Weed shiners are listed as endangered in Iowa. In the spring of 1990, one weed shiner (Notropis texanus) was collected from the Crooked Slough Complex, Pool 13 (river mile 554.3) of the Upper Mississippi River System. Prior to this study, there is no record of weed shiners collected in Pool 13. After the initial collection, a follow-up search for weed shiners was undertaken during fall 1990, and during late summer and fall 1991, to estimate relative abundance at this site. The Crooked Slough collection site was seined on three separate occasions, and 1,840 fish were collected. No additional weed shiners were captured. Therefore, the collection efforts do not support the hypothesis that the Crooked Slough collection...
The annual variability in mayflies (Ephemeroptera), fingernail clams (Sphaeriidae), and midges (Chironomidae) in six study areas of the Upper Mississippi River System from 1992 to 1995 was examined. Spatial distribution is also discussed for these organisms along with the Asiatic clam (Corbicula fluminea) and the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha). Sample allocation within each reach was based on a stratified random design where strata were aquatic areas. No significant linear trends across years were found in estimated reachwide mean number of organisms. However, the overall test for differences in intercepts among study areas was statistically significant (P < 0.05) for mayflies, fingernail clams, and midges....
Satellite images offer an alternative to aerial photography in mapping applications where large area coverage at brief time intervals is required. Their digital format allows either visual or automated interpretation, with immediate incorporation into a geographic information system. Their primary disadvantage is a coarser spatial resolution. This study combined the benefits of (1) the 10-m spatial resolution of SPOT panchromatic (PAN) images, (2) the added spectral information of Landsat Thematic Mapper's (TM) mid-infrared bands, and (3) digital classifications to map terrestrial and aquatic cover types in the Mississippi and Illinois River floodplains. The PAN and the six non-thermal TM bands were combined using...
A depth-integrated finite-element model (RMA-2V) was applied on a section of the Upper Mississippi River to study the hydraulic characteristics of the floodplain-river system. The area that has been modeled is called "Montrose Flats." Aquatic vegetation is abundant at this location, and the flow structure needs to be evaluated in order to study the nutrient transport conditions within this area. The present study focused on a large oval eddy that was observed to form in this area near the downstream end of the Devil's Creek delta. Causative factors for this eddy were examined by using this numerical model. Results indicate that the eddy can be simulated by this model and that numerical study is a feasible way to...
Macrophyte populations have recently decreased in the Upper Mississippi River (UMR). This decline may be due to abiotic factors, such as a reduction in nutrients; however, biotic factors are also suspect. The common carp Cyprinus carpio has been reported to affect submerged macrophyte populations in other systems but not in the UMR. This study was conducted to determine if common carp can directly or indirectly reduce submerged macrophyte biomass. Twelve enclosures (25 m2) and four reference sites were constructed in Lawrence Lake, a backwater in the UMR, and stocked with one of three densities (0, 1, 10) of common carp. High densities of common carp (10/enclosure or approximately 7000 kg/ha) significantly reduced...
Since 1988, the Long Term Resource Monitoring Program (LTRMP) has performed basic limnological field measurements in the Upper Mississippi River System. The period of this report (1993 96) includes a major revision of the LTRMP sampling design in 1993 that added randomization, broader spatial coverage, and increased monitoring of tributaries and locations that allow monitoring of material transport. Monitoring by the Lake City Field Station reported here shows water quality differences among the tributaries to Pools 4 and 5, spatial and temporal patterns within these pools, and the sediment and nutrient trapping effects of Lake Pepin, a natural impoundment of the Mississippi River.
This tutorial was prepared for field personnel in the Long Term Resource Monitoring Program (LTRMP) for the Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS) and other river managers who use Environmental Planning and Programming Language version 7 (EPPL7). The data sets included in the tutorial are from the LTRMP geographic information system (GIS) data base, and the exercises cover frequently used GIS procedures.
The Aquatic Habitat Analysis and Visualization Tool is a program and interface that allows users to view and create habitat models using the pre-improvement water quality data collected for the Finger Lakes Habitat Rehabilitation Project (HREP). The Finger Lakes HREP is a hydrologic modification of a backwater lake complex in upper Pool 5 of the Mississippi River. The program and interface were implemented using Arc Macro Language and require the workstation version of ARC/INFO geographic information system software (ESRI, Redlands, CA).
This chapter describes the procedures for digital data entry to be used by the staff at the Environmental Management Technical Center. Included are procedures for creating a coverage, registering a base map, digitizing with an automated program (Production ARCEDIT), generating topology for a coverage, and attributing. The two main issues during this procedure are digitizing error and quality control. The Appendixes contain forms and other information needed for the digital data entry procedure.
Hydraulic functions of retention devices in natural large rivers have been studied. An evaluation of detention devices formed due to side channels, islands, backwaters, and stump fields within the Upper Mississippi Pools has shown that these are quite significant and in some cases these detention areas within the channel borders can occupy as much as 75 to 93% of the total surface area. A large eddy on the order of the width of the Mississippi River in Pool 19 is used to illustrate the travel time in the hydraulic retention areas.
Resource managers are realizing the benefits of using geographic information systems to supply visual spactal data for use in making informed management decisions. This report details the ARC/INFO (ESRI, Redlands, CA) procedures used at the Environmental Management Technical Center in Onalaska, Wisconsin, to assist Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge mangers in the process of acquiring refuge land through a land exchange. Refuge managers required boundaries for both 430- and 500-acre parcels that included the most desirable land cover/use types. Hardcopy maps of the area showing the total acreage for each land cover/use type will be used during land exchange negotiations.
The Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS) has been dramatically altered by changing land use and management practices within its basin. One consequence of these changes is the severe environmental problem of increased sedimentation in river backwater areas. The Long Term Resource Monitoring Program is addressing this problem by expanding and initiating new research of sediment movement in the UMRS. As part of its new research, this annotated bibliography was generated to identify, review, and provide information about studies associated with sediment transport and deposition in large river environments. It contains 275 citations and abstracts for works that were published primarily between 1970 and early 1995. A...
Phase I of the Pool 8 Islands Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement Project (HREP) was designed to improve habitat for fish and waterfowl in an area enclosed by a U-shaped system of islands (Horseshoe Island, river miles 684- 688). The Phase I project included closure of inlets at the upstream end of Horseshoe Island in the summer of 1989. Since July 1988, the Wisconsin Field Station of the Long Term Resource Monitoring Program for the Upper Mississippi River System has been monitoring water quality (current velocity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, Secchi disk transparency, and specific conductance) at one permanent sampling station within the study area enclosed by Horseshoe Island. Three additional...