nasa diagram

Land and resource use on the Amazon floodplain under evolving management systems and environmental change

NEW PROJECT: An interdisciplinary project aiming to:

(i) measure historical human impacts on river-floodplains of the Amazon
(ii) quantify relations among fish, forests, grasslands, and human welfare, and
(iii) identify expected outcomes under simulated conditions of increased resource demand and climate change. 

nasa diagram

The project is funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).  Participants include Laura L. Hess (University of California, Santa Barbara), David G. McGrath and Michael T. Coe (The Woods Hole Research Center), Victoria J. Isaac (the Universidade Federal do Pará, Brazil), and Frank Merry and Greg Amacher (Virginia Tech).  Our lab contributes to this project by quantifying and modeling the influences of hydrological alteration and floodplain vegetation cover on fisheries productivity.  

Read more about this project.

 

cbm arapaima

Community-based management of arapaima in river-floodplains of the Lower Amazon

cbm arapaima

This is a long-term research and extension program aiming to promote sustainable arapaima fisheries through

(i) increased understanding of the biology, ecology, and status of arapaima populations 
(ii) capacity building of fishers and their communities, and
(iii) development of community-based management plans. 

Funding comes from Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa (CNPq), Brazil, and Mamirauá Sustainable Development Institute, Brazil).  Participants include Fabio Sarmento (Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazônia), Caroline C. Arantes (Texas A&M University), and David G. McGrath (The Woods Hole Research Center).  Our lab contributes by providing stock assessments and investigating the requirements necessary for sustainable resource governance.  Read more.

graphic abstract

Mercury levels declining in Arctic Rivers

NEW PUBLICATION: A recent paper* published in Environmental Science and Technology suggests that mercury levels are declining in some Arctic rivers.

Abstract (2014)

Mercury (Hg) dynamics in the Arctic is receiving increasing attention, but further understanding is limited by a lack of studies in Russia, which encompasses the majority of the pan-Arctic watershed.

castello14

This study reports Hg concentrations and trends in burbot (Lota lota) from the Lena and Mezen Rivers in the Russian Arctic, and assesses the extent to which they differ from those found in burbot in arctic rivers elsewhere. Mercury concentrations in burbot in the Lena and Mezen Rivers were found to be generally lower than in 23 other locations, most of which are in the Mackenzie River Basin (Canada). Mercury concentrations in burbot in the Lena and Mezen Rivers also were found to have been declining at an annual rate of 2.3% while they have been increasing in the Mackenzie River Basin at annual rates between 2.2 and 5.1% during roughly the same time period. These contrasting patterns in Hg in burbot across the pan-Arctic may be explained by geographic heterogeneity in controlling processes, including riverine particulate material loads, historically changing atmospheric inputs, postdepositional processes, and climate change impacts.

*Castello, L., Zhulidov, A.V., Gurtovaya, T.Yu., Robarts, R.D., Lysenko, V.S., Holmes, R.M., Zhulidov, D.A., Spencer, R.G.M. 2014. Low and declining mercury in Arctic Russian Rivers. Environmental Science & Technology 48: 747−752. pdf