Fresh Water Studies Commons^™

Functional Characterization Of Calcium Dependent Protein Kinase 32 From Arabidopsis, Rucha Karve

All Dissertations

Calcium-dependent protein kinases (CPKs) are major plant Ca2+ sensors, many of which have roles in plant stress responses. The Arabidopsis genome encodes 34 CPK isoforms. Here we report characterization of AtCPK32 gene function. Analysis of transgenic plants expressing pCPK32-GUS shows that CPK32 is highly expressed in roots, pollen and embryo, as well as leaf hydathodes, and the abscission zone of mature siliques. Real time RT-PCR and promoter expression patterns show that CPK32 is responsive to abiotic and biotic stresses. Plants treated with salt, ABA, osmotic stress (PEG), wounding, and flagellin 22 peptide show up-regulation of CPK32 upon these stress treatments. …

White River Forum Ii: Second Annual Meeting Of The White River Forum, John Havel, Kenneth Steele

Technical Reports

This second annual meeting of the White River Forum is proof of widespread interest in the water quality of the Upper White River watershed. The participation of numerous elected officials, state and federal agencies, universities, businesses, and local citizens indicates that interest in understanding policy issues crosses political boundaries and occupations.

Water As A Complex System: Understanding The Dynamics In A Changing Environment, Heejun Chang

Systems Science Friday Noon Seminar Series

The water resources system is constantly evolving over space and time at a range of scales. Human-induced climate change and land development are probably two major driving forces of water resource system changes. However, the impacts of such changes are region specific, which depend on watershed characteristics such as topography and geology. Numerical simulation models are useful tools for understanding the system dynamics by allowing the multiple interactions of system components. I will introduce case studies of the Pacific Northwest that examine how changing climate and population growth affect regional water resources at multiple spatial and temporal scales and explain …

Birch Bay Village Lakes 2009 Final Report, Robin A. Matthews, Joan Vandersypen, Jessie Rosanbalm

Birch Bay/Village Lakes

The Institute for Watershed Studies was contracted by the Birch Bay Village Lakes Committee to continue water testing at two sites in Kwann Lake and two sites in Thunderbird Lake (Figure 1, page 4). The sampling effort was initiated in August 2007 and the results were summarized in the Birch Bay Village Lakes 2008 Final Report. The 2009 final report summarizes all results collected from August 2007 through August 2009.

Collaborative Research: The Response Of Lakes To Disturbance And Climate Change: Calibrating Sedimentary Records To Test The Landscape Position Concept, Jasmine E. Saros

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

Landscape disturbance and climate change affect lakes in proportion to their contact with ground water, sometimes resulting in different responses in neighboring lakes. This project develops methods for reconstructing past water chemistry and food webs of lakes. The biological and chemical deposits in surface sediment samples will be compared with the water in 62 modern lakes. The resulting relationships will be tested by comparing sediment cores with 24 years of observations from the North Temperate Lakes Long Term Ecological Research (NTL-LTER) site. The methods will then be used to reconstruct 150 years of history for several lakes, adding perspective to …

Phytoplankton Blooms: Their Occurrence And Composition Within Virginia's Tidal Tributaries, Harold G. Marshall, Todd A. Egerton

Virginia Journal of Science

Sporadic algal bloom development within a 10 year monitoring program in Virginia tidal tributaries of Chesapeake Bay is reviewed. These blooms were common events, characteristically producing a color signature to the surface water, typically short lived, occurring mainly from spring into autumn throughout different salinity regions of these rivers, and were produced primarily by dinoflagellates. The abundance threshold levels that would identify bloom status from a non-bloom presence were species specific, varied with the taxon's cell size, and ranged from ca. 10 to 10⁴ cells mL^-1. Among the most consistent sporadic bloom producers were the dinoflagellates Akashiwo …

Droughtscape- Fall 2009, Kelly Smith

Droughtscape, Quarterly Newsletter of NDMC, 2007-

Drought Monitor Forum to be in Austin, Oct. 7-8

El Niño Likely to Bring More Needed Precipitation

NDMC Welcomes Visiting Chinese Scientist

TX, CA Feeling Worst of Impacts

Grant to Bring Climate Change Ed to Teachers

Speaking of Drought ...

NDMC Takes Message Across Nebraska and World

First Records Of Hypleurochilus Geminatus And Centropristis Philadelphica From Chesapeake Bay, Aimee D. Halvorson

Virginia Journal of Science

During the fall of 2007, Centropris philadelphica (rock seabass) and Hypleurochilus geminatus (Crested blenny) were collected from Chesapeake Bay. These captures are significant as they represent the first substantiated record of C. philadelphica from Chesapeake Bay and only the second and third validated records of H. geminatus. Additionally, the first record of H. geminatus from Chesapeake Bay was only recently recognized since the specimen had been previously misidentified as Parablennius marmoreus (seaweed blenny). The collection of seven individuals of H. geminatus in 2007, from two locations, indicates that the species may be resident within the Chesapeake Bay estuary.

Limnological Assistance For The Lake Mead National Recreation Area In Meeting The Challenge Of The Water 2025 Initiative: Quarterly Report, Period Ending September 30, 2009, Margaret N. Rees

Limnological Studies

Project 1: Two advisory team meetings were attended this year; technical input was provided as appropriate; and summaries were prepared and delivered to Kent Turner. The SCOP Selenium Management Plan has been reviewed with two reports provided.

Project 2: Whitepapers on the carp die-off due to Koi Herpes Virus (KHV) and on lead-base paint use on launch ramps were finalized and delivered to Mr. Turner.

Project 3: The Interagency Monitoring Action Plan (I-MAP) for Quagga Mussels has been approved for implementation.

Project 5: Seven articles based on presentations at the Lake Mead Science Symposium have been approved by the technical …

Tb202: Composition And Biomass Of Forest Floor Vegetation In Experimentally Acidified Paired Watersheds At The Bear Brook Watershed In Maine, Peter Kenlan, G. B. Wiersma, A. S. White, I. J. Fernandez

Technical Bulletins

The percentage cover (abundance), frequency of occurrence, biomass, species richness, and species diversity of understory herbs was measured on a paired watershed ecosystem in eastern Maine, USA. This paired watershed site (Bear Brook Watershed in Maine, BBWM) has had the West Bear Brook Watershed treated bi-monthly with granular ammonium sulfate at a rate of 28.8 kg S ha-1 yr-1 and 25.2 kg N ha-1 yr-1 since 1989. East Bear Brook Watershed serves as the reference site. More than 100 plots were randomly located across the two watersheds. The data suggest that there is generally a lower frequency of occurrence of …

Factors Influencing Perennial Pasture Adoption In The Medium Rainfall Zone Of The South West Natural Resource Management Region Of Western Australia, Ned Crossley, Stephen Tunbridge, Kathi Mcdonald

Resource management technical reports

No abstract provided.

Interagency Management Action Plan (I-Map) For Quagga Mussels, David Wong, Shawn Gerstenberger

Public Lands Institute Publications

Following the discovery of quagga mussels in Lake Mead, a variety of agencies, including National Park Service (NPS) Lake Mead National Recreational Area (LMNRA), Bureau of Reclamation (USBR), Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA), Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW), U.S. Fish and Wildlife (USFWS), Clean Water Coalition (CWC), and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have set up monitoring programs to evaluate and gain information to help minimize the impacts or potential impacts of quagga mussels to their facilities and lake ecology. Current monitoring activities and anticipated environmental impacts are depicted in Figures 1 and 2. While the agencies have worked closely and …

Interaction Of Fish Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Paralogs (Ahr1 And Ahr2) With The Retinoblastoma Protein, Rebeka R. Merson, Sibel I. Karchner, Mark E. Hahn

Faculty Publications

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) mediates the toxic effects of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-pdioxin (TCDD) and related compounds. In some mammalian cell lines, TCDD induces G1 cell cycle arrest, which depends on an interaction between the AHR and the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor (RB). Mammals possess one AHR, whereas fishes possess two or more AHR paralogs that differ in the domains important for AHR-RB interactions in mammals. To test the hypothesis that fish AHR paralogs differ in their ability to interact with RB, we cloned RB cDNA from Atlantic killifish, Fundulus heteroclitus, and studied the interactions of killifish RB protein with killifish AHR1 and …

Point And Nonpoint Source Analysis Of Nutrients, Metals, And Pathogens In The Sediment And Water Column In Las Vegas Wash, Christine Simmons, Kumud Acharya

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

Formerly an ephemeral watercourse, Las Vegas Wash is now a perennial system due to urban runoff and wastewater treatment plant (WWP) effluent. Las Vegas Wash flows into Lake Mead, where the discharge point is only a few miles upstream of Las Vegas’ main water intake. This small water cycle establishes the necessity to evaluate water quality especially due to non point sources pollution, wherein my research lies. Several points along Las Vegas Wash upstream and downstream of WWP have been chosen to represent different landuse types such as commercial, residential, wastewater treatment plants, etc. At each location, parameters including arsenic, …

Researching Nitrite Oxidation At High Temperatures, Dolores A. Huang, Jeremy A. Dodsworth, Brian P. Hedlund

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

15N-nitrate (NO3 -) pool dilution experiments show that ammonia (NH3) is oxidized to nitrate in geothermal springs up to at least 85C; however, nitrite (NO2 -)- oxidizing microorganisms are only known to grow up to 66°C. We hypothesize that thermophilic microorganisms oxidize nitrite to nitrate at high temperatures. Alternatively, it is possible that nitrite is oxidized abiotically. We propose to test these hypotheses by setting up microbial enrichments designed to grow thermophilic nitrite oxidizing bacteria by varying incubation temperature (50, 65, 80°C), oxygen concentration (20% and 5%), and cultivation media. A negative control consisting of filtered spring water (0.1 μm) …

Baseline Microbial Characterizations Of An Imperiled Aquatic Diversity Hotspot: Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, Jessica Newburn, Jim Bruckner, Jenny C. Fisher, Duane P. Moser

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

Located in the discharge zone of the Death Valley Flow System, Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge is a spring-fed desert oasis and biodiversity hotspot about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. These critical wetlands are potentially threatened by groundwater pumping, exotic species invasions, and climate change. Although a major component of the lower food web, very little is known about the microbial makeup of this ecosystem. As a first step towards understanding the microbial and biogeochemical aspects of this system, a detailed molecular-based characterization of microbial communities, baseline chemistry, and physical characteristics of various springs of Ash Meadows will be …

Esperance Area Acid Sulfate Soil Hazard Mapping, Paul Galloway, Simon Clarendon

Resource management technical reports

This project created a regional scale (1:100 000) acid sulfate soil (ASS) hazard map for the Lake Warden and Esperance town areas, using a combination of existing soil-landscape mapping information and elevation data, supported by field observations and laboratory data from 18 soil cores and 29 additional borelogs with descriptive information useful for identifying ASS and potential ASS materials. All data gathered during this project used common standards and protocols developed in Australia for identifying and mapping ASS materials. The project extends the mapping for acid sulfate soil in the region, complementing existing maps compiled for other parts of the …

Water Quality Sampling, Analysis And Annual Load Determinations For Nutrients And Solids On The Ballard Creek, 2008, L.B. Massey, L.W. Cash, B.E. Haggard

Technical Reports

The Arkansas Water Resources Center monitored water quality at Ballard Creek at the Washington County Road 76 Bridge in northwest Arkansas during base flow and storm events from July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009. Water samples were collected manually or with an auto-sampler and analyzed for nitrate-nitrogen, ammonia-nitrogen, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, soluble reactive phosphorus, sulfate, chloride and total suspended solids. Instantaneous stage and discharge were recorded at the site; total annual discharge was 55,800,000 m³ , with 27% attributed to base flow and 73% attributed to storm flow. Loads were estimated using the mid-interval integration approach using continuous …

Illinois River Volunteer Monitoring, L.B. Massey, B.E. Haggard

Technical Reports

Understanding how water quality conditions change along a land use gradient and over time is important for sustainable watershed management. Therefore, a volunteer monitoring program was created to measure water chemistry at 37 established sites within the Upper Illinois River Watershed and to evaluate changes in water chemistry over the past 15 years. The Illinois River Watershed Partnership (IRWP), a non‐profit organization subcontracted with the Arkansas Water Resources Center at the University of Arkansas, to manage the volunteer monitoring project, train volunteers to collect samples following EPA approved methods, and to analyze the collected samples. The AWRC trained 27 volunteers …

Heterosternuta Sulphuria (Coloptera: Dytiscidae) Occurence In The Sulphur Springs Headwater System And In Buffalo National River Tributaries (Arkansas, Usa): Current Distribution, Habitat Conditions, And Biomonitoring Framework, S.D. Longing, B.E. Haggard

Technical Reports

Heterosternuta sulphuria is an endemic aquatic species of concern in Arkansas, with a priority score of 80 out of 100 and a conservation rank of S1and G1. A need of the Arkansas Wildlife Action Plan (AWAP) was to obtain baseline information on distribution and population status of H. sulphuria. Here, we report new H. sulphuria records for 39 sites across 10 counties in the Ozark Highlands and Boston Mountain ecoregions and a determined habitat type of shallow margins and small bedrock pools of perennial streams and spring seeps. Few habitat patches were observed per site because detection was typically rapid …

Water Quality Sampling, Analysis And Annual Load Determinations For The Illinois River At Arkansas Highway 59 Bridge, 2008, L.B. Massey, L.W. Cash, B.E. Haggard

Technical Reports

The Arkansas Water Resources Center monitored water quality at the Illinois River at the Arkansas Highway 59 Bridge, just upstream from the Arkansas-Oklahoma state border during base flow and storm events from July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009. Water samples were collected manually or with an auto-sampler and analyzed for nitrate-nitrogen, ammonia-nitrogen, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, soluble reactive phosphorus, sulfate, chloride and total suspended solids. The U.S. Geological Survey recorded instantaneous stage and discharge at the site, total annual discharge was 1,010,000,000 m³ , with 37% attributed to base flow and 63% attributed to storm flow. Loads were estimated …

Frequency Distributions Of Median Nutrient And Chlorophyll Concentrations Across The Red River Basin, 1996-2006, S.D. Longing, B.E. Haggard

Technical Reports

Acquisition and compilation of water quality data for a ten year time period (1996 – 2006) from 589 stream and river stations was conducted to support nutrient criteria development for the multi–state Red River Basin shared by Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas, USA. Twenty–three water quality parameters were collected from five data sources (USGS, ADEQ, LDEQ, OCC, OWRB, and TCEQ) and an additional 13 parameters were acquired from at least one source. Data for the primary biological parameter of interest, chlorophyll a, was sparse and available from only two sources. Following compilation of data, medians were calculated for …

The Southeastern Coastal Plain: An Overview, Lee J. Florea, H L. Vacher

Lee J Florea, PhD, P.G.

Florida enjoys the highest density of large springs in North America (Scott et al., 2004); Silver Springs is just one of the 33 first-magnitude springs (mean flow greater than 100 cfs (2.8 m3/s), and there are hundreds of smaller springs (Fig. 6.2; see Meinzer, 1927, and Scott et al., 2004). They are supplied by spectacular underwater caves that are internationally recognized in the cave-diving community. Less well known are the many air-filled caves of the region (see Florea, 2006; Moore, 2006; Lane 1986). Though generally smaller than their aquatic counterparts, their beauty can rival the world’s best show caves. This …

The Cumberland Plateau Of Eastern Kentucky, Larry C. Simpson, Lee J. Florea

Lee J Florea, PhD, P.G.

Eastern Kentucky contains almost the same Mississippian limestones that appear at Mammoth Cave in south-central Kentucky (Chapter 3). To the east these strata dip below the Appalachian Basin and reappear as the Greenbrier Group in the Virginias. The limestone outcrop in eastern Kentucky follows the western margin of the Cumberland Plateau and forms a ragged ribbon of karst that is continuous from southeastern Ohio through Kentucky and Tennessee and into northern Alabama. There are more than 2,000 documented caves comprising over 470 km of surveyed passage in the Kentucky segment of the Cumberland Plateau (Fig. 2.115). At least 14 are …

Caves And Karst Of West-Central Florida, Lee J. Florea, David Budd, Robert Brinkmann

Lee J Florea, PhD, P.G.

The real west-central Florida is far from the “Sunshine State” image of white sand beaches and palm trees. Gently rolling hills, dense jungle-like forests, pine and palmetto scrublands, impenetrable cypress swamps, and alligator-laden rivers are more common. Numerous crystal-clear springs offer a glimpse of the hidden world below – a world that could challenge the most imaginative Disney artists (Fig. 6.17).

Limnological Assistance For The Lake Mead National Recreation Area In Meeting The Challenge Of The Water 2025 Initiative: Annual Report, Period Ending July 1, 2009, Margaret N. Rees

Limnological Studies

Project 1: Eighteen advisory team meetings were attended this year; technical input was provided as appropriate; and summaries were prepared and delivered to Kent Turner. The SCOP Selenium Management Plan has been reviewed and a report is in preparation.

Project 2: A formal report titled, Surface Water Monitoring for Indicator Bacteria in High-use Sites of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, was delivered in the second quarter of this year. Subsequently, a poster presentation on this topic was delivered at the Lake Mead Science Symposium and a manuscript has been prepared for submission to the journal, Lake and Reservoir Management. …

Droughtscape- Summer 2009, Kelly Smith

Droughtscape, Quarterly Newsletter of NDMC, 2007-

U.S. Drought Monitor Forum, 2009

El Niño Could Bring Wet Winter After Hot Summer

Around the World

Agriculture Hit Hard in California, Texas

Predictable Patterns in Missouri River Basin?

Seeking Low-Flow Effects in Colorado, Southeast

VegDRI Began Coast-to-Coast Coverage in May

Options For Achieving And Maintaining Low Salinity In Agricultural Dams, Tilwin Westrup

Resource management technical reports

No abstract provided.

The Biscayne Aquifer Of Southeastern Florida, Kevin Cunningham, Lee J. Florea

Lee J Florea, PhD, P.G.

In southeastern Florida, locally delineated, small, poorly explored caves and subtle karst are characteristic of the limestone that composes the unconfined Biscayne aquifer – one of the most permeable aquifers in the world. The main units of the Biscayne aquifer are the Fort Thompson Formation and Miami Limestone, both characterized by eogenetic karst.

Changes In Continental Freshwater Discharge From 1948 To 2004, Aiguo Dai, Taotao Qian, Kevin E. Trenberth, John D. Millliman

VIMS Articles

A new dataset of historical monthly streamflow at the farthest downstream stations for the world’s 925 largest ocean-reaching rivers has been created for community use. Available new gauge records are added to a network of gauges that covers ∼80 × 10⁶ km² or ∼80% of global ocean-draining land areas and accounts for about 73% of global total runoff. For most of the large rivers, the record for 1948–2004 is fairly complete. Data gaps in the records are filled through linear regression using streamflow simulated by a land surface model [Community Land Model, version 3 (CLM3)] forced with observed …