Branch Chief Dr. Tony Olsen FEB Staff Renee Brooks Robbins Church Steve Cline Randy Comeleo Jana Compton Joe Ebersole Phil Kaufmann Mary Kentula Tom Kincaid Dixon Landers Scott Leibowitz Amanda Nahlik Tony Olsen Steve Paulsen Spencer Peterson Dave Peck Gretchen Oelsner Paul Ringold Safa Shirazi John Stoddard Rich Sumner John Van Sickle Jim Wigington Marc Weber (staff bios) All WED Projects listed by Principal Investigator, click here EPA / Office of Research & Development / NHEERL Western Ecology Division Freshwater Ecology Branch 200 SW 35th Street Corvallis, Oregon 97333 541-754-4600 (Click here for map and driving directions) The mission of the Freshwater Ecology Branch is to conduct scientific research at regional and national scales with a focus on assessing con- dition and ecosystem services associated with freshwater ecosystems (streams, rivers, lakes, wetlands, and riparian areas) and their re- sponse to stresses. Important aspects of this research include methods for identifying navigable waters of the United States, development of biological indicators and indicators of stresses to aquatic resource, de- velopment of aquatic ecosystem service indicators, environmental sta- tistics, probability spatial survey design of monitoring networks at dif- ferent scales, development of biocriteria and determining reference conditions for freshwater aquatic resources. Current Research at FEB Non-Navigable Streams and Wetlands The Non-navigable streams and wetlands (NSW) project is devel- oping a scientifically valid ap- proach for evaluating the func- tional connectivity between NSW and navigable waters. The re- search arises from the US Su- preme Court's Rapanoscase. which stated that jurisdictional determinations under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act must consider whether non-navigable streams and wetlands (NSWs) have a significant nexus with navigable waters. Although the question of signifi- cance is a policy issue, significant nexus is dependent on functional connectivity between NSWs and navigable waters. Establishing NSW connectivity can aid EPA in accomplishing its regulatory re- sponsibilities. Further, by incorpo- rating factors that may be vulner- able to human impacts, such an approach would aid sustainable management of aquatic resources that depend on these functional connections. Contact: Jim Wigington Impact of Climate Change on Stream Flow A critical need for managing and understanding the effects of cli- mate change on stream flow is the development of tools for assessing and prioritizing vulnerabilities over large-scale geographic areas. Un- derstanding how climate change will alter regional hydrology is a useful basis for such a vulnerabil- ity assessment, since hydrology plays a critical role in shaping natural ecosystems, crop produc- tion, drinking water, water quality and water supply. Our research is conducting such an assessment for the Pacific North- west by building on a prototype hydro- logic landscape region (HLR) map devel- oped by FEB researchers for the state of Oregon and national Climate Scenarios. The research extends HLRs to Idaho and Washington. The research includes a stream flow vulnerability analysis based on down-scaling of climate change sce- narios. Contact: Jim Wigington ------- National Aquatic Resource Survey (NARS) Monitoring Research The National Aquatic Resource Sur- veys conducted by EPA's Office of Water, in collaboration with states, assess the condition of the nation's waters (streams, rivers, lakes, coastal waters, wetlands). To im- prove their scientific basis and cost- effectiveness, FEB staff conducts research in three main areas: 1) indicator development for streams, lakes, and wetlands with an objective to recommend new indicators or improve existing indi- cators, 2) survey design with an objective to increase cost- effectiveness of NARS and integra- tion with state monitoring, and 3) assessment methods with an objec- tive to improve methods on how to summarize the state of the aquatic resources. Contact: Steve Paulsen Aquatic Research based on NARS The National Aquatic Resource Sur- veys provide a rich source of data that when combined with other in- formation can be used to address regional and national aquatic eco- system questions that could not previously completed. Contact: Steve Paulsen Spatial Prediction of Stream Stressors and Condition Spatial prediction uses data from sampled locations to predict, i.e. spatially interpolate, stream and river condition at locations that have not been sampled. Since it is not possible to monitor condition everywhere, states and EPA require spatial prediction methodology to better manage aquatic resources. Spatial prediction models require information from monitoring pro- grams, such as NARS, as well as information on watershed charac- teristics and other factors that in- fluence presence of stressors and impact condition of streams. FEB staff is developing methods for spatial prediction that can be ap- plied at state, regional and na- tional scales. A primary focus in prediction of biological condition based on benthic macro inverte- brate assemblages. Contact: John Van Sickle Monitoring Ecosystem Services Ecosystem services are the many life-sustaining benefits we receive from nature-clean air and water, fertile soil for crop production, polli- nation, and flood control. These ecosystem services are important to our health and wellbeing, yet they are limited and often taken for granted as being free. There is a need to identify, understand and quantify these services so that envi- ronmental decision makers can evaluate the trade-offs to sustain- ability and human health when eco- system services are changed by hu- man activities. One research focus is on identifying the subset of ecosystem services that are directly experienced by people and which serve as the foun- dation for social and benefits analy- sis, consistent accounting and meaningful communication. Another research focus is on developing a framework and methods that can be used to monitor indicators of these ecosystem services at national, re- gional, state or other scales. Devel- oping indicators of ecosystem ser- vices associated with wetlands is a specific focus. Contact: Dixon Landers ------- Ecosystem Services and Reactive Nitrogen Reactive nitrogen is a pollutant of na- tional and global significance because its use is widespread and has dramati- cally increased in the past century. Ni- trogen is a particularly complex pollut- ant. While it is one of life's essential nutrient elements, supporting the pro- duction of food and fiber for human use, it also can degrade air, land and water, and ecosystem services pro- vided for human benefit. Current re- search at WED focuses on the sources, removal and impacts of reactive N. We are assembling existing N source infor- mation into a nutrient inventory that encompasses national data on nitrogen sources from industry, agricultural, hu- man waste and natural background. We are comparing different sources based on quality, utility and complete- ness. This work will also includes test- ing of these national data layers at more local scales including the Wil- lamette River basin in Oregon and the Yakima River basin in Washing- ton to determine their usefulness for management and decision-making. A modeling research effort will de- velop seasonal versions of existing annual models in order to better ad- dress regulatory needs and better connect to work on ecosystem ser- vices. The research will improve understanding of how nitrogen, a regulated pollutant, impacts ecosys- tem services in both positive and negative ways in order to better in- form decision-making. Links: http://www.epa.gov/ord/esrp/ guick-finder/n itroaen-research.htm: http://www.epa.Qov/wed/pages/ research/nitrogen/index.html Contact: Jana Compton ------- |