Thursday
Concurrent Session 4
40 minutes
March 31, 2016 ~ 2:35-3:15 pm
Agenda subject to change.
Local Priority Wetland Invasive Species for Monitoring and Control
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has received federal Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grants for Great Lakes watersheds to find and eliminate or reduce pioneer populations of non-native Phragmites australis and tall manna grass (TMG; Glyceria maxima). Both are large exotic grasses that can have disastrous effects on your lakeshores and waterways. As both move into Wisconsin, their invasion fronts are where most grant work will occur. The goals are to reduce their presence sufficiently so that local efforts can maintain cleared areas, stop further advances, and help replace stands with native species. Through 2015, the Phragmites project identified and chemically treated over 1200 sites across 30 counties. Some sites have been eliminated, but many must be treated again before the grant ends in 2016. TMG work has just started by identifying and confirming sites and ends in 2017. You can help by learning to identify both plants, reporting new sites, reporting basic site information, and sponsoring local efforts to assist.
Presenter:
Brock Woods, Wetland Invasive Plant Coordinator, UW-Extension/Wisconsin DNR
Invasive Species Databases Can Guide Wetland Invasives Control Around Your Lake!
Independent online databases such as the Early Detection and Distribution Mapping System, Great Lakes Early Detection Network, and others have accumulated a wealth of invasive species records. However, these records have not been very useful for control until now. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resource (WDNR) has combined agency and external records to create useful maps of reported locations, as well as regional priority wetland invasive plant (WIP) lists that will help citizens know which wetland species likely occur around their lakes. These are the species most in need of being recognized and reported. Such maps and short lists will make both your learning and outreach easier and more effective, so come learn how to access them! By noting how often a species occurs within your area, you can also decide which WIPs should be controlled first. Spatial data also identifies fronts as species invade across the landscape, helping WDNR develop effective control strategies.
Presenter:
Jason Granberg, Water Resource Specialist, Wisconsin DNR
All Eyes on Lake Water Quality
Lakes are dynamic and complex, and conditions can change rapidly in both time and space. This is particularly true in near-shore areas where many people interact with our lakes. Although near-shore conditions are constantly fluctuating, lake monitoring has traditionally involved infrequent sampling at limited locations. Sharing results in an accessible and timely fashion has also proved difficult. Consequently, the public is largely unaware of these dynamics and how they influence beach conditions at any given time. This talk will challenge the audience to rethink the role of citizen monitoring, including how it can be used to close current monitoring gaps and identify public health risks. We will share intriguing discoveries and approaches to tracking the formation of blue-green algal blooms on our lakes. We will also discuss the community impacts of a near-shore monitoring program located in Dane County and how to make lake information instantly accessible to the public.
Presenters:
Katie Nicholas, Watershed Coordinator, Clean Lakes Alliance
Paul Dearlove, Watershed Program Manager, Clean Lakes Alliance
Temperature and Fish Populations
Temperature influences all aspects of lake ecology from nutrient cycling to fish populations. Lakes do not respond uniformly to changes in air temperature. Water clarity, depth, surface area, and surrounding land cover all play critical roles in determining water temperatures. Thus, documenting trends in water temperature and understanding how those trends relate to changes in lake ecosystems and food webs requires monitoring across broad temporal and spatial scales and at high temporal frequencies. Find out how historical trends in water temperature can help fisheries managers assure fisheries success into the future.
Presenter:
Gretchen Hansen, Natural Resource Research Scientist, Wisconsin DNR
Revealing a Lake's History in its Sediments
Much about a lake's water quality history is preserved in its sediments. This talk will summarize the types of information found in the sediments. Sediment cores have been collected from over 200 lakes throughout Wisconsin. Information including changes in the lake’s sedimentation rate, watershed erosion, deep water oxygen levels, and phosphorus concentrations can be determined from the sediments. Examples of common watershed practices that have impacted a lake's ecology will be described. These include early and recent agricultural practices, lakeshore development, early logging, and climate change.
Presenter:
Paul Garrison, Research Scientist, Onterra
Aeration: Where and When Has it Worked?
Aeration is a tool that can be used to address internal nutrient loading or low levels of dissolved oxygen that can lead to fish kills. This presentation will cover how aeration works and then jump into case studies from DNR Fisheries Supervisors and Lake Biologists to explore where and when aeration works, what does it take for a lake to identify the need for aeration, install a system, and manage/monitor it for desired results, and where is it not a feasible management tool.
Presenters:
Heath Benike, Fisheries Supervisor, Wisconsin DNR
Buzz Sorge, Lakes Biologist, Wisconsin DNR
The Wisconsin Master Naturalist Program (WIMN) is a growing network of well-informed citizens dedicated to conservation education and service within their communities. The WIMN Volunteer Training Course provides 40 hours of coursework in natural history, interpretation, and conservation stewardship. Courses combine classroom instruction with field experiences and are taught by professional natural resources educators and scientists, who are trained to deliver the WIMN course. Wisconsin Master Naturalists then perform at least 40 hours of volunteer service each year. The presentation will talk about the efforts to grow this program and opportunities it provides for citizen engagement throughout the state of Wisconsin.
Presenter:
Becky Sapper, Director Wisconsin Master Naturalist Program, UW-Extension
WDNR Surface Water Grants: What's on the Horizon?
Over the last 26 years Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) has offered cost-share programs that provide over $6 million a year to lake and river groups, nonprofits and governments for locally-led lake, river, and aquatic invasive species planning and management projects. Come learn about the grant programs and the proposed changes.
Presenter:
Shelly Thomsen, Water Resource Management Specialist, Wisconsin DNR
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