Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Survey design for lakes and reservoirs in the United States to assess contaminants in fish tissue

  • Published:
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The National Lake Fish Tissue Study (NLFTS) was the first survey of fish contamination in lakes and reservoirs in the 48 conterminous states based on a probability survey design. This study included the largest set (268) of persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) chemicals ever studied in predator and bottom-dwelling fish species. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) implemented the study in cooperation with states, tribal nations, and other federal agencies, with field collection occurring at 500 lakes and reservoirs over a four-year period (2000–2003). The sampled lakes and reservoirs were selected using a spatially balanced unequal probability survey design from 270,761 lake objects in USEPA’s River Reach File Version 3 (RF3). The survey design selected 900 lake objects, with a reserve sample of 900, equally distributed across six lake area categories. A total of 1,001 lake objects were evaluated to identify 500 lake objects that met the study’s definition of a lake and could be accessed for sampling. Based on the 1,001 evaluated lakes, it was estimated that a target population of 147,343 (±7% with 95% confidence) lakes and reservoirs met the NLFTS definition of a lake. Of the estimated 147,343 target lakes, 47% were estimated not to be sampleable either due to landowner access denial (35%) or due to physical barriers (12%). It was estimated that a sampled population of 78,664 (±12% with 95% confidence) lakes met the NLFTS lake definition, had either predator or bottom-dwelling fish present, and could be sampled.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Blick, D. J., Messer, J. J., Landers, D. H., & Overton, W. S. (1987). Statistical basis for the design and interpretation of the national surface water survey, phase I: Lakes and streams. Lake and Reservoir Management, 3, 470–475.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diaz-Ramos, S., Stevens, D. L., Jr., & Olsen, A. R. (1996). EMAP statistics methods manual. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Corvallis, OR. EPA/620/R-96/002.

  • Horn, C. R., & Grayman, W. M. (1993). Water-quality modeling with EPA reach file system. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 119, 262–274.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Landers, D. H., Overton, W. S., Linthurst, R. A. & Brakke, D. F. (1988). Eastern lake survey: Regional estimates of lake chemistry. Environmental Science & Technology, 22, 128–135.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Larsen, D. P., & Christie, S. J. (1993). EMAP-Surface waters 1991 pilot report. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Environmental Research Laboratory, Corvallis, Oregon. EPA-620-R-93-003.

  • Larsen, D. P., Thornton, K. W., Urquhart, N. S., & Paulsen, S. G. (1994). The role of sample surveys for monitoring the condition of the Nation’s lakes. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 32, 101–134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peterson, S. A., Hughes, R. M., Larsen, D. P., Paulsen, S. G., & Omernik, J. M. (1995). Regional lake quality patterns: Their relationship to lake conservation and management decisions. Lake and Reservoirs: Research and Management, 1, 163–168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peterson, S. A., Larsen, D. P., Paulsen, S. G., & Urquhart, N. S. (1998). Regional lake trophic patterns in the northeastern United States: Three approaches. Environmental Management, 22, 789–801.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R Development Core Team (2007). The R Project for Statistical Computing. R Development Core Team, Vienna, Austria (website) http://www.R-project.org.

  • Stahl, L. L., Snyder, B. D., Olsen, A. R., & Pitt, J. L. (2008). Contaminants in fish tissue from U.S. lakes and reservoirs: A national probabilistic study. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment. doi:10.1007/s10661-008-0669-8

  • Stevens, D. L., Jr., & Olsen, A. R. (1999). Spatially restricted surveys over time for aquatic resources. Journal of Agricultural, Biological, and Environmental Statistics, 4, 415–428.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stevens, D. L., Jr., & Olsen, A. R. (2003). Variance estimation for spatially balanced samples of environmental resources. Environmetrics, 14, 593–610.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stevens, D. L., Jr., & Olsen, A. R. (2004). Spatially-balanced sampling of natural resources. Journal of American Statistical Association, 99, 262–278.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, S. (1992). Sampling. New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) (1978). National eutrophication survey, working papers 474, 475, 476, 477. Corvallis Environmental Research Laboratory and Las Vegas Environmental Monitoring and Support Laboratory, Washington, DC.

  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) (1998). A multimedia strategy for priority persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) Pollutants [Draft]. U.S. EPA, Office of Water, Washington, DC. EPA-823-R-99-014.

  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) (1999). National study of chemical residues in lake fish tissue: Study design. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Science and Technology, Washington, DC.

  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) (2000). Field sampling plan for the National Study of Chemical Residues in Lake Fish Tissue. U.S. EPA, Office of Water, Office of Science and Technology, Washington, DC. EPA-823-R-02-004.

  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) (2005a). Quality assurance report for the National Study of Chemical Residues in Lake Fish Tissue: Analytical data for years 1 through 4. U.S. EPA, Office of Water, Washington, DC. EPA-823-R-05-005.

  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) (2005b). Quality assurance project plan for data analysis activities for the national study of chemical residues in lake fish tissue. Washington, DC: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water.

  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) (2006). Wadeable stream assessment: A collaborative survey of the Nation’s streams. U.S. EPA, Office of Water, Washington, DC. EPA 841-B-06-002.

  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) (2007a). National estuary program coastal condition report. U.S. EPA, Office of Water, Washington, DC. EPA-842-B-06-001.

  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) (2007b). 2005/2006 National listing of fish advisories fact sheet. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water, Washington, DC. EPA-823-F-07-003.

  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) (2007c). Survey of the Nation’s lakes. U.S. EPA (website). http://www.epa.gov/owow/lakes/lakessurvey/.

  • Yeardley, R. B., Jr, Lazorchak, J. M., Paulsen, S. G. (1998). Elemental fish tissue contamination in northeastern U.S. lakes: Evaluation of an approach to regional assessment. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 17, 1875–1884.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ORD/National Health and Environmental Effects Laboratory, Western Ecology Division, 200 S.W. 35th Street, Corvallis, OR, 97333-4902, USA

    Anthony R. Olsen

  2. Tetra Tech, Inc., Center for Ecological Sciences, 400 Red Brook Boulevard, Suite 200, Owings Mills, Baltimore, MD, 21117, USA

    Blaine D. Snyder & Jennifer L. Pitt

  3. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, OW/Office of Science and Technology, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW (MC 4305), Washington, DC, 20460, USA

    Leanne L. Stahl

Authors
  1. Anthony R. Olsen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Blaine D. Snyder
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Leanne L. Stahl
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jennifer L. Pitt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anthony R. Olsen.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Olsen, A.R., Snyder, B.D., Stahl, L.L. et al. Survey design for lakes and reservoirs in the United States to assess contaminants in fish tissue. Environ Monit Assess 150, 91–100 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-008-0685-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-008-0685-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation