Research

Effects of Personal Care, Prescription, and Other Emerging Contaminants on Sentinel Species in Lake Erie Beach Waters of Presque Isle State Park

Chemicals used extensively and intensively in our technological society are currently predicted to have surpassed the 100,000 mark in numbers and depending on their properties, modes, and quantity of use, a large number of these chemicals can reach the environment and have unpredictable but potentially harmful environmental and health impacts. Accurate methods of monitoring the […]

Probabilistic Characterization of Stream Flows in Urbanizing Basins in Pennsylvania Under Climate Change Scenarios

Given the critical role of the streamflow regime for instream, riparian, and floodplain ecosystem sustainability, modeling the long-term effect of urbanization on streamflow is important to predict possible changes in stream ecosystems. Since flow duration curves are largely used to characterize the streamflow regime and define indices for stream ecosystem health, a stochastic model is […]

Establishing a Link Between Hydraulic Fracturing Activities and Stream Water Impacts in North-Central Pennsylvania

The impacts of hydraulic fracturing related natural gas extraction activities on water contamination are poorly understood. Furthermore, while the majority of preliminary studies have focused on the impacts of hydraulic fracturing activities to groundwater little data exists with regards to impacts on overall streamwater quality. This study used a multi‐faceted approach to determine whether there […]

Status of Exotic Round Goby and Tubenose Goby in Pennsylvania

The purposes of this study was to report on the status of the Round Goby, Neogobius melanostomu, in the Lake Erie watershed of Pennsylvania, to determine if there was a shift in diet of the native fishes when Round Goby were present in selected Pennsylvania tributaries of Lake Erie, and to compare the diet of the Tubenose […]

Potential Impact of Climate Change on Bivalves in the Tidal Freshwater Region of the Delaware River

Bivalve shellfish perform numerous ecosystem services but are under threat from a variety of stressors. Climate change will alter the environmental conditions that bivalve shellfish are sensitive to, so restoration efforts should consider how the future climate will evolve. Here, climate model projections and statistical water quality models were used to estimate future changes in […]

Investigating the Role of Contaminants and Parasite Prevalence in the Observed Mortality of Smallmouth Bass in the Susquehanna River Basin

The causes of the decline of smallmouth bass populations observed in some Pennsylvania rivers are unclear. However, it is hypothesized that declines are related to environmental stressors, including pesticides and endocrine-disrupting substances and disease. Thus, additional work is needed to understand the role that contaminants and disease (specifically parasite infection) may be playing in disease […]

Deciphering the Role of the Largemouth Bass Virus (LMBV) in Causing the Observed Mortalities in Juvenile Smallmouth Bass Micropterus Dolomieu in the Susquehanna River Basin, Pennsylvania

Since 2005, mortality episodes of young-of-year (YOY) Smallmouth Bass Micropterus dolomieu (SMB) were consistently reported from a number of river systems in Pennsylvania, such as the Susquehanna, Juniata, and Allegheny rivers. These mortality events were more persistent and severe in the Susquehanna and Juniata River systems, occurring annually to varying degrees, than in the Allegheny […]

Rusty Crayfish and Smallmouth Bass in the Susquehanna River: Who’s Eating Whom?

Two nonnative crayfish species, Rusty Crayfish (Faxonius rusticus) and the Allegheny Crayfish (Faxonius. obscurus), are currently found in the Susquehanna River. In 2015, we hand collected crayfish from among six sites spanning almost 115 river miles. Thirty stomachs were dissected from similarly sized individuals at each of the six sites; two of the sites had […]

Quantifying Seasonal Movement Dynamics and Thermal Habitat Use of Smallmouth Bass in the Susquehanna River Basin: Implications for Fish Disease and Fisheries Management

Smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) are both a socieconomically prized sportfish as well an apex predator. In the Susquehanna River basin, smallmouth bass populations declined in the 1990s through the early 2000’s and although populations appear to be relatively stable in recent years, there are still concerns over what caused the initial decline. In addition, there […]

Genomic Application for Mutational Analysis of Skin Tumor Formation in the Bioindicator Bottom Feeder Brown Bullhead Fish in Presque Isle Bay

Genome sequence comparison of tumor and non-tumor samples obtained from brown bullhead fish from Presque Isle State Park was undertaken to identify regions of DNA mutations in tumor samples. DNA primer sets were constructed to amplify and examine eight of these regions in greater detail, all of which successfully amplified the region targeted. Three genome […]

Research

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