Aquatic Ecosystem Health

Nitrogen and phosphorus are plant essential nutrients that are currently in excess in many aquatic ecosystems due to runoff from urban and agricultural areas. In high amounts, these nutrients are detrimental to aquatic ecosystem health, because elevated nutrients promote excessive growth or “blooms” of algae and other nuisance species. Many species that cause blooms can produce toxins which are...

Nutrients lost from agricultural areas in watersheds of the Great Lakes cause harmful algal blooms and hypoxia in some areas of the Great Lakes. Substantial efforts are being made in these watersheds to reduce the amount of nutrients entering the streams and rivers; however, additional work is needed to further reduce nutrient loads to meet international water quality standards. Limited research...

Rivers have a natural capacity to improve water quality when they are connected to their natural floodplains and are not overloaded with sediment and nutrient runoff. Where rivers have been disconnected from their historical floodplains and channelized to eliminate backwater areas, increased flow and nutrient loads have contributed to local and downstream problems of excessive nutrient enrichment...

Freshwater mussels are the most imperiled group of animals in North America, with 66% of species at risk. Mussel populations are declining globally, but the factors contributing to these declines are largely unknown. Habitat fragmentation and alteration, point- and non-point source pollution, navigation-related impacts, and exotic species introductions are thought to be responsible for mussel...

Conservation and Restoration of Native Freshwater Mussels There has been substantial research on mussels in many areas, however, methods to estimate the overall health of mussels has received less attention. Assessing mussel health is difficult due to the lack of established benchmarks by which to judge what is suitable or normal. A mussels’ body is full of bacteria, viruses, and fungi that are...

Conservation and Restoration of Native Freshwater Mussels Over the past 50 years, about 20 native freshwater mussel species have been lost or greatly diminished from the Upper Mississippi River System and overall abundance of mussels has substantially declined in many portions of the river. While factors contributing to these declines are largely unknown, native mussels appear to be responsive to...

Conservation and Restoration of Native Freshwater Mussels There has been growing concern by Federal and State agencies in recent years over the risk that lampricide applications may have on non-target organisms. Due to their highly imperiled status, sedentary behavior, and bottom dwelling nature, native freshwater mussels are a group of organisms that may be adversely affected by lampricides...

Conservation and Restoration of Native Freshwater Mussels Clean water is vital to public health, commerce, and recreation in the United States. Despite great efforts to reduce water pollution, many waters in the U.S. remain impaired. Having clean water not only supports considerable economic activity, but it also costs billions annually to maintain and provide. Freshwater mussels are avid filter...

The environmental DNA (eDNA) samples collected, processed, and sequenced by the Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center (UMESC) and partner agencies are being archived in a cloud-based database application. Consolidating eDNA data will significantly improve researchers and managers ability to visualize, analyze, and integrate sequence data as a monitoring and early detection system for...

Invasive Carp Control: Carbon Dioxide Registration of new fishery chemicals is critical to facilitate field research and give resource managers the ability to incorporate chemical controls as part of their Integrated Pest Management plans. In April 2019, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) obtained a Section 3 registration from the U.S. Environmental...

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is being evaluated as a chemical control for invasive carps. Recent work involves investigations on the effectiveness of CO2 as a tool to limit range expansion by blocking upstream migrations (behavioral deterrent) and manage existing populations (lethal control). Data generated from these studies are intended to inform resource managers decisions related to the development of...

Invasive Carp Control: Carbon Dioxide Carbon dioxide (CO2) is being evaluated as a new fishery chemical for general aquatic invasive species control. Most research has focused on its effectiveness as a behavioral deterrent and lethal control or invasive carps. However, because CO2 is generally non-selective, there is potential for this new control chemical to be applied across a wide range of...