Common reed, Phragmites australis, has long been a component of Northern Plains wetlands, but imp... more Common reed, Phragmites australis, has long been a component of Northern Plains wetlands, but impending invasion by the non-native P. australis haplotype M may displace native haplotypes in the future. To increase understanding of historical Phragmites occurrence, we developed a geographic information system (GIS) protocol to improve the georeferencing of specimens from South Dakota herbaria, and mapped the distribution of Phragmites relative to geology, physiographic regions, and water bodies. There were 91 Phragmites herbarium specimens from South Dakota and adjacent Wyoming. Phragmites collections occurred in nearly all physiographic regions of the state, with concentrations occurring in the Prairie Coteau of eastern South Dakota and the periphery of the Black Hills in western South Dakota. GIS analysis showed that the Black Hills Phragmites collection sites occurred in the "Red Valley" overlying the Spearfish bedrock formation. Phragmites usually occurred on wetlands or lakes in eastern South Dakota; Phragmites in unglaciated western South Dakota usually occurred on creeks and stock dams. There was no evidence of a recent increase in Phragmites collections. Because native Phragmites probably occurs throughout South Dakota, weed control practitioners should verify that Phragmites stands are of the non-native haplotype before implementing control measures.
Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions, 2016
Beaver ponds are surface water features that are transient through space and time. Such qualities... more Beaver ponds are surface water features that are transient through space and time. Such qualities complicate the inclusion of beaver ponds in local and regional water balances, and in hydrological models, as reliable estimates of surface water storage are difficult to acquire without time and labour intensive topographic surveys. A simpler approach to overcome this challenge is needed, given the abundance of the beaver ponds in North America, Eurasia and southern South America. We investigated whether simple morphometric characteristics derived from readily available aerial imagery or quickly measured field attributes of beaver ponds can be used to approximate surface water storage among the range of environmental settings in which beaver ponds are found. Studied were a total of 40 beaver ponds from four different sites in North and South America. The Simplified V-A-h approach, originally developed for prairie potholes, was tested. With only two measurements of pond depth and corresponding surface area, this method estimated surface water storage in beaver ponds within 5% on average. Beaver pond morphometry was characterized by a median basin coefficient of 0.91, and dam length and pond surface area were strongly correlated with beaver pond storage capacity, regardless of geographic setting. These attributes provide a means for coarsely estimating surface water storage capacity in beaver ponds. Overall, this research demonstrates that reliable estimates of surface water storage in beaver ponds only requires simple measurements derived from aerial imagery and/or brief visits to the field. Future research efforts should be directed at incorporating these simple methods into both broader beaverrelated tools and catchment scale hydrological models.
The Trump administration has proposed replacing the Clean Water Rule, a 2015 regulation that defi... more The Trump administration has proposed replacing the Clean Water Rule, a 2015 regulation that defined the statutory term Bwaters of the United States^to clarify the geographic jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act. Since its promulgation, the Clean Water Rule has been subjected to numerous judicial challenges. We submitted an amici curiae brief to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, explaining why the Clean Water Rule, and its definition of Bwaters of the United States,^is scientifically sound. The definition of Bwaters of the United States^is a legal determination informed by science. The best available science supports the Clean Water Rule's categorical treatment of tributaries because compelling scientific evidence demonstrates that tributaries significantly affect the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of traditional navigable waters (primary waters). Similarly, the best available science supports the Clean Water Rule's categorical treatment of adjacent waters based on geographic proximity. Compelling scientific evidence demonstrates that waters within 100 ft of an ordinary high water mark (OHWM) significantly affect the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of primary waters, as do waters within 100-year floodplains and waters within 1500 ft of high tide lines of tidally influenced primary waters or OHWMs of the Great Lakes. This review article is adapted from that amici brief. Keywords Clean Water Act. Waters of the United States. Wetlands. Navigable waters. Significant nexus. Regulation The Clean Water Act (CWA) (2018) is the primary wetland protection law in the United States (33 U.S.C. §1251 et seq.). If a wetland is considered to be Bwaters of the United Statesû nder the CWA, then no one may discharge pollutants into that wetland without a federal permit. The geographic scope of the Clean Water Act-i.e., the extent of waters of the United States-has long been subject to controversy and litigation (Gardner 2011). In 2015, the Obama administration issued the Clean Water Rule, a regulation that clarified the geographic scope of the CWA (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. EPA 2015). This regulation was based upon an analysis of over 1200 scientific publications in Connectivity of Streams and Wetlands to Downstream Waters: A Review and Synthesis of the Scientific Evidence (U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development 2015). This analysis was performed to comply with the Administrative Procedure Act (2018), which prohibits federal agencies from acting arbitrarily or capriciously (5 U.S.C. §706). Courts have interpreted this language to require agencies to consider the scientific basis behind their decisions (see, e.g., Dan Tufford and Scott C. Yaich are both retired.
Widespread flooding across South Dakota in 2011 has spurred a new look at the institutional, regu... more Widespread flooding across South Dakota in 2011 has spurred a new look at the institutional, regulatory, and mathematical models used to manage the Upper Missouri River Basin as it affects all aspects of life in South Dakota. An SD EPSCoR planning grant was awarded to a team of local, national and inter-national researchers, who produced a strategy to create a research infrastructure with the goal of developing conceptual and mathematical models to understand and describe the uncertainty of hydrological events (HE) across South Dakota.
Beavers have occupied the Kabetogama Peninsula for millennia, but the beaver population there has... more Beavers have occupied the Kabetogama Peninsula for millennia, but the beaver population there has had its ups and downs since humans and beavers started to co-exist. Over-trapping of beavers during the 1600s–1800s decimated beaver populations in northern Minnesota. Logging and forest fires also changed the beaver’s habitat. Beaver numbers began to recover after the fire of 1936, and trapping was discontinued with the establishment of Voyageurs National Park in 1975. Beaver density peaked in 1981 at 1.4 colonies per square kilometer, among the highest in North America. 1.1 Decimation of the Beaver The decimation of the beaver started with hats. Beaver fur was used in the most fashionable hats of the day in the 1700s. These hats weren’t like a coon-skin cap— the beaver fur was unrecognizable by the time the hats reached their wearers’ heads. The shiny guard hairs were removed, exposing the soft wool undercoat beneath. The undercoat was used in hat making due to its superior felting properties. The wool was shaved from the leather pelt, felted, died, and shaped into various styles (Hawkins 2014). Later styles economized by applying a surface nap of beaver fur to a muslin base (Fig. 1.1). The popularity of beaver hats in Europe created a demand that reached across the Atlantic. Beaver pelts were currency, the “black gold” sought after by early North American explorers. Trappers worked first in eastern North America, depleting beaver stocks in New England and Quebec. As beaver populations dwindled, trappers expanded ever westward. The lakes and rivers were their highways: along the St. Lawrence River, into the Great Lakes, and across the Grand Portage to the Pigeon River and beyond. French-Canadian “coureurs des bois” (runners of the woods) each carried two 41-kg packs of beaver pelts on their backs across the 14 km Grand Portage trail, loading 65 packs into freight canoes for transport by “voyageurs” back to Montreal, where the packs were loaded onto European-bound ships. By 1800 about 200,000 beaver pelts a year were sent from America to Europe (Longley and Moyle 1963).
Mapping tools are needed to document the location and extent of Phragmites australis, a tall gras... more Mapping tools are needed to document the location and extent of Phragmites australis, a tall grass that invades coastal marshes throughout North America, displacing native plant species and degrading wetland habitat. Mapping Phragmites is particularly challenging in the freshwater Great Lakes coastal wetlands due to dynamic lake levels and vegetation diversity. We tested the applicability of Hyperion hyperspectral satellite imagery for mapping Phragmites in wetlands of the west coast of Green Bay in Wisconsin, U.S.A. A reference spectrum created using Hyperion data from several pure Phragmites stands within the image was used with a Spectral Correlation Mapper (SCM) algorithm to create a raster map with values ranging from 0 to 1, where 0 represented the greatest similarity between the reference spectrum and the image spectrum and 1 the least similarity. The final two-class thematic classification predicted monodominant Phragmites covering 3.4% of the study area. Most of this was concentrated in long linear features parallel to the Green Bay shoreline, particularly in areas that had been under water only six years earlier when lake levels were 66 cm higher. An error matrix using spring 2005 field validation points (n = 129) showed good overall accuracy-81.4%. The small size and linear arrangement of Phragmites stands was less than optimal relative to the sensor resolution, and Hyperion's 30 m resolution captured few if any pure pixels. Contemporary Phragmites maps prepared with Hyperion imagery would provide wetland managers with a tool that they currently lack, which could aid attempts to stem the spread of this invasive species.
Beaver ponds require a supply of water, which ultimately comes from precipitation. Although most ... more Beaver ponds require a supply of water, which ultimately comes from precipitation. Although most of northern Minnesota’s precipitation is received in the summer months, snowmelt is the main driver of peak streamflow in the spring. I analyzed NOAA snowpack records and USGS streamflow records to show that peak annual streamflow was significantly related to maximum snow water equivalent during the winters of 2005–2016. We conducted intensive field studies of water fluxes in a Kabetogama Peninsula beaver meadow, measuring evapotranspiration, pond level, groundwater, streamflow, and runoff from watershed side slopes. Evapotranspiration was a significant source of water loss from the beaver meadow during late summer, with discernable diurnal effects on streamflow, water table, and pond level. Groundwater measurements showed recharge (i.e., water flowing from the surface into the ground) occurring within most of the beaver meadow, but periodic discharge (i.e., water flowing from the ground toward the surface) in sites closer to the stream flowing through the beaver meadow. “Edge collectors” positioned around the perimeter of the beaver meadow showed that lateral fluxes of runoff into the beaver meadow were spatially variable, such that the temporal pattern of flow in a gently sloping portion of the catchment with >0.3 m of soil was different than that for three sites with steeper slopes and shallower soils over bedrock. A spatially explicit model that routed flow within the beaver meadow catchment successfully replicated this difference.
The major question being addressed is "What environmental indicators can be developed to efficien... more The major question being addressed is "What environmental indicators can be developed to efficiently, economically, and effectively measure and monitor the condition, integrity, and long-term sustainability of the coastal region?" Our specific objectives include: • identification of environmental indicators that will be useful to define the condition, integrity, and change of the ecosystems within the coastal region, • testing these indicators with a rigorous combination of existing data and field data to link stressors of the coastal region with environmental responses, and • recommendation of a suite of hierarchically structured indicators to guide managers toward informed management decisions. The final product will provide information for managers to communicate with the public on the condition and integrity of the coastal region, to guide development of monitoring programs to measure change, to identify areas in need of restoration or conservation strategies, and to use as key indicators for input into modeling efforts to predict the future of the coastal region. Approach: The primary focus during the past year has been to complete field sampling. All of the project subcomponents successfully completed their field sampling efforts. The bird and amphibian group sampled over 600 sites in 2002 and 2003. The fish and macroinvertebrate group sampled 112 sites in 2002 and 2003. The diatom and water quality team has sampled 240 sites from 2001 to 2003. The wetland vegetation group has sampled 86 sites from 2001 to 2003. The contaminants group has sampled 22 sites across the Great Lakes basin. In addition, over 40 sites were visited by each of four project components: fish and macroinvertebrates, wetland vegetation, bird and amphibian, and diatom groups. Most of the sites sampled by the contaminant group were also sampled by the remaining four groups. All of the groups have been Future Activities: The primary emphases over the next year will include the following 1) complete processing of all field samples, 2) compile and analyze the data gathered, and 3) prepare presentations and manuscripts for peer-reviewed publications. GLEI investigators will be making presentations at several national/international science meetings this year. These include the International Association of Great Lakes Research, the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, North American Benthological Society, and the Society of Wetland Scientists. A GLEI investigators meeting is planned for November or December of 2004. A meeting of all EaGLe projects is scheduled for September 30 to October 2, 2004 in Duluth. GLEI investigators decided to reschedule the GLEI senior research advisory group meeting that was originally scheduled for March 2004. The investigators felt that time and money would be better allocated to a meeting in one more year when more data and analyses would be completed.
The North American beaver, Castor canadensis, has recovered from historic overtrapping, recoloniz... more The North American beaver, Castor canadensis, has recovered from historic overtrapping, recolonizing much of its former range as its population expanded. Previous studies using historical aerial photos document recent increases in number of beaver ponds, but the long-term sustainability of beaver populations and their ponds over centuries of landscape alteration is unknown. This paper analyzes the fate of beaver ponds mapped in 1868 near Ishpeming, Michigan, USA. Of the 64 beaver dam and pond sites mapped in the 1860s, 72 % were still discernible in 2014. Land use changes that altered the terrain (mining, residential development) or stream paths (channelization) were the main sources of beaver pond loss. This remarkable consistency in beaver pond placement over the last 150 years is evidence of the beaver's resilience.
Abstract It is the Society's objective to increase public understanding of wetland issues and... more Abstract It is the Society's objective to increase public understanding of wetland issues and promote sound public policy through the development and communication of position papers that are based upon the best available scientific information.
Beaver ponds and beaver-impounded vegetation are indicators of past or present beaver activity th... more Beaver ponds and beaver-impounded vegetation are indicators of past or present beaver activity that can be detected from aerial photography. A method to quantitatively relate these beaver works with the density of active beaver colonies could benefit beaver management, particularly in areas lacking beaver population data. We compared historical maps (1961-2006) of beaver works at Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota, USA with concurrent aerial surveys of beaver colonies. We tested 2 landscape-scale models of beaver colony density previously developed for a period of beaver population expansion (1940-1986), but they failed to predict colony density after 1986, a period of declining beaver population. We developed a new landscape-scale regression, calculating that 2.15% of the landscape would be flooded by every 100 additional beaver colonies (R 2 ¼ 0.53, P ¼ 0.027). Classification tree analysis of individual pond sites showed that open water pond and impounded marsh area were the primary predictors of beaver colony presence or absence, but that the classification trees were far better at identifying inactive sites (>93% correct) than active sites (35-38% correct). The area of open water in beaver ponds is a good but not perfect indicator of beaver activity that can be used by wildlife managers as a landscape-scale indicator of beaver colony density. Published 2015. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.
Objective: Specific objectives of this subproject are to: 1. identify vegetative indicators of co... more Objective: Specific objectives of this subproject are to: 1. identify vegetative indicators of condition of Great Lakes coastal wetlands that can be measured at a variety of scales, 2. develop relationships between environmental stressors and those vegetative indicators, 3. make recommendations about the utility and reliability of vegetative indicators to guide managers toward long-term sustainable development. Joy Zedler has initiated a new series of "fact sheets" that are being published as "Arboretum Leaflets" for eventual dissemination on the Wisconsin arboretum web site. One of these will be about assessing dominance in plant communities. They will be advertised at the University of Wisconsin's annual Arboretum Science Day, which draws local agency personnel, as well as NGO members and the public. Graduate students Christin Frieswyk (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and Lynn Vacarro (Cornell University) continue to work on their graduate studies. Lynn's MS thesis, "Patterns and mechanisms of Typha dominance in wetlands across the Great Lakes," will be the subject of a future presentation at the joint INTECOL/Ecological Society of America meeting in Montreal this August. Christin's PhD dissertation is entitled "The behavior of Typha species in Lake Michigan coastal wetlands and the implications for ecosystem resilience." She has finished most of the analysis of her seed bank study (described in 2003 Progress Report) and is hoping to defend during the fall 2005.
System of watershed in terrain may consider as continental stream runoff system Sg 2 . Continenta... more System of watershed in terrain may consider as continental stream runoff system Sg 2 . Continental stream runoff system Sg 2 as a part of hydrosphere system Sa 2 -stream runoff system may be written as: Sg 2 = { g ji , R ji }, where: g ji -is a system of j-watershed basins (j = 1,2,3 ... n) with matrix of input {Wi}, matrix of output {Qi}, & matrix of states {Hi}, also with attributes (characteristics) of its formation (i = 1,2,3 ... p). Ri is a matrix of relations between variables entering the matrices {Wi}, {Qi}, {H 1 i} of components under description & between them & variables entering matrices of states for components of contiguous spheres. Any territory may be considered as a part of continental stream runoff system Sg 2 and be presented with g ji (j= 1, 2, 3 … n) watersheds.
... Freshwater wetlands receive water from precipitation, groundwater, and/or sur-face water, con... more ... Freshwater wetlands receive water from precipitation, groundwater, and/or sur-face water, conveyed in the form of runoff, streams, rivers, lakes, and human wastewater discharges. These water sources convey varying amounts of sediment and nutrients. ...
Common reed, Phragmites australis, has long been a component of Northern Plains wetlands, but imp... more Common reed, Phragmites australis, has long been a component of Northern Plains wetlands, but impending invasion by the non-native P. australis haplotype M may displace native haplotypes in the future. To increase understanding of historical Phragmites occurrence, we developed a geographic information system (GIS) protocol to improve the georeferencing of specimens from South Dakota herbaria, and mapped the distribution of Phragmites relative to geology, physiographic regions, and water bodies. There were 91 Phragmites herbarium specimens from South Dakota and adjacent Wyoming. Phragmites collections occurred in nearly all physiographic regions of the state, with concentrations occurring in the Prairie Coteau of eastern South Dakota and the periphery of the Black Hills in western South Dakota. GIS analysis showed that the Black Hills Phragmites collection sites occurred in the "Red Valley" overlying the Spearfish bedrock formation. Phragmites usually occurred on wetlands or lakes in eastern South Dakota; Phragmites in unglaciated western South Dakota usually occurred on creeks and stock dams. There was no evidence of a recent increase in Phragmites collections. Because native Phragmites probably occurs throughout South Dakota, weed control practitioners should verify that Phragmites stands are of the non-native haplotype before implementing control measures.
Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions, 2016
Beaver ponds are surface water features that are transient through space and time. Such qualities... more Beaver ponds are surface water features that are transient through space and time. Such qualities complicate the inclusion of beaver ponds in local and regional water balances, and in hydrological models, as reliable estimates of surface water storage are difficult to acquire without time and labour intensive topographic surveys. A simpler approach to overcome this challenge is needed, given the abundance of the beaver ponds in North America, Eurasia and southern South America. We investigated whether simple morphometric characteristics derived from readily available aerial imagery or quickly measured field attributes of beaver ponds can be used to approximate surface water storage among the range of environmental settings in which beaver ponds are found. Studied were a total of 40 beaver ponds from four different sites in North and South America. The Simplified V-A-h approach, originally developed for prairie potholes, was tested. With only two measurements of pond depth and corresponding surface area, this method estimated surface water storage in beaver ponds within 5% on average. Beaver pond morphometry was characterized by a median basin coefficient of 0.91, and dam length and pond surface area were strongly correlated with beaver pond storage capacity, regardless of geographic setting. These attributes provide a means for coarsely estimating surface water storage capacity in beaver ponds. Overall, this research demonstrates that reliable estimates of surface water storage in beaver ponds only requires simple measurements derived from aerial imagery and/or brief visits to the field. Future research efforts should be directed at incorporating these simple methods into both broader beaverrelated tools and catchment scale hydrological models.
The Trump administration has proposed replacing the Clean Water Rule, a 2015 regulation that defi... more The Trump administration has proposed replacing the Clean Water Rule, a 2015 regulation that defined the statutory term Bwaters of the United States^to clarify the geographic jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act. Since its promulgation, the Clean Water Rule has been subjected to numerous judicial challenges. We submitted an amici curiae brief to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, explaining why the Clean Water Rule, and its definition of Bwaters of the United States,^is scientifically sound. The definition of Bwaters of the United States^is a legal determination informed by science. The best available science supports the Clean Water Rule's categorical treatment of tributaries because compelling scientific evidence demonstrates that tributaries significantly affect the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of traditional navigable waters (primary waters). Similarly, the best available science supports the Clean Water Rule's categorical treatment of adjacent waters based on geographic proximity. Compelling scientific evidence demonstrates that waters within 100 ft of an ordinary high water mark (OHWM) significantly affect the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of primary waters, as do waters within 100-year floodplains and waters within 1500 ft of high tide lines of tidally influenced primary waters or OHWMs of the Great Lakes. This review article is adapted from that amici brief. Keywords Clean Water Act. Waters of the United States. Wetlands. Navigable waters. Significant nexus. Regulation The Clean Water Act (CWA) (2018) is the primary wetland protection law in the United States (33 U.S.C. §1251 et seq.). If a wetland is considered to be Bwaters of the United Statesû nder the CWA, then no one may discharge pollutants into that wetland without a federal permit. The geographic scope of the Clean Water Act-i.e., the extent of waters of the United States-has long been subject to controversy and litigation (Gardner 2011). In 2015, the Obama administration issued the Clean Water Rule, a regulation that clarified the geographic scope of the CWA (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. EPA 2015). This regulation was based upon an analysis of over 1200 scientific publications in Connectivity of Streams and Wetlands to Downstream Waters: A Review and Synthesis of the Scientific Evidence (U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development 2015). This analysis was performed to comply with the Administrative Procedure Act (2018), which prohibits federal agencies from acting arbitrarily or capriciously (5 U.S.C. §706). Courts have interpreted this language to require agencies to consider the scientific basis behind their decisions (see, e.g., Dan Tufford and Scott C. Yaich are both retired.
Widespread flooding across South Dakota in 2011 has spurred a new look at the institutional, regu... more Widespread flooding across South Dakota in 2011 has spurred a new look at the institutional, regulatory, and mathematical models used to manage the Upper Missouri River Basin as it affects all aspects of life in South Dakota. An SD EPSCoR planning grant was awarded to a team of local, national and inter-national researchers, who produced a strategy to create a research infrastructure with the goal of developing conceptual and mathematical models to understand and describe the uncertainty of hydrological events (HE) across South Dakota.
Beavers have occupied the Kabetogama Peninsula for millennia, but the beaver population there has... more Beavers have occupied the Kabetogama Peninsula for millennia, but the beaver population there has had its ups and downs since humans and beavers started to co-exist. Over-trapping of beavers during the 1600s–1800s decimated beaver populations in northern Minnesota. Logging and forest fires also changed the beaver’s habitat. Beaver numbers began to recover after the fire of 1936, and trapping was discontinued with the establishment of Voyageurs National Park in 1975. Beaver density peaked in 1981 at 1.4 colonies per square kilometer, among the highest in North America. 1.1 Decimation of the Beaver The decimation of the beaver started with hats. Beaver fur was used in the most fashionable hats of the day in the 1700s. These hats weren’t like a coon-skin cap— the beaver fur was unrecognizable by the time the hats reached their wearers’ heads. The shiny guard hairs were removed, exposing the soft wool undercoat beneath. The undercoat was used in hat making due to its superior felting properties. The wool was shaved from the leather pelt, felted, died, and shaped into various styles (Hawkins 2014). Later styles economized by applying a surface nap of beaver fur to a muslin base (Fig. 1.1). The popularity of beaver hats in Europe created a demand that reached across the Atlantic. Beaver pelts were currency, the “black gold” sought after by early North American explorers. Trappers worked first in eastern North America, depleting beaver stocks in New England and Quebec. As beaver populations dwindled, trappers expanded ever westward. The lakes and rivers were their highways: along the St. Lawrence River, into the Great Lakes, and across the Grand Portage to the Pigeon River and beyond. French-Canadian “coureurs des bois” (runners of the woods) each carried two 41-kg packs of beaver pelts on their backs across the 14 km Grand Portage trail, loading 65 packs into freight canoes for transport by “voyageurs” back to Montreal, where the packs were loaded onto European-bound ships. By 1800 about 200,000 beaver pelts a year were sent from America to Europe (Longley and Moyle 1963).
Mapping tools are needed to document the location and extent of Phragmites australis, a tall gras... more Mapping tools are needed to document the location and extent of Phragmites australis, a tall grass that invades coastal marshes throughout North America, displacing native plant species and degrading wetland habitat. Mapping Phragmites is particularly challenging in the freshwater Great Lakes coastal wetlands due to dynamic lake levels and vegetation diversity. We tested the applicability of Hyperion hyperspectral satellite imagery for mapping Phragmites in wetlands of the west coast of Green Bay in Wisconsin, U.S.A. A reference spectrum created using Hyperion data from several pure Phragmites stands within the image was used with a Spectral Correlation Mapper (SCM) algorithm to create a raster map with values ranging from 0 to 1, where 0 represented the greatest similarity between the reference spectrum and the image spectrum and 1 the least similarity. The final two-class thematic classification predicted monodominant Phragmites covering 3.4% of the study area. Most of this was concentrated in long linear features parallel to the Green Bay shoreline, particularly in areas that had been under water only six years earlier when lake levels were 66 cm higher. An error matrix using spring 2005 field validation points (n = 129) showed good overall accuracy-81.4%. The small size and linear arrangement of Phragmites stands was less than optimal relative to the sensor resolution, and Hyperion's 30 m resolution captured few if any pure pixels. Contemporary Phragmites maps prepared with Hyperion imagery would provide wetland managers with a tool that they currently lack, which could aid attempts to stem the spread of this invasive species.
Beaver ponds require a supply of water, which ultimately comes from precipitation. Although most ... more Beaver ponds require a supply of water, which ultimately comes from precipitation. Although most of northern Minnesota’s precipitation is received in the summer months, snowmelt is the main driver of peak streamflow in the spring. I analyzed NOAA snowpack records and USGS streamflow records to show that peak annual streamflow was significantly related to maximum snow water equivalent during the winters of 2005–2016. We conducted intensive field studies of water fluxes in a Kabetogama Peninsula beaver meadow, measuring evapotranspiration, pond level, groundwater, streamflow, and runoff from watershed side slopes. Evapotranspiration was a significant source of water loss from the beaver meadow during late summer, with discernable diurnal effects on streamflow, water table, and pond level. Groundwater measurements showed recharge (i.e., water flowing from the surface into the ground) occurring within most of the beaver meadow, but periodic discharge (i.e., water flowing from the ground toward the surface) in sites closer to the stream flowing through the beaver meadow. “Edge collectors” positioned around the perimeter of the beaver meadow showed that lateral fluxes of runoff into the beaver meadow were spatially variable, such that the temporal pattern of flow in a gently sloping portion of the catchment with >0.3 m of soil was different than that for three sites with steeper slopes and shallower soils over bedrock. A spatially explicit model that routed flow within the beaver meadow catchment successfully replicated this difference.
The major question being addressed is "What environmental indicators can be developed to efficien... more The major question being addressed is "What environmental indicators can be developed to efficiently, economically, and effectively measure and monitor the condition, integrity, and long-term sustainability of the coastal region?" Our specific objectives include: • identification of environmental indicators that will be useful to define the condition, integrity, and change of the ecosystems within the coastal region, • testing these indicators with a rigorous combination of existing data and field data to link stressors of the coastal region with environmental responses, and • recommendation of a suite of hierarchically structured indicators to guide managers toward informed management decisions. The final product will provide information for managers to communicate with the public on the condition and integrity of the coastal region, to guide development of monitoring programs to measure change, to identify areas in need of restoration or conservation strategies, and to use as key indicators for input into modeling efforts to predict the future of the coastal region. Approach: The primary focus during the past year has been to complete field sampling. All of the project subcomponents successfully completed their field sampling efforts. The bird and amphibian group sampled over 600 sites in 2002 and 2003. The fish and macroinvertebrate group sampled 112 sites in 2002 and 2003. The diatom and water quality team has sampled 240 sites from 2001 to 2003. The wetland vegetation group has sampled 86 sites from 2001 to 2003. The contaminants group has sampled 22 sites across the Great Lakes basin. In addition, over 40 sites were visited by each of four project components: fish and macroinvertebrates, wetland vegetation, bird and amphibian, and diatom groups. Most of the sites sampled by the contaminant group were also sampled by the remaining four groups. All of the groups have been Future Activities: The primary emphases over the next year will include the following 1) complete processing of all field samples, 2) compile and analyze the data gathered, and 3) prepare presentations and manuscripts for peer-reviewed publications. GLEI investigators will be making presentations at several national/international science meetings this year. These include the International Association of Great Lakes Research, the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, North American Benthological Society, and the Society of Wetland Scientists. A GLEI investigators meeting is planned for November or December of 2004. A meeting of all EaGLe projects is scheduled for September 30 to October 2, 2004 in Duluth. GLEI investigators decided to reschedule the GLEI senior research advisory group meeting that was originally scheduled for March 2004. The investigators felt that time and money would be better allocated to a meeting in one more year when more data and analyses would be completed.
The North American beaver, Castor canadensis, has recovered from historic overtrapping, recoloniz... more The North American beaver, Castor canadensis, has recovered from historic overtrapping, recolonizing much of its former range as its population expanded. Previous studies using historical aerial photos document recent increases in number of beaver ponds, but the long-term sustainability of beaver populations and their ponds over centuries of landscape alteration is unknown. This paper analyzes the fate of beaver ponds mapped in 1868 near Ishpeming, Michigan, USA. Of the 64 beaver dam and pond sites mapped in the 1860s, 72 % were still discernible in 2014. Land use changes that altered the terrain (mining, residential development) or stream paths (channelization) were the main sources of beaver pond loss. This remarkable consistency in beaver pond placement over the last 150 years is evidence of the beaver's resilience.
Abstract It is the Society's objective to increase public understanding of wetland issues and... more Abstract It is the Society's objective to increase public understanding of wetland issues and promote sound public policy through the development and communication of position papers that are based upon the best available scientific information.
Beaver ponds and beaver-impounded vegetation are indicators of past or present beaver activity th... more Beaver ponds and beaver-impounded vegetation are indicators of past or present beaver activity that can be detected from aerial photography. A method to quantitatively relate these beaver works with the density of active beaver colonies could benefit beaver management, particularly in areas lacking beaver population data. We compared historical maps (1961-2006) of beaver works at Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota, USA with concurrent aerial surveys of beaver colonies. We tested 2 landscape-scale models of beaver colony density previously developed for a period of beaver population expansion (1940-1986), but they failed to predict colony density after 1986, a period of declining beaver population. We developed a new landscape-scale regression, calculating that 2.15% of the landscape would be flooded by every 100 additional beaver colonies (R 2 ¼ 0.53, P ¼ 0.027). Classification tree analysis of individual pond sites showed that open water pond and impounded marsh area were the primary predictors of beaver colony presence or absence, but that the classification trees were far better at identifying inactive sites (>93% correct) than active sites (35-38% correct). The area of open water in beaver ponds is a good but not perfect indicator of beaver activity that can be used by wildlife managers as a landscape-scale indicator of beaver colony density. Published 2015. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.
Objective: Specific objectives of this subproject are to: 1. identify vegetative indicators of co... more Objective: Specific objectives of this subproject are to: 1. identify vegetative indicators of condition of Great Lakes coastal wetlands that can be measured at a variety of scales, 2. develop relationships between environmental stressors and those vegetative indicators, 3. make recommendations about the utility and reliability of vegetative indicators to guide managers toward long-term sustainable development. Joy Zedler has initiated a new series of "fact sheets" that are being published as "Arboretum Leaflets" for eventual dissemination on the Wisconsin arboretum web site. One of these will be about assessing dominance in plant communities. They will be advertised at the University of Wisconsin's annual Arboretum Science Day, which draws local agency personnel, as well as NGO members and the public. Graduate students Christin Frieswyk (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and Lynn Vacarro (Cornell University) continue to work on their graduate studies. Lynn's MS thesis, "Patterns and mechanisms of Typha dominance in wetlands across the Great Lakes," will be the subject of a future presentation at the joint INTECOL/Ecological Society of America meeting in Montreal this August. Christin's PhD dissertation is entitled "The behavior of Typha species in Lake Michigan coastal wetlands and the implications for ecosystem resilience." She has finished most of the analysis of her seed bank study (described in 2003 Progress Report) and is hoping to defend during the fall 2005.
System of watershed in terrain may consider as continental stream runoff system Sg 2 . Continenta... more System of watershed in terrain may consider as continental stream runoff system Sg 2 . Continental stream runoff system Sg 2 as a part of hydrosphere system Sa 2 -stream runoff system may be written as: Sg 2 = { g ji , R ji }, where: g ji -is a system of j-watershed basins (j = 1,2,3 ... n) with matrix of input {Wi}, matrix of output {Qi}, & matrix of states {Hi}, also with attributes (characteristics) of its formation (i = 1,2,3 ... p). Ri is a matrix of relations between variables entering the matrices {Wi}, {Qi}, {H 1 i} of components under description & between them & variables entering matrices of states for components of contiguous spheres. Any territory may be considered as a part of continental stream runoff system Sg 2 and be presented with g ji (j= 1, 2, 3 … n) watersheds.
... Freshwater wetlands receive water from precipitation, groundwater, and/or sur-face water, con... more ... Freshwater wetlands receive water from precipitation, groundwater, and/or sur-face water, conveyed in the form of runoff, streams, rivers, lakes, and human wastewater discharges. These water sources convey varying amounts of sediment and nutrients. ...
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Papers by Carol Johnston