The Long Term Resource Monitoring Program (LTRMP) is being implemented by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center (UMESC), in La Crosse, Wisconsin, under provisions contained in the Water Resources Development Act of 1986. In that Act, Congress recognized the Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS) as both a nationally significant ecosystem and a nationally significant commercial navigation system. Accordingly, the mission of the LTRMP is to provide decision makers with the information needed to maintain the Upper Mississippi River System as a viable multi-use large river ecosystem.

About the LTRMP Vegetation Component

Presently, the LTRMP conducts annual monitoring of vegetation using a stratified random sampling method (Yin et al. 2000) in five study reaches of the Upper Mississippi River System: Navigation Pools 4, 8, 13, and 26 on the Mississippi River; and La Grange Pool on the Illinois River. The Open River reach, below St. Louis, Missouri, was not sampled because the reach consists of large channels that do not support sizable and stable submersed aquatic vegetation beds. The LTRMP will continue to expand vegetation monitoring beyond these five study reaches and welcomes participation by other agencies and groups that could sample other areas using the LTRMP sampling protocol.

Reason for the Graphical Vegetation Database Browser

One of the key goals of the LTRMP is to provide timely and useful information to natural resource decision makers in the UMRS Basin. This information is available through standardized annual reports and Web access to Program data. However, data served in this manner require substantial post-processing by users as well as an intricate knowledge of the statistical sampling design. The goal of the Graphical Vegetation Database Browser is to present LTRMP vegetation data in an intuitive, universally accessible manner that enhances the usefulness of the data to resource decision makers and the general public.

Reference

Yin, Y., J. S. Winkelman, and H. A. Langrehr. 2000. Long Term Resource Monitoring Program procedures: Aquatic vegetation monitoring. U.S. Geological Survey, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, La Crosse, Wisconsin, April 2000. LTRMP 95-P002-7. 8 pp. + Appendixes A-C