Although the powdery white muzzles of affected bats gave the disease its name, the authors believe that the skin of bat wings is the most significant, though often less obvious, target of the fungus.

The order of bats is called Chiroptera, Greek for “hand-wing,” appropriately named since bat wings are essentially modified arms. Imagine, for a moment, your human hand with its fingers spread apart. Then imagine your fingers are 6 feet long, and the whole skeletal affair is covered with two layers of thin, somewhat transparent membranes attached to the sides of your torso and legs. Sandwiched between the membranes are blood and lymphatic vessels, delicate nerves, muscles and special connective tissues that help you fly and help keep you physiologically healthy.

“The disproportionately large areas of exposed skin that make up bat wings play critical roles in maintaining safe internal body conditions during hibernation,” noted Cryan. “Healthy wings are essential for day-to-day survival, even during winter when bats are mostly just hanging around. Wings damaged by the fungus may not always look so bad to the naked eye, but under the microscope things get ugly fast.”

When Meteyer examined wings of diseased bats microscopically, she discovered wing damage was often so severe that it led her and her colleagues to suggest multiple life-threatening effects on hibernating bats.

“A bat’s wings,” said Meteyer, “are obviously critical for flying, but they also play a vital part in essential functions such as body temperature, blood pressure, water balance and blood and gas circulation and exchange.”

Healthy bats occasionally rouse themselves from hibernation, probably to change roosts, drink, mate and even overcome sleep deprivation, biologists think. But bats afflicted with WNS arouse much more often. In fact, a characteristic of hibernation sites with WNS is daytime flights of affected bats outside caves.

“The prevailing hypothesis is that daytime winter flight is a last-ditch effort for starving bats to find insect prey,” Cryan said. “What we propose is that thirst, and maybe not always hunger, is driving these arousals. Unusual thirst during hibernation may result from water essentially leaking out of wings damaged by the fungus.”

Anecdotally, bats at hibernacula affected by WNS are sometimes seen flying over and drinking from water surfaces or eating snow, highlighting the plausibility of this hypothesis, the authors noted.

Hibernation itself is one reason this emerging disease is so successful. During hibernation, a bat’s immune function and metabolism are dramatically reduced, and body temperature drops significantly. Also, some of the worst-affected bat species roost in humid areas in dense clusters to conserve energy and decrease moisture loss.

“These ideal environmental conditions, combined with the hibernating bat’s suppressed immune system, likely allow the fungus to invade body tissues for nutrients without resistance, making the hibernating bat a most accommodating host for this new disease,” Meteyer said.

The researchers compare the ability of this novel bat fungus to destabilize internal functions with the electrolyte imbalance that occurs in frogs infected by chytrid fungus, which, like G. destructans, is a novel disease of vertebrates. Chytrid infection impairs the ability of frog skin to regulate hydration and internal equilibrium, causing electrolyte imbalance and ultimately cardiac arrest.

“The skin plays a critical role in the physiology of both amphibians and bats,” Meteyer said. “We suggest that a similar, but less subtle, disturbance could be occurring in the wing membranes of bats with WNS.”

The journal article can be accessed online.

[Access images for this release at: &amp;lt;a href="http://gallery.usgs.gov/tags/NR2010_12_14" _mce_href="http://gallery.usgs.gov/tags/NR2010_12_14"&amp;gt;http://gallery.usgs.gov/tags/NR2010_12_14&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;]

Mercury Elevated in Fish and Waters throughout Indiana

OC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing) — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 10:00:00 EDT

Mercury contamination in water and fish throughout Indiana has routinely exceeded levels recommended to protect people and wildlife. About 1 in 8 fish samples tested statewide had mercury that exceeded the recommended safety limit for human consumption. The causes include mercury in the rain and mercury going down the drain, according to a recently released federal study.

The most significant source of mercury to Indiana watersheds is fallout from the air. Much of the mercury in the air comes from human activity. In Indiana, coal-burning power plants emit more mercury to the air each year than any other human activity. In urban areas, wastewater discharge contributes a substantial portion of mercury to waterways.

These are among the key findings of a comprehensive study of mercury in the state’s watersheds during the past decade by the U.S. Geological Survey in partnership with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.

“Indiana has been a national leader in understanding its mercury problems through a long-term statewide network of monitoring,” said USGS hydrologist Martin Risch, who led the study. “Actions by the IDEM provided data about mercury in fish and wastewater. Our understanding of mercury would not have been possible without their cooperation,” said Risch.

During the study, scientists examined mercury in water, fish, precipitation, dry fallout, and wastewater to determine the causes and effects of mercury moving through the environment. They also examined landscape characteristics, precipitation, and streamflow for a total of more than 380,000 pieces of data that provide a snapshot of mercury in Indiana.

“The amount of mercury in precipitation was the main factor affecting mercury levels in the state’s watersheds,” said Risch. “But wastewater discharge can be a significant source of mercury. When wastewater is delivered to a stream from hundreds of discharge pipes, it increases mercury levels in watersheds more than was previously recognized,” said Risch.

Mercury was detected in 96 percent of the wastewater discharge samples from public treatment facilities in this study. Mercury in wastewater samples typically exceeded criteria set to protect people and wildlife. Higher numbers of discharge pipes in a watershed were linked to higher levels of mercury in the streams.

As a consequence, water from the White River near Indianapolis had some of the highest mercury concentrations and carried some of the highest mercury amounts found statewide. The White River and Fall Creek near Indianapolis had high percentages of fish with mercury levels above the safety standard.

The Patoka River watershed in southern Indiana had the highest rate of mercury dry deposition. Mercury concentrations measured in air samples led scientists to estimate more mercury was dry deposited to this watershed in an average year than was deposited by rain. This watershed contains the most forest land. Forest canopies act as a trap for mercury in the air.

For southeastern Indiana, an innovative mapping technique helped scientists to learn that watersheds there received average annual inputs of mercury from precipitation that were the highest in the state.

Water draining from reservoirs in this study had significantly higher percentages of mercury converted to methylmercury than water from streams without dams. Dams can trap mercury transported by suspended particles in streams. Once the particulate mercury settles in the lake or reservoir behind the dam, natural processes change some of it to methylmercury, a toxin that accumulates in organisms throughout their life. Methylmercury levels are amplified up the food chain and reach high levels in some sport fish and in fish that serve as food for wildlife.

The report, “Mercury in Indiana Watersheds: Retrospective for 2001-2006,” is available on-line. Printed copies may be obtained by contacting the USGS Indiana Water Science Center at 317-290-3333.

Loons Tracked by Satellites Will Uncover Mysteries of Their Migration

OC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing) — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 14:28:36 EDT

Tagged Birds Will Shed Light on How Avian Botulism is Transmitted

Ten common loons are now sporting satellite transmitters so researchers can study the migratory movements and feeding patterns of these remarkable fish-eating waterbirds as they migrate through the Great Lakes toward their winter homes farther south.

By using satellite tracking devices implanted in the loons from Wisconsin and Minnesota, USGS scientists expect to learn essential information about avian botulism needed by managers to develop important conservation strategies for the loon species.

Biologist Jeff Wilson releases a loon marked with a geolocator tag on a lake in northern Wisconsin.

Geolocator tag is shown attached to a common loon's leg band using marine epoxy and cable ties.

“This study will also help managers better understand how loons fare as they head to their wintering grounds along the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic coasts,” said USGS scientist Kevin Kenow, of the Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center (UMESC) in La Cross, WI. “Right now, little is known about habitat use along their entire migratory routes.”

Common loons, a large black and white waterbird with haunting calls, are an iconic species in the Great Lakes states where they are most abundant. Unlike most birds which have hollow bones, loon bones are dense, helping them to dive to depths of some 250 feet in their search for food.

In addition to satellite transmitter-marked loons, about 70 other loons will have geolocator tags, which will record daily location, temperature, light levels and water-pressure data that will log the foraging depths of these diving birds. “This information will help shed light on how avian botulism may work in the food web on the Great Lakes,” said Kenow, the leader of the migration project.

Botulism, which has caused more than 80,000 bird deaths on the Great Lakes since 1999, causes paralysis and death of vertebrates who ingest neurotoxin produced by the botulism bacterium. The USGS study on avian botulism on the Great Lakes, funded by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, will examine the pathways by which fish and birds acquire botulinum toxin from Great Lakes food webs and determine how avian botulism outbreaks are related to environmental variables such as water quality and food web structure. Avian botulism outbreaks have resulted in periodic and often huge die-offs of fish-eating birds since at least the 1960s, but outbreaks have become more common and widespread since 1999, particularly in Lakes Michigan and Erie.

“Understanding feeding patterns and exposure routes of waterbird species at high risk for botulism die-offs, such as the common loon, is central to understanding how botulism exposure happens in the aquatic food chains in the Great Lakes and to eventually identifying what drives botulism outbreaks,” said Kenow, “Only then, can we help provide tools to prevent or lessen such outbreaks.”

Movement of loons from previous studies carrying satellite transmitters can be followed online at the USGS UMESC website. Loon movements from the current study will be available later this summer.

More information on avian botulism can be found at USGS National Wildlife Health Center website

In addition to the UMESC, the USGS Great Lakes Science Center, National Wildlife Health Center and Michigan Water Science Center are involved in the Great Lakes botulism study. The University of Florida’s College of Veterinary Medicine, Wisconsin and Minnesota Departments of Natural Resources, and St. John’s Abbey and University provided support to various aspects of the migration project.

Developing a Way to Monitor the Nation's Groundwater Resources

OC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing) — Mon, 8 Mar 2010 11:10:58 EDT

Groundwater supplies a majority of the nation’s community water systems and almost half of its irrigation, but there is currently no system that can provide a nationwide assessment and evaluation of the conditions, availability or water-quality trends of the country’s groundwater resources. To respond to the need for better knowledge of this valuable resource, five pilot projects have been chosen to test the concept of a National Ground Water Monitoring Network.

“It’s like having a bank account and not knowing how much money you have and whether you are losing or gaining money over time,” said Robert Schreiber, P.E., co-chair of the Advisory Committee on Water Information’s Subcommittee on Ground Water, which developed the conceptual Network. “But instead of money, you have groundwater, which supplies 78 percent of community water systems, provides water for nearly all of rural America and accounts for 42 percent of the nation’s irrigation water.”

“Water has increasing importance in local, regional and national policy decisions,” said Matthew C. Larsen, Associate Director for Water at the U. S. Geological Survey. “With population growth, shifts in development, land use, irrigation and growing concern with the effects of climate change on water resources, it’s essential for scientists, resource managers and policymakers to have access to sound information as a basis for decisions on ways to meet human and ecosystem water needs.”

Federal, regional, state and local governments monitor groundwater resources, but the data are neither easily compiled nor readily accessible across political boundaries. Data are also not gathered in some areas. That’s where the pilots come into play.

“Watershed-based decision-making is a complex and challenging process,” said Mike Shapiro, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Office of Water and EPA's representative on the Advisory Committee on Water Information. “Significant demands exist on our nation’s water resources. State groundwater monitoring pilot projects are an excellent first step in understanding the efficacy of assembling a national groundwater data set to support watershed decisions on a more comprehensive basis.”

The USGS, the EPA and pilot partners from Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey and Texas will collaborate to assess currently available data, review methods of data collection and storage, pinpoint data gaps and test data-sharing feasibility.

“Montana has more than 900 routinely monitored wells, and the potential to easily share our data with others to improve national-scale assessments is exciting,” said Thomas Patton of the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology and Montana’s pilot project leader. “Additionally, by working together, federal support may eventually become available to assist state-operated networks with some of their costs to provide data consistent with national interests.”

The pilot phase kicked off January 28, 2010, and the final pilot report is anticipated to be completed in March 2011. Although many states submitted quality applications to be pilots, existing resources allowed the Subcommittee to select only five partners. The pilot phase will provide valuable lessons learned, so, if funding becomes available in the future, the project can grow into a truly nationwide network.

“The Ground Water Protection Council appreciates the opportunity to help design and participate in initiating the pilot phase through several of our state members,” said Mike Paque, Ground Water Protection Council Executive Director. “Our states all realize that groundwater is one of their most valuable resources and is critical to meeting future water supply needs.”

John Jansen, the National Ground Water Association’s Subcommittee representative, captured the essence of the pilot projects: “This is the next logical step toward responsible stewardship of the nation’s water resources and the ecology and economy that depend on them.”

For more information regarding the pilot project or concepts for a Network, visit the Subcommittee on Ground Water’s Web site.

The Subcommittee on Ground Water was established by the Advisory Committee on Water Information to develop a framework that establishes and encourages implementation of a long-term national groundwater level and quality monitoring network. The Subcommittee, together with its working groups, includes more than 70 people representing the private sector and 54 different organizations, including nongovernmental organizations, state and local agencies, federal agencies and academia.

Virulent Fish Virus Identified for First Time in Lake Superior:

OC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing) — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 16:21:01 EDT

Viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus poses threats to fisheries and aquaculture

For the first time, the presence of an exceptionally virulent fish virus (viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus or VHSV) has been identified in fish from Lake Superior by researchers at the Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and confirmed by scientists at the USGS Western Fisheries Research Center in Seattle.

The disease (VHS) caused by the virus can result in significant losses in populations of wild fish as well as in stocks of fish reared by aquaculture. It is of sufficient global concern to be one of only nine fish diseases that must be reported to the World Organization for Animal Health.

The virus was first identified in the Great Lakes in 2005 when it was recovered from fish experiencing massive die-offs. Over the last 5 years, one die-off in Lake Ontario resulted in the death of 40,000 freshwater drum in 4 days. The virus had been found in fish from all of the Great Lakes except Superior, as well as in the Niagara and St. Lawrence rivers, and inland lakes in New York, Michigan and Wisconsin. The disease causes internal bleeding in fish, and although in the family of viruses that includes rabies, is not harmful to humans.

Cornell investigators tested 874 fish collected last summer from seven sites in Lake Superior. Using a new genetic test developed at Cornell, fish from four of seven sites tested positive for the virus: Paradise, Mich., Skanee, Mich., St. Louis, Bay, Wisc., and Superior Bay, Wisc. The VHSV-positive species included yellow perch, white sucker, rock bass and bluegill. To confirm these findings, tissues from fish at one of the sites (Paradise) were sent to the USGS Western Fisheries Research Center where VHSV experts Drs. Gael Kurath and James Winton provided independent confirmation of the Cornell findings.

“VHS is one of the most important diseases of finfish,” said Winton. “It not only affects the health and well-being of populations of several important native fish species, but it can also impact trade, and, should it spread into the U.S. aquaculture industry, could do substantial damage as happened in Europe and parts of Japan.”

Previous genetic research at the USGS Western Fisheries Research Center and by colleagues from Canada showed that this strain of the virus was probably introduced into the Great Lakes in the last 5 to 10 years, and that the fish die-offs occurring among different species and in different lakes should be considered as one large ongoing epidemic. Experts fear the disease could potentially spread from the

Great Lakes into new populations of native fish in the 31 states of the Mississippi River basin.

Federal and State agencies had previously placed restrictions on movement of fish or fish products to slow the spread of the virus; however, the presence of a reportable pathogen in the Great Lakes States, large mortalities among wild species, potential impacts on commercial aquaculture and disruption of interstate and international trade have caused substantial concern among management agencies.

For more information, visit the USGS VHSV Web site.

Pesticide Levels Decline in Corn Belt Rivers

OC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing) — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EDT

Concentrations of several major pesticides mostly declined or stayed the same in “Corn Belt” rivers and streams from 1996 to 2006, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey study.

The declines in pesticide concentrations closely followed declines in their annual applications, indicating that reducing pesticide use is an effective and reliable strategy for reducing pesticide contamination in streams.

Declines in concentrations of the agricultural herbicides cyanazine, alachlor and metolachlor show the effectiveness of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulatory actions as well as the influence of new pesticide products. In addition, declines from 2000 to 2006 in concentrations of the insecticide diazinon correspond to the EPA’s national phase-out of nonagricultural uses. The USGS works closely with the EPA, which uses USGS findings on pesticide trends to track the effectiveness of changes in pesticide regulations and use.

Scientists studied 11 herbicides and insecticides frequently detected in the Corn Belt region, which generally includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska and Ohio, as well as parts of adjoining states. This area has among the highest pesticide use in the nation — mostly herbicides used for weed control in corn and soybeans. As a result, these pesticides are widespread in the region’s streams and rivers, largely resulting from runoff from cropland and urban areas.

Elevated concentrations can affect aquatic organisms in streams as well as the quality of drinking water in some high-use areas where surface water is used for municipal supply. Four of the 11 pesticides evaluated for trends were among those most often found in previous USGS studies to occur at levels of potential concern for healthy aquatic life. Atrazine, the most frequently detected, is also regulated in drinking water.

“Pesticide use is constantly changing in response to such factors as regulations, market forces, and advances in science,” said Dan Sullivan, lead scientist for the study. “For example, acetochlor was registered by the EPA in 1994 with a goal of reducing use of alachlor and other major corn herbicides — acetochlor use rapidly increased to a constant level by about 1996, and alachlor use declined. Cyanazine use also decreased rapidly from 1992 to 2000, as it was phased out because of environmental concerns. Metolachlor use did not markedly decrease until about 1998, when S-metolachlor, a more effective version that requires lower application rates, was introduced. Each of these declines in use was accompanied by similar declines in concentrations.”

Although trends in concentration and use almost always closely corresponded, concentrations of atrazine and metolachlor each declined in one stream more rapidly than their estimated use. According to Skip Vecchia, senior author of the report on this analysis, “The steeper decline in these instances may be caused by agricultural management practices that have reduced pesticide transport, but data on management practices are not adequate to definitively answer the question. Overall, use is the most dominant factor driving changes in concentrations.”

Only one pesticide — simazine, which is used for both agricultural and urban weed control — increased from 1996 to 2006. Concentrations of simazine in some streams increased more sharply than its trend in agricultural use, suggesting that non-agricultural uses of this herbicide, such as for controlling weeds in residential areas and along roadsides, increased during the study period.

The USGS study is based on analysis of 11 pesticides for 31 stream sites in the Corn Belt for two partially overlapping time periods: 1996 to 2002 and 2000 to 2006. Pesticides included in the trend analyses were the herbicides atrazine, acetochlor, metolachlor, alachlor, cyanazine, EPTC, simazine, metribuzin and prometon, and the insecticides chlorpyrifos and diazinon. Additional detailed analyses of relations between concentrations and use focused on four herbicides mainly used for weed control in corn (atrazine, acetochlor, metolachlor and alachlor) at a subset of 11 sites on the main rivers and selected large tributaries in the Ohio, Upper Mississippi and Missouri River basins.

Concentrations of many other pesticides that were less prevalent than the 11 included in the study were below analytical detection limits in most samples and thus could not be analyzed for trends. Glyphosate, an herbicide which has had rapidly increasing use on new genetically modified varieties of soybeans and corn, and which now is the most heavily used herbicide in the nation, was not measured until late in the study and thus had insufficient data for analysis of trends.

A USGS Scientific Investigations Report, ”Trends in Pesticide Concentrations in Corn-Belt Streams, 1996-2006,” (Analysis of concentration trends for 11 pesticides at 31 stream and river sites) and a journal article in the Environmental Science and Technology journal, “Trends in Concentrations and Use of Agricultural Herbicides for Corn Belt Rivers” (Analysis of concentration and use trends for 4 herbicides at 11 major river sites) is available online. Additional information, including data, reports and maps on pesticide status, trends and use may be found at the USGS Pesticide National Synthesis Project Web site.