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William B. Richardson                         

Position title: Research Aquatic Ecologist

Email: wrichardson@usgs.gov
Phone: 608.781.6231
Fax: 608.783.6066

Education:
BS 1974 Michigan State University, E. Lansing, MI (Fisheries and Wildlife)
MS 1983   Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, MI. (Aquatic Biology)
Ph.D.  1989   University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK (Zoology)

Primary Responsibilities/Activities:
Leader, Productivity Team. Writes research plans, proposals for funding, and manuscripts pertaining to nutrients, foodweb interactions, and productivity of freshwater ecosystems, particularly floodplain rivers, streams,  wetlands, agricultural drainage ditches, and Great Lakes estuaries (rivermouths); supervises research biologists and technical staff; analyzes data and create presentations for scientific and public audiences.

Research Interests: 

• Emergent properties of aquatic ecosystem function, including:
  • Primary and secondary productivity
  • Biogeochemical cycling of nitrogen and carbon.
    
    
• Food web interactions in aquatic ecosystems
• Fatty acid biomarkers
• Stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes
  
  
• Ecology of river, stream and wetland ecosystems
  
  
• Effects of invasive species on aquatic ecosystem function

Active Projects:

•  Effects of nutrients on productivity and trophic interactions interactions in the Upper Mississippi River. Team:  W. Richardson,  J. Larson, B. Knights, J. Vallazza, J. Veldboom, L. Bartsch, M. Bartsch, R. Kennedy,  R. Haro (UW-La Crosse), A. Milde (UW-La Crosse), Consulting:  Martin Thoms (University of New England, Armidale, Australia), Stephen Wickham (Department of Organismal Biology, University of Salzburg, Austria).
  
  
• Ecology and Function of River Mouth Ecosystems of the Laurentian Great Lakes. Team:  W. Richardson,  J. Larson, B. Knights, J. Vallazza, J. Veldboom, L. Bartsch, M. Bartsch, R. Kennedy,  P. Seelbach (USGS Great Lakes Science Center), J. Schafer (USGS Great Lakes Science Center) .
  
  
• Ecological effects and distribution of Asian Carp (Bighead and Silver) in the Upper Mississippi River basin. Team:  W. Richardson, B. Knights,  J. Larson, J. Vallazza, J. Veldboom, L. Bartsch, M. Bartsch, R. Kennedy, A. Milde (UW-La Crosse), consulting: D. Chapman, USGS Columbia Ecological Research Center, J. Lamar Western Illinois University.
  
  
• Effect of agricultural land retirement on foodweb interactions, organism health, phosphorus and sediment flux in agricultural drainage ditches.  Team:  W. Richardson, J. Vallazza, J. Veldboom, T. Williamson (USGS New Jersey Water Science Center), V. Christenson (USGS Minnesota Water Science Center), J.  Frey (Indiana Water Science Center), S. Haack (Michigan Water Science Center).

Select Publications:

Schramm, H.L. Jr., W.B. Richardson, and B.C. Knights.  (In Press) Managing the Mississippi River floodplain: achieving functional floodplains requires more than a connection to the river.  In Hudson, P.F. and H. Middelkoop, Eds.  Geomorphology and management of embanked floodplains: North American and European fluvial systems in an era of global environmental change.

Larson, J.H., W.B. Richardson, J. Vallazza, and J.C. Nelson.  2012.  An exploratory investigation of the landscape-lake interface:  land cover controls over consumer N and C isotopic composition in Lake Michigan river mouths.  Journal of Great Lakes Research 38: 610-619.

Kreiling, R.M., J.P. Schubauer-Berigan, W.B. Richardson, L.A. Bartsch, P.E. Hughes, J.C. Cavanaugh, and E.A. Strauss.  2013.  Wetland management and restoration for wildlife reduces sediment and nutrient loading to the Upper Mississippi River.  Journal of Environmental Quality 42: 573-583

Strauss, E.A., W.B. Richardson, L.A. Bartsch, and J.C. Cavanaugh.  2011.  Effect of habitat type on in-stream nitrogen loss in the Mississippi River.  River Systems 19: 261-269
Houser, J.N. and W.B. Richardson.  2010.  Nitrogen and phosphorus in the Upper Mississippi River: transport, processing, and effects on the river ecosystem.  Hydrobiologia 640: 71-88.

Kreiling, R.M., W.B. Richardson, J.C. Cavanaugh, and L.A. Bartsch.  2010.  Summer nitrate uptake and denitrification in an upper Mississippi River backwater lake:  the role of rooted aquatic vegetation.  Biogeochemistry104: 309-324.

James, W.F., W.B. Richardson, and D.M. Soballe.  2008. Effects of residence time on summer nitrate uptake in Mississippi River flow-regulated backwaters.  River Research and Applications 24: 1206-1217.

Cavanaugh, J.C., W.B. Richardson, E.A. Strauss and L.A. Bartsch.  2006.  Nitrogen dynamics in sediment during water level manipulation on the Upper Mississippi River. River Research and Applications 22:1-17.

Strauss, E.A., W.B. Richardson, J.C. Cavanaugh, L.A. Bartsch, R.M. Kreiling, and A.J. Standorf.  2006.  Variability and regulation of denitrification in an Upper Mississippi River backwater.  Journal of the North American Benthological Society 25: 596-606.

Richardson, W.B., E.A. Strauss, E.M. Monroe, L.A. Bartsch, J.C. Cavanaugh, L. Rabuck, and D. Soballe. 2004.  Denitrification in the Upper Mississippi River: rates, controls and contribution to nitrate flux.  Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 61: 1102-1112.

Richardson, W. B., S. J. Zigler, and M. R. Dewey.  1998. Bioenergetic relations in submerged aquatic vegetation:  an experimental test of prey use by juvenile bluegills. Ecology of Freshwater Fish. 7: 1-12.

Richardson, W.B. and S.T. Threlkeld. 1993. Complex interactions between multiple aquatic consumers: an experimental mesocosm manipulation. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 50: 29-42.

Richardson, W.B. 1992. Microcrustacean zooplankton in flowing water: experimental analysis of washout times and a field test.  Freshwater Biology 28: 217-230.

Links:

Nutrient Loading and Effects

Managing Pathways of Biological Production in Large-River Ecosystems

Denitrification and sediment ammonia in the Upper Mississippi River

Taking the Pulse of a River System: First 20 Years
Long Term Resource Monitoring on the Upper Mississippi River System

Genetic Characterization of the endangered mussel Lampsilis higginsi

Farm ponds as critical habitats for native amphibians

Effects of ammonia on unionid mussels: a potential threat to their biodiversity in the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway

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