Raleigh Ecological Services Field Office
Conserving the Nature of America

Presentations

The following materials document investigations of the Raleigh Field Office's Environmental Contaminants Program or those of our partners. Complete references and abstracts are available here; please contact the office directly for copies of publications, reports, or presentations.

Professional Society Posters / Platform Presentations / Miscellaneous

2008 Presentations

Benjamin, P. and H. Phillips. 2008. Off-Setting Pollutant Loads: Wetland Restoration Partnership Benefits Water Quality and Wildlife in Eastern North Carolina. Presented at the 11th National Environmental Contaminants Workshop, May 13, Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

Ward, S. 2008. Wetland Restoration: Carbon and Nitrogen Off-sets to Benefit Water Quality and Wildlife. Presented at the 11th National Environmental Contaminants Workshop, May 14, Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

Augspurger, T., C. Ingersoll and R. Neves. 2008. Water quality evaluation tools for designing and implementing freshwater mussel recovery actions. Presented at joint meeting of the Society for Conservation Biology and Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Society, July 15, Chattanooga, TN.

Augspurger, T. 2008. Cape Fear shiner pollutant sensitivity: Lessons learned from propagation and testing. Presented at Chatham Conservation Partnership meeting, June 26, Pittsboro, NC.

Augspurger, T. 2008. Pollutant sensitivity of freshwater mussels and water quality concerns in Goose Creek. Presented at North Carolina Division of Water Quality public hearing, May 22, Charlotte, NC.

Augspurger T. 2008. Estimating toxicity reference values in threatened and endangered aquatic species risk assessment. Presented at BASF, April 24, Research Triangle Park, NC.

Augspurger T. 2008. Advances in understanding the pollutant sensitivity of freshwater mussels. Presented at the Southeastern Atlantic Slope Mussel Meeting, January 7-9, Raleigh, NC.

2007 Presentations

Augspurger T.P., C.G. Ingersoll, N.E. Kemble, J.L. Kunz and S.E. Ward SE. 2007. Sediment quality within the impounded reaches of Cape Fear River locks and dams. Poster No. TP53. 28th annual meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, November 11-15, Milwaukee, WI.

Wang, N., C.G. Ingersoll, F.J. Dwyer, A.D. Roberts, T. Augspurger, C.M. Kane, R.J. Neves and M.C. Barnhart. 2007. Assessing contaminant sensitivity of early life stages of freshwater mussels. Presentation PL39 at the 5th Biennial Symposium of the Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Society, March 11-15, Little Rock, AR.

W.G. Cope, A.D. Christian, R.B. Bringolf, N. Wang, T.J. Newton, J.L. Farris, T. Augspurger, F.J. Dwyer, M.C. Barnhart, R.J. Neves, E. Hammer and C.G. Ingersoll. 2007. Freshwater mussel ecosystem ecology: The integrated functional roles of water quality, pollution, and physical habitat in supporting adult and early life stages of freshwater mussels and their role in nutrient recycling. Presentation PF 06 at the 5th Biennial Symposium of the Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Society, March 11-15, Little Rock, AR.

2006 Presentations

Augspurger, T., J. Dwyer and C.G. Ingersoll. 2006. Implications of including freshwater mussel toxicity data in water quality criteria derivation datasets. Presentation No. 724. 27th annual meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, November 5-9, Montreal.

Wang, N., J.M. Besser, C.G. Ingersoll, J. Dwyer, T. Augspurger. 2006. Assessing contaminant sensitivity of threatened and endangered freshwater fish and mussels. Poster No. 1056. 27th annual meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, November 5-9, Montreal.

2005 Presentations

Augspurger, T. R. Di Giulio and D. Tillitt. 2005. Embryotoxicity of 2,3,7,8-TCDD to the wood duck (Aix sponsa). Poster No. RP092, 26th annual meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, November, Baltimore, MD.

Ingersoll, C., T. Augspurger, C., Barnhart, G. Cope, F. Dwyer, C. Bishop, R. Neves, T. Newton, A. Roberts, and N. Wang. 2005. Development of an ASTM standard guide for conducting laboratory toxicity tests with freshwater mussels. Poster No. 186, 26th annual meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, November, Baltimore, MD.

March, F., F. Dwyer, C. Ingersoll, N. Wang and T. Augspurger. 2005. Evaluation of copper water quality standards and criteria for freshwater mussels. Poster No. RP111, 26th annual meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, November, Baltimore, MD.

Wang, N., C. Ingersoll, I. Greer, D. Whites, F. Dwyer, A. Roberts, T. Augspurger, C. Kane, R. Neves and C. Barnhart. 2005. Acute and chronic toxicity of copper, ammonia, and chlorine to early life stages of freshwater mussels. Poster No. RP132, 26th annual meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, November, Baltimore, MD.

Ward, S. and T. Augspurger 2005. Risk assessment of water quality in streams supporting federally-endangered freshwater mussels in North Carolina. Presentation No. 337, 26th annual meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, November, Baltimore, MD.

2004 Presentations

Augspurger, T., C. Orazio, K. Echols, P. Peterman and D. Tillitt . 2004. Are lower Roanoke River wood ducks at risk from PCDD / PCDF exposure? Poster No. PH286,25th annual meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, November 14-18, Portland, OR.

Wang, N., C. Ingersoll, E. Greer, D. Whites, J. Dwyer, A. Roberts, T. Augspurger, C. Kane, R. Neves and C. Barnhart. 2004. Repeatability of toxicity tests with glochidia of freshwater mussels and influence of test organism ages. Poster No. PT206, 25th annual meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, November 14-18, Portland, OR.

2003 Presentations

Ward, S.E. and T.P. Augspurger. 2003. Comparison of low level chlorine measurement instrumentation for stream monitoring. Poster No. PT070 presented at the 24th Annual Meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 9-13 November, Austin, TX.

  • Abstract: Chlorinated wastewaters have the potential to impact habitat for threatened and endangered mussels. Limited information indicates that mussel exposures to chlorine may be significant and, in some cases, exceed concentrations shown to be harmful. Due to the extreme toxicity of chlorine to aquatic life, federal water quality criteria and many state standards are set at concentrations less than 20 parts per billion (ppb or µg/l). Many field instruments for chlorine analyses cannot attain detection limits as low as these standards. Chlorine is also highly reactive and volatile, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s recommended maximum 15 minute holding time for total residual chlorine (TRC) analysis often precludes a laboratory-based approach. This makes accurate measurement of ambient chlorine concentrations a challenge. For instream monitoring of selected mussel habitat in North Carolina, several portable low level (0 - 500 ppb) chlorine detection systems were laboratory- and field-tested. Results of the benchtop comparison of chlorine measurement protocols and instrumentation prompted selection of a N,N-Diethyl-p-Phenylenediamine (DPD) colorimetric method with a demonstrated method detection limit of 6 ppb. Use of this method in the field has resulted in accurate (coefficient of determination from 5-point calibration curves averaging 0.996) and precise (relative percent deviations for duplicate samples averaging 14%) low level measurements of TRC over a range of 6 to 300 ppb. The approach is likely to be useful for various applications including routine discharge monitoring and assessment of chlorine toxicity threats to mussels and other fauna.
  • pdf version of poster (240 KB)

Augspurger, T.P. and S.E. Ward. 2003. Site-specific water quality standards for an impaired stream with endangered freshwater mussels. Poster No. PM140A presented at the 24th Annual Meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 9-13 November, Austin, TX.

  • Abstract: Goose Creek is the only waterbody in North Carolina which is both listed as impaired on the Clean Water Act 303(d) list and yet contains an extant population of the federally-listed endangered Carolina heelsplitter (Lasmigona decorata), a freshwater mussel. As such, a water quality management plan is being developed for the stream under a recent modification to the State antidegradation policy which requires site-specific plans for certain waters supporting federally-listed threatened or endangered species. The basis for that plan is identification of the pollutants causing the impairment. Excessive sediment, ammonia, copper, phosphorus, nitrate / nitrite, and chlorine have been documented, with significant increasing trends in most of these parameters over the last decade. Because North Carolina has not yet adopted aquatic life water quality standards for any of these pollutants, target water quality concentrations are derived with two approaches: 1) an aquatic risk assessment using toxicity data for surrogate freshwater mussels; and, 2) a reference watershed approach. In addition to the numeric targets which will guide the restoration effort, narrative standards are proposed to address certain sources and to facilitate implementation of the plan.
  • pdf version of poster (380 KB)

2002 Presentations

Winger PV, PJ Lasier and T Augspurger. 2002. Potential impacts of landfill leachate to Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. Poster No. P663 presented at the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, November 19, 2002. Salt Lake City, UT

  • Abstract not available in electronic format

2000 Presentations

Augspurger T, MC Black, AE Keller and WG Cope. 2000. Review of ammonia toxicity to freshwater mussels. Poster No. PHA001 presented at the 21st Annual Meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, November 16, 2000. Nashville, TN.

  • Abstract not available in electronic format

1999 Presentations

Augspurger T, KJG Miller and JR Fischer. 1999. Vacuolar myelinopathy in wild birds from an impoundment in the North Carolina sandhills. Poster No. 37 presented at the 48th Annual Wildlife Disease Association Conference, August 10, 1999. Athens, GA.

  • Abstract not available in electronic format

1998 Presentations

Augspurger, T., W. Golder and D.E. Tillitt. 1998. Productivity and contaminant assessment of colonial waterbirds in coastal North Carolina, USA. Draft, pre-publication manuscript.

  • Abstract. Geometric mean concentrations of arsenic (0.06 ug/g fresh wet weight) and selenium (0.70 ug/g) in Royal Tern (Sterna maxima) eggs collected from a colony in North Carolina's Cape Fear River estuary were significantly higher than corresponding levels in eggs from a reference colony, approximately 150 km northeast. Concentrations of mercury (0.70 ug/g) and bioassay-derived 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin equivalents (TCDD-EQs) (3.4 pg/g) in Cape Fear River tern eggs did not differ from reference specimens. Royal Tern eggshell thicknesses from the Cape Fear River colony (0.357 mm) and reference site were normal as was productivity in these colonies. Examination of 12,807 Royal Tern chicks during banding in 1994 and 1995 revealed no bill or foot deformities. Arsenic (0.03 ug/g), selenium (0.38 ug/g), and TCDD-EQs (4.5 pg/g) in Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) eggs from the Cape Fear River estuary were significantly higher than reference specimens. Geometric mean mercury (0.34 ug/g) and mean eggshell thickness (0.550 mm) of Cape Fear River Brown Pelican eggs did not differ from the reference colony. Contaminant concentrations were below apparent avian affect thresholds; they provide a foundation for additional spatial and temporal monitoring of pollutant status and trends in the region.

1996 Presentations

Augspurger, T., J. Holloman and M. Canada. 1996. Productivity and contaminant assessment of ospreys from western Albemarle Sound, North Carolina. Poster No. P0947 presented at the Seventeenth Annual Meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, November 21, 1996, Washington, DC.

  • Abstract. The lower Roanoke River and western Albemarle Sound are contaminated with PCDDs/PCDFs from pulp mills that historically bleached with molecular chlorine. Resident fish in these northeastern NC waters are the subject of human health consumption advisories. We examined productivity, PCDDs / PCDFs, and mercury in osprey (Pandion haliaetus) nesting at the mouth of the Roanoke River and western Albemarle Sound in the first effort to assess the health of piscivorous migratory birds in the vicinity. Productivity was examined by following the fate of occupied nests in 1993 (n=15), 1994 (n=15), and 1995 (n=20). Annual average clutch size (2.27 to 2.93; mode = 3), young fledged per active nest (1.21 to 1.53) and young fledged per successful nest (1.78 to 1.92) appeared normal and did not appreciably differ from productivity of ospreys breeding at Lake Mattamuskeet, a reference location 60 km distant. In 1995, 2,3,7,8-substituted PCDDs/PCDFs were measured by HRGC/MS. Total 2,3,7,8-TCDD TEQs, based on international TEFs, were 16 to 68 pg/g fresh wet weight (geometric mean 33 pg/g; n=6) at western Albemarle Sound and were significantly higher (p‹0.05) than TEQs for eggs from Lake Mattamuskeet (geometric mean < 5.0 pg/g; n=3). Mercury in western Albemarle Sound osprey eggs ranged from 0.01 to 0.03 ug/g fresh wet weight (geometric mean 0.02 ug/g; n=6) and was significantly (p‹0.01) lower than mercury in eggs from Lake Mattamuskeet (geometric mean 0.06 ug/g; n=6). There was no significant relationship between western Albemarle Sound osprey reproductive performance and TEQs or mercury.

1994 Presentations

Augspurger, T.P., K.T. Looney and W.J. Fleming. 1994. Field monitoring of freshwater mussel cholinesterase activities to assess pesticide exposure. Paper presented at the Fifteenth Annual Meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, November 2, 1994, Denver, CO.

  • Abstract. Cholinesterase (ChE) activity was monitored in native freshwater mussels to field test the utility of protocols for assessment of unionid exposure to ChE-inhibiting pesticides. In 1993, eastern elliptio (Elliptio complanata) were collected biweekly from 05 April to 30 August (n=15) at four monitoring stations in the upper Tar River basin, North Carolina (USA). Anterior adductor muscles of these were assayed for ChE activity with modified spectrophotometric techniques. Analysis of variance indicated significant (p‹0.05) ChE-inhibition within stations over time and between stations for particular sampling events. Average ChE activities at downstream stations were depressed by as much as 78% (relative to upstream reference specimens) and 83% (relative to within-site specimens collected earlier). Within-site variation of ChE activities was considerable; average C.V. in 15 sampling events ranged from 39 to 49% at the four monitoring stations. Water temperature inversely correlated with ChE activity at half the monitoring stations, but temperature did not explain the significant ChE depression between stations. Concentrations of some major ions, including HCO3-, significantly correlated with normal ChE activities; whether these directly influenced ChE activity requires further study.

1993 Presentations

Beeman, D.K., T.P. Augspurger, and W. J. Fleming. 1993. Productivity and PCDDs / PCDFs in eggs from two great blue heron rookeries near a pulp and paper mill on the Roanoke River, North Carolina. Poster Number P118 presented at the Fourteenth Annual Meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, November 14-18, Houston, TX.

  • Abstract not available in electronic format
Last Updated: February 5, 2010