Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
January 2014 Activity Highlights
Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
La Crosse, Wisconsin
Topics covered in the January activity report.
Aquatic Ecosystem Health
Midcontinent Warmwater Fish Culture Workshop
- Aaron Cupp and Steve Redman (UMESC) participated in the Midcontinent Warmwater Fish Culture Workshop, February 3-5 in Council Bluffs, IA. Cup is gave two oral presentations; use of 35% PEROXAID® to control parasite infestations in cool and warmwater fish species, and effects of AQUI-S®20E (10% eugenol) sedation on fish during live transport. Redman participated in the fish trading sessions to secure sources of fish species not reared at UMESC, to ensure UMESC’s scientists have access to scarce or unusual test organisms when needed.
Aquatic Invasive Species
Sea Lamprey
- Jane Rivera (UMESC) gave the presentation, “Sea lamprey pheromone regulatory actions September 2013 to February 2014,” 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 regulations as they pertain to biopesticide experimental research and registration.
Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI)
Great Lakes Botulism and Gulf Oil Spill Effects on Common Loons
- Kevin Kenow (UMESC) presented, “Unraveling Mysteries of the Common Loon” during the Special Saturday Programs series at the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge Visitor Center in Onalaska, WI, January 25th. Common loon populations in the Great Lakes region have appeared to be generally stable over the past decade, but concerns about the effects of habitat alteration, contaminants, and disease have surfaced in recent years. For example, a substantial number of loons have succumbed to recent outbreaks of Type E botulism in the Great Lakes, and many questions have surfaced concerning potential impacts of the Gulf Oil Spill on loons that traditionally winter in the Gulf of Mexico. The presentation covered current research efforts to provide information to support the development and implementation of regional common loon conservation strategies. During 2010, 11, and 12, Kenow and collaborators equipped common loons breeding in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula with satellite transmitters and archival geolocator tags to provide information on migration movements, foraging patterns, and wintering ground affiliations. Kenow has also been invited to make the same presentation February 5th, at the Hiawatha Valley Audubon Bird Club meeting in Winona, MN. Background information on Kenow’s work tracking common loons is available at http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/terrestrial/migratory_birds/waterbird_distribution_avian_botulism.html.
Media Contacts
Audubon Magazine
- Kevin Kenow (UMESC) was interviewed by Purbita Saha, reporter for Audubon Magazine, on 28 January. Ms. Saha is writing a story on the carcass drift modeling work as it relates to avian botulism on the Great Lakes.
National Park Service
Wolf Management and Moose Population Density of Isle Royale NP
- Jason Rohweder, Timothy Fox, and Nathan De Jager (UMESC) attended training for LANDIS-II, a forest landscape and disturbance simulation model, January 8-10 in Madison, WI. LANDIS-II will be used to model the effects of wolf management scenarios on moose population density and landscape distributions of vegetation and habitat for other species of concern, within Isle Royle National Park, using 2014 USGS/NPS Natural Resources Preservation Program funding.
Publications
Bird-Window Mortality
- Wayne Thogmartin (UMESC), in a collaborative development between the Canadian Wildlife Service and USGS, published a manuscript on the utility of imperfect science for determining the magnitude of large-scale, persistent sources of avian mortality such as bird-window collisions. This article came at the invitation of the editor and serves as the first perspectives piece for the newly relaunched journal Condor: Ornithological Applications, available at http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1650/CONDOR-13-134.1.
- Machtans, C. S., and W. E. Thogmartin. 2014. Perspective: Understanding the value of imperfect science from national estimates of bird-window mortality. Condor: Ornithological Applications 116:3-7. DOI:10.1650/CONDOR-13-134.1
Daphnia Populations and Herbicide Exposure
- Richard A. Erickson, Stephen Cox, Jessica L. Oates, Todd A. Anderson, Christopher J. Salice, and Kevin R. Long. 2014. A Daphnia population model that considers pesticide exposure and demographic stochasticity. Ecological Modelling: 275:37-47. DOI:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2013.12.015.
Upper Mississippi River
National Audubon Society
- Ken Lubinski (UMESC) accepted an invitation from the Audubon Society to present a paper on the State of the Upper Mississippi River, January 6 in Minneapolis, MN. The Audubon team is developing a strategic plan for the Central Flyway, which is used by migratory birds and follows the Mississippi River. Lubinski used the opportunity to also speak about new research opportunities, including the Floodplain Science Network, floodplain inundation modeling, and the USGS Midwest Region’s Large River Initiative. Audubon staff from as far away as Baton Rouge, LA participated in the session. Audubon has been a key NGO player in past collaborative Mississippi River planning efforts.
Murray-Darling River Workshop
- William Richardson (UMESC) traveled to Armidale, Australia to participate in a workshop to develop a long term intervention monitoring project on the Murray-Darling River, January 29-February 12. Martin Thoms, Chair of the Divisions of Geography and Planning for the Riverine Landscapes Research Lab of the University of New England, invited Richardson to participate in the Workshop, an effort funded by the Australian Commonwealth Environmental Water Office. The focus of monitoring will be to determine the impact of “rewatering" the Murray-Darling River to restore more natural flows. The Murray-Darling is primary water source for both domestic and agricultural use in southeast Australia. Richardson will provide expertise on nutrient cycling, riverine foodwebs, and biochemical markers of organism health and food source (e.g., quantitative analysis of tissue fatty acids), all topics of potential value for evaluating the restoration of the Murray-Darling River. These are also topics historically analyzed by the Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center’s River Productivity Team, in their work with the Upper Mississippi River and Great Lakes Basin.
Upper Mississippi River Restoration – Environmental Management Program
Strategic Planning Meeting
- Michael Jawson, Jeff Houser, and Barry Johnson (UMESC) attended the second strategic planning meeting for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) Upper Mississippi River Restoration-Environmental Management Program (UMRR-EMP), at the Rock Island Arsenal in Rock Island, IL, January 6-8. The meeting is a continuation of the planning process initiated in April 2013 to develop strategies for increasing the effectiveness of the UMRR-EMP, including better integration of the Long Term Resource Monitoring Program (LTRMP) and Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement Projects (HREP) components of the UMRR-EMP. Organizations participating in the planning meetings included; 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.
Priority Science Planning Meeting
- Researchers, managers, and field station staff associated with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Upper Mississippi River Restoration-Environmental Management Program (UMRR-EMP) met at the Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center (UMESC) in La Crosse, WI, February 11-13, to discuss science conducted by the UMRR-EMP. The face-to-face meeting is designed to promote interaction among staff engaged in science, provide better communication about current projects, and increase the potential for including research as part of habitat restoration projects. Following the meeting, UMESC will develop a 3-year plan for priority science within UMRR-EMP. For more information contact Barry Johnson (bljohnson@usgs.gov).
Acronyms
DNR – Department of Natural Resources
FWS – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
GLRI – Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
HREP – Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement Projects
LTRMP – Long Term Resource Monitoring Program
NGO – Non-governmental Organization
NPS – National Park Service
UMESC – Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
UMRR-EMP – Upper Mississippi River Restoration - Environmental Management Program
USACE – U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
USGS – U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/outreach/highlights/2014_jan_umesc_highlights.html
Page Contact Information: Contacting the Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
Page Last Modified:
March 4, 2014
