Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
April 2013 Activity Highlights
Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
La Crosse, Wisconsin
Topics covered in the April activity report.
Aquatic Ecosystem Health
Immediate Release Sedative
- Jeffrey Meinertz, Theresa Schreier, Scott Porcher, and Justin Smerud (UMESC) submitted a final report to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Veterinary Medicine, for a project associated with gaining approval for using eugenol in the United States as an immediate release sedative for aquatic animals. There is a critical need in U.S. public aquaculture and fishery management programs for an immediate-release sedative, i.e. a compound that would safely and effectively sedate nearly all freshwater fish species and allow for their immediate release afterwards. AQUI-S® 20E (active ingredient, eugenol; AQUI-S® New Zealand Ltd.) is being pursued for U.S. approval as an immediate-release sedative. As part of the FDA approval process, a eugenol total residue depletion study was conducted to characterize the depletion, distribution, and identity of eugenol residues in fillet tissue. The study involved exposing rainbow trout to radioactive (14C labeled) eugenol then processing the fillet tissue from the exposed fish to characterize a eugenol residue profile and eugenol depletion from the tissue. Data from the total residue depletion study will be used to establish a withdrawal time for eugenol, ensuring all eugenol residues reach safe concentrations before fish are made available for human consumption.
- Meinertz, J.R., T.M. Schreier, S.T. Porcher, J.R. Smerud. 2013. Eugenol total residue depletion from the skin-on fillet tissue of rainbow trout exposed to 14C labeled Aqui-S® 20E. Final report submitted to FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine. April 19, 2013. 710 pages.
Drug to Control Fish Parasites
- UMESC received notification from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Office of Minor Use Minor Species, that a UMESC research proposal was selected for funding. The study, “Depletion of emamectin benzoate residues from the fillet tissue of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) treated with SLICE®-medicated feed in recirculating and flow-through aquaculture systems,” will be used by the FDA to establish a withdrawal time for freshwater fish treated with SLICE®. SLICE® [Merck Animal Health] is a premix fish food that contains emamectin benzoate (EB), which is used to kill parasites on the bodies of finfish. Successful completion of this research will support the expansion of the approved use label of SLICE®, so it can be used to control copepod infestations on freshwater-reared finfish.
Climate Change
Effects on Glacial Lakes and Common Loons
- Kevin Kenow, John Walker, Randall Hunt (USGS), Michael Meyer, Paul Rasumesen, Paul Garrison (WI DNR), and Paul Hanson (UW-Madison) submitted the final report for an Environmental and Economic Research and Development Program Grant to Wisconsin Focus on Energy, March 27. The report, “Potential effects of climate change on inland glacial lakes and implications for lake-dependent biota in Wisconsin,” provides an evaluation of the potential impact of climate change on lakes and common loons within the Trout Lake Basin, Vilas County, Wisconsin. The lakes within the Trout Lake Basin are within the core of common loon distribution in Wisconsin, and occur in a relatively pristine landscape with extensive forest cover (Northern Highlands State Forest) and low human settlement density. The project represents a novel linkage of down-scaled IPCC climate data (provided by UW Atmospheric Sciences) with hydrological (USGS Water Resources Center) and lake models (UW Limnology) to project future lake conditions within the basin. The lake model is then linked to a loon habitat model (USGS UMESC and WI DNR Science Services), which ultimately projects the future status of loon habitat quality on a lake by lake basis within the basin and the probability of loon lake occupancy under modeled climate-impacted hydrological and lake conditions. In addition, sediment cores at a seepage lake within the Trout Lake Basin (Max Lake) were examined to reconstruct past climate and lake conditions to provide an index to how future climatic changes may impact the regional lakes (WI DNR Science Services). Also, the historic distribution of known common loon breeding in Wisconsin (as derived from written accounts and museum specimens) was mapped and changes in land cover and water chemistry were examined to provide indicators of factors associated with loon range contraction (USGS UMESC).
- Michael M., Walker, J., Kenow, K., Rasumussen, P., Garrison, P., Hanson, P., Hunt, R. 2013. Potential effects of climate change on inland glacial lakes and implications for lake-dependent biota in Wisconsin. Submitted to: Wisconsin Focus on Energy, March 27, 2013.
Wisconsin Local Effects
- Barry Johnson (UMESC) was interviewed by Lou Hillman (Channel 8 News, La Crosse, WI) for a news piece for Earth Day, Monday April 22. Johnson, a member of the Science Council for the Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts (WICCI), was asked about the potential impacts of climate change at the local level. Johnson mentioned warmer winters are possible, along with more extreme weather events. The interview aired during the evening and nightly news on April 22 and the morning news on April 23. The transcript and video are available online at http://www.news8000.com/news/Climate-change-could-mean-more-flooding/-/326/19854126/-/uft3dz/-/index.html.
Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
- Chris Custer and Tom Custer (UMESC) initiated FY 2013 field work for GLRI Project 80, Birds as Indicators of Contaminant Exposure in the Great Lakes. The Custers are setting up new study sites in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York, while dismantling or reducing work at several other sites. The new sampling sites are being added along the southern shorelines of Lakes Erie and Ontario to increase the number of Areas Of Concern (AOCs) sampled.
National Park Service
Appalachian National Scenic Trail
- Andrew Strassman, Joe Jakusz, Kevin Hop (UMESC), Mark Hall (NatureServe), and Andy Cutko (Maine Natural Heritage Program) met to prepare for the 2013 field season and review the vegetation classification and vegetation key for the Northern Appalachian Ecoregion of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail (APPA), April 2nd and 3rd.
Upper Mississippi River
Paddlefish
- Steve Zigler (UMESC) was interviewed by Michelle Nijhuis (http://www.michellenijhuis.com/) on April 3. Nijhuis received a research grant from the Food and Environment Reporting Network (http://thefern.org/) to investigate and write an article on the illegal harvest of paddlefish for caviar. Interest in this topic has increased due to recent news of the arrest or citation of more than 100 people in eight states for illegal trafficking of paddlefish caviar. Zigler provided information on paddlefish life history, conservation status, and threats to paddlefish populations in the U.S. including disruption of migratory patterns by dams, and vulnerability to legal and illegal harvest. Background information on Zigler’s work with paddlefish is available at http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/aquatic/fish/paddlefish/main.html.
Long Term Resource Monitoring Program
- The Upper Mississippi River Basin Association will hold a strategic planning meeting for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) Upper Mississippi River Restoration-Environmental Management Program (UMRR-EMP), at USGS’s Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center (UMESC) in La Crosse, WI, April 9-11. The planning process will cover both parts of the UMRR-EMP program, the Long Term Resource Monitoring Program (LTRMP) and Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement Projects (HREP). The LTRMP is implemented by UMESC with funding from the USACE. Agencies participating in the meeting include; USACE, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, USGS, Upper Mississippi River Basin Association, Illinois Natural History Survey, Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Minnesota DNR, Missouri Department of Conservation, and Wisconsin DNR. Staff from UMESC in attendance will be Mike Jawson, Barry Johnson, and Jeff Houser. Total attendance is expected to be 18, with no USGS staff on travel status.
Upper Mississippi River Land Cover Maps
- The Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center (UMESC) has completed land cover/land use data sets for Mississippi River navigation Pools 5, 7, and 24, for the 2010/2011 systemic land cover/land use mapping project for the Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS, the Mississippi River from Minneapolis, MN to the Ohio River, and Illinois River). Color infrared aerial photography was used to create these data sets, collected during late summer/peak vegetation of 2010 and 2011. Areas upstream of Lock and Dam 13 (near Clinton, IA), where the River’s floodplain is dominated by wetlands, was photographed at 8-inches/pixel. Areas downstream of Lock and Dam 13, where the floodplain is dominated by agricultural lands, was photographed at 16-inches/pixel. The data sets were created using a 31-class generalized vegetation classification system designed to complement UMRS data sets created by UMESC in 1989 and 2000. This mapping effort, and the two previous systemic mapping efforts, was funded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Upper Mississippi River Restoration-Environmental Management Program’s (UMRR-EMP) Long Term Resource Monitoring Program (LTRMP) element. For more information contact Jennifer Dieck (jdieck@usgs.gov) or visit http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/mapping/resource_mapping_lcu.html and http://www.mvr.usace.army.mil/Missions/EnvironmentalProtectionandRestoration/UpperMississippiRiverRestoration.aspx .
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Upper Mississippi River Refuge Habitat Management Planning
- Kevin Kenow, Eileen Kirsch, Teresa Newton, Steve Zigler, Steve Houdek, and Randy Hines (UMESC) participated in a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service habitat management planning workshop on April 2 at UMESC. The Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge held the workshop so participants from USGS, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Minnesota DNR, and Wisconsin DNR could review and provide technical input on the Refuge’s Habitat Management Plan.
Airspace Use by Night Migrating Landbirds
- Eileen Kirsch, Michael Wellik, and Pete Boma (UMESC) began field work for, “Airspace use by night migrating landbirds in relation to the southern shore of Lake Erie, OH.” UMESC is collaborating with the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, Bowling Green State University, and the University of Toledo, to collect information on migrating birds in western Lake Erie using portable marine radar units. While in Ohio, Kirsch et. al also met with Mark Shieldcastle (Black Swamp Bird Observatory) and Mohsin Jamali (University of Toledo) on April 26, to review results from data collected during the Fall 2012 field season.
Indiana Bat and White-nosed Syndrome
- Thogmartin, W., C.A. Sanders-Reed, J.A. Szymanski, P.C. McKann, L. Pruitt, R.A. King, M.C. Runge, R.E. Russell. 2013. White-nose syndrome is likely to extirpate the endangered Indiana bat over large parts of its range. Biological Conservation, vol. 160, pp 162-172. DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2013.01.010.
Voluntary Waterfowl Avoidance Areas
- Jason Rohweder (UMESC) will attend the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge’s refuge biology meeting in Prairie Du Chien, WI on April 30. Rohweder will be giving a presentation on a collaborative project with Brian Stemper (USFWS Winona District) to assess the effectiveness of the Refuge’s Voluntary Waterfowl Avoidance Areas, and the potential for similar collaborations between UMESC and the Refuge’s other management districts. The Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge is one of the largest wildlife refuges in the nation, covering 240,000 acres and 261 river miles between Pepin, WI and Rock Island, IL.
Wildlife Ecology
Boreal Forest Birds
- Wayne Thogmartin (UMESC) served as an expert panelist in avian ecology for the Canadian Wildlife Service, during the full-day panel meeting/Web conference, “Prioritizing pathways of effects for boreal forest birds,” on April 15. The elicitation exercise is part of a larger initiative by Environment Canada to develop a monitoring plan for terrestrial biodiversity in the oil sands region of northern Alberta.
PFC Concentrations in Great Blue Heron Eggs
- Thomas Custer, Paul Dummer, and Christine Custer (UMESC) published the results of a comparison study of perfluorinated compound (PFC) concentrations in great blue heron eggs collected in 1993, 2010, and 2011. A great blue heron (Ardea herodias) colony on Pig’s Eye Island in the Mississippi River near St. Paul, MN, is located near several potential PFC sources. The PFC concentrations in great blue heron eggs reported from a 1993 collection from the Pig’s Eye colony were among the highest measured in bird eggs worldwide. The objective of this investigation was to determine whether PFC concentrations in great blue heron eggs at the Pig’s Eye colony have changed since 1993. Total PFC concentrations in great blue heron eggs collected at the Pig’s Eye colony in 2010 and 2011 (geometric mean = 340 and 492 ng/g wet weight) were 60% lower than the 1993 collection (1,015 ng/g wet weight). Among PFCs, perfluoroalkyl sulfonate concentrations were lower and perfluoroalkyl carboxylate concentrations were higher in the 2010 and 2011 collections. Two of 20 (ten percent) of the eggs analyzed from Pig’s Eye in 2010 and 2011 were >1,000 ng PFCs/g wet weight, and the maximum PFC value (2,506 ng PFCs/g wet weight) measured in 2010 and 2011 was among the highest PFC concentration reported in bird eggs. These high concentrations are at levels associated with physiological and neurological effects in birds.
- Custer, T.W., Dummer, P., Custer, C.M., Wu, Q., Kannan, K., and Trowbridge, A. 2013. Perfluorinated compound concentrations in great blue heron eggs near St. Paul, Minnesota, USA, in 1993 and 2010-2011. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 32(5):1077-1083. DOI: 10.1002/etc.2146. Available from: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/etc.2146/full [Accessed 4/22/2013].
Statistical Analyses
- Brian Gray (UMESC) co-authored a presentation on fitting Bayesian models of zero-inflated count models using SAS with Matt Russell (University of Minnesota), for delivery at the SAS Global Forum in San Francisco, CA, May 1st. While the symposium is still pending, the proceedings are accessible at http://support.sas.com/resources/papers/proceedings13.
- Russell, M. and B. Gray. 2013. Markov Chains and Zeros in My Data: Bayesian Approaches in SAS® that Address Zero-Inflation in Count Data. SAS Global Forum 2013, San Fransico, CA, April 28-May 1, 2013.
Submersed Aquatic Vegetation
- Brian Gray (UMESC), Mark Holland, Feng Yi (University of Minnesota), and Leigh Ann Harrod Starcevich (Oregon State University) published the results from their study of the use of site occupancy models to estimate the probabilities of species site occupancy and species detection.
- Gray, B.R., M.D. Holland, F. Yi, and L.A.H. Starcevich. 2013. Influences of availability on parameter estimates from site occupancy models, with application to submersed aquatic vegetation. Natural Resource Modeling. DOI: 10.1111/nrm.12012. Available from: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nrm.12012/abstract [Accessed 4/29/2013].
Acronyms
AOCs – Areas of Concern
APPA – Appalachian National Scenic Trail
DNR – Department of Natural Resources
FDA – Food and Drug Administration
GLRI – Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
HREP – Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement Projects
LTRMP – Long Term Resource Monitoring Program
NWR – National Wildlife Refuge
PFC – perfluorinated compound
SAS – Statistical Analysis Software
UMESC – Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
UMRR-EMP – Upper Mississippi River Restoration-Environmental Management Program
UMRS – Upper Mississippi River System
USACE – U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
USFWS – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
USGS – U.S. Geological Survey
WICCI – Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts
URL: http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/outreach/highlights/2013_april_umesc_highlights.html
Page Contact Information: Contacting the Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
Page Last Modified:
May 31, 2013
