Publications

Invasive plants are a growing concern worldwide for conservation of native habitats. In endangered wet meadow habitat in the Upper Midwestern United States, reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea) is a recognized problem and its prevalence is more widespread than the better-known invasive wetland plant purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria). Although resource managers are concerned...

A regional regression model was developed to estimate the spatial distribution of ground water recharge in subhumid regions. The regional regression recharge (RRR) model was based on a regression of basin-wide estimates of recharge from surface water drainage basins, precipitation, growing degree days (GDD), and average basin specific yield (SY). Decadal average recharge, precipitation...

Large fish kills associated with toxic populations of the haptophyte Prymnesium parvum occur worldwide. In the past 5 yr, incidences of P. parvum blooms in inland water bodies of Texas (USA) have increased dramatically, where cell densities in excess of 1 × 107 cells l–1 are typically observed. We conducted field experiments (Lake Possum Kingdom) during the fall and early spring of 28 d...

Mercury contamination in the environment is a global concern, especially in areas with abundant wetlands, such as south Florida. As the causal factors of this concern improve, scientists find that many factors that do not necessarily affect mercury concentrations, such as flooding and drying cycles, or changes to carbon and sulfate loading, can profoundly affect net mercury toxicity...

Question: How can the U.S. National Vegetation Classification (USNVC) serve as an effective tool for classifying and mapping vegetation, and inform assessments and monitoring? Location: Voyageurs National Park, northern Minnesota, U.S.A and environs. The park contains 54 243 ha of terrestrial habitat in the sub-boreal region of North America. Methods: We classified and mapped the natural

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted a series of geophysical investigations to monitor a field-scale biostimulation pilot project at the Anoka County Riverfront Park (ACP), downgradient from the Naval Industrial Reserve Ordnance Plant, in Fridley, Minnesota. The pilot project was undertaken by the U.S. Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southern Division, for the purpose of...

Regional ground-water recharge estimates for Minnesota were compared to estimates made on the basis of four local- and basin-scale methods. Three local-scale methods (unsaturated-zone water balance, water-table fluctuations (WTF) using three approaches, and age dating of ground water) yielded point estimates of recharge that represent spatial scales from about 1 to about 1000 m2. A...

In 1990, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) completed a study of the hydrogeology of Huron County, Michigan (Sweat, 1991). In 1993, Huron County and the USGS entered into a continuing agreement to measure water levels at selected wells throughout Huron County. As part of the agreement, USGS has operated four continuous water-level recorders, installed from 1988 to 1991 on wells in Bingham

The sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus), a jawless parasitic eel-like fish native to the Atlantic Ocean (fig. 1), was accidentally introduced into the Great Lakes in the early 20th century through the construction of shipping canals. A member of the Petromyzonidae family, the primitive parasite has been identified as a major cause of the collapse of the Great Lakes fishery in the 1940s and...

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission (SEWRPC), collected discharge and water-quality data at nine sites in previously monitored areas of the upper Milwaukee River, Cedar Creek, and Root River Basins, in Wisconsin from May 1 through November 15, 2004. The data were collected for calibration of hydrological models that will...

The Lake St. Clair Regional Monitoring Project partners planned a 3-year assessment study of the surface water in the Lake St. Clair drainage basins in Michigan. This study included water-quality monitoring and analysis, collection of discrete (grab) and automatic water-quality samples, monitoring of bacteria, and the creation of a database to store all relevant data collected from past...

Your doctor would not base decisions for your health care today on one physical examination when you were age three! You would reasonably expect decisions to be based on records from over your lifetime. Likewise, those responsible for monitoring the health of the Upper Mississippi River System want a more comprehensive way to diagnose problems and find treatment options. To begin...