NCEAS Working Groups
Potential role of contaminants in declines of pelagic organisms in the Upper San Francisco Estuary, California
Project Description
In late 2004, scientists noted that abundance indices of several pelagic fishes in the upper San Francisco Estuary (delta smelt, age-0 striped bass, longfin smelt, and threadfin shad) had remained unusually low since 2001. Delta smelt is an endemic species listed as threatened under both the California and U.S. Endangered Species Acts. Protection of delta smelt often determines water management actions in the estuary, which supplies drinking water to more than 22 million people and supports a multi-billion dollar agricultural industry. The abundance of longfin smelt, another native species, has a strong positive relationship to freshwater outflow. Striped bass and threadfin shad are both introduced species that contribute substantially to the total biomass of pelagic fishes in the ecosystem and support valuable recreational fisheries. NCEAS and the Interagency Ecological Program are collaborating to convene several working groups on issues related to decline of pelagic organisms. We hope not only to gain a better understanding of the specific causes of the organism declines in the San Francisco Estuary, but to place these declines in the broader context of estuarine assessment and management in other geographic regions. This working group seeks to investigate the potential influence on observed declines of contaminants such as pyrethroid use, changes in wastewater discharge as California's human population increases, and changes in use of pesticides. Contaminants may be having chronic effects or effects on the food web rather than acute effects detectable by traditional bioassays. Wastewater includes steroids and other pharmaceuticals that can affect the endocrine and immune systems. There also may be maternal effects on eggs and larvae.
Principal Investigator(s)
Erica Fleishman
Project Dates
Start: June 7, 2007
End: May 14, 2010
completed
Participants
- Marjorie L. Brooks
- University of Wyoming
- Larry R. Brown
- US Geological Survey (USGS)
- Tracy Collier
- NOAA, Northwest Fisheries Science Center
- Mike Connor
- San Francisco Estuary Institute
- James I. Drever
- University of Wyoming
- Richard Dugdale
- San Francisco State University
- Erica Fleishman
- University of California, Santa Barbara
- Noble Hendrix
- R2 Resource Consultants, Inc.
- Michael L. Johnson
- University of California, Davis
- David Krolick
- ECORP Consulting, Inc.
- Peggy W. Lehman
- California Department of Water Resources
- Sam Luoma
- US Geological Survey (USGS)
- Carys L. Mitchelmore
- University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
- Anke Mueller-Solger
- California Department of Water Resources
- Thomas L. O'Halloran
- University of California, Santa Barbara
- Alex E. Parker
- San Francisco State University
- Daniel Schlenk
- University of California, Riverside
- Nathaniel L. Scholz
- NOAA, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)
- James Sickman
- University of California, Riverside
- David M. Stoms
- University of California, Santa Barbara
- Swee Teh
- University of California, Davis
- Jim R. Thomson
- Monash University
- Suzanne van Drunick
- University of Colorado, Boulder
- Peter Van Veld
- College of William and Mary
- Inge Werner
- University of California, Davis
- Frances P. Wilkerson
Products
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Journal Article / 2012
Life histories, salinity zones, and sublethal contributions of contaminants to pelagic fish declines illustrated with a case study of San Francisco Estuary, California, USA
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Data Set / 2010
POD!_National Pollution Discharge Elimination System_Delta Discharge_1999-2007
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Journal Article / 2012
A perspective on modern pesticides, pelagic fish declines, and unknown ecological resilience in highly managed ecosystems