Publications

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the city of Big Rapids, investigated the environmental effects of removal of a dam-foundation remnant and downstream cofferdam from the Muskegon River in Big Rapids, Mich. The USGS applied a multidiscipline approach, which determined the water quality, sediment character, and stream habitat before and after dam removal. Continuous...

The Red Cedar Lakes consist of three mainstem lakes (Balsam, Hemlock and Red Cedar) on the Red Cedar River in Barron and Washburn Counties, Wisconsin. These lakes are productive because of high phosphorus loading, and classified as mesotrophic to eutrophic. Because of concerns that the water quality of these lakes was degrading, three cooperative studies were conducted by the U.S...

Attenuation of cattle feedlot runoff in two grass-covered filter strips in Minnesota was estimated by measuring chemical loads into and out of the strips. Filter strips of the Bock and Sanborn sites were 60-m long and 20-m wide and received runoff from cattle feedlots that supported 35 and 225 cattle, respectively. Feedlot and filter-strip runoff were measured using flumes with stage...

Abstract has not been submitted

Sediment cores were collected from Musky Bay, Lac Courte Oreilles, and from surrounding areas in 1999 and 2001 to determine whether the water quality of Musky Bay has declined during the last 100 years or more as a result of human activity, specifically cottage development and cranberry farming. Selected cores were analyzed for sedimentation rates, nutrients, minor and trace elements...

The effects of land cover on flooding and base-flow characteristics of Whittlesey Creek, Bayfield County, Wis., were examined in a study that involved ground-water-flow and rainfall-runoff modeling. Field data were collected during 1999-2001 for synoptic base flow, streambed head and temperature, precipitation, continuous streamflow and stream stage, and other physical characteristics...

Abstract not submitted to date

We used radio telemetry to evaluate the movement and habitat use of paddlefish Polyodon spathula in the upper Mississippi River and two tributary rivers. Radio transmitters were surgically implanted into 71 paddlefish in Navigation Pools 5A and 8 of the upper Mississippi River, the Chippewa River, and the Wisconsin River during fall 1994 through fall 1996. Radiotagged paddlefish were...

Ammonia is a relatively toxic compound generated in water and sediments by heterotrophic bacteria and accumulates in sediments and pore water. Recent data suggest that unionid mussels are sensitive to un-ionized ammonia (NH3) relative to other organisms. Existing sediment exposure systems are not suitable for ammonia toxicity studies with juvenile unionids; thus, we modified a system to...

Abstract has not been submitted

A voluntary waterfowl avoidance area (VWAA) was established on Lake Onalaska in Navigation Pool 7 of the Upper Mississippi River, Wisconsin, USA, in 1986, to reduce boating disturbance to migratory waterfowl. We monitored boater compliance with the VWAA program in 1993 and 1997. Of 1,664 "boating events" observed on Lake Onalaska, boats intruded into the VWAA on 127 occasions. Boating...

Freshwater mussels are emersed (exposed to air) during conservation activities such as surveys and relocations. Success of these activities depends upon the ability of mussels to survive emersion and to re-burrow in the substratum. We evaluated the acute sublethal effects of emersion on three species of unionid mussels [pocketbook, Lampsilis cardium (Rafinesque, 1820); pimpleback...