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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2013

Bactericidal efficacy of elevated pH on fish pathogenic and environmental bacteria

Ship ballast water is a recognized medium for transfer and introductions of nonindigenous species. There is a need for new ballast water treatment methods that effectively and safely eliminate or greatly minimize movements of these species. The present study employed laboratory methods to evaluate the bactericidal efficacy of increased pH (pH 10.0–12.0) for exposure durations of up to 72 h to kill a variety of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria including fish pathogens (Aeromonas spp., Yersinia ruckeri, Edwardsiella ictaluri, Serratia liquefaciens, Carnobacterium sp.), other common aquatic-inhabitant bacteria (Serratia marcescens, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Staphylococcus sp., Bacillus sp.) and indicators listed in International Maritime Organization D2 Standards; namely, Vibrio cholera (an environmental isolate from fish), Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecalis. Volumes of 5 N NaOH were added to tryptic soy broth to obtain desired pH adjustments. Viable cells were determined after 0, 4, 12, 24, 48, and 72 h. Initial (0 h) cell numbers ranged from 3.40 × 10 4 cfu/mL for Bacillus sp. to 2.44 × 10 7 cfu/mL for E. faecalis. The effective endpoints of pH and treatment duration necessary to realize 100% bactericidal effect varied; however, all bacteria tested were killed within 72 h at pH 12.0 or lower. The lowest parameters examined, 4 h at pH 10.0, were bactericidal to V. cholera, E. ictaluri, three of four isolates of E. coli, and (three of four) Aeromonas salmonicida subsp. salmonicida. Bactericidal effect was attained at pH 10.0 within 12 h for the other A. salmonicida subsp. salmonicida, and within 24 h for P. fluorescens, and the remaining E. coli.

Journal of Advanced Research↗
USGS2015

An investigation of the bactericidal activity of selected essential oils to Aeromonas spp.

Diseases of fishes caused by Aeromonas spp. are common, have broad host ranges and may cause high mortality. Treatments of captive-reared populations using antimicrobials are limited with concerns for bacterial resistance development and environmental dissemination. This study was done to determine whether selected plant-derived essential oils were bactericidal to Aeromonas spp. Initially, twelve essential oils were evaluated using a disk diffusion assay to an isolate of A . salmonicida subsp. salmonicida , cause of fish furunculosis. The greatest zones of inhibition were obtained with oils of cinnamon Cinnamomum cassia , oregano Origanum vulgare , lemongrass Cymbopogon citratus and thyme Thymus vulgaris . Minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBC’s) were determined for these four oils, Allimed® (garlic extract, Allium sativum ) and colloidal silver to sixty-nine isolates representing nine Aeromonas spp. The lowest mean MBCs (0.02–0.04%) were obtained with three different sources of cinnamon oil. MBCs for three sources of oregano and lemongrass oils ranged from 0.14% to 0.30% and 0.10% to 0.65%, respectively, and for two thyme oils were 2.11% and 2.22%. The highest concentration (5%) of Allimed® tested resulted in MBCs to twelve isolates. A concentration of silver greater than 15 mg/L would be required to determine MBCs for all but one isolate.

Journal of Advanced Research↗
USGS1973

The concept of growth and maturity of ore-stage pyrite in roll-type uranium deposts

Roll-type uranium deposits contain both ore-stage pyrite and preore or diagenetic pyrite that was present in the host rock before the deposits began to form. Ore-stage pyrite forms as the result of redistribution and accretion from the preore pyrite. Accretion of the ore-stage pyrite seems to be governed by natural laws that limit its concentration to only a few times the concentration of the preore pyrite. Accumulations of ore-stage pyrite build up along the leading edge of a supergene oxidation zone which spreads through the host rocks, literally pushing the ore deposits ahead of it. The ore-stage pyrite probably progresses much as a wave that first grows to a nearly fixed amplitude and thereafter is steadily maintained as the mature deposit continues to advance.

Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey↗
USGS2026

Whatever it takes— Shaping the L&O Letters Early Career Publication Honor to deliver true benefit

There are clear advantages for those who openly share their research. Publishing Open Access (OA) articles can increase author visibility (McCabe and Snyder 2014 ), improve productivity metrics (i.e., more diverse and higher citation rates; Huang et al. 2024 ; Piwowar et al. 2018 ), widen collaborative networks (Tai and Robinson 2018 ), and help secure future funding and/or comply with funder mandates (Herrmannova et al. 2019 ; Larivière and Sugimoto 2018 ; McKiernan et al. 2016 and references therein). These benefits can be vital for students and early career researchers (ECRs) trying to advance and thrive in academia. However, publishing papers in Gold OA journals such as L&O Letters comes at a notable financial cost, as these journals require that the corresponding author (or their organization or funder) pay a fee to make their published article immediately freely available to the public. These article processing charges can be prohibitively expensive (Fontúrbel and Vizentin-Bugoni 2021 ; Mekonnen et al. 2022 ; Ross-Hellauer et al. 2022 ). While Read and Publish agreements and waiver programs may be available to help cover these costs, these programs often exclude independent authors as well as those affiliated with ineligible or non-participating institutions (e.g., publisher waivers using the Research4Life eligibility criteria for access currently only allow authors from one of 13 South American countries/territories to publish free of charge). Besides the financial barrier, authors from underrepresented groups can also face a myriad of other publishing roadblocks, such as linguistic challenges (for speakers of English as a foreign language; Amano et al. 2023 ; Franco-Santos 2024 ; Ramírez-Castañeda 2020 ) and geopolitical-scientific bias (e.g., science conducted in the Global South being seen as less impactful and innovative than that conducted in the Global North; Ghosh 2022 ; Smits et al. 2025 ). For context, Global South (GS) and Global North (GN) are not geographic determinations (i.e., South and North hemispheres), but geopolitical classifications regarding a nation's level of development (underdeveloped, developing, or developed). For example: Australia and Brazil are both located in the southern hemisphere, but the former is considered as a Global North (developed) country and the latter as a Global South (underdeveloped or developing) country. When a subset of researchers is unable to openly publish their work, the diversity of voices represented in OA literature can decline (Williams et al. 2023 ). Loss of diversity is a loss to science, as diversity increases productivity, innovation, and scientific impact (refer to opening quote; Freeman and Huang 2014 ; AlShebli et al. 2018 ; Tomillo et al. 2022 ). To partially address the above-mentioned challenges and enable underfunded ECRs to publish their work in OA format, the biennial L&O Letters Early Career Publication Honor (ECPH) was established in 2020 by the ASLO Raelyn Cole Editorial (RCE) Fellows (Hotaling et al. 2022 ). Below we reflect on the benefits, outcomes, and scientific impact of the 2022 call and introduce the articles it helped publish in L&O Letters , which are bundled in this section of the ECPH Virtual Issue. Articles published in L&O Letters during other calls are available in their respective sections. We also refer the reader to six articles published by ECRs in other journals (not included in this Virtual Issue) whose content originally warranted their leading author an ECPH in 2022.

Limnology and Oceanography Letters↗
USGS1975

A proposed glacial history of the Henrys Lake Basin, Idaho

Deposits of several glaciations from oldest to youngest, pre-Bull Lake, Bull Lake, and Pinedale are in and near the Henrys Lake basin, a northwest-trending hourglass-shaped trough in southeastern Idaho. Glacial deposits of pre-Bull Lake age are represented by till remnants confined mostly to the higher levels of the surrounding mountains. The extent of Bull Lake ice into the basin is uncertain. Glacial deposits and ice-marginal features suggest that a lobe of Bull Lake ice the Henrys Lake ice lobe moved into the basin and advanced as far north as the north edge of Henrys Lake. After this lobe melted back far enough to expose the north end of the basin, melt waters, chiefly from alpine glaciers in Targhee Creek and its tributaries, formed the broad low Howard Creek fan at the mouth of the valley of Howard Creek. Shortly thereafter, a complex of channels was cut into the fan by periodic melt-water floods which flowed westward through Targhee Pass during the waste of another Bull Lake ice lobe which lay in the West Yellowstone Basin. Melt waters from various sources ponded to form a shallow lake in front of the wasting Henrys Lake ice lobe. Waters from this lake drained southwestward around the southwest flank of the lobe via an ice-marginal channel. Upon total melt of the ice lobe, the lake was drained, the ice-marginal channel was abandoned, and the waters resumed their pre-ice course to the southeast. During the interglaciation, prior to the onset of the Pinedale Glaciation, northward-flowing streams deposited a veneer of obsidian sand and gravel along the south edge of the basin. In Pinedale time, alpine glaciers formed in the high mountain valleys near the basin, but none advanced into the basin.

Idaho↗
USGS2026

Advances and applications of Unoccupied Aerial Systems (UAS) research in landscape ecology

Landscape ecologists have long depended on satellite and aerial remote sensing to address questions about landscape pattern and process, structure, and change (Foody 2023 ). Unoccupied aerial systems/vehicles (UAS/UAV, a.k.a. drones) technology is becoming an increasingly popular research tool in environmental sciences allowing scientists to generate low-cost, high-quality, and high-resolution imagery on demand that can be tailored to specific research questions. While satellite data are of a fixed resolution and temporal interval, UAS offer researchers control and flexibility to design studies and collect data at resolutions and scales that provide ecologically relevant information at finer spatial resolutions (e.g., < 30 cm) than what is currently available from satellite platforms (typically > 3m), thus helping capture objects such as individual plant canopies, micro-topography, and individual animals. Unlike satellites with fixed orbits, UAS can be deployed at more optimal temporal frequencies for ecological monitoring. We organized the special collection “Advances and Applications of Unoccupied Aerial Systems (UAS) Research in Landscape Ecology” to showcase the many ways that UAS tools and technologies are currently applied to advance landscape ecological research. When we announced the collection in 2023, only 11 papers published in the journal Landscape Ecology used UAS data, which was a notably small number compared to many other general ecology, environmental science and remote sensing journals. In an attempt to understand why UAS were not more widely used in landscape ecology and provide possible solutions, we published a review article (Villarreal et al. 2025) that identified the challenges, knowledge gaps, and obstacles for the adoption of UAS technologies in landscape ecology research. The main issues we identified include: (1) an abundance of UAS methods papers in the existing literature, with comparatively few studies demonstrating how UAS can be applied to address ecological questions; (2) a perceived scale mismatch between the geographic extent of UAS data collection (local) compared to larger study areas (landscapes) and a need to design robust scaling approaches to connect fine-scale UAS data with broader ecological patterns; and (3) a need for improved integration of UAS data with other commonly used remote sensing datasets including historical high resolution aerial imagery. Additionally, researchers new to UAS remote sensing may be discouraged or overwhelmed by the general lack of scientific consensus and standardized protocols for typical tasks such as data collection, vegetation classification, and change detection, as well as restrictive and/or confusing policy, regulatory, and legal issues surrounding UAS operations (Villarreal et al. 2025).

Landscape Ecology↗
USGS2010

Understanding behavioral responses of fish to pheromones in natural freshwater environments

There is an abundance of experimental studies and reviews that describe odorant-mediated behaviors of fish in laboratory microcosms, but research in natural field conditions has received considerably less attention. Fish pheromone studies in laboratory settings can be highly productive and allow for controlled experimental designs; however, laboratory tanks and flumes often cannot replicate all the physical, physiological and social contexts associated with natural environments. Field experiments can be a critical step in affirming and enhancing understanding of laboratory discoveries and often implicate the ecological significance of pheromones employed by fishes. When findings from laboratory experiments have been further tested in field environments, often different and sometimes contradictory conclusions are found. Examples include studies of sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) mating pheromones and fish alarm substances. Here, we review field research conducted on fish pheromones and alarm substances, highlighting the following topics: (1) contradictory results obtained in laboratory and field experiments, (2) how environmental context and physiological status influences behavior, (3) challenges and constraints of aquatic field research and (4) innovative techniques and experimental designs that advance understanding of fish chemical ecology through field research.

Journal of Comparative Physiology A↗
USGS2020

The next frontier: Making research more reproducible

Science and engineering rest on the concept of reproducibility. An important question for any study is: are the results reproducible? Can the results be recreated independently by other researchers or professionals? Research results need to be independently reproduced and validated before they are accepted as fact or theory. Across numerous fields like psychology, computer systems, and water resources there are problems to reproduce research results (Aarts et al. 2015; Collberg et al. 2014; Hutton et al. 2016; Stagge et al. 2019; Stodden et al. 2018). This editorial examines the challenges to reproduce research results and suggests community practices to overcome these challenges. Coordination is needed among the authors, journals, funders and institutions that produce, publish, and report research. Making research more reproducible will allow researchers, professionals, and students to more quickly understand and apply research in follow-on efforts and advance the field.

Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management↗
USGS2014

Beach science in the Great Lakes

Monitoring beach waters for human health has led to an increase and evolution of science in the Great Lakes, which includes microbiology, limnology, hydrology, meteorology, epidemiology, and metagenomics, among others. In recent years, concerns over the accuracy of water quality standards at protecting human health have led to a significant interest in understanding the risk associated with water contact in both freshwater and marine environments. Historically, surface waters have been monitored for fecal indicator bacteria (fecal coliforms, Escherichia coli , enterococci), but shortcomings of the analytical test (lengthy assay) have resulted in a re-focusing of scientific efforts to improve public health protection. Research has led to the discovery of widespread populations of fecal indicator bacteria present in natural habitats such as soils, beach sand, and stranded algae. Microbial source tracking has been used to identify the source of these bacteria and subsequently assess their impact on human health. As a result of many findings, attempts have been made to improve monitoring efficiency and efficacy with the use of empirical predictive models and molecular rapid tests. All along, beach managers have actively incorporated new findings into their monitoring programs. With the abundance of research conducted and information gained over the last 25 years, “Beach Science” has emerged, and the Great Lakes have been a focal point for much of the ground-breaking work. Here, we review the accumulated research on microbiological water quality of Great Lakes beaches and provide a historic context to the collaborative efforts that have advanced this emerging science.

Great Lakes↗
USGS2018

Current research in land, water, and agroecosystems: ASABE journals 2017 year in review

This article highlights current research into land and water resources, agroecosystems, and agricultural production systems published by the Natural Resources and Environmental Systems (NRES) community of ASABE journals (Transactions of the ASABE and Applied Engineering in Agriculture) in 2017. This article reviews the context, scope, and key results of the published articles and perhaps more importantly recommends areas for increased research attention. Experimental and modeling advances were described in hydrology, agroecosystems, climate-change effects, soil erosion, irrigation, drainage, forest resources, livestock systems, natural treatment systems, international water issues, and water quality topic areas. Three special collections were published (International Watershed Technology, Crop Modeling to Optimize Water Use, and Advances in Drainage). Other focal areas included 14 articles relating to livestock waste management, 13 concerning irrigated agricultural systems, 8 addressing climate change effects on land and water resources, and 16 on various aspects of soil erosion measurement and modeling. Building on the articles reviewed from 2017 and toward a vision of future agroecosystems research, the NRES community of ASABE journals strives to grow its role in making new knowledge accessible to sustain agricultural and natural systems in a changing world. In this vane, recommendations for future research direction are discussed with an emphasis on increased application of remote sensing data to agroecosystems research, improved assessment of agroecosystem resiliency and vulnerability to land and climate change, development of integrated models of agroecosystem services, meeting stubborn water management challenges in agricultural production systems, and focusing on publishing fully reproducible model results.

Transactions of the ASABE↗
USGS2001

The failure of earthquake failure models

In this study I show that simple heuristic models and numerical calculations suggest that an entire class of commonly invoked models of earthquake failure processes cannot explain triggering of seismicity by transient or "dynamic" stress changes, such as stress changes associated with passing seismic waves. The models of this class have the common feature that the physical property characterizing failure increases at an accelerating rate when a fault is loaded (stressed) at a constant rate. Examples include models that invoke rate state friction or subcritical crack growth, in which the properties characterizing failure are slip or crack length, respectively. Failure occurs when the rate at which these grow accelerates to values exceeding some critical threshold. These accelerating failure models do not predict the finite durations of dynamically triggered earthquake sequences (e.g., at aftershock or remote distances). Some of the failure models belonging to this class have been used to explain static stress triggering of aftershocks. This may imply that the physical processes underlying dynamic triggering differs or that currently applied models of static triggering require modification. If the former is the case, we might appeal to physical mechanisms relying on oscillatory deformations such as compaction of saturated fault gouge leading to pore pressure increase, or cyclic fatigue. However, if dynamic and static triggering mechanisms differ, one still needs to ask why static triggering models that neglect these dynamic mechanisms appear to explain many observations. If the static and dynamic triggering mechanisms are the same, perhaps assumptions about accelerating failure and/or that triggering advances the failure times of a population of inevitable earthquakes are incorrect.

Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth↗
USGS1997

Multispectral thermal infrared mapping of sulfur dioxide plumes: A case study from the East Rift Zone of Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii

The synoptic perspective and rapid mode of data acquisition provided by remote sensing are well suited for the study of volcanic SO 2 plumes. In this paper we describe a plume-mapping procedure that is based on image data acquired with NASA's airborne thermal infrared multispectral scanner (TIMS) and apply the procedure to TIMS data collected over the East Rift Zone of Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii, on September 30, 1988. These image data covered the Pu‘u ‘O ‘o and Kupaianaha vents and a skylight in the lava tube that was draining the Kupaianaha lava pond. Our estimate of the SO 2 emission rate from Pu‘u ‘O ‘o (17–20 kg s −1 ) is roughly twice the average of estimates derived from correlation spectrometer (COSPEC) measurements collected 10 days prior to the TIMS overflight (10 kg s −1 ). The agreement between the TIMS and COSPEC results improves when we compare SO 2 burden estimates, which are relatively independent of wind speed. We demonstrate the feasibility of mapping Pu‘u ‘O ‘o - scale SO 2 plumes from space in anticipation of the 1998 launch of the advanced spaceborne thermal emission and reflectance radiometer (ASTER).

Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth↗
USGS2018

Using stereo satellite imagery to account for ablation, entrainment, and compaction in volume calculations for rock avalanches on Glaciers: Application to the 2016 Lamplugh Rock Avalanche in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska

The use of preevent and postevent digital elevation models (DEMs) to estimate the volume of rock avalanches on glaciers is complicated by ablation of ice before and after the rock avalanche, scour of material during rock avalanche emplacement, and postevent ablation and compaction of the rock avalanche deposit. We present a model to account for these processes in volume estimates of rock avalanches on glaciers. We applied our model by calculating the volume of the 28 June 2016 Lamplugh rock avalanche in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska. We derived preevent and postevent 2‐m resolution DEMs from WorldView satellite stereo imagery. Using data from DEM differencing, we reconstructed the rock avalanche and adjacent surfaces at the time of occurrence by accounting for elevation changes due to ablation and scour of the ice surface, and postevent deposit changes. We accounted for uncertainties in our DEMs through precise coregistration and an assessment of relative elevation accuracy in bedrock control areas. The rock avalanche initially displaced 51.7 ± 1.5 Mm3 of intact rock and then scoured and entrained 13.2 ± 2.2 Mm3 of snow and ice during emplacement. We calculated the total deposit volume to be 69.9 ± 7.9 Mm3. Volume estimates that did not account for topographic changes due to ablation, scour, and compaction underestimated the deposit volume by 31.0–46.8 Mm3. Our model provides an improved framework for estimating uncertainties affecting rock avalanche volume measurements in glacial environments. These improvements can contribute to advances in the understanding of rock avalanche hazards and dynamics.

Alaska↗
USGS2008

Scientific and public responses to the ongoing volcanic crisis at Popocatépetl Volcano, Mexico: Importance of an effective hazards-warning system

Volcanic eruptions and other potentially hazardous natural phenomena occur independently of any human actions. However, such phenomena can cause disasters when a society fails to foresee the hazardous manifestations and adopt adequate measures to reduce its vulnerability. One of the causes of such a failure is the lack of a consistent perception of the changing hazards posed by an ongoing eruption, i.e., with members of the scientific community, the Civil Protection authorities and the general public having diverging notions about what is occurring and what may happen. The problem of attaining a perception of risk as uniform as possible in a population measured in millions during an evolving eruption requires searching for communication tools that can describe&mdash;as simply as possible&mdash;the relations between the level of threat posed by the volcano, and the level of response of the authorities and the public. The hazards-warning system adopted at Popocat&eacute;petl Volcano, called the Volcanic Traffic Light Alert System (VTLAS), is a basic communications protocol that translates volcano threat into seven levels of preparedness for the emergency-management authorities, but only three levels of alert for the public (color coded green&ndash;yellow&ndash;red). The changing status of the volcano threat is represented as the most likely scenarios according to the opinions of an official scientific committee analyzing all available data. The implementation of the VTLAS was intended to reduce the possibility of ambiguous interpretations of intermediate levels by the endangered population. Although the VTLAS is imperfect and has not solved all problems involved in mass communication and decision-making during a volcanic crisis, it marks a significant advance in the management of volcanic crises in Mexico.

Popocatepetl Volcano↗
USGS2003

Importance of a stochastic distribution of floods and erosion thresholds in the bedrock river incision problem

Fluvial erosion of bedrock occurs during occasional flood events when boundary shear stress exceeds a critical threshold to initiate incision. Therefore efforts to model the evolution of topography over long timescales should include an erosion threshold and should be driven by a stochastic distribution of erosive events. However, most bedrock incision models ignore the threshold as a second‐order detail. In addition, climate is poorly represented in most landscape evolution models, so the quantitative relationship between erosion rate and measurable climatic variables has been elusive. Here we show that the presence of an erosion threshold, when combined with a well‐constrained, probabilistic model of storm and flood occurrence, has first‐order implications for the dynamics of river incision in tectonically active areas. First, we make a direct calculation of the critical shear stress required to pluck bedrock blocks for a field site in New York. Second, we apply a recently proposed stochastic, threshold, bedrock incision model to a series of streams in California, with known tectonic and climatic forcing. Previous work in the area has identified a weak relationship between channel gradient or relief and rock uplift rate that is not easily explained by simpler detachment‐limited models. The results with the stochastic threshold model show that even low erosion thresholds, which are exceeded in steep channels during high‐frequency flood events, fundamentally affect the predicted relationship between gradient and uplift rate in steady state rivers, in a manner consistent with the observed topography. This correspondence between theory and data is, however, nonunique; models in which a thin alluvial cover may act to inhibit channel incision in the low uplift rate zone also provide plausible explanations for the observed topography. Third, we explore the broader implications of the stochastic threshold model to the development of fluvial topography in active tectonic settings. We suggest that continued field applications of geomorphic models, including physically meaningful thresholds and stochastic climate distributions, are required to advance our knowledge of interactions among surficial, climatic, and crustal processes.

California↗
USGS2023

Characterization of fish assemblages in eleven multi-use reservoirs from North Carolina, USA

Managing impounded river systems is a recurring challenge for aquatic resource professionals because reservoirs serve multiple functions with different ecological and socioeconomic outcomes. However, research on fishes in reservoirs has disproportionally focused on recreationally and economically important species, with less attention directed toward fish assemblages despite the potential for management at the assemblage level. As such, evaluation of relationships between reservoir fish assemblages and biotic and abiotic factors and testing whether assemblage structure is affected by changing environmental conditions may deepen ecological understanding and provide insights for reservoir fisheries management. Our overall objective was to assess these relationships in 11 reservoirs from North Carolina, USA. We sampled fish assemblages in the reservoirs, which spanned five river basins representing a range of habitat conditions, using experimental gillnets and pulsed DC nighttime electrofishing. Multivariate statistical analyses indicated that taxonomic differences in fish assemblage composition among river basins followed a gradient of productivity. The top contributing species to reservoir dissimilarity were bluegill ( Lepomis macrochirus ), gizzard shad ( Dorosoma cepedianum ), black crappie ( Pomoxis nigromaculatus ), and white perch ( Morone americana ). These four species were positively associated with factors that reflect increasing eutrophic conditions in the 11 reservoirs and could, therefore, serve as indicators of reservoir productivity, anthropogenic influence, and fish assemblage structure, in addition to their key role in reservoir fisheries management. Whereas ­fisheries research has historically focused on assessing fish ­populations, our results illustrate the ecological and management insights derived from simultaneously collecting assemblage- and population-level data. Research on reservoir fish assemblages in relation to biotic and abiotic conditions may help advance fish ecology and management alike.

North Carolina↗
USGS2021

Where you trap matters: Implications for integrated sea lamprey management

Barriers and pesticides have been used in streams to control sea lamprey in the Laurentian Great Lakes for nearly 70 years. Considerable effort has been spent to develop additional control measures, but much less effort has gone toward identifying how or where additional control measures might be cost-effectively integrated into the sea lamprey control program. We use a management strategy evaluation model in Lake Michigan to identify the stream types that would be most suitable for deploying traps to remove adults prior to spawning and estimate the likely impact on adult sea lamprey abundance in subsequent years under several trapping scenarios relative to status quo abundance. The greatest reduction in lake-wide adult sea lamprey abundance predicted by the model resulted when removing adult sea lampreys from streams that are difficult for control program personnel to treat with lampricide because lampricide applications would be required less frequently. Additionally, targeting streams which experience regular sea lamprey recruitment and streams with low adult sea lamprey density should result in reduced lake-wide abundance if trapping costs are relatively low or removal is high. Our results provide direction on where to trap and why, and indicate that trapping may be a valuable part of an integrated sea lamprey control approach advancing the goals of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission.

Journal of Great Lakes Research↗