5 Mar 2024

Environmental DNA Sampling for At-Risk and Invasive Species Management on Military Ranges: Guidelines and Protocols for Installation Biologists and Land Managers

Abstract: Environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis, or the detection of trace DNA shed by organisms into their environment, has the potential to transform Army capabilities for threatened and endangered species (TES) and invasive species management by providing a rapid, noninvasive, and cost-effective option for monitoring wildlife. Despite these benefits, eDNA analysis is underutilized on military installations as limited access to guidance materials, protocols, training opportunities, and support from eDNA scientists makes it difficult for installation biologists and military land managers to design and execute eDNA surveys, let alone identify management questions that may benefit from eDNA monitoring. Therefore, the aim of this resource is to increase awareness of the benefits and limitations of eDNA monitoring and provide eDNA study design guidelines and field sampling protocols for nonexperts to make this tool more accessible to installation biologists and land managers and help facilitate the adoption of eDNA-based approaches for wildlife management on military ranges.

9 Feb 2024

Overview of Microscale Analytical Methods for the Quantitative Detection of Bioaccumulative Contaminants in Small Tissue Masses

Abstract: For many bioaccumulation studies, generation of large sample masses of exposed organisms is challenging or even prohibitive. Therefore, the use of smaller sample masses for analysis without compromising data quality or quantitative level achieved is desirable. To this end, a variety of microanalytical procedures have been developed that used 1 g or less of tissue to address specific experimental challenges. However, these methods have not been systematically evaluated or published. The present work evaluates the current state of the microanalytical methods reported and identifies additional needs that would benefit US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) research and navigation dredging programs. Discussions with commercial laboratories revealed that they typically do not accept small sample masses and require individual sample masses ranging from 10 to 20 g wet weight of tissue per analysis. If they do analyze a small mass sample, they routinely do not modify their standard process, resulting in detection and reporting limits orders of magnitude higher; therefore, essentially useless nondetect data are generated for regulatory decisions. To address the lack of commercial availability of microanalytical methods, we recommend pursuing method development and subsequent validation of microscale extraction and analysis of a variety of common contaminant compounds in tissue matrices.

29 Sep 2022

Birds of the Craney Island Dredged Material Management Area, Portsmouth, Virginia, 2008-2020

Abstract: This report presents the results of a long-term trend analyses of seasonal bird community data from a monitoring effort conducted on the Craney Island Dredged Material Management Area (CIDMMA) from 2008 to 2020, Portsmouth, VA. The USACE Richmond District collaborated with the College of William and Mary and the Coastal Virginia Wildlife Observatory, Waterbird Team, to conduct year-round semimonthly area counts of the CIDMMA to examine species presence and population changes overtime. This effort provides information on the importance of the area to numerous bird species and bird species’ groups and provides an index to those species and group showing significant changes in populations during the monitoring period. We identified those species regionally identified as Highest, High, and Moderate Priority Species based on their status as rare, sensitive, or in need of conservation attention as identified by the Atlantic Coast Joint Venture (ACJV), Bird Conservation Region (BCR), New England/Mid-Atlantic Bird Conservation Area (BCR 30). Of 134 ranked priority species in the region, the CIDMMA supported 102 of 134 (76%) recognized in the BCR, including 16 of 19 (84%) of Highest priority ranked species, 47 of 60 (78.3%) of High priority species, and 39 of 55 (71%) of Moderate priority species for BCR 30. All bird count and species richness data collected were fitted to a negative binomial (mean abundance) or Poisson distribution (mean species richness) and a total of 271 species and over 1.5 million birds were detected during the monitoring period. Most all bird species and species groups showed stable or increasing trends during the monitoring period. These results indicate that the CIDMMA is an important site that supports numerous avian species of local and regional conservation concern throughout the year.

13 Oct 2021

Engineering With Nature®: Supporting Mission Resilience and Infrastructure Value at Department of Defense Installations

Abstract: This book illustrates some of the current challenges and hazards experienced by military installations, and the content highlights activities at seven military installations to achieve increased resilience through natural infrastructure.

30 Aug 2021

Variation in Inhibitor Effects on qPCR Assays and implications for eDNA Surveys

Abstract: Aquatic environmental DNA (eDNA) surveys are sometimes impacted by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) inhibitors. We tested varying concentrations of different inhibitors (humic, phytic, and tannic acids; crude leaf extracts) for impacts on quantitative PCR (qPCR) assays designed for eDNA surveys of bighead and silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis and Hypophthalmichthys molitrix). We also tested for inhibition by high concentrations of exogenous DNA, hypothesizing that DNA from increasingly closely related species would be increasingly inhibitory. All tested inhibitors impacted qPCR, though only at very high concentrations — likely a function, in part, of having used an inhibitor-resistant qPCR solution. Closer phylogenetic relatedness resulted in inhibition at lower exogenous DNA concentrations, but not at relatively close phylogenetic scales. Inhibition was also influenced by the qPCR reporter dye used. Importantly, different qPCR assays responded differently to the same inhibitor concentrations. Implications of these results are that the inclusion of more than one assay for the same target taxa in an eDNA survey may be an important countermeasure against false negatives and that internal positive controls may not, in the absence of efforts to maximize inhibition compatibility, provide useful information about the inhibition of an eDNA assay.

11 Aug 2021

Preparative, Extraction, and Analytical Methods for Simultaneous Determination of Legacy and Insensitive Munition (IM) Constituents in Aqueous, Soil or Sediment, and Tissue Matrices

Abstract: No standard method exists for determining levels of insensitive munition (IM) compounds in environmental matrices. This project resulted in new methods of extraction, analytical separation and quantitation of 17 legacy and 7 IM compounds, daughter products of IM, and other munition compounds absent from USEPA Method 8330B. Extraction methods were developed for aqueous (direct-injection and solid-phase extraction [SPE]), soil, sediment, and tissue samples using laboratory-spiked samples. Aqueous methods were tested on 5 water sources, with 23 of 24 compounds recovered within DoD QSM Ver5.2 limits. New solvent extraction (SE) methods enabled recovery of all 24 compounds from 6 soils within QSM limits, and a majority of the 24 compounds were recovered at acceptable levels from 4 tissues types. A modified chromatographic treatment method removed analytical interferences from tissue extracts. Two orthogonal high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet (HPLC-UV) separation methods, along with an HPLC–mass spectrometric (HPLC-MS) method, were developed. Implementing these new methods should reduce labor and supply costs by approximately 50%, requiring a single extraction and sample preparation, and 2 analyses rather than 4. These new methods will support environmental monitoring of IM and facilitate execution of risk-related studies to determine long-term effects of IM compounds.