Thursday Concurrent Session 3
40 minutes
April 2, 2020 ~ 1:45-2:25 pm
Agenda subject to change.
Climate Change: AIS, Fish, and Wildlife Impacts
This polar bear free program will challenge participants to evaluate the "wicked issue" of climate change through its impacts on the sustainability of aquatic species and habitats that support cultural and economic practices we value in our Wisconsin lakes. We'll peek into the future to understand what challenges a changing climate may bring to our lakes and how we can be prepared to increase their resiliency.
Presenter: Cathy Techtmann, Environmental Outreach Specialist, UW Madison Division of Extension & President of the Friends of the Gile Flowage Lake Association
Farmers for the Upper Sugar River: Beginning and Growing a Farmer-Led Coalition
After four years, Farmers for the Upper Sugar River (FUSR) has grown from 5 members farmers to over 40, and represents 11,000 cropland acres. After many lessons learned along the way, this presentation will provide a case study on how to start a producer-led coalition, along with some examples for keeping the coalition fresh and continuously moving forward.
Presenter: Wade Moder, Executive Director, Upper Sugar River Watershed Association
Food Web Interactions and Movements of Walleyes and Lake Whitefish in Green Bay, Lake Michigan
Green Bay supports important fisheries for walleyes, lake whitefish, and yellow perch and these species likely interact in a variety of ways. A better understanding of these interactions is needed to guide management decisions. The objectives of our research are to determine if lake whitefish and yellow perch represent important prey for walleyes in Green Bay and if the extent of walleye predation is sufficiently high to influence recruitment potential of these two prey species. Additionally, we are using telemetry to study the movements of walleye and lake whitefish in and around Green Bay. Preliminary results suggest that lake whitefish and yellow perch comprise between 5-6% of walleye diets overall and that movements of walleye and lake whitefish are variable among groups of fish tagged in different locations. These combined research efforts will help biologists better understand the “where” and “when” aspects of species interactions in Green Bay.
Presenter: Dan Isermann, Unit Leader, Wisconsin Cooperative Fishery Research Unit, College of Natural Resources, University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point
Wild Rice Susceptibility in the Face of Climate Change
Northern wild rice – known as manoomin to the Ojibwe – has a very limited global distribution and is found in abundance in the US only in Minnesota and Wisconsin. This ecologically and culturally significant plant is adapted to northern environments and is being stressed by changing climatic and environmental conditions. This presentation will summarize some of the primary challenges manoomin is facing across its range in the face of a changing climate and biological community.
Presenter: Peter David, Wildlife Biologist, Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission
This is Your WAV on Karst
Crawford Stewardship Project will present on the interconnections between surface- and groundwater in a driftless karst landscape, and the challenges this presents in water quality monitoring. Our ancient landscape is stunningly beautiful and water rich, but shifts in land use and increased extreme precipitation have combined to threaten our watersheds. How do we monitor a disappearing or intermittent stream? What can well tests tell us about our waterways? Where do contaminants come from if found in a spring? What tests, in addition to basic Water Action Volunteer (WAV) protocols, are helpful to measure the health of our water? How can stream monitoring inform proposed targeted performance standards for karstic Wisconsin? How can we advocate for significant protections in sensitive landscapes? While we don’t have all the answers, we have over a decade of experience dealing with these questions, and would be happy to facilitate this important discussion among participants of the symposium.
Presenter: Forest Jahnke, Program Coordinator, Crawford Stewardship Project
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