Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
October 2014 Activity Highlights
Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
La Crosse, Wisconsin
Topics covered in the October activity report.
- Aquatic Ecosystem Health
- Florfenicol Drug Residues in Rainbow Trout
- Aquatic Invasive Species
- Zebra Mussel Control in Lake Erie
- Climate Change
- Testing IUCN Risk Assessment Protocols with Climate Change Factors
- Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI)
- Project 80, “Birds as Indicators of Contaminant Exposure in the Great Lakes”
- Outreach
- Upper Mississippi River Restoration
- UMRR Analysis Team Meeting
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
- Airspace Use by Night Migrating Landbirds during Fall Migration
- Wildlife Ecology
- North American Loon Symposium
- Acronyms
Aquatic Ecosystem Health
Florfenicol Drug Residues in Rainbow Trout
Meinertz, J.R., Hess, K.R., Bernardy, J.A., Gaikowski, M.P. 2014. Florfenicol Residues in Rainbow Trout after Oral Dosing in Recirculating and Flow-through Culture Systems. Journal of Aquatic Animal Health. 26(4):243-250. DOI:10.1080/08997659.2014.945046.
- UMESC researchers completed a study to determine if the drug residue concentration in the fillets from fish treated with an antibacterial agent, florfenicol, are safe to eat. Florfenicol is a drug incorporated into fish feed that is used to treat fish infected with Streptococcus iniae, a disease that if left untreated can cause substantial mortality in hatchery reared fish. The manuscript, “Florfenicol Residues in Rainbow Trout after Oral Dosing in Recirculating and Flow-through Culture Systems,” documents the research and is available online at http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08997659.2014.945046. For more information contact Jeff Meinertz at jmeinertz@usgs.gov.
Aquatic Invasive Species
Zebra Mussel Control in Lake Erie
James Luoma and Todd Severson (UMESC) assisted the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and Marrone Bio Innovations with an experimental open-water sub-surface application of Zequanox in Lake Erie, November 3-6, 2014. Zequanox is a selective molluscicide used to control invasive zebra and quagga mussels. Zequanox received registration approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this past July (2014) for use in open water environments. The Lake Erie field test will provide critical information for use in developing Zequanox application strategies.
Climate Change
Testing IUCN Risk Assessment Protocols with Climate Change Factors
Stanton, J.C., Shoemaker, K.T., Pearson, R.G., Akçakaya, H.R. 2014. Warning times for species extinctions due to climate change. Global Change Biology. DOI: 10.1111/gcb.12721.
- Jessica Stanton (UMESC) published a portion of her dissertation work, testing the performance of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) species risk assessment protocols performance when climate change is the primary risk factor. The authors used computer models to project the future abundance of 36 species of salamanders, turtles, tortoises, snakes and lizards under climate change. Next, they performed “virtual” Red List assessments, following the IUCN guidelines to determine the Red List Status (e.g., Critically Endangered) of each species. The study showed that the Red List system would provide several decades of warning time for species that might go extinct because of climate change. The manuscript is available online at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.12721/abstract.
Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI)
Project 80, “Birds as Indicators of Contaminant Exposure in the Great Lakes”
Chris Custer (UMESC) presented results from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) project, “Birds as Indicators of Contaminant Exposure in the Great Lakes,” at the 38th annual Waterbird Society meeting in La Paz, Mexico, November 4-7, 2014. Custer’s presentation covered how techniques used to assess the effectiveness of dredging and other remedy projects at contaminated sites in the Great Lakes can be used at other locations where similar remedy projects are being considered. Additional information on Custer’s work is available at http://umesc.usgs.gov/wildlife_toxicology/glri_project80.html.
Chris Custer (UMESC) gave three invited presentations highlighting results from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) project, “Birds as Indicators of Contaminant Exposure in the Great Lakes,” at the 35th annual meeting of the Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry North America (SETAC NA), November 9-13, 2014, in Vancouver, British Columbia. While at SETAC NA Custer also met with federal partners to facilitate collaboration on additional cutting edge biomarker research across the Great Lakes, using transcriptomics and metabolomics. Background information on the GLRI project is available at http://umesc.usgs.gov/wildlife_toxicology/glri_project80.html. Custer’s presentations included:
- Using tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) to assess Beneficial Use Impairments at Areas of Concern across the Great Lakes, by Christine Custer, Thomas Custer (UMESC), and Natalie Karouna-Reiner (PWRC).
- EROD induction, chromosomal damage, and environmental contaminants in Great Lakes tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor), by Thomas Custer, Christine Custer (UMESC), Emilie Bigorgne, Cole Matson (Baylor Univ.), Sandra Schultz, Natalie Karouna- Renier (PWRC), and Richard Erickson (UMESC).
- A remedy effectiveness assessment from the Milwaukee Estuary, Wisconsin AOC: Lincoln Park Case Study, by Christine Custer and Thomas Custer (UMESC).
Outreach
Randy Hines, Shelly Bartsch, and Larry Robinson (UMESC) hosted over 100 seventh-grade students from La Crosse's Longfellow Middle School’s “School on the River,” October 16, 2014. 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. Presentations included the use of geographic information systems to map and monitor floodplain vegetation on the Upper Mississippi River System, including the use of historic aerial photos and 3-D mapping technologies.
Upper Mississippi River Restoration
UMRR Analysis Team Meeting
Barry Johnson, Jennifer Sauer, and Jeff Houser (UMESC) attended the Analysis Team (AT) meeting of the U.S. Corps of Engineers’ Upper Mississippi River Restoration (UMRR) program, November 6, 2014, at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service office in Rock Island, IL. The meeting included representatives of UMRR partner agencies and focused on discussion of research proposals for action during FY 2015.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Airspace Use by Night Migrating Landbirds during Fall Migration
Eileen Kirsch and Mike Wellik (UMESC) traveled to northwestern Ohio to collect data radar data for the project, “Airspace use by night migrating landbirds in relation to the southwestern shore of Lake Erie, Ohio,” October 1-8, 2014. This was the last field trip for the second season of collecting fall migration data. During this trip, Kirsch and Wellik operated 2 marine X-band radars simultaneously on the shoreline of Lake Erie and 3-miles inland, to study flight directions, altitudes, speeds, intensity, and ascent and descent rates of biological targets. Data from this study will be used to determine whether or not the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ current 3-mile buffer zone along the shoreline of Lake Erie is sufficient, or necessary, to curtail wind farm threats to birds and bats during migration. The study is being conducted in cooperation with Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge and Black Swamp Bird Observatory.
Wildlife Ecology
North American Loon Symposium
Luke Fara, Steve Houdek, and Kevin Kenow (UMESC) gave a series of presentations on the migration patterns, staging areas, and wintering sites used by the common loon, at the North American Loon Symposium in Ashland, WI, October 25-26, 2014. Resource managers are using this information to develop and implement regional common loon conservation strategies. UMESC presentations included:
- Migration and foraging patterns of common loons breeding in the Upper Midwest, an oral presentation by Kevin Kenow, Timothy Fox, Robert Kratt, Larry Robinson, Pete Boma (UMESC), Darryl Heard (Univ. of FL), Michael Meyer (WI DNR), and Brian Lubinski (USFWS).
- Use of Archival Geolocator Tags to Document Movements and Foraging Patterns of Common Loons, a poster presentation by Kevin Kenow, Luke Fara, Steve Houdek, Timothy Fox (UMESC), and Michael Meyer (WI DNR).
- Managing the expansion of breeding common loons back into their former breeding range in Wisconsin, a poster presentation by Kevin Kenow, Luke Fara, Steve Houdek (UMESC), and Michael Meyer (WI DNR).
- Quantifying the Ecological Benefits of Mercury Emission Reductions in Wisconsin, an oral presentation by Mike Meyer (WI DNR), Kevin Kenow (UMESC), Paul Rasmussen, and Carl Watras (WI DNR). Note: UMESC laboratory and field studies were used to establish fish and loon tissue benchmarks for methymercury (MeHg) toxicity for common loons, and provides the background for a long-term monitoring plan for tracking the ecological response to the 2010 implementation of the Wisconsin mercury emission reduction rules for coal-burning electric utilities.
Acronyms
AA – Analysis Team
AOC – Area of Concern
DNR – Department of Natural Resources
EROD – ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase
GLRI – Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
IUCN – International Union for the Conservation of Nature
LTRMP – Long Term Resource Monitoring Program
PWRC – Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
SETAC – Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
UMESC – Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
UMRR – Upper Mississippi River Restoration
USFWS – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
USGS – U.S. Geological Survey
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Page Last Modified: November 4, 2014