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
Remnant hardwood forest mapping within the Upper Mississippi River Floodplain
Executive SummaryThe primary objective of the project was to locate previously unknown stands of mast-producing hardwood forest trees in the Upper Mississippi River floodplain using existing information. We located and mapped 399 previously unknown hardwood forest stands within the Mississippi River floodplain area of navigation pools 9, 10, and...
Hanson, Jenny L.; King, Rich; Hoy, Erin E.
A hydrogeomorphic classification of connectivity of large rivers of the Upper Midwest, United States
River connectivity is defined as the water-mediated exchange of matter, energy, and biota between different elements of the riverine landscape. Connectivity is an especially important concept in large-river corridors (channel plus floodplain ) because large rivers integrate fluxes of water, sediment, nutrients, contaminants, and other transported...
Jacobson, Robert B.; Rohweder, Jason J.; De Jager, Nathan R.
Assessment of uncontained Zequanox applications for zebra mussel control in a Midwestern lake
Zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) are invasive bivalves that have perturbed aquatic ecosystems within North America since their introduction in the mid-1980s. Control of zebra mussels has largely been restricted to raw water conveyance systems and associated infrastructures because few control products are registered for application in surface...
Luoma, James A.; Waller, Diane L.; Severson, Todd J.; Barbour, Matthew T.; Wise, Jeremy K.; Lord, Eric G.; Bartsch, Lynn A.; Bartsch, Michelle R.
Is the timing, pace and success of the monarch migration associated with sun angle?
A basic question concerning the monarch butterfly’s fall migration is which monarchs succeed in reaching overwintering sites in Mexico, which fail—and why. We document the timing and pace of the fall migration, ask whether the sun’s position in the sky is associated with the pace of the migration, and whether timing affects success in completing...
Taylor, Orley R.; Lovett, James P; Gibo, David L; Weiser, Emily L.; Thogmartin, Wayne E.; Semmens, Darius J.; Diffendorfer, James E.; Pleasants, John M.; Pecoraro, Samuel; Grundel, Ralph Estimating the degree to which distance and temperature differences drive changes in fish community composition over time in the upper Mississippi River
Similarity in community composition declines as distance between locations increases, a phenomenon that has been observed in a wide variety of freshwater, marine and terrestrial ecosystems. One driver of the distance-similarity relationship is the presence of environmental gradients that alter the suitability of sites for particular species....
Larson, James H.; Vallazza, Jon; Knights, Brent C.
Updates to the Madison Lake (Minnesota) CE–QUAL–W2 water-quality model for assessing algal community dynamics
A previously developed CE–QUAL–W2 model for Madison Lake, Minnesota, simulated the algal community dynamics, water quality, and fish habitat suitability of Madison Lake under recent (2014) meteorological conditions. Additionally, this previously developed model simulated the complex interplay between external nutrient loading, internal nutrient...
Smith, Erik A.; Kiesling, Richard L. Prioritizing chemicals of ecological concern in Great Lakes tributaries using high-throughput screening data and adverse outcome pathways
Chemical monitoring data were collected in surface waters from 57 Great Lakes tributaries from 2010-13 to identify chemicals of potential biological relevance and sites at which these chemicals occur. Traditional water-quality benchmarks for aquatic life based on in vivo toxicity data were available for 34 of 67 evaluated chemicals. To expand...
Corsi, Steven R.; DeCicco, Laura A.; Daniel Villeneuve; Brett Blackwell; Kellie Fay; Gerald Ankley; Baldwin, Austin K. Decline of the North American avifauna
Species extinctions have defined the global biodiversity crisis, but extinction begins with loss in abundance of organisms that can result in extreme compositional and functional changes of ecosystems. Using multiple and independent monitoring networks, we report major population losses across much of the North American avifauna, including in once...
Sauer, John R.; Rosenberg, Kenneth V.; Dokter, Adriaan M.; Blancher, Peter J.; Smith, Adam C.; Smith, Paul A.; Stanton, J.C.; Panjabi, Arvind O.; Helft, Laura; Parr, Michael J.; Marra, Peter P. Stormwater-quality performance of line permeable pavement systems
Three permeable pavements were evaluated for their ability to improve the quality of stormwater runoff over a 22-month period in Madison, Wisconsin. Using a lined system with no internal water storage, permeable interlocking concrete pavers (PICP), pervious concrete (PC), and porous asphalt (PA) were able to significantly remove sediment and...
Selbig, William R.; Buer, Nicolas; Danz, Mari Exploring silica stoichiometry on a large floodplain riverscape
Freshwater ecosystems are critical zones of nutrient and carbon (C) processing along the land-sea continuum. Relative to our understanding of C, nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) cycling within the freshwater systems, the controls on silicon (Si) cycling and export are less understood. Understanding Si biogeochemistry and its coupled biogeochemical...
Carey, Joanna C.; Jankowski, Kathi Jo; Julian, Paul; Sethna, Lienne; Thomas, Patrick; Rohweder, Jason J. Local scale spatial patterns of freshwater mussels in the Upper Mississippi River
Multiple physical and biological factors contribute to the structure of freshwater mussel communities in large rivers. Mussel distributions are frequently described as clumped or patchy. However, few surveys of mussel populations have been designed to quantify these spatial patterns. We used indicators of spatial autocorrelation to quantify...
Ries, Patricia; De Jager, Nathan R.; Newton, Teresa; Zigler, Steven J. Reporting the limits of detection and quantification for environmental DNA assays
BackgroundEnvironmental DNA (eDNA) analysis is increasingly being used to detect the presence and relative abundance of rare species, especially invasive or imperiled aquatic species. The rapid progress in the eDNA field has resulted in numerous studies impacting conservation and management actions. However, standardization of eDNA methods and...
Klymus, Katy E.; Merkes, Christopher M.; Allison, Michael J.; Goldberg, Caren S.; Helbing, Caren C.; Hunter, Margaret; Jackson, Craig; Lance, Richard F.; Mangan, Anna M.; Monroe, Emy M.; Piaggio, Antoinette J.; Stokdyk, Joel P.; Wilson, Chris C.; Richter, Catherine A.