Publications

Management decisions will often be directly informed by model predictions. However, we now know there can be no expectation of a single ‘true’ model; thus, model results are uncertain. Understandable reporting of underlying uncertainty provides necessary context to decision-makers, as model results are used for management decisions. This, in turn, forms a mechanism by which groundwater...

The primary objective of this study was to determine whether tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) demonstrate similar responses to lake pH and mercury (Hg) contamination in northern Wisconsin as do common loons (Gavia immer). Similar to common loons, Hg concentrations in the blood of tree swallow nestlings were higher, Hg concentrations in eggs tended to be higher, and egg size tended to...

An object-oriented parameter estimation code was developed to incorporate benefits of object-oriented programming techniques for solving large parameter estimation modeling problems. The code is written in C++ and is a formulation and expansion of the algorithms included in PEST, a widely used parameter estimation code written in Fortran. The new code is called PEST++ and is designed to...

The environmental planning literature proposes a set of 'best management practices' for urban development that assumes improvement in environmental quality as a result of specific urban patterns. These best management practices, however, often do not recognise finite biophysical limits and social impacts that urban patterns alone cannot overcome. To shed light on this debate, we explore...

The Menomonee River drainage basin in southeast Wisconsin is undergoing changes that may affect water quality. Several rehabilitation and flood-management projects are underway, including removal of concrete channels and the construction of floodwater retention basins. The city of Waukesha may begin discharging treated wastewater into Underwood Creek, thus approximately doubling the...

Phalaris arundinacea (reed canarygrass) is recognized as a problematic invader of North American marshes, decreasing biodiversity and persisting in the face of control efforts. Less is known about its ecology or management in forested wetlands, providing an opportunity to apply information about factors critical to an invader's control in one wetland type to another. In a potted plant...

GENIE is a model-independent suite of programs that can be used to generally distribute, manage, and execute multiple model runs via the TCP/IP infrastructure. The suite consists of a file distribution interface, a run manage, a run executer, and a routine that can be compiled as part of a program and used to exchange model runs with the run manager. Because communication is via a...

Few long-term data sets are available for evaluating the effects of urban stormwater-management practices. Over 30 years of data are available for evaluating the effectiveness of such practices by the city of Middleton, Wis. Analysis of streamflow and water-quality data collected on Pheasant Branch, demonstrates the relation between the changes in the watershed to the structural and...

Most large rivers have experienced major changes in hydrology and land use over the past century, with concomitant effects on sedimentation, nutrient cycling and biodiversity. To restore and/or enhance these ecosystems, managers need to know where their efforts are most likely to succeed under current hydrologic regimes as well as under potential future hydrologic regimes. We therefore...

A total of 664 soil samples distributed among different geographic regions and soil types were collected across Wisconsin to describe the distribution of arsenic relative to parent material, soil texture, and drainage class. Soils from 6 inches in depth were composited, digested in aqua regia, and analyzed for 17 trace elements. Observed soil arsenic concentrations range from a high of...

In many watersheds, nonpoint-source contamination is a major contributor to water-quality problems. In response to the recognition of the importance of nonpoint sources, the Wisconsin Nonpoint Source Water Pollution Abatement Program (Nonpoint Program) was enacted in 1978. This report summarizes the results of a study to assess the effectiveness of watershed-management practices for...

The U.S. Geological Survey and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) jointly monitored for selected water-quality constituents and properties of inland lakes during 2001–10 as part of Michigan's Lake Water-Quality Assessment program. During 2001–10, 866 lake basins from 729 inland lakes greater than 25 acres were monitored for baseline water-quality conditions and...