Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
October 2012 Activity Highlights
Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
La Crosse, Wisconsin
Topics covered in the October activity report.
Agricultural Ditches – Effects of Land Use and Tile Drainage on Ecosystem Function and Water Quality
- William Richardson (UMESC), Tanja Williamson (NJ WSC), Vicki Christensen (MN WSC), Jeffrey Frey (IN WSC), Sheridan Haack (MI WSC), and Faith Fitzpatrick (WI WSC) will present the results of a study to determine effects of land use and tile drainage on ecosystem function and water quality in agricultural ditches, at the Annual International Meeting of the Soil Science of America, American Society of Agronomy, and Crop Science Society of America International Annual Meeting, October 21-24 in Cincinnati, OH. Preliminary analysis shows a strong negative response of food chain length (measure of rate of energy turnover in a food chain, related to biodiversity and inter-connectedness of food chains) to total nitrogen concentrations in streams and ditches, while total nitrogen concentrations appear to decrease with drainage areas (higher concentrations closer to channelized headwater streams). In contrast, food chain length was positively related to drainage area - a commonly seen pattern in stream networks. Total lipid and polyunsaturated fatty acids in fish tended to increase with nitrogen concentration, so fish furthest from channelized headwater streams had lower lipid concentrations - possibly a result access to lower diversity, but abundant lipid-rich prey, in headwaters. There are also clear reductions of stream suspended sediment concentrations in the presence of riparian buffers but not a reduction in phosphorus concentrations. Sediment finger-printing is underway to determine if sediments are derived from fields and tile drains or bank slumping.
Aquatic Invasive Species
Asian Carp
- Jon Amberg (UMESC) gave a presentation on environmental DNA (eDNA) at the Mississippi River Basin Panel meeting in New Orleans, LA, October 11. The presentation is on the pros and cons of eDNA as a surveillance tool for invasive species, the role that Environmental DNA Calibration Study (ECALs) funded by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative has on eDNA monitoring, and implications to management.
- The Upper Midwest Environmental Science Center (in La Crosse, WI) received notification the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources agreed with their plans to conduct experiments with Asian carp within the Center’s outdoor pond complex. UMESC has operated an indoors invasive species containment facility for several years, used to conduct research on Asian carp, zebra mussels, and sea lamprey. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had previously approved modifying the Center’s federal permit to allow experiments to begin in the UMESC outdoor research ponds with the condition that the WI DNR concur with the Center’s plan to hold Asian carp in its outdoor research ponds for experimental uses. The WI DNR was required by state law to hold a public hearing and comment period before issuing their permit. A news clip on the public hearing and UMESC’s plan to test the use of hydroguns on Asian carp ran on Wisconsin public radio, September 27.
- Mark Gaikowski (UMESC) was interviewed by Susan Bence (Wisconsin Public Radio, WPR), September 21, for an article on UMESC’s Asian carp projects. Gaikowski provided an overview of UMESC’s research efforts, which include; improving the accuracy of environmental DNA (eDNA) tests, searching for a chemical compound that could be used to control Asian carp, and testing whether or not pressurized air (i.e., waterguns) can be used as a way keep Asian carp from moving into areas where they are not welcome (e.g., the canal that connects the Illinois River to Lake Michigan). A recording and transcript of the article are available on the WPR Web site, at http://www.wuwm.com/news/wuwm_news.php?articleid=11339.
Floodplain Science Network
- Ken Lubinski (UMESC) participated in a planning meeting of the Floodplain Science Network at the Fairport, IA, Field Station of the University of Iowa, October 25. The fledgling Network, which includes several Midwestern river science institutions, is currently formalizing its future functions and operating strategies. Outlines of two documents, a description of the Network's mission and objectives, and a perspective on responding to partner information needs, were drafted.
Congressional Affairs
- Mike Jawson and Randy Hines (UMESC) met with Congressman Tim Walz’s (MN, 1st district) staffers Peder Kjeseth (Minnesota) and Randolph Briley (Washington DC), October 23. Kjeseth and Briley visited the UMESC to learn about the Center’s research and monitoring programs, with specific interest in the Asian carp and zebra mussel control projects.
Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI)
Project #80, Birds as Indicators of Contaminant Exposure in the Great Lakes
- Christine Custer and Thomas Custer (UMESC) provided a summary of data gathered for Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) Project 80; Birds as Indicators of Contaminant Exposure in the Great Lakes, for 2 Wisconsin and 1 New York Areas of Concern (AOC) project coordinators. The data were requested for inclusion in their 2012 Remedial Action Plan (RAP) updates. The Stage 2 RAP documents are the strategic road map for Beneficial Use Impairment (BUI) assessments leading to AOC delisting.
National Park Service
Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway
- Steve Zigler (UMESC) will present, “Patterns in fish predation on zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) in the lower St. Croix River,” at the St. Croix River Research Rendezvous, October 16 at Marine on St. Croix, MN. The presentation will detail results of a study to evaluate food-web interactions and potential predator control of zebra mussels in the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway. Coauthors are Michelle Bartsch, Lynn Bartsch, William Richardson (UMESC), Byron Karns, and Brenda Moraska Lafrancois (NPS).
Yellowstone National Park
- Jennifer Dieck, Kevin Hop, Erin Hoy, and Andrew Strassman (UMESC) will meet with National Park Service and NatureServe staff to kickoff the Yellowstone Vegetation Mapping Project, November 13-14 in Mammoth, WY. The meeting will introduce Yellowstone staff to the project, providing a general introduction to the field work, ancillary data collection, creation of a vegetation classification scheme, and project logistics. The project is expected to be delivered in the spring of 2020. UMESC and NatureServe will be delivering a completed National Vegetation Classification System classification scheme and vegetation key, a vegetation map (at least 0.5 ha resolution), and a set of digital 3D-compatible images (at least 2 foot resolution).
Outreach
- Larry Robinson, Michelle Bartsch, and Randy Hines (UMESC) facilitated a tour of UMESC for 100 students from La Crosse's Longfellow Middle School’s, "School on the River" October 23, 2012. The Program’s curriculum focuses on the Mississippi River’s ecological systems and how these systems lead to students’ understanding of how cultural, economic, political and organizational systems work in the real world. Robinson discussed the use of geographic information systems (GIS) to map and monitor floodplain vegetation on the Upper Mississippi River System, Bartsch discussed the effects of human interactions on native mussel populations, and Hines provided oversight on native and invasive aquatic species research.
Upper Mississippi River Restoration – Environmental Management Program
Climate Change
- Barry Johnson (UMESC) will participate in a meeting to direct future work leading to an integrated approach to adaptation strategies for climate change effects within Wisconsin and the Upper Midwest, as a member of the Science Council for the Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts (WICCI). The meeting will be held in Madison, WI, November 5.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
White-nose Bat Syndrome and Indiana Bats
- Wayne Thogmartin (UMESC), Andrew King, Jennifer Szymanski, and Lori Pruitt (FWS) published the results from space-time mixed-effects logistic regressions to characterize a disease, white-nose syndrome (WNS), quickly spreading among endangered Indiana bats (Myotis sodalis) in eastern North America. Their goal was to calculate and map the risk probability faced by uninfected colonies of hibernating Indiana bats. Thogmartin et. al. found no sizeable wintering populations of Indiana bats occurring outside of the migrational distance of an infected source. As the disease is moving into the core of the endangered bat's range, the rate of populations affected by this disease appears to be growing. If this pattern continues, all wintering populations may be affected by white-nose syndrome by 2016.
Climate Variation and Indiana Bats
- Wayne Thogmartin and Patrick McKann (UMESC) presented results from, “Large-scale climate variation modifies winter group size in the endangered Indiana bat,” at the 42nd North American Symposium on Bat Research in San Juan, Puerto Rico, October 27. Thogmartin is also advising the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in elicitation of expert opinion regarding the ecology and demography of the Little Brown Bat, a species in consideration for listing under the Endangered Species Act. Additional information on Thogmartin’s work with Indiana bats is available at; http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/terrestrial/bats/indiana_bats.html.
Wildlife Society Conference
- Wayne Thogmartin and Walt Sadinski (UMESC) will attend The Wildlife Society 19th Annual Conference in Portland, OR, October 13-18. Presentations include;
- “Spatially varying estimates of extinction risk from North American Breeding Bird Survey indices: application of a state-space approach,” by Wayne Thogmartin and Patrick McKann. This invited presentation will be given in the symposium, “Hierarchical models for wildlife surveys over time and space.”
- “A modeling framework to integrate harvest and habitat management of North American waterfowl: case-study of northern pintail metapopulation dynamics,” by Brady J. Mattsson (PWRC), Mike C. Runge, Jim H. Devries (Ducks Unlimited), G. Scott Boomer (FWS), John M. Eadie (University of California, Davis), David A. Haukos (USGS, KS State), Joe P. Fleskes (Pacific SW), David N. Koons (Utah State U.), Wayne Thogmartin (UMESC), and Robert G. Clark (Environment Canada). This invited presentation will be given in the symposium, “Multi-scale modeling for conservation of migratory birds.”
- “Autoregressive state-space models for estimating extinction risk from Breeding Bird Survey data,” by Patrick Kann and Wayne Thogmartin will be presented during the poster session.
- “Integrating land-cover data with data from acoustic and other ground-based sensors to assess environmental benefits of the Wetland Reserve Program in Iowa,” by Walt Sadinski (UMESC), Alisa Gallant (EROS), and Mark Roth (UMESC) will be presented in the symposium, “Wildlife benefits from Farm Bill conservation programs.”
Other
Acronyms
AOC – Area of Concern
BUI – Beneficial Use Impairment
DC – District of Columbia
DNR – Department of Natural Resources
ECALS – Environmental DNA Calibration Study
eDNA – Environmental DNA
EPA – Environmental Protection Agency
EWUG – ESRI Wisconsin User Group
FWS – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
GIS – Geographic Information Systems
GLRI – Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
LiDAR – Light Detection and Ranging
LTRMP – Long Term Resource Monitoring Program
NPS – National Park Service
RAP – Remedial Action Plan
UMESC – Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
USGS – U.S. Geological Survey
VIP – Vegetation Inventory Program
WICCI – Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts
WNS – White-nose Syndrome
WPR – Wisconsin Public Radio
WSC – Water Science Center
URL: http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/outreach/highlights/2012_oct_umesc_highlights.html
Page Contact Information: Contacting the Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
Page Last Modified:
November 27, 2012
