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December 2013 Activity Highlights
Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
La Crosse, Wisconsin

Topics covered in the December activity report.

• Congressional Visit
• Senator Tammy Baldwin
• News Media Interactions
• Upper Mississippi River Restoration – Environmental Management Program
• Causes and Consequences of abundant duckweed and filamentous algae in backwater lakes of the Upper Mississippi River
• USGS Headquarters Visit
• Wind Energy
• Acronyms

Congressional Visit

Senator Tammy Baldwin

• UMESC hosted a visit from U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (WI), and staffers Doug Hill (Wisconsin State Director) and John Medinger (Western Wisconsin Representative) December 6.  Senator Baldwin was interested in learning about UMESC and the Center’s research activities, especially those related to the control of aquatic invasive species.

News Media Interactions

• Kevin Kenow (UMESC) and Jim Nissen (USFWS) were interviewed by John Weiss (Outdoor Editor, Rochester [MN] Post-Bulletin) for a story on canvasback and tundra swan use of the Upper Mississippi River, and how the birds’ use of the River’s backwaters during migration depends on a healthy and productive river system.  The article appeared in the newspaper’s November 27 edition, available at http://www.postbulletin.com/sports/outdoors/canvasbacks-are-proof-of-backwater-recovery/article_ac598793-dbb6-5ef9-8a78-ac37a317f191.html

• Teresa Newton (UMESC) was interviewed by Elizabeth Harball (ClimateWire) in response to a USGS News Release on a new report  “The effects of elevated water temperature on native juvenile mussels: implications for climate change”published in Freshwater Science.  Harball was interested to know how climate change and warmer water temperatures will impact mussel species at or near their upper thermal tolerances.     

• Steven Zigler (UMESC) was interviewed by Crystal Kim (Barron’s, a financial magazine and sister publication to the Wall Street Journal) regarding information on the American Paddlefish poaching issue.

• Tom Custer (UMESC) was interviewed on December 18 by Brian Bienkowski, Environmental Health News and Scientific American, regarding the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative research project investigating the health assessment of tree swallows nesting in the Great Lakes. http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/wildlife_toxicology/glri_project80.html

Upper Mississippi River Restoration – Environmental Management Program

Causes and Consequences of abundant duckweed and filamentous algae in backwater lakes of the Upper Mississippi River

• Jeff Houser, James Rogala, Brian Gray (UMESC), William James (Army Corps of Engineers), Shawn Giblin, Heidi Langrehr, and John Sullivan (Wisconsin DNR) have published findings from a study that investigated associations among hydraulic connectivity to the channel, nutrient cycling, free floating plants, submersed aquatic vegetation, and dissolved oxygen concentration in ten backwater lakes of the Upper Mississippi River (UMR). The study found that eutrophication, (high concentrations of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus)) may adversely affect the Upper Mississippi River by promoting excessive growth of free floating plants such as duckweeds and filamentous algae; abundant free-floating plants was associated with low dissolved oxygen concentrations.  Findings also illustrated that connectivity of off-channel areas impacts nutrient cycles, duckweed abundance and should be considered in habitat management decisions for fish and waterfowl.

• Houser, J.N., Giblin, S.M., James, W.F., Langrehr, HA., Rogala, J.T., Sullivan, J.F., and Gray, B.R.  2013. Causes and consequences of abundant duckweed and filamentous algae in backwater lakes of the Upper Mississippi River near La Crosse, Wisconsin.  River Systems 21:71-89.

USGS Headquarters Visit

• UMESC hosted a visit from Bill Lellis (Deputy Associate Director, Ecosystems), Mark Hudy (Senior Science Adviser, Fisheries), and Bill Guertal (Deputy Director for Science, Midwest Region), December 4-5.  The visit provided everyone with an opportunity to meet Center staff and learn about UMESC’s research activities.

Wind Energy

• Jessica Stanton, Richard Erickson, and Wayne Thogmartin (UMESC) participated in the USGS Wind Energy Impacts Assessment Methodology Development meeting December 10-13 at the Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center in Denver, CO.  Erickson and Stanton presented preliminary results of their research on the impacts of wind energy mortality on bats and birds, respectively.

Acronyms

DNR – Department of Natural Resources
UMESC – Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
UMR – Upper Mississippi River
UMRR-EMP – Upper Mississippi River Restoration - Environmental Management Program
USACE – U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
USFWS – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
USGS – U.S. Geological Survey