Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
Publications
Browse more than 150,000 publications authored by our scientists over the past 100+ year history of the USGS. Publications available are: USGS-authored journal articles, series reports, book chapters, other government publications, and more.
Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center Publications
Factors affecting uncertainty of public supply, self-supplied domestic, irrigation, and thermoelectric water-use data, 1985–2015—Evaluation of information sources, estimation methods, and data variability
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Water-Use Program is responsible for compiling and disseminating the Nation's water-use data. Working in cooperation with local, State, and Federal agencies, the USGS has collected and published national water-use estimates every 5 years, beginning in 1950. These water-use data may vary because of actual changes...
Luukkonen, Carol L.; Belitz, Kenneth; Sullivan, Samantha L.; Sargent, Pierre
Evaluation of a “trace” plant density score in LTRM vegetation monitoring
The Long Term Resource Monitoring (LTRM) element of the Upper Mississippi River Restoration program employs a harvest method for sampling submersed aquatic vegetation (SAV) whereby a rake is dragged ~1.5 m over the substrate and plant materials are retrieved. “Plant density” (PD) scores indicate SAV abundance and are based on the amount of...
Lowenberg, Carol; Drake, Deanne C.; Lund, Eric; Bales, Kyle Episodic nutrient addition affects water column nutrient processing rates in river-to-lake transitional zones
Storm-driven nutrient loading from tributaries can fuel eutrophication in nearshore and open water areas of lentic ecosystems. However, nutrient processing in river-to-lake transitional zones can substantially alter the amount and composition of nutrients transported to lakes from upstream surface waters. We measured the removal of nutrients and...
Pearce, Nolan J.T.; Larson, James H.; Evans, Mary Anne; Frost, Paul C.; Xenopoulos, Marguerite A. Mussel mass mortality and the microbiome: Evidence for shifts in the bacterial microbiome of a declining freshwater bivalve
Freshwater mussels (Unionida) are suffering mass mortality events worldwide, but the causes remain enigmatic. Here, we describe an analysis of bacterial loads, community structure, and inferred metabolic pathways in the hemolymph of pheasantshells (Actinonaias pectorosa) from the Clinch River, USA, during a multi-year mass mortality event....
Richard, Jordan; Campbell, Lewis J.; Leis, Eric; Agbalog, Rose; Dunn, Christopher D.; Waller, Diane L.; Knowles, Susan; Putnam, Joel G.; Goldberg, Tony Assessment of multiple ecosystem metabolism methods in an estuary
Ecosystem metabolism is a key ecological attribute and easy to describe, but quantifying metabolism in estuaries is challenging. Properly scaling measurements through time and space requires consideration of hydrodynamics and mixing water from heterogeneous sources, making any estimation uncertain. Here, we compared three methods for modeling...
Loken, Luke; Van Nieuwenhuyse, Erwin E; Dahlgren, Randy A; Kammel, Leah; Stumpner, Paul; Burau, Jon R.; Sadro, Steven
Changes in forest connectivity from beech bark disease in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
Within the forests of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, biologists are trying to understand the effects beech bark disease has on wildlife species, especially species that need forest connectivity to thrive. This project used aerial imagery collected in 2005, shortly after beech bark disease infestation, and satellite imagery from 2018. The 2018...
Sattler, Stephanie R. The ecology of river ice
Many of the world's rivers are ice-covered during winter months but increasing evidence indicates that the extent of river ice will shift substantially as winters warm. However, our knowledge of rivers during winter lags far behind that of the growing season, limiting our understanding of how ice loss will affect rivers. Physical, chemical, and...
Thellman, Audrey; Jankowski, Kathi Jo; Hayden, Brian; Yang, Xiao; Dolan, Wayana; Smits, Adrianne P; O'Sullivan, Antoin M Warmer winters increase the biomass of phytoplankton in a large floodplain river
Winters are changing rapidly across the globe but the implications for aquatic productivity and food webs are not well understood. In addition, the degree to which winter dynamics in aquatic systems respond to large-scale climate versus ecosystem-level factors is unclear but important for understanding and managing potential changes. We used a...
Jankowski, Kathi Jo; Houser, Jeffrey N.; Schuerell, Mark D.; Smits, Adrianne P Integrating ecosystem metabolism and consumer allochthony reveals nonlinear drivers in lake organic matter processing
Lakes process both terrestrial and aquatic organic matter, and the relative contribution from each source is often measured via ecosystem metabolism and terrestrial resource use in the food web (i.e., consumer allochthony). Yet, ecosystem metabolism and consumer allochthony are rarely considered together, despite possible interactions and...
Holgerson, Meredith A.; Hovel, Rachel A.; Kelly, Patrick T.; Bortolotti, Lauren E; Brentrup, Jennifer A.; Bellamy, Amber R; Oliver, Samantha; Reisenger, Alexander J Concentration addition and independent action assessments of the binary mixtures of four toxicants on zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) mortality
Researchers most often focus on individual toxicants when identifying effective chemical control agents for aquatic invasive species; however, toxicant mixtures may elicit synergistic effects. Synergistic effects may decrease required concentrations and shorten exposure durations for treatments. We investigated four toxicants (EarthTec QZ, Clam-...
Barbour, Matthew T.; Schueller, Justin; Severson, Todd J.; Wise, Jeremy K.; Meulemans, Matthew J; Luoma, James A.; Waller, Diane L. Timing and hydrological conditions associated with bigheaded carp movement past navigation dams on the upper Mississippi river
As the range of non-native bigheaded carps (Hypophthalmichthys spp.) continues to expand throughout river systems of the United States, managers are tasked with preventing or slowing the spread of these invasive species. Main stem navigation dams on the upper Mississippi River, long considered a deterrent to fish migration, may slow or...
Vallazza, Jon; Mosel, Kayle J.; Reineke, David M.; Runstrom, Ann L.; Larson, James H.; Knights, Brent C. Benthic and planktonic inorganic nutrient processing rates at the interface between a river and lake
The interface between lotic and lentic ecosystems is often a zone of intense metabolic activity, as primary production in streams and rivers can be light limited whereas nutrients often limit primary production in lake ecosystems. Our objective was to model the influence that rivermouths (the lotic-lentic interface) could have on the loads of...
Larson, James H.; Evans, Mary Anne; Fitzpatrick, Faith A.; Frost, Paul C.; Xenopoulos, Marguerite A.; James, William F.; Reneau, Paul