Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
April 2012 Activity Highlights
Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
La Crosse, Wisconsin
Topics covered in the April activity report:
Aquatic Ecosystem Health
FDA Approvals – Florfenicol Antibiotic
- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced that it had expanded the new animal drug approval for the broad spectrum antibiotic florfenicol to include the control of mortality from streptococcus disease and columnaris disease in freshwater fish. This drug is marketed as the Type A medicated premix AQUAFLOR(R) by Intervet Inc. (dba Merck Animal Health with headquarters in New Jersey) and is available for use in aquaculture only under veterinary prescription. USGS scientists Mark Gaikowski and Susan Schleis completed effectiveness, animal safety and marker residue depletion studies with florfenicol in tilapia with funding from Intervet through a cooperative research and development agreement. Obtaining these approvals is significant as both diseases cause significant losses in fish reared by public and private aquaculture.
Recreational Angling and Fish Sedative
- Kim Fredricks, Jeff Meinertz (UMESC), Ryan Ambrose, Lenna Jackan, Jeremy Wise (Viterbo University), and Mark Gaikowski (UMESC) received notification their manuscript, “Feeding response of sport fish after electrical immobilization and/or chemical sedation,” was accepted for publication by the North American Journal of Fisheries Management. Chemical sedatives are commonly used to sedate fish prior to handling in fishery management. However, the only approved sedative has a 21-d withdrawal period during which the fish must be withheld from human consumption. This study provided information that was critical to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) evaluation of the risk of an angler catching a recently-sedated fish as part of the approval process of an immediate-release sedative for use in fishery management. This study, among others, allowed FDA to model the risk of human exposure to sedative residues in recently-sedated fish using a process to establish an Acute Reference Dose for the candidate immediate-release sedative AQUI-S® 20E rather than more traditional processes (like those used to determine Acceptable Daily Intake estimates). This study was supported through a Multi-State Conservation Grant from the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies.
Good Laboratory Practices
- Jane Rivera (UMESC) will attend the 28th Society of Quality Assurance Annual Meeting and Quality College in Miami, Florida, April 22-27. The three days of plenary and concurrent sessions will focus on regulatory-based topics in Good Laboratory Practices (GLP), Good Clinical Practices, and other areas of interest including animal health, bioanalysis, scientific archiving, and university issues. Rivera, UMESC’s Quality Assurance Officer, will also attend the training session, “Current Topics in Good Laboratory Practices,” to explore hot topics and the latest regulatory interpretations. The session will take an interactive approach for a deeper understanding of the regulations including analysis of GLP Case Studies.
Aquatic Invasive Species
- Mark Gaikowski (UMESC) gave the invited presentation, “Development of tools to control filter-feeding Aquatic Invasive Species,” at the 2012 Wisconsin Lakes Convention hosted by the University of Wisconsin Extension, April 10-12, in Green Bay, WI.
- UMESC received notification the following actions were approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) during the week of April 23-27. UMESC is the liaison between regulatory agencies and sea lamprey partners (e.g., U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) in matters related to chemical and biochemical tools used in the Great Lakes Fishery Commission’s Integrated Management of Sea Lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) Control Program.
- A new Experimental Use Permit application (75437-EUP-5) was approved April 25. The permit was required to text possible sea lamprey repellent (dead sea lamprey odor) behavioral effects in select Great Lakes tributaries.
- An amendment application was approved April 23, for Bayluscide 3.2% Granular Sea Lamprey Larvicide, to replace a discontinued formulant in the product composition list on file at the EPA, to comply with federal pesticide regulations. The Bayluscide 3.2% Granular Sea Lamprey Larvicide is a restricted-use product used to control parasitic sea lamprey in the Great Lakes.
Geospatial Sciences and Technology
Geospatial Summit
- John (JC) Nelson (UMESC) attended the University of Wisconsin’s Geospatial Summit in Madison, WI April 26 to meet with others doing GIS work in the state, and learn about their projects. Nelson also met with the director of the WisconsinView program (http://www.wisconsinview.org) to learn how the program is serving remotely sensed data for the State of Wisconsin (NAIP, MODIS, USGS products, WI DNR products, …), and their research and educational projects.
Wisconsin Land Information Association’s Meeting
- John (JC) Nelson (UMESC) has been invited to participate in the Wisconsin Land Information Association’s spring regional meeting in Minocqua, WI, May 17-18. Nelson will participate in the panel discussion, “Creative Funding Strategies and Partnerships,” a discussion of funding strategies and cooperative efforts underway in the state of Wisconsin.
University of Wisconsin-Madison and LiDAR
- John (JC) Nelson (UMESC) will meet with a contingent of University of Wisconsin-Madison faculty and students on May 7, to discuss LiDAR data availability in the State of Wisconsin. The talk will include examples of projects UMESC and the University could work on together. Visiting staff will include; Drs. Anna Pidgeon and Volker Radeloff from the Spatial Analysis for Conservation and Sustainability (SILVIS) Lab, associated with the University’s Forest and Wildlife Ecology program.
Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI)
Project #80, Birds as Indicators of Contaminant Exposure in the Great Lakes
- Christine and Tom Custer commenced field work for Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) Project #80: Birds as Indicators of Contaminant Exposure in the Great Lakes. Nest Box arrays are being visited and maintenance performed or boxes reset as needed. New Areas of Concern (AOCs) receiving nest box arrays are Waukegan Harbor and Niagara River. Nest boxes are being re-deployed at Lincoln Park in the Milwaukee AOC. These boxes had been removed while that stretch of the River was dredged. A new next box array has been established on the Sheboygan River, bringing the total number of study sites in this AOC to three.
Project #73, Avian Botulism in Distressed Great Lakes Environments
- Kevin Kenow and Steve Houdek (UMESC) began field work on April 23, for Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) Project ##73: Avian Botulism in Distressed Great Lakes Environments. They are recapturing common loons in WI, MI, and MN that have been fitted with geolocator tags, which record information on migration movements coupled with foraging depth profiles. The results of this work are expected to elucidate where common loons are likely to be exposed to forage fish carrying type-E botulinum toxin on the Great Lakes, which in turn will inform site-specific efforts to assess the degree to which physical and ecological factors contribute to the occurrence of botulinum toxin in aquatic food webs.
Hudson River and Tree Swallow Survival
- Christine Custer, Thomas Custer (UMESC), and James Hines (PWRC) received notification their manuscript documenting a 5-year research project on the Hudson River, NY was accepted for publication in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. Their research found that female plumage coloration and year, but not PCB exposure, explained the capture/recapture history. This is the first published data that shows that females with predominately brown plumage, which are generally one year old, survived less well than females with full adult plumage.
- Custer, C.M., T.W. Custer, J. Hines. 2012. Adult tree swallow survival on the PCB-contaminated Hudson River, NY, USA between 2006 and 2010. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. Vol ## pp ##-##.
Mississippi River Research Consortium
Scientists from the Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center (UMESC) gave a series of presentations at the 44th Mississippi River Research Consortium, April 26-27 in La Crosse, WI.
Oral Presentations:
- “Causes and Consequences of Abundant Duckweed and Filamentous Algae in Backwater Lakes of the Upper Mississippi River Near La Crosse, Wisconsin,” by Jeffrey N. Houser (UMESC), Shawn M. Giblin (WI DNR), William F. James (ERDC Eau Galle), Heidi A. Langrehr (WI DNR), James T. Rogala (UMESC), John F. Sullivan (WI DNR), and Brian R. Gray (UMESC).
- “Fat Food, Lean Fish: What’s Up in the Illinois River?”, by Brent Knights, William Richardson, Steve Gutreuter, Lynn Bartsch, Michelle Bartsch, Jon Vallazza (UMESC).
- “Interactive Effects of Herbivory and Flooding on Tree Recruitment in an Upper Mississippi River Floodplain Forest Restoration,” by Benjamin J. Cogger (University of Wisconsin-La Crosse), Nathan R. De Jager (UMESC), and Meredith Thomsen (University of Wisconsin-La Crosse).
- “Modeling River and Stream Temperature Using Data Collected at Different Spatial Locations and Irregular Points in Time,” by Brian R. Gray, James R. Rogala (UMESC), Dale M. Robertson (WI WSC), and Jeffrey N. Houser (UMESC).
- “Potential Effects of Climate Change on Juvenile Mussels: Studies on Survival, Growth and Physiology,” by Alissa Ganser (University of Wisconsin-La Crosse), Teresa Newton (UMESC), and Roger Haro (University of Wisconsin-La Crosse).
- “Temporal and Spatial Evaluation of Factors Infuencing Free-Floating Plant Biomass, Distribution and Composition within Upper Mississippi River Backwaters,” by Shawn M. Giblin, John F. Sullivan (WI DNR), Jeffrey N. Houser (UMESC), Heidi A. Langrehr (WI DNR), James T. Rogala (UMESC), and Benjamin D. Campbell (WI DNR).
- “Variation in Gill Rakers of Silver Carp (Hypophthalmichthys Molitrix) and Gizzard Shad (Dorosoma cepedianum) from the Illinois, James, and Wabash Rivers, USA,” by Liza R.Walleser, Jon J. Amberg (UMESC), Mark B. Sandheinrich (University of Wisconsin-La Crosse), Mark P. Gaikowski (UMESC), and David R. Howard (University of Wisconsin-La Crosse).
- “ZEQUANOXTM: A Potential Solution to Zebra Mussels, but What Does it Mean to Endemic Mussels and Fishes?,” by J.A. Luoma, Kerry L. Weber, M.P. Gaikowski (UMESC), and D.A. Mayer (New York State Museum).
Poster Presentations:
- “Advances in Vegetation Mapping using 3D Desktop Technology and Field Computers,” by Jennifer Dieck, Larry Robinson, and Andrew Strassman (UMESC).
- “Assessing the Threat and Predator Control of A Non-Native, Aquatic Invader (Zebra Mussel, Dreissena polymorpha) Impacting Endangered Native Mussel Resources in the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway (SACN): An Update,” by Michelle Bartsch, William Richardson, Lynn Bartsch, Steve Zigler (UMESC), Byron Karns, and Brenda Moraska Lafrancois (NPS).
- “Curve Fit: A Pixel Level Raster Regression Tool,” by Timothy J. Fox and Nathan R. De Jager (UMESC).
- “Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Phytoplankton Chlorophyll in a Large River Ecosystem,” by Jacob A. Heier, Michael D. Delong (Winona State University), and William B. Richardson (UMESC).
- “Terrestrial LiDAR and Bathymetric Data Integration and Potential Application for the Upper Mississippi River,” by Jason J. Rohweder, James T. Rogala, Joseph W. Jakusz, Jenny L. Hanson, and Larry R. Robinson (UMESC).
- “Zooplankton Community Dynamics across a Large River Mosaic,” by Jarrod R. Sackreiter, Michael D. Delong (Winona State University), and William B. Richardson (UMESC).
National Park Service
Appalachian National Scenic Trail
- Andrew Strassman, Kevin Hop, Joe Jakusz, and Jennifer Dieck (UMESC) met with Mark Hall (NatureServe) and Greg Edinger (New York Natural Heritage Program) to review the vegetation classification and draft vegetation key for the Lower New England ecoregion of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail (APPA) Vegetation Mapping Project. This meeting helps to familiarize the mappers with the vegetation classification while allowing the mappers the opportunity to interact with the vegetation classifiers.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Animal Migrations and Spatial Subsidies
- Wayne Thogmartin (UMESC) will participate in the second meeting of the Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis project, “Animal Migration and Spatial Subsidies,” at the Biosphere 2 (located north of Tucson, AZ), April 22-26. The project's primary goal is to understand the flow of ecosystem services and associated economic value resulting from the migration of species; test species include northern pintail, Mexican free-tailed bat, and monarch butterfly.
Marine Radar and Bird Migration
- Mike Wellik (UMESC) met with Robb Diehl (NOROCK) to discuss the capabilities of using radar technology to track bird migration, and new ways to capture and analyze radar data, April 23, Bozeman, MT. Wellike also brought back a marine radar unit for monitoring the spring bird migration along Lake Erie’s southwestern shoreline.
Wildlife and Habitat Monitoring
- Larry Robinson (UMESC) and Brian Lubinski (FWS) collected 2- and 6-inch/pixel natural color imagery within the Upper Mississippi River floodplain on April 17, and Robinson is currently georeferencing and mosaicking the photos together so they can be used to support several U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and USGS long-term wildlife and habitat monitoring projects. The aerial photographs were collected to document:
- Heron rookeries located in navigation Pools 8 through 14 (La Crosse, WI to Moline, IL), photographed at 2-inches/pixel.
- Several areas within navigation Pool 8 and 9 burned by wild fires during the previous month were photographed at 2-inches/pixel.
- The Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge’s Lost Mound Unit (i.e., the Savanna Army Depot) located in navigation Pool 13 (near Savanna, IL) was photographed at 6-inches/pixel for monitoring invasive plants.
- Larry Robinson (UMESC) met with staff from U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Region 3 and Applanix Corp. in Minneapolis, MN, for the FWS aerial photography program’s annual review, April 11. The FWS Region 3 uses an Applanix DSS 439 digital aerial camera system to collect high-resolution aerial imagery throughout the Midwest, in support of federal mapping efforts. Recently, the DSS 439 system was upgraded to increase the sensitivity of the sensor and to offer greater control of camera settings via software. In addition, the aerial photography program was able to purchase a 60mm lens for collecting waterfowl imagery, and a gyroscopic mount to ensure the camera remains vertical to the ground and to isolate it from plane-induced vibrations. These enhancements have substantially increased the efficiency and quality of aerial photography collected with the Applanix DSS system.
White-nose Syndrome and Bats
Modeling and Monitoring Workshop
- Wayne Thogmartin (UMESC) participated in the White-Nose Syndrome (WNS) Bat Population Monitoring and Modeling Workshop, April 17-19 in Ft. Collins, CO. The workshop was held to develop methods for monitoring and modeling bat populations, and their responses to the fast-spreading fungal disease called white-nose syndrome.
Other
Acronyms
AOC – Area of Concern
APPA – Appalachian National Scenic Trail
EPA – Environmental Protection Agency
FDA – U.S. Food and Drug Administration
FWS – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
GIS – Geographic Information Systems
GLFC – Great Lakes Fishery Commission
GLP – Good Laboratory Practices
GLRI – Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
LiDAR – Light Detection And Ranging
NOROCK – Northern Rockies Science Center
NPS – National Park Service
NWS – National Weather Service
PCB – Polychlorinated Biphenyl
PWRC – Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
UMESC – Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
USGS – U.S. Geological Survey
VIP – Vegetation Inventory Program
WNS – White-nosed Syndrome
URL: http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/outreach/highlights/2012_apr_umesc_highlights.html
Page Contact Information: Contacting the Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
Page Last Modified:
November 27, 2012
