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William Richardson (Former Employee)

Science and Products

Filter Total Items: 33

Sediment and nutrient retention on a reconnected floodplain of an Upper Mississippi River tributary, 2013–2018

The connection of rivers with their floodplains has been greatly reduced in agricultural drainage basins, especially in the Upper Mississippi River Basin. The restriction of the Mississippi River from its floodplain has reduced the sediment trapping and nutrient deposition capabilities of the floodplain, exacerbating water quality problems in the river and in downstream waterbodies. A small part o
Authors
Lynn A. Bartsch, Rebecca M. Kreiling, Lance R. Gruhn, Jessica D. Garrett, William B. Richardson, Greg M. Nalley
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Ecosystems Mission Area, Central Midwest Water Science Center, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center

Complex response of sediment phosphorus to land use and management within a river network

Rivers affected by anthropogenic nutrient inputs can retain some of the phosphorus (P) load through sediment retention and burial. Determining the influence of land use and management on sediment P concentrations and P retention in fluvial ecosystems is challenging because of different stressors operating at multiple spatial and temporal scales. In this study, we sought to determine how land use a
Authors
Rebecca Kreiling, Martin C. Thoms, Lynn A. Bartsch, William B. Richardson, Victoria G. Christensen
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, Upper Midwest Water Science Center

Denitrification in the river network of a mixed land use watershed: Unpacking the complexities

River networks have the potential to permanently remove nitrogen through denitrification. Few studies have measured denitrification rates within an entire river network or assessed how land use affect rates at larger spatial scales. We sampled 108 sites throughout the network of the Fox River watershed, Wisconsin, to determine if land use influence sediment denitrification rates, and to identify z
Authors
Rebecca Kreiling, William B. Richardson, Lynn A. Bartsch, Martin C. Thoms, Victoria G. Christensen
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center

Water column nutrient processing rates in rivermouths of Green Bay (Lake Michigan)

Understanding the quantity and form of nutrient loads to large lakes is necessary to understand controls over primary production, phytoplankton community composition and the production of phytotoxins. Nutrient loading estimates to large lakes are primarily made at stream gages that are deliberately placed outside the direct influence of lake processes, but these estimates cannot take into account
Authors
James H. Larson, Mary Anne Evans, Faith A. Fitzpatrick, Paul C. Frost, Sean Bailey, Robert J. Kennedy, William F. James, William B. Richardson, Paul C. Reneau
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, Great Lakes Science Center

Sediment oxygen demand: A review of in situ methods

Sediment oxygen demand (SOD) plays a fundamental role in biological and chemical processes within the benthic layer of a water body. Land use, including agricultural land use, can affect SOD. However, a wide variety of approaches have been used for in situ SOD chamber construction and data collection, and modelers frequently use SOD values from the literature, without consideration of the differen
Authors
Erin N. Coenen, Victoria G. Christensen, Lynn Bartsch, Rebecca Kreiling, William B. Richardson
By
Upper Midwest Water Science Center

Evaluating potential effects of bigheaded carps on fatty acid profiles of multiple trophic levels in large rivers of the Midwest, USA

Recent work indicates that the establishment of bigheaded carps (Hypophthalmichthys spp.) in the United States has led to a reduction in condition of native planktivores and may detrimentally affect other trophic levels by altering the base of aquatic food webs. We used fatty acids to evaluate potential effects of bigheaded carps on taxa from multiple trophic levels in the Upper Mississippi, Illin
Authors
Andrea K. Fritts, Brent C. Knights, Toben LaFrancois, Jonathan M. Vallazza, Lynn A. Bartsch, Michelle R. Bartsch, William B. Richardson, Sean Bailey, Rebecca Kreiling, Byron Karns
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Biological Threats and Invasive Species Research Program, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center

Spatial and temporal variance in fatty acid and stable isotope signatures across trophic levels in large river systems

Fatty acid and stable isotope signatures allow researchers to better understand food webs, food sources, and trophic relationships. Research in marine and lentic systems has indicated that the variance of these biomarkers can exhibit substantial differences across spatial and temporal scales, but this type of analysis has not been completed for large river systems. Our objectives were to evaluate
Authors
Andrea K. Fritts, Brent C. Knights, Toben D. Lafrancois, Lynn A. Bartsch, Jonathan M. Vallazza, Michelle R. Bartsch, William B. Richardson, Byron N. Karns, Sean Bailey, Rebecca Kreiling
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center

Nitrogen cycling in large temperate floodplain rivers of contrasting nutrient regimes and management

Hydraulic connection between channels and floodplains (“connectivity”) is a fundamental determinant of ecosystem function in large floodplain rivers. Factors controlling material processing in these rivers depend not only on the degree of connectivity but also on the sediment conditions, nutrient loads, and source. Nutrient cycling in the nutrient‐rich upper Mississippi River (MISS) is relatively
Authors
William B. Richardson, Lynn A. Bartsch, Michelle Bartsch, Richard L. Kiesling, Brenda Mroska-LaFrancois
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Ecosystems Mission Area, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, Upper Midwest Water Science Center

Associations between cyanobacteria and indices of secondary production in the western basin of Lake Erie

Large lakes provide a variety of ecological services to surrounding cities and communities. Many of these services are supported by ecological processes that are threatened by the increasing prevalence of cyanobacterial blooms which occur as aquatic ecosystems experience cultural eutrophication. Over the past 10 yr, Lake Erie experienced cyanobacterial blooms of increasing severity and frequency,
Authors
James H. Larson, Mary Anne Evans, Robert J. Kennedy, Sean Bailey, Keith A. Loftin, Zachary Laughrey, Robin Femmer, Jeff Schaeffer, William B. Richardson, Timothy Wynne, J. C. Nelson, Joseph W. Duris
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Toxic Substances Hydrology, Great Lakes Science Center, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center

Beyond the edge: Linking agricultural landscapes, stream networks, and best management practices

Despite much research and investment into understanding and managing nutrients across agricultural landscapes, nutrient runoff to freshwater ecosystems is still a major concern. We argue there is currently a disconnect between the management of watershed surfaces (agricultural landscape) and river networks (riverine landscape). These landscapes are commonly managed separately, but there is limited
Authors
Rebecca M. Kreiling, Martin C. Thoms, William B. Richardson
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center

Using a gradient in food quality to infer drivers of fatty acid content in two filter-feeding aquatic consumers

Inferences about ecological structure and function are often made using elemental or macromolecular tracers of food web structure. For example, inferences about food chain length are often made using stable isotope ratios of top predators and consumer food sources are often inferred from both stable isotopes and fatty acid (FA) content in consumer tissues. The use of FAs as tracers implies some de
Authors
James H. Larson, William B. Richardson, Jonathan M. Vallazza, Lynn A. Bartsch, Michelle R. Bartsch
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center

Spatial and temporal dynamics of suspended particle characteristics and composition in Navigation Pool 19 of the Upper Mississippi River

Suspended particles are an essential component of large rivers influencing channel geomorphology, biogeochemical cycling of nutrients, and food web resources. The Upper Mississippi River is a large floodplain river that exhibits pronounced spatiotemporal variation in environmental conditions and biota, providing an ideal environment for investigating dynamics of suspended particles in large river
Authors
Amanda S. Milde, William B. Richardson, Eric A. Strauss, James H. Larson, Jonathan M. Vallazza, Brent C. Knights
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
link
The St. Joseph rivermouth near St. Joseph, Michigan

Distribution and Controls Over Habitat and Food Web Structures and Processes in Great Lakes Estuaries

Rivermouth ecosystems, or freshwater estuaries, are the focus of human and wildlife interactions with the Great Lakes. They are highly valued as the region’s urban, industrial, shipping and recreational centers; and home to recreational harbors, wildlife viewing and production, beaches and urban riverfronts. Rivermouths are also both the mixing zones where nutrients from upstream watersheds are...
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Land Management Research Program, Species Management Research Program, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
link

Distribution and Controls Over Habitat and Food Web Structures and Processes in Great Lakes Estuaries

Rivermouth ecosystems, or freshwater estuaries, are the focus of human and wildlife interactions with the Great Lakes. They are highly valued as the region’s urban, industrial, shipping and recreational centers; and home to recreational harbors, wildlife viewing and production, beaches and urban riverfronts. Rivermouths are also both the mixing zones where nutrients from upstream watersheds are...
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USGS scientist Brent Knights conducting fish sampling on the Upper Mississippi River.

River Productivity

Biological production represents the total amount of living material (biomass) that was produced during a defined period of time. This production is important because some of it is used for food and some is valued for recreation, it is a direct measure of total ecosystem processes, and it sustains biological diversity. Production is a measure of energy flow, and is therefore a natural currency for...
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Biological Threats and Invasive Species Research Program, Land Management Research Program, Species Management Research Program, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
link

River Productivity

Biological production represents the total amount of living material (biomass) that was produced during a defined period of time. This production is important because some of it is used for food and some is valued for recreation, it is a direct measure of total ecosystem processes, and it sustains biological diversity. Production is a measure of energy flow, and is therefore a natural currency for...
Learn More

Food web fatty acids and stable isotopes in the Upper Mississippi River Basin 2013-2014: Data

This dataset includes information from multiple taxa collected from four main reaches in the Upper Mississippi River Basin, including La Grange reach of Illinois River, Pool 2 of Mississippi River, Pool 19 of Mississippi River, and the St. Croix River. Taxa include hydropsychid caddisflies, chironomids, hexagenia mayflies, threeridge mussels, mapleleaf mussels, Wabash pigtoe mussels, bigmouth buff
By
Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
Image: Invertebrate Sampler on the Mississippi River
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