Research

Understanding the Food Web Impacts of the Invasive Northern Snakehead on Pennsylvania’s Largest Tidal Freshwater Wetland

Abstract: Northern Snakehead (Channa argus; NSH) are voracious predators capable of disrupting ecosystems and threatening desirable species through direct predation and food web impacts. NSH were first introduced to Pennsylvania and the Delaware River watershed in 2004. They have rapidly expanded their range and now occur in all freshwater tidal portions of the Delaware River […]

Groundwater and Nutrient Inputs, Sequestration and Direct and Indirect Fluxes to Lake Erie Coastal Waters associated with Viticultural Activities, Erie County, PA

Abstract: Along the Lake Erie coast, thousands of acres of fruit farms are cultivated over thick sand and gravel soils in catchments adjacent to coastal bluffs. These agricultural practices may be a significant source of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) entering Lake Erie via groundwater as these catchments have minimal surface runoff (runoff <25% of recharge). […]

Microbial Menaces on Microplastics: A Spatiotemporal Study in the Schuylkill River Watershed

Abstract: Rivers are sources of freshwater habitats for organisms, and conduits for transfer of natural and anthropogenic materials from land to sea. The societal and ecological services of rivers are threatened by numerous contaminants, of which microplastics (MP) are among the most pervasive. However, the ecological risks of MP, especially in urban rivers and downstream […]

Predicting the impacts and spread for an emerging invasion of non-native round gobies (Neogobius melanostomus) in a stream biodiversity hotspot (French Creek, Pennsylvania)

Abstract Invasive round gobies (Neogobius melanostomus) became established in a tributary to the upper Allegheny River drainage in 2014 (French Creek, Pennsylvania). French Creek has the highest biodiversity of native bottom-dwelling fishes (16 darter species) and native unionid mussels (27 species) in Pennsylvania, and prior research indicates that both are susceptible to the impacts of […]

Aquatic food web changes to invasive Flathead Catfish along a natural invasion gradient

Biological invasions have the potential to significantly alter the structure and function of aquatic communities. Invasive predatory fish species are known to restructure food webs – since predatory fishes have a dominant influence on community structure in freshwater systems. The Flathead Catfish Pylodictis olivaris is a large piscivorous catfish that is invasive in many parts […]

The Influence of Freshwater Algal Blooms on the Fate of Anthropogenic Particulate Pollutants

Lake Erie, like many freshwater lentic ecosystems, is under threat from microplastics pollution and increasing prevalence of harmful algal blooms. Lake Erie has the highest concentrations of microplastic contaminants of all the Laurentian Great Lakes. In particular, very small microplastics (< 333 microns) have been under sampled and likely exist at higher concentrations than have […]

Flood Adaptation Co-benefits of Nutrient Management

Effectively managing nutrient pollution and flood risk are two decisive challenges for the sustainability and resiliency of the Susquehanna River Basin (SRB) and Chesapeake Bay. This project will advance an innovative strategy to simultaneously address these two challenges. The strategy integrates climate adaptation and hybrid green-blue-grey infrastructure to increase regional resilience, which is a focus […]

Ecosystem Services Assessment for Green Stormwater Infrastructure in Lancaster, PA

Green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) is growing in interest and implementation. Though it is primarily implemented as part of efforts to manage stormwater quantity or quality concerns in urban areas, there is also an interest in leveraging it as a place-making tool to provide additional ecosystem services or co-benefits to improve people’s quality of life. Rarely […]

Developing flash-flood resilience in areas with buried streams and shallow groundwater: Improving stormwater design guidance and community understanding through science and ethnography

High-intensity rain events are increasing, often exceeding the pipe capacity, and resulting in flooding of streets and houses. In older towns, this pipe capacity also may be reduced because streams were buried in pipes and land development created compaction layers in the soil. These compaction layers reduce deep infiltration, resulting in shallow groundwater movement laterally […]

Population and pollutant estimates for invasive snails in Presque Isle State Park

Invasive species can have direct and indirect negative impacts on native communities. Freshwater snails—because of their diet variety, association with water and sediment, rapid reproduction rates, and obscure life history—can significantly impact the communities they invade. Our preliminary work has shown that Presque Isle State Park (PISP), located along Lake Erie’s shores, is now home […]

Research

Join Our Newsletter