Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
February 2013 Activity Highlights
Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
La Crosse, Wisconsin
Topics covered in the February activity report.
Aquatic Ecosystem Health
Perox-Aid® and Gyrodactylus Parasites
- Jeff Meinertz (UMESC) gave the following presentation at the 2013 Mid Continent Warm Water Fish Culture Workshop, February 5, Paris, AR.
- J.R. Meinertz, M.P. Gaikowski, K.T. Fredricks, T.M. Schreier, A.R. Cupp, and S.T. Porcher. Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center (USGS) research toward the approval of a new fish sedative and a call for assistance conducting a 35% Perox-Aid®-Gyrodactylus field trial [oral presentation]. 2013 Mid Continent Warm Water Fish Culture Workshop. February 5, 2013. Paris, AR.
Aquatic Invasive Species
- Jane Rivera (UMESC) gave the presentation, “Sea lamprey pheromone regulatory actions September 2012 to February 2013,” at the Great Lakes Fishery Commission Trapping Task Force meeting, February 19-20 in Ann Arbor, MI. The purpose of the task force is to coordinate optimization of trapping techniques for assessing adult sea lamprey populations and removing adult and transforming sea lampreys from spawning and feeding populations. Scientists at the UMESC provide expertise on United States and Canada biopesticide regulations as they pertain to sea lamprey pheromone experimental research and future registration. Application of a male sea lamprey mating pheromone to existing traps has been shown to increase the catch.
- The “Environmental DNA Calibration Study [ECAL] Interm Technical Review Report” was released on the Internet, and followed by a conference call/press conference from 10:00-11:00 am CST, Tuesday February 26. The ECAL report is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Geological Survey, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service cooperative report which documents efforts underway to improve the accuracy of environmental DNA (eDNA) testing efforts used to monitor the potential spread of invasive Asian carps. The researchers who put this report together looked at a variety of potential sources of positive eDNA test results (e.g., live fish, dead/decaying fish, fish eating birds, storm sewers), and analyzed these sources to see if their testing methods could be improved to better determine the source a positive eDNA test result. For additional information contact Mark Gaikowski (UMESC, mgaikowski@usgs.gov, 608-781-6284), Jon Amberg, (UMESC, jamberg@usgs.gov, 608-781-6322), or Kelly Baerwaldt (Kelly.L.Baerwaldt@usace.army.mil, 309-794-5285).
Geospatial Sciences and Technology
Meetings and Training
- Erin Hoy (UMESC) presented the poster, “Wetland vegetation mapping in the 21st century: Advances in technology and why maps matter,” at the Wisconsin Wetlands Conference in Sheboygan, WI, February 12-14. The poster co-authored by Hoy and Larry Robinson details how digital technology has streamlined and improved the map-making process, and how partners and other agencies use information from the vegetation maps for science and decision-making in land-management practices.
- Jennifer Dieck (UMESC) was selected to attend the Department of Interior’s (DOI) Diversity Change Agent course February 11-15 in San Francisco, CA. The DOI established its Diversity Change Agent program to affect and mobilize a critical mass of stakeholders to embrace and enact its Inclusive Workplace Strategy. Dieck was trained to assist in efforts to educate the workforce on diversity and inclusion as mission critical imperatives. The course will prepare Dieck to serve as a catalyst for change and to learn how to effectively position diversity and inclusion as strategic opportunities as opposed to requirements or mandates.
LiDAR
- John (JC) Nelson (UMESC) moderated two sessions on LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) data development and use, at the Wisconsin Land Information Association (WLIA) Annual Meeting in Lake Geneva, WI, February 13-15. Nelson is also the co-author of a presentation on LiDAR activities around the state, “LiDAR Meets WisconsinView: Coordinating LiDAR Data in Wisconsin.”
- Jenny Hanson (UMESC) attended the International LiDAR Mapping Forum in Denver, CO February 11-13, to ensure UMESC stays current with LiDAR technology, processing procedures, and applications. UMESC has worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Upper Mississippi River Restoration-Environmental Management Program (UMRR-EMP) Long Term Resource Monitoring Program (LTRMP) for several years, creating LiDAR and bathymetry data products Upper Mississippi River System (http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/data_library/gis_data/lidar.html). The LiDAR Mapping Forum is the premier event for the LiDAR industry; a technical conference and exhibition focused on airborne and bathymetric LIDAR with emphasis on mobile mapping systems.
Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI)
- James Larson, Jack Waide, and William Richardson (UMESC) traveled to the Great Lakes Science Center (GLSC) in Ann Arbor, MI, February 25-28 to participate in a planning workshop for the Great Lakes Restoration Project #82, and to meet with the GLSC Coastal Ecosystems Science Branch. Richardson and Larson also traveled to Ohio’s Maumee River for a day of site selection for upcoming research.
North American Bat Monitoring and Modeling
- Wayne Thogmartin (UMESC) was an invited participant at the North American Bat Monitoring and Modeling Program meeting in Ft. Collins, CO. February 5-7, the first of three meetings aimed at the development of a national monitoring program for bats. There are currently no national programs for monitoring bat populations in North America. A statistically rigorous and nationally coordinated bat monitoring program is critical for determining impacts of many stressors on bat populations (e.g., white-nose syndrome, wind energy development), as well as determining the efficacy of management actions to conserve bat populations.
Outreach
- Kevin Kenow (UMESC) gave an invited presentation, “Adventures of Big John: Migration & Foraging Patterns of Common Loons” on common loon migration ecology at the “Living in the Avon Hills” conference at Saint John’s University, MN, February 2. The event is billed as a community natural history conference. Kenow’s presentation included information learned from “Big John,” an adult common loon residing at Saint John’s University that was equipped with a satellite transmitter and geolocator tag as part of a study to learn more about loon migration and foraging patterns.
Upper Mississippi River
Upper Mississippi River Basin's Interagency Mussel Coordination Team
- Steve Zigler and Teresa Newton (UMESC) were invited to give presentations on their current work efforts at the 2013 Upper Mississippi River Basin's Interagency Mussel Coordination Team (MCT) meeting, February 20-21 in La Crosse, WI. The MCT is comprised of research scientists and resource managers from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Coast Guard, National Park Service, USGS, and Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin natural resource agencies. The MCT is responsible for directing and implementing native mussel research on the Upper Mississippi River, especially as it relates to implementing requirements of the Biological Opinion pertaining to the federally listed Higgins' Eye Pearly Mussel.
Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Society
- The Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center's Native Mussel Team will give four presentations at the Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Society's (FMCS) 8th Biennal Symposium in Guntersville, AL, March 10-14. The FMCS is dedicated to the conservation of and advocacy of freshwater mollusks, North America's most imperiled animals. UMESC scientists will present. Additional information, including access to the presentation abstracts, is available at http://molluskconservation.org/.
- “A mussel community assessment tool for the Upper Mississippi River,” by Heidi Dunn (Ecological Specialists, Inc.), Steve Zigler, and Teresa Newton (UMESC).
- “Effects of elevated water temperature on physiological responses in adult freshwater mussels,” by Alissa Ganser (Univ. of Louisville), Teresa Newton (UMESC), and Roger Haro (Univ. of WI-La Crosse).
- “Assessing the effects of native freshwater mussels on nitrogen dynamics in continuous-flow mesocosms,” by Jeremy Bril, Jonathan Durst, Craig Just (Univ. of Iowa), and Teresa Newton (UMESC).
- “Evaluation of the acute toxicity of a lampricide on multiple life stages of the snuffbox mussel,” by Teresa Newton, Michael Boogaard, Terrance Hubert (UMESC), Cheryl Kaye (USFWS), and Chris Barnhart (MO State Univ.).
- “Quantifying the inter-annual variation in recruitment of freshwater mussels, and exploring possible relations with hydrological events," by Patty Ries, Teresa Newton, Steve Zigler (UMESC), and Roger Haro (Univ. of WI-LAX).
Army Corps of Engineers Forestry Coordination Meeting
- Eileen Kirsch (UMESC) traveled to Dubuque, IA, February 26, to participate in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Forestry Coordination Meeting for Mississippi River navigation Pools 9 and 10 (Genoa, WI to Guttenburg, IA). Kirsch gave a brief report about the 2010-2012 study of songbird foraging in floodplain forests during spring migration.
Upper Mississippi River Restoration – Environmental Management Program
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Refuge Digital Vegetation Inventory Maps
- The Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center has delivered digital vegetation inventory maps to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in Minnesota and Squaw Creek NWR in Missouri. Both refuges are important feeding grounds for migrating waterfowl, and both lacked detailed vegetation assessments. The Rice Lake NWR vegetation maps were created using color infrared (CIR) aerial photography collected during the summers of 2005-2009 and 2011, the Squaw Creek NWR vegetation map was created using CIR photography collected July 29, 2009.
Great Lakes Avian Botulism
- Kevin Kenow (UMESC) will attend the avian botulism and nearshore ecosystem change in Lake Michigan project planning meeting at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Empire, MI, February 26-28. The meeting will focus on information sharing among project investigators, as well as prioritizing and planning 2013 research efforts. Kenow has been studying waterbird distribution and foraging patterns in the Great Lakes for several years, in conjunction with a larger USGS effort to investigate the dynamics of botulinum toxin production and food web distribution.
World Aquaculture Society
- Teresa Newton and Mark Gaikowski (UMESC) will give a series of presentations at the World Aquaculture Society (WAS) meetings in Nashville, TN, February 21-25 (https://www.was.org). Newton was invited to give a presentation during a special session on freshwater mollusks. Gaikowski will provide updates on the use of environmental DNA (eDNA) to detect the presence of Asian carp, the development of an immediate-release sedative for aquatic animals, and the broad spectrum antibiotic florfenicol amine. Gaikowski serves on the Joint Subcommittee on Aquaculture and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)/National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), which will hold a meeting during the conference. Gaikowski will also participate in a meeting of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA) Drug Approval Working Group (DAWG).
- “Understanding the Importance of Birds as Vectors of eDNA: Implications for Management Agencies and Aquaculture,” by Mark P. Gaikowski, Jon Amberg, and Sunnie McCalla.
- “Determining Aqui-S® 20e Exposure Parameters that Maximize Eugenol Concentrations in Fish Fillet Tissue and Characterizing the Depletion of Eugenol from Fillet Tissue,” by Mark P. Gaikowski, Jeffery R. Meinertz, Scott T. Porcher, and Justin R. Smerud.
- “Depletion of Florfenicol Amine from the Fillet Tissue of Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss Maintained in Recirculating and Flowthrough Aquaculture Systems and Treated with Aquaflor®-Medicated Feed,” by Mark P. Gaikowski, Jeffery R. Meinertz, Karina R. Hess, Melissa Whitsel, and Richard G. Endris.
- “Modeling Freshwater Mussel Habitat in a Large River: How Understanding Processes can Aid in Restoration Efforts,” by Teresa J. Newton and Steve J. Zigler.
Acronyms
AFWA – Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies
CIR – Color Infrared
DAWG – Drug Approval Working Group
DOI – Department of Interior
ECAL – Environmental DNA Calibration Study
eDNA – environmental DNA
FDA – Food and Drug Administration
FWS – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
FMCS – Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Society
GLRI – Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
GLSC – Great Lakes Science Center
LiDAR – Light Detection and Ranging
LTRMP – Long Term Resource Monitoring Program
MCT – Mussel Coordination Team
NIFA – National Institute of Food and Agriculture
NWR – National Wildlife Refuge
UMESC – Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
UMRBA – Upper Mississippi River Basin Association
UMRR-EMP – Upper Mississippi River Restoration-Environmental Management Program USDA – U.S. Department of Agriculture
USGS – U.S. Geological Survey
WAS – World Aquaculture Society
URL: http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/outreach/highlights/2013_feb_umesc_highlights.html
Page Contact Information: Contacting the Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
Page Last Modified:
March 20, 2013
