Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program Long Term Resource Monitoring

Vegetation - Stratified Random Sampling

Abstract

The Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center of the U.S. Geological Survey and its state partners monitor the aquatic vegetation as well as fish, water quality, and macroinvertebrates in the Upper Mississippi River System. The objective is to accumulate incremental data on aquatic vegetation over a long term using a standardized protocol across the system. The data form a core base for use by resource managers and planners as well as the public for the protection and enhancement of the multiuse of the Upper Mississippi River System. This report is designed for Web publishing of the annual monitoring results of aquatic vegetation in the Upper Mississippi River System using a stratified random sampling protocol initiated in 1998.

Key words: Aquatic macrophyte, aquatic vegetation, Illinois River, Mississippi River, and monitoring.