Alternative Pest Control Methods for Homeowners

This fact sheet explains how using a comprehensive, or integrated pest management approach, will help home gardeners reduce their reliance on pesticides for pest control

Environmental Indicators for the Coastal Region of the U.S. Great Lakes

The goal of this research collaboration was to develop indicators that both estimate environmental condition and suggest plausible causes of ecosystem degradation in the coastal region of the U.S. Great Lakes. The collaboration consisted of 8 broad components, each of which generated different types of environmental responses and characteristics of the coastal region. These indicators included biotic communities of amphibians, birds, diatoms, fish, macroinvertebrates, and wetland plants as well as indicators of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) photo-induced toxicity and landscape characterization. These components are summarized below and discussed in more detailed in 5 separate reports (Section II). Stress gradients within the U.S. Great Lakes coastal region were defined from 207 variables (e.g., agriculture, atmospheric deposition, land use/land cover, human populations, point source pollution, and shoreline modification) from 19 different data sources that were publicly available for the coastal region. Biotic communities along these gradients were sampled with a stratified, random design among representative ecosystems within the coastal zone. To achieve the sampling across this massive area, the coastal region was subdivided into 2 major ecological provinces and further subdivided into 762 segment sheds. Stress gradients were defined for the major categories of human-induced disturbance in the coastal region and an overall stress index was calculated which represented a combination of all the stress gradients. Investigators of this collaboration have had extensive interactions with the Great Lakes community. For instance, the Lake Erie Lakewide Area Management Plan (LAMP) has adopted many of the stressor measures as integral indicators of the condition of watersheds tributary to Lake Erie. Furthermore, the conceptual approach and applications for development of a generalized stressor gradient have been incorporated into a document defining the tiered aquatic life criteria for defining biological integrity of the nation’s waters. A total of 14 indicators of the U.S. Great Lakes coastal region are presented for potential application. Each indicator is summarized with respect to its use, methodology, spatial context, and diagnosis capability. In general, the results indicate that stress related to agricultural activity and human population density/development had the largest impacts on the biotic community indicators. In contrast, the photoinduced PAH indicator was primarily related to industrial activity in the U.S. Great Lakes, and over half of the sites sampled were potentially at risk of PAH toxicity to larval fish. One of the indicators developed for land use/land change was developed from Landsat imagery for the entire U.S. Great Lakes basin and for the period from 1992 to 2001. This indicator quantified the extensive conversions of both agricultural and forest land to residential area that has occurred during a short 9 year period. Considerable variation in the responses were manifest at different spatial scales and many at surprisingly large scales. Significant advances were made with respect to development of methods for identifying and testing environmental indicators. In addition, many indicators and concepts developed from this project are being incorporated into management plans and U.S. 8 EPA methods documents. Further details, downloadable documents, and updates on these indicators can be found at the GLEI website - http://glei.nrri.umn.edu

Natural Resources Research Institute Technical Report

University of Minnesota Grant Number: 3015 10425 00024017To quantify the environmental history of the White Iron Chain of Lakes (Lake and St. Louis Counties, Minnesota), five lakes were selected for retrospective analyses. Primary goals were to determine pre- European settlement conditions and track the timing and extent of anthropogenic impacts and remediation. Sediment cores were collected from each lake and sediment intervals were dated using isotopic analyses. Fossil remains, in concord with other stratigraphic indicators (organic and inorganic materials, sedimentation rates, other biological entities), were used to reconstruct the ~200-year history of each lake. Pollen analyses allowed for reconstruction of local and regional terrestrial conditions. Geochemical analyses provided data on historical flux of elemental trace metals to the sediments. Diatom assemblages were assessed from sediment intervals and inferred trophic conditions in the profiles were derived using a regional diatom-based model for Minnesota lakes. Eutrophication apparently occurred following settlement, particularly in White Iron Lake, but reconstructed phosphorus trends indicate more recent nutrient reductions. Pollen data track the decrease in pine abundance in the region and the rise of birch. Sedimentary metals largely reflect physical changes in the system, such as a change in sediment deposition regimes resulting from damming. Recent increases in metals are probably a result of increasing accumulation of soil and bedrock materials, a trend that is supported by increasing accumulation rates of overall organic and inorganic material. These recent increases in the last 30-40 years, which include increased algal deposition in Birch, Farm and Fall lakes, are not well explained at this time, but may be due to shifting water quality unrelated to phosphorus and possibly hydrological changes

Natural Resources Research Institute Technical Report

A Minnesota Sea Grant College Program Research Completion Report; Project Number 00016993Objectives: 1) To find the driving factors behind changes occurring in Lake Superior. 2) To determine the effect of rehabilitation efforts on lake conditions. 3) To determine whether historical changes in the lake were related to anthropogenic impacts. 4)To investigate the spatial variation in historical pelagic conditions

Natural Resources Research Institute Technical Report

This report is intended for audiences who are familiar with the USEPA’s Open Lake Water Quality Survey of the Great Lakes. Those unfamiliar with the project are directed to http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/monitoring/sop for a detailed background of the overall project goals, ideology and methods. This report fulfils the task of “Preliminary Report” (due July 28, 2009) as agreed in contract GL-00E23101-2. Results herein focus on 2007 phytoplankton data from GLNPO’s Great Lakes open water biological monitoring program. The main objectives of this report are to (1) present general characteristics of the 2007 phytoplankton assemblages, (2) reconstruct long-term phytoplankton trends in the context of phytoplankton data collected prior to 2000, and (3) use various observational and statistical techniques to confirm that data quality objectives, mainly taxonomic consistency, have been met. Since the initiation of the University of Minnesota Duluth’s (UMD) involvement in the monitoring program, significant efforts have been allocated to taxonomic assurance. Following the transition of the project to a new contractor in 2001, several data quality issues related to inconsistencies in taxonomic identifications arose resulting in temporary termination of the phytoplankton program in 2004. Part of UMD’s agreement was to ensure that the new phytoplankton data collected in 2007 meet specific taxonomic criteria. In other words, taxonomy for 2007 needed to match that from pre-2000 samples so that long-term analyses were reliable. It is our opinion that we have met taxonomic criteria and that, with continued taxonomic workshops, we are building a reliable long-term phytoplankton database that will be a valuable tool to track ecological shifts in the lakes

Natural Resources Research Institute Technical Report

U of M Grant Number: 3002-10425-01896289The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program embarked on a comprehensive survey of Great Rivers in order to provide tools the states need to better manage and protect these important national resources. This survey collected indicators intended to measure the health status of the Missouri, Mississippi, and Ohio Rivers. Measured parameters included indicators of water quality, sediments, algae, plants, insects, and fish. The Natural Resources Research Institute developed indicator tools from the algae, collected from hundreds of sites throughout the Great Rivers system. Indicators are now available to track ecological quality using periphytic and phytoplanktonic algal assemblages. These indicator approaches will support future monitoring and paleoecological programs, and be used to identify and verify reference locations in rivers. Algae are well-known to respond to stressors in rivers such as nutrient and salinity loading, siltation, and other factors affecting water clarity. We took a comprehensive approach to develop indicators (metrics and indices) for large river ecosystems using proven methods suitable for large rivers nationwide. A multi-tiered approach integrating landscape, biological communities, and chemical characteristics was applied to characterize sites

Natural Resources Research Institute Technical Report

U of M Grant Number: 1676-189-6289Due to potential threats to water quality and fishery health, four lakes in Itasca County (Minnesota) were selected for retrospective analyses. Primary goals were to determine background conditions and track probable long-term degradation, timing of impacts and remediation. The lakes range from developed (Buck, Shallow and Round lakes) to currently undeveloped (Willeys Lake). Sediment cores were collected from each lake and sediment intervals were dated using isotopic analyses. Diatom assemblages were assessed from sediment intervals and inferred trophic conditions in the profiles were derived using a regional diatom-based model for Minnesota lakes. Fossil remains, in concord with other stratigraphic indicators (organic and inorganic materials, sedimentation rates, other biological entities), were used to reconstruct the ~200-year history of each lake system. Buck Lake experienced eutrophication and other anthropogenic impacts, but in recent decades the lake has at least partly remediated. Shallow Lake has apparently undergone numerous nearshore anthropogenic shifts, but development has not resulted in an overall increase in nutrient concentrations. Water quality response to early watershed modifications of Round Lake was limited but eutrophication became a problem in the latter portion of the 20th century due to historic and recent land use activities. Despite being selected as an “undeveloped” lake, Willeys Lake showed some subtle impacts due to likely deforestation in the lake’s catchment