Discovery of the Northern Hog Sucker in the Ottertail River

On June 3, 1973 several specimens of the Northern Hog Sucker (Hypentelium nigricans), were collected from a six-mile stretch of the Ottertail River, Aurdal Township, Ottertail County in Minnesota. Previous to this the Northern Hog Sucker has never been collected or reported from the Red River drainage, of which the Ottertail River is a part, nor from Upper Mississippi River Basin adjacent to the Red River drainage. As far back as 1907 researchers erroneously reported the Northern Hog Sucker from the Upper Mississippi River Basin

MINNESOTA'S RIM RESERVE: EASEMENT SUMMARY AND PAYMENT PROCEDURES

Land Economics/Use,

A study of Minnesota land and water resources using remote sensing

A pilot study of 60 lakes in Minnesota shows that LANDSAT data correlate very well with the Carlson trophic state index which is derived from measurements in the field. Nimbus satellite data reveal improvement in water quality in Lake Superior since the dumping of taconite tailings stopped in 1980. A feasibility study of using color infrared photography as a near real time tool for soil and crop management in corn and soybean areas of the state generated strong interest from farmers and agribusiness firms. The state geological survey had success in the use and applications of LANDSAT images. Subtleties of changes in vegetation, soil, and topography are such that ground water presence and depth to water table are nearly always impossible to qualify except for broad scale applications. Bedrock and structural differences as shown in lineaments offer great potential for resolution of some kinds of geologic studies. A synergistic concept is to be used to search for mineral resources in the northeastern part of the state

SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, AND INSTITUTIONAL INCENTIVES TO DRAIN OR PRESERVE PRAIRIE WETLANDS

Land Economics/Use,

Adolph R. Krause and Augusta W. (Richter) Krause and their descendants (1860-2009)

This book has been split into several sections to allow for faster downloading."An electronic version of this document is posted on MOspace and with the Google Book Search Library Project. Printed copies are housed at the Center for Western Studies, Augustana College, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and at the Ottertail Historical Society, Fergus Falls, Minnesota."This books summarizes the family history of Adolph R. and Augusta W. (Richter) Krause following their arrival in the United States

Geochemistry, Nd, Pb and Sr Isotope Systematics, and U-Pb Zircon Ages of the Neoarchean Bad Vermilion Lake Greenstone Belt and Spatially Associated Granitic rocks, Western Superior Province, Canada.

The ca. 2720 Ma Neoarchean Bad Vermilion Lake (BVL) greenstone belt, in the western Superior Province, Canada, is composed of a suite of tholeiitic to calc-alkaline basalts to rhyolites, volcaniclastic rocks, gabbros, and Timiskaming-type siliciclastic sedimentary rocks. The greenstone belt was intruded by Neoarchean granitic rocks, and underwent greenschist facies metamorphism and intense deformation, resulting in mobilization of many elements (e.g., Rb, Ba, Sr, K, U, Pb). The high-field strength element and rare earth element systematics of the volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks, and gabbros are consistent with subduction zone geochemical signatures, suggesting that the BVL greenstone belt formed in a magmatic arc setting. On the basis of lithological associations and trace element systematics, the BVL greenstone belt is defined as a fragment of a Neoarchean subduction-related ophiolite. Three rhyolite samples from the belt have yielded 2722±18 Ma, 2706±13 Ma and 2710±28 Ma U-Pb zircon ages, representing the approximate age of the arc volcanism in the study area and development of a subduction zone between the western Wabigoon terrane to the north and the Wawa-Abitibi terrane to the south. The intrusion of the ca. 2671±21 Ma late- to post-tectonic, potassic Ottertail Lake granite marks the end of tectonic accretion in the study area. Both the volcanic rocks and gabbros display large ranges of Nd (143Nd/144Nd=0.511600-0.512849; eNd (2720 Ma) = +0.8 to +4.0), Pb (206Pb/204Pb=13.80-60.67) and Sr (87Sr/86Sr = 0.701481-1.01154) isotopic compositions, suggesting that these isotope systems were variably affected by post-magmatic element mobility. Neither the Sm-Nd (2921±200 Ma) nor Rb-Sr (2130±610 Ma) system has yielded reliable regression (isochron) ages, reflecting the open-system behavior of these systems during metamorphism. Despite large uncertainties, Pb-Pb regression ages yielded by all rock types (2661±60 Ma) and gabbros (2725±83 Ma) agree with the zircon U-Pb ages of the rhyolites, suggesting that the U-Pb system was the most robust among all three systems

\u3ci\u3eUrophora Affinis\u3c/i\u3e and \u3ci\u3eU. Quadrifasciata\u3c/i\u3e (Diptera: Tephritidae) Released and Monitored by USDA, APHIS, PPQ as Biological Control Agents of Spotted and Diffuse Knapweed

USDA, APHIS, PPQ has distributed the seedhead gall flies Urophora affinis and U. quadrifasciata (Diptera: Tephritidae) as classical biological agents of the introduced weeds spotted and diffuse knapweed (Centaurea maculosa and C. diffusa, respectively) (Asteraceae) in the United States. From 1987 to 1996, Urophora spp. have been released in 97 counties in 14 midwestern and western states. Established populations of U. affinis and U. quadrifasciata are confirmed in 85 and 95 counties, respectively, among all 14 states. These include the first reports of successful establishment of Urophora spp. in Arizona (two counties), Colorado (eight counties), Michigan (one county), Minnesota (six counties), Nebraska (four counties), Nevada (two counties), North Dakota (one county), South Dakota (four coun­ties), Utah (three counties), and Wisconsin (two counties). The first confirmed establishment of U. quadrifasciata in Indiana and Michigan is also reported

Nutrient Loadings and Phytoplankton Dymanics Within a Power Plant Cooling Pond

Cultural eutrophication within the Ottertail Power Plant cooling pond has led to frequent blooms of noxious algae, fish kills, and odor problems. The objectives of this project were to (1) estimate phosphorus and nitrogen loadings to the cooling pond and (2) evaluate seasonal phytoplankton dynamics and pond trophic state. Water chemistries and phytoplankton samples were collected monthly over the period January 1 to December 31, 1998 and 1999. Total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and phytoplankton counts were analyzed according to standard limnological methods. Sources of nutrient loading include Big Stone Lake water, fly ash pond return flows, domestic wastewater and overwintering waterfowl. Big Stone Lake water was found to contribute the greatest nitrogen load (4.8 g m-2 yr-1) while waterfowl were estimated to contribute the greatest total phosphorus load (0.54 g m-2 yr-1). An average volume of 3,532,766 m3/yr is pumped from Big Stone Lake into the Ottertail Cooling pond and contributes on average 76% of total nitrogen and 39% of total phosphorus loads. Overwintering waterfowl (average number = 13,464) contribute 27% of total nitrogen and 91% of total phosphorus load, respectively. Nitrogen: phosphorus ratios (by mass) average 3.2:1 in the cooling pond versus 15.7:1 in Big Stone Lake. Total phytoplankton cell counts averaged 39,099 cells/ml and ranged from 11,776 to 66,423 cells/ml. Diatoms, green algae and euglenophytes were found in great abundance during winter months (range = 0 to 30,248 cells/ml) while cyanobacteria predominated during the warmer summer months (range = 0 to 28,709 cells/ml) at all sites. High nutrient concentrations and low nitrogen to phosphorus ratios suggest that nitrogen may be limiting to algal productivity relative to phosphorus, favoring Cyanobacteria capable of fixing nitrogen during summer months

How Did E. M. Walker Measure the Length of the Labium of Nymphs of \u3ci\u3eAeshna\u3c/i\u3e and \u3ci\u3eRhionaeschna\u3c/i\u3e (Odonata: Aeshnidae)?

The exhaustive studies of nymphs of Aeshna Fabricius and Rhionaeschna Förster by E. M. Walker (1912-1958) have long guided the taxonomy of these groups and formed the basis for keys still in use today. However, uncertainty about how he measured the length of the labium, including the varied terminology he used over the duration of his career concerning this structure, has led to confusion about application of his taxonomic recommendations. We recalculated ratios of the maximum width/length [W(max)/L] by measuring the illustration dimensions of folded labia and prementums in publications throughout his career and compared these data with the ratios he stated in those publications and with ratios derived from measurements of specimens in our collections. Our results show that from 1912 to 1941, Walker restricted length measurement to the prementum proper (which he called the “mentum of the labium”), exclusive of the ventrally visible portion of the postmental hinge. However, in 1941 he reported ratios from length measurements done two ways, excluding the postmental hinge in his description of the nymph of A. verticalis Hagen, but including the hinge in his description of the nymph of A. septentrionalis Burmeister (Whitehouse 1941). In Walker’s most recent and influential work (1958), he included the postmental hinge in labium length measurements of nine species, but restricted length measurements to the prementum for five others. He was consistent with the use of terms, using both “folded labium” by which he meant the prementum plus the postmental hinge, and “prementum” by which he meant only that structure. However, Walker’s descriptions of the labium in his latest work are buried in long, frequently punctuated sentences that for most species include the terms “folded labium” and “prementum” in the same sentence, so careful reading is required to know which term is intended in the width/length ratio. Width/length ratios we each calculated independently were invariably similar for a given species and were usually similar to Walker’s stated ratio for that species. These similarities affirm our conclusion that while labium measurements must be done with care, they are closely repeatable among workers and will consistently lead to correct determinations in properly designed couplets of dichotomous keys to these genera. We recommend measuring the length of the prementum proper in future studies of these genera when labium ratios are calculated because we found less variability in those cases than when the measurements included the postmental hinge. An approximate conversion between the two methods of calculating W(max)/L ratios can be made as follows: ratio calculated when the length of the prementum excluding the postmental hinge is used x 0.88 is approximately equal to the ratio when the postmental hinge is included for species of Aeshna and Rhionaeschna in North America