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During the winter of 1993 1994, we characterized habitats used by 17 radio-tagged largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides in La Grange Reach of the Illinois River, a large river-floodplain ecosystem that has been significantly altered from its natural state. Radio-tagged largemouth bass wintered in backwaters, off-channel coves, ditches, and marinas from November through February. Electrofishing mean catch rates were higher in the study areas during winter than in other seasons, indicating fish were more concentrated in these areas during winter. Five of nine study areas received thermal inputs from springs or power plants, but water temperatures in all nine areas were warmer than the main channel during winter. Current...
In 1992, macroinvertebrate sampling was initiated in Pools 4, 8, 13, 26, and the Open River reach of the Mississippi River, and La Grange Pool of the Illinois River as part of the Long Term Resource Monitoring Program. Long-term monitoring is needed to detect population trends and local changes in aquatic ecosystems. Mayflies (Ephemeridae), fingernail clams (Sphaeriidae), and the exotic Corbicula species were selected for monitoring. Midges (Chironomidae) were added to the sampling design in 1993. Mayflies, fingernail clams, and midges, members of the soft-substrate community were chosen because they play an important ecological role in the Upper Mississippi River System. Sampling was based on a stratified random...
The Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS) is physically diverse and biologically productive, providing habitat to hundreds of species of plants and animals. Aquatic and terrestrial plant communities provide structure, food, and shelter to a variety of organisms, influence nutrient dynamics and water quality, and stabilize sediments (Sculthorpe 1967; Wetzel 1983). Although aquatic and terrestrial vegetation have important ecological value, there are few long-term studies directed toward understanding spatial and temporal changes or understanding potential factors influencing this important component.
The Long Term Resource Monitoring Program is being implemented by the Environmental Management Technical Center, an office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in cooperation with the five Upper Mississippi River Basin System states (Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin), with guidance and overall Program responsibility provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The mission of the Long Term Resource Monitoring Program is to provide decision makers with information to maintain the Upper Mississippi River System as a viable large river ecosystem given its multiple use character. The long term goals of the Program are to understand the system, determine resource trends and impacts, develop management...
The first Annual Report of the Long Term Resource Monitoring Program for the Upper Mississippi River System covers the period from September, 1986 through January 1989. The report includes: program activities information concerning cooperation between member states and agencies; a summary of the past year's data collection effort for water quality; deviations from the Operating Plan; critical paths and funding requirements through 1999; plans for the coming year, and; management of the Environmental Management Technical Center. Technical Center Staff are divided between Ecology and the Computerized River Information Center. Ecology is responsible for the analysis of significant resource problems and for long term...
Monitoring and research strategies of the Long Term Resource Monitoring Program require a current, objective understanding of the factors that control ecological structure and function of floodplain reaches within the Upper Mississippi River System. The conceptual model presented here is designed to fill part of this need by listing major factors (abiotic and biotic) and disturbances (natural and human-induced) that operate at each of five spatial scales. In decreasing order of size, the spatial scales include: basin, stream network, floodplain reach, navigation pool, and habitat. Major factors are defined as those which act to keep ecosystem variables within predictable limits over a reference time period. A disturbance...
In 1990, vegetation distribution and abundance were studied along five belt transects in Pool 13 of the Upper Mississippi River as part of the Long Term Resource Monitoring Program, with 162 individual site plots sampled on five transects. Using quantitative sampling techniques, 72 plant species were identified. Floodplain forest communities exhibited the highest species diversity, with 61 species represented. Shallow open water communities exhibited the lowest species diversity, with three species represented. Species richness in aquatic habitats was significantly less than in terrestrial habitats. Of the 72 taxa cataloged in 1990 sampling, Acer saccharinum, Vitis riparia, Toxicodendron radicans, and Laportea canadensis...
In late November 1993, discussions at the Environmental Management Technical Center concerning the addition of an initiative in the area of sediment transport and deposition led to the inclusion of a new work unit in the FY 1994 Annual Work Plan. This work unit was to form a Sediment Transport/ Geomorphology Working Group to develop a detailed set of initial tasks to be carried out over the next 3-5 years. The Working Group consisted of a limited number of scientists from the National Biological Survey, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Illinois State Water Survey, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Members of the Working Group were sent a draft planning document for their review...
A relatively new device overcomes the difficulty of traditional methods in measuring discharge during floods because of the time required to measure velocities across wide and deep flow areas. The Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) makes it possible to measure a large number of velocities and discharges in a very short time, but several limitations of the instrument need to be understood before it can be used effectively. The ADCP uses sound waves to measure water depth and velocity profiles at positions along the transect of a channel. The device determines water depth by measuring how long it takes for an acoustic signal to be reflected off the channel bottom and simultaneously calculates the velocity profile...
The great floods of 1993 on the Upper Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers put rivers and their floodplains in the national spotlight. Two facts become clear: (1) Along with the tragedy the floods created came an unprecedented opportunity for reassessing the attitudes and policies that have long shaped the relations between people and rivers. (2) These floods represented the consequences of the historical interaction between people and rivers. These floods helped to emphasize that the present is a product of the past. Historical analysis suggests at least two items worth considering by those interested in managing large floodplain rivers. First, sustaining the ecological integrity of large floodplain rivers requires...
The Management Strategy for Migratory Birds on the Mississippi River corridor from Wabasha, Minnesota, to St. Louis, Missouri (Strategy), is a cooperative effort of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Biological Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the Illinois Natural History Survey, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the Missouri Department of Conservation, and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and is designed to create an "integrated, ecological, and proactive approach to management of habitats used by migratory bird populations" within the Upper Mississippi River System. The Migratory...
The Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center of the U.S. Geological Survey and its state partners monitor the aquatic vegetation as well as fish, water quality, and macroinvertebrates in the Upper Mississippi River System. The objective is to accumulate data on aquatic vegetation over a long term using a standardized protocol across the system. The data provide basic information on the vegetation growth within pools for use by resource managers and planners as well as the public for the protection and enhancement of the Upper Mississippi River System. This report summarizes the annual stratified random sampling monitoring results of aquatic vegetation in the Upper Mississippi River System.
In 2003, the format of the annual reports was changed to a Web-based annual update where all years of data are presented in each table. Links to older vegetation status reports are below:
Government Land Office (GLO) survey records were used to reconstruct the presettlement floodplain landscape at the confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi rivers. Presettlement prairie and forest land covers were determined by digitizing GLO plat maps using a computerized geographic information system (GIS). A case history of land cover change was determined by comparing this presettlement map to GIS land cover maps for 1903, 1935, and 1975. Data from witness trees and current forest samples were used to compare presettlement and present forest composition and structure. Results indicate that approximately 56% of the presettlement floodplain was forested, while 41% was prairie. The presettlement forests were...
An analysis of the morphological changes of Pool 19 on the Mississippi River has been made. The pool lost about 55% of its original capacity by 1980, and it is estimated that by the 2050s it will have lost about 80% of its capacity, when it may attain a dynamic volumetric equilibrium. At that time, the pool will behave more like a deeply incised river than like a lake. The pooling action of the river has also accelerated the formation of islands and deltas, especially at the mouths of tributaries. These tributary mouths are now behaving similarly to tributaries in a coastal environment. The morphological change on this pool is progressing through a predictable pattern, and it is believed that similar pools on other...
In 1992, as part of the Long Term Resource Monitoring Program, macroinvertebrate sampling was initiated in Pools 4, 8, 13, 26, and the open river reach of the Mississippi River, and La Grange Pool of the Illinois River. Long-term monitoring is needed to detect population trends and detect local changes in aquatic ecosystems. Mayflies (Ephemeridae), fingernail clams (Sphaeriidae), and the exotic Corbicula species were selected for monitoring. These three members of the soft-substrate community were chosen because they play an important ecological role in the Upper Mississippi River System. Sampling was based on a stratified random design and was conducted at approximately 125 sites per study area. Mean densities...
Population-level models are useful in providing information in the management Silver Carp, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix. However, before developing population-level models, a determination of which aging structure for estimating the age of Silver Carp is needed. To the authors knowledge, no consensus has been reached on which structure should be used for estimating Silver Carp ages. One-hundred twenty Silver Carp from the Illinois, Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio rivers were collected via electrofishing to evaluate aging structures. Based on previous studies, evaluation of overall processing times, assessment of between-reader precision, between-reader agreement rates, and bias that may be involved with alternative...
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