Contaminated Habitats

Mercury, metals, hazardous waste, and other pollutants can adversely affect an entire habitat and its resident species. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) studies contaminated habitats to evaluate the extent of risk and harm, determine causative factors, develop options for remediation and restoration, and monitor the success of restoration at a site. Projects on contaminated habitats are generally local in scope, although results and conclusions are sometimes transferable to other, similarly contaminated sites. The complexity of these studies often requires multiple lines of evidence to determine cause and effect and require investigators to study a wide range of taxa using many different tools. Laboratory work supports field studies to evaluate effects of contaminants under controlled conditions and to eliminate extraneous variables.  USGS research supports State Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL) programs, Federal Natural Resource Damage Assessment and restoration and cleanup activities.

The Contaminant Biology Program focuses on the following five types of contaminated sites:

• Hazardous Waste Sites
  
  
• Contaminants on DOI Lands
  
  
• Agricultural Areas, Rangeland, and Forests
  
  
• Mining, Metals, Mercury, and Energy Development -Includes acid mine waste, mineral extraction sites, mine tailings, energy resource extraction, etc.
  
  
• Urban Environments - Includes oil spills, sewage treatment plant discharge and industrial discharges to land, water or air at specific sites.

Hazardous Waste Sites

• Assessment of the Aquatic Toxicity of Leachates from an Abandoned Uranium Tailings Pile Adjacent to the Upper Colorado River (CERC)
  
  
• Avian Toxicity of Vanadium Compounds Present at Oil Refinery and Hazardous Waste Sites, Science Support Project (PWRC)
  
  
• Potential Impacts of Contaminants on Wildlife at Edwards Air Force Base. Download  a fact sheet about the project (76.68 KB, PDF). Principal Investigator A. Keith Miles (WERC)
  
  
• Fish Health and Reproductive Studies at Lake Erie Areas of Concern (LSC)
  
  
  

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Contaminants on the Department of the Interior (DOI) Lands

• Applying a Bioassessment and Monitoring Framework for Public Lands and Trust Resources in Coastal and Estuarine Habitat in the United States. Download the File. (20.04 KB, PDF) (PWRC)
  
  
• Contaminant Effects on Biological and Ecological Resources/Use of the Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) to Assess the Bioavailability and Effects of Contaminants in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Download the File. (23,65 KB, PDF) (PWRC)
  
  
• Contaminant Exposure and Potential Effects on Reproduction of Ospreys Nesting in Chesapeake Bay Regions of Concern. Download the File. (20.87 KB, PDF) (also related to Toxicology: Wildlife Toxicology) (PWRC)
  
  
• Contaminant-related Activities and Synoptic Reviews in Support of Client Agencies at Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (PWRC)
  
  
• Environmental Contaminant Hazards to Terrestrial Vertebrates Residing in Mid-Atlantic National Parks. Download a summary of the research at the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. (469 KB, PDF) (also related to Toxicology: Wildlife Toxicology) (PWRC)
  
  
  
• It’s in the Air: The Ecological Effects of Nitrogen Deposition in Rocky Mountain National Park (FORT)
  
  
• NPElement: A Database of Lichen Elemental Concentrations in the U.S. National Parks - National Park service support  - monitoring contaminants with lichen. Lichens have been sampled in U.S. National Parks since 1979 for elemental analyses of tissues. These samples were collected and measured to determine the levels of heavy metals, nutrients, and trace elements. (NWHC)
  
  
• National Assessment of Impaired Water Bodies and Corrective Management Decisions for the National Wildlife Refuges System and the National Fish Hatchery System (CERC)
  

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Agricultural Areas, Rangeland, and Forests

• Comparative Toxicity of Chlorpyrifos, Diazinon, Malathion and Their Oxons to Amphibians (44 KB, PDF) (WERC) - Publication Brief for Resource Managers from the USGS Western Ecological Research Center about a study, suggesting that the oxon breakdown products of the three most commonly used Organophosphorus pesticides in California’s agricultural Central Valley — chlorpyrifos, malathion, and diazinon — are 10–100 times more toxic than the parent compounds.
  
  
• Ecological Assessment of Seleniferous Agricultural Drainwater on Fish Inhabiting the Grassland Water District and Adjacent Reaches of the San Joaquin River (WFRC)
  
  
• Effects of Agricultural Pesticides on Translocated Tadpoles of the Pacific Treefrog in Lassen, Yosemite, and Sequoia National Parks (PWRC)
  
  
• Effects of Chlorfenapyr on Adult Birds (PWRC)
  
  
• Use of Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) and Harmonic Radar to Locate Bird Carcasses in Agricultural Areas (PWRC)

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Mining, Metals, Mercury, and Energy Development

Mercury (the list below is identical to the one presented on a separate Mercury page of this Web site)

• Mercury In the Environment   (USGS cross-disciplinary research)

• Assessment of Temporal Trends in Fish Mercury Concentration in Maine Lakes (LSC)
  
  
• Bioaccumulation of Mercury by Fish and Fish-forage Organisms in Camp Far West Reservoir, Yuba and Placer County (WFRC)
  
  
• Bioavailability and Potential Effects of Mercury and Other Selected Trace Metals on Biota in Plow Shop and Grove Pond, Fort Devens, MA (PWRC)
  
  
• Cycling and Speciation of Mercury in the Food Chain of South Florida (FISC) For a broad picture of USGS mercury studies in Florida visit Mercury page on South Florida Information Access web site
  
  
• Determination of Source and Bioavailability of Mercury to Bald Eagles in Maine (LSC)
  
  
• Determination of Total Mercury in Fillets of Sport Fishes Collected from Folsom Reservoir, California, 2006, Open-file report 2006-1078 (CERC)
  
  
• Determination of Total Mercury in Fillets of Sport Fishes Collected from Folsom and New Melones Reservoirs, California, 2004, Open-file report 2007-1077 (CERC)
  
  
• Determination of Total Mercury in Whole-Body Fish and Fish Muscle Plugs Collected from the South Fork of the Humboldt River, Nevada, September 2005, Open-file report 2007-1059 (CERC)
  
  
• Effects of Mercury on Fish-eating and Aquatic Birds Nesting along the Mid-to-Lower Carson River and Willamette River Headwaters (FRESC) (Double-crested Cormorant, Snowy Egret, and Black-crowned Night-Heron)
  
  
• Environmental Geochemistry of Mercury Mines in Alaska (PDF), USGS fact sheet (ASC)
  
  
• Mercury Contamination in Fillets of Selected Sport Fishes from Lake Natoma, Sacramento County, California (WFRC)
  
  
• Mercury Contamination from Historical Gold Mining in California (WERC)
  
  
• Mercury at the Oat Hill Extension Mine and James Creek, Napa County, California: Tailings, Sediment, Water, and Biota, 2003-2004, Open-file report 2007-1132 (WERC)
  
  
• Mercury in Birds of the San-Francisco Bay-Delta: Trophic Pathways, Bioaccumulation, and Ecotoxicological Risk to Avian Reproduction (PDF), 2006 Annual Administrative Report  prepared by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for California Bay-delta Authority, USFW, California department of Fish and Game, USGS (WERC)
  
  
• Mercury in Tree Swallows and Feathers of Other Species That Line Tree Swallow Nests at Acadia National Park, Maine (PWRC)
  
  
• Passive Integrated Mercury Sampler (PIMS). Download the information sheet. (102.87 KB, PDF) (CERC)
  
  
• Tree Swallows as Indicators of Mercury Bioaccumulation in the North Fork of the Holston River, VA (UMESC)
  

Mining

• Biology in Focus: New Hope for Acid Streams (538.88 KB, PDF) (LSC)

• Physiological and Teratogenic Effects of Mercury on Aquatic Birds Nesting Along the Mid-to lower Carson River and Vicinity, Nevada (PWRC)
  
  
• Effects of Mining Activities on Wildlife (UMESC)
  
  
• Trace Element Concentrations in Moose Livers from Northwestern Minnesota (UMESC)
  
  
• Contaminants in Tree Swallows in Relation to Water Level Management (UMESC)
  
  
• Use of the Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) to Assess the Bioavailability and Effects of Contaminants in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed (PWRC)
  
  
• Sediment Quality in Canals that Discharge into Biscayne Bay, Dade County, Florida (PWRC)

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Urban Environments

• Adult Tree Swallow Survival on the Housatonic River (UMESC)

• Annotated Bibliography of Petroleum Pollution Science (PWRC)

• Assessing Terrestrial PCB Contamination in the Eastern Region Using Shrews and Other Small Mammals (PWRC)

• Bioaccumulation and Effects of PCBs on Tree Swallows Nesting Along the Housatonic River, MA (UMESC)

• Effects of Dioxins, Furans, and PCBs on Nesting Success of Osprey Along the Columbia River System (FRESC)

• Effects of Industrial Contamination on Wildlife (UMESC)

• Effects of PCBs on Reproduction and Biomarker Responses in Tree Swallows at Contaminated Sites in the Eastern Region (PWRC)

• Exposure and Effects of Dioxins and Other Organochlorine Chemicals on Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) Nesting Along the Woonasquatucket River, RI (UMESC)
  
  
• Impacts of the Textile Industry on Georgia's Waters (PWRC)
  
  
• Lake Erie Ecological Investigations (LSC)
  
  
• Lake Trout Immunocompetence at Great Lakes Areas of Concern (GLSC)
  
  
• Natural Resources Damage Assessment (Bunker Hill) (FRESC)
  
  
• Nesting Osprey Use of Electric Distribution Poles in the Willamette Valley, Oregon: An Assessment of Nest-management Practices and Electrocution Rates (FRESC)
  
  
• Project SAFE (Swimming Advisory Forecast Estimate) - a pilot study, relying on real-time information to assess E. coli count and subsequently public health risk associated with fecal contamination on Indiana’s Lake Michigan beaches. (GLSC)
  
  
• Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) as a Sentinel Species for Sediment Contaminant Bioavailability and Effects - Evaluation of Anacostia River Reconstructed Tidal Wetlands (PWRC)
  
  
• Wildlife Contaminant Research in the Upper Midwest (UMESC)

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