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Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center

Long Term Resource Monitoring

Ecological Status and Trends of the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers

Open-File Report

Scientific Investigations Report

Breeding Birds of the Upper Mississippi River Floodplain Forest: One Community in a Changing Forest, 1994 to 1997

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Bat Research

White-nose syndrome (WNS) caused by the fungal pathogen Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd)

UMESC Science

Conservation of Native Freshwater Mussels

Freshwater mussels are the most imperiled group of animals in North America, with 66% of species at risk.

UMESC Science

UMRR Long Term Resource Monitoring

The LTRM is the Nation's largest river monitoring program with six remote state-operated field stations.

Monitoring the river

Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center

Our Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center's priority is to continue the important work of the Department of the Interior and the USGS, while also maintaining the health and safety of our employees and community. The Center is open with operations adjusted based on guidance from the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force and federal policies and informed by local community transmission level.

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News

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Friday's Findings - September 15 2023

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I Am A...Science Careers Book For Kids

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Tap water study detects PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ across the US

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Publications

Blue snowflakes in a warming world: Karner blue butterfly climate change vulnerability synthesis and best practices for adaptation

This report—developed at the request of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service-led Karner Blue Butterfly Recovery Team by Recovery Team members and partners—provides a Karner blue butterfly climate change vulnerability synthesis, explores a range of potential responses, and presents best practices for climate change-informed conservation of the species.The three decades since the Karner blue
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Gregor W. Schuurman, Christopher L. Hoving, Anna N. Hess, Lainey V. Bristow, Philip J. Delphey, Jessica J. Hellmann, Heather L. Keough, Randy L. Knutson, Annie Kellner
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Ecosystems Mission Area, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center

Alternative measures of trait–niche relationships: A test on dispersal traits in saproxylic beetles

Functional trait approaches are common in ecology, but a lack of clear hypotheses on how traits relate to environmental gradients (i.e., trait–niche relationships) often makes uncovering mechanisms difficult. Furthermore, measures of community functional structure differ in their implications, yet inferences are seldom compared among metrics. Community-weighted mean trait values (CWMs), a common m
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Ryan C. Burner, Jörg G. Stephan, Lukas Drag, Mária Potterf, Tone Birkemoe, Juha Siitonen, Jörg Müller, Otso Ovaskainen, Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson, Tord Snäll
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Ecosystems Mission Area, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center

Toward invasive mussel genetic biocontrol: Approaches, challenges, and perspectives

Invasive freshwater mussels, such as the zebra (Dreissena polymorpha), quagga (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis), and golden (Limnoperna fortunei) mussel have spread outside their native ranges throughout many regions of the North American, South American, and European continents in recent decades, damaging infrastructure and the environment. This review describes ongoing efforts by multiple groups
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Victor H. Hernandez Elizarraga, Scott Ballantyne, Lindsey Gengelbach, Juliana A. Americo, Steven T. Suhr, Marie-Claude Senut, Ben Minerich, Christopher M. Merkes, Thea Margaret Edwards, Katy E. Klymus, Catherine A. Richter, Diane L. Waller, Yale J. Passamaneck, Mauro de F. Rebelo, Daryl M. Gohl
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Ecosystems Mission Area, Columbia Environmental Research Center, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
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Science

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Experimental insect containers surrounded by air filter samplers for eDNA analysis in a shipping container

Proof of concept airborne eDNA testing to detect invasive species in shipping containers

Shipping containers that are transported by water vessels traveling between islands and the mainland or other islands can act as a vector for invasive species that are accidentally transported with the cargo. If the vessel carries a lot of cargo, or cargo has areas for different species to hide, inspections can be difficult, time consuming, and expensive, or in the case of non-agricultural...
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Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
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Proof of concept airborne eDNA testing to detect invasive species in shipping containers

Shipping containers that are transported by water vessels traveling between islands and the mainland or other islands can act as a vector for invasive species that are accidentally transported with the cargo. If the vessel carries a lot of cargo, or cargo has areas for different species to hide, inspections can be difficult, time consuming, and expensive, or in the case of non-agricultural...
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USFWS Kodiak 100 survey plane after image collection

Visibility correction factors for multiple species of sea ducks and diving ducks using an aerial remote sensing approach

Aerial ocular surveys used by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service provide the most cost and time-efficient method to evaluate the relative abundance and spatial distributions of breeding, staging, and wintering waterbirds. However, the survey method is subject to substantial visibility bias, and visibility correction factors must be calculated to correct for incomplete detection...
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Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
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Visibility correction factors for multiple species of sea ducks and diving ducks using an aerial remote sensing approach

Aerial ocular surveys used by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service provide the most cost and time-efficient method to evaluate the relative abundance and spatial distributions of breeding, staging, and wintering waterbirds. However, the survey method is subject to substantial visibility bias, and visibility correction factors must be calculated to correct for incomplete detection...
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Waterfowl on the Upper Mississippi River

Voluntary Waterfowl Avoidance Area

The Mississippi flyway is one of the most important flyways in North America providing habitat for songbirds, shorebirds, and waterfowl, especially the canvasback duck (Aythya valisineria), tundra swan (Cygnus columbianus), and scaup (Aythya spp.). During their migration, it is energetically favorable if migrating birds can rest and refuel in areas without stressors such as hunters, boats, and...
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Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
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Voluntary Waterfowl Avoidance Area

The Mississippi flyway is one of the most important flyways in North America providing habitat for songbirds, shorebirds, and waterfowl, especially the canvasback duck (Aythya valisineria), tundra swan (Cygnus columbianus), and scaup (Aythya spp.). During their migration, it is energetically favorable if migrating birds can rest and refuel in areas without stressors such as hunters, boats, and...
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