Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Great Rivers Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit

The USGS is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU partner for research spatial analysis of mainstem riverine habitat of invasive Black Carp. Black Carp Mylopharyngodon piceus are an introduced species in North America with a rapidly expanding distribution within the Mississippi River basin. This species is anticipated to threaten native mollusk species due to a special adaptation of the pharyngeal process for crushing even thick-shelled mollusk prey. Scientists with the Columbia Environmental Research Center are actively relocating telemetry tagged Black Carp to identify habitat use and movement patterns throughout the year. To complement physical relocations of tagged Black Carp in statistical analysis of spatial ecology, bathymetric mapping of the mainstem Mississippi, Missouri, and Illinois rivers is required in combination with metrics describing proximity to wing dikes and other engineered river control structures and site specific bathymetric layers. This project consists of creating a seamless layer for the range described below.