Browsing by Author "Meysembourg, Paul"

Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
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    Assessing forest land conversion risk to maintain water quality in North Central Minnesota
    (University of Minnesota Duluth, 2018-07) Host, George E; Kovalenko, Katya; Meysembourg, Paul
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    An Ecological Design for the 21st Avenue West Remediation-to-Restoration Project
    (University of Minnesota Duluth, 2013) Host, George E; Meysembourg, Paul; Reschke, Carol; Brady, Valerie; Niemi, Gerald J; Bracey, Annie; Johnson, Lucinda B; James, Matthew; Austin, Jay; Buttermore, Elissa
    The lower 21 miles of the St. Louis River, the largest U.S. tributary to Lake Superior, form the 4856 ha St. Louis River estuary. Despite the effects of more than 100 years of industrialized and urban development as a major Great Lakes port, the estuary remains the most significant source of biological productivity for western Lake Superior, and provides important wetland, sand beach, forested, and aquatic habitat types for a wide variety of fish and wildlife communities. The lower St. Louis River and surrounding watershed were designated an 'Area of Concern' (AOC) under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement in 1989, listing nine beneficial use impairments (BUIs), such as loss of fish and wildlife habitat, degraded fish and wildlife populations, degradation of benthos, and fish deformities. To address these BUIs, the St. Louis River Alliance (SLRA) completed the Lower St. Louis River Habitat Plan, which identified ecosystems and sites with significant habitat limitations due to contaminated sediments and other unknown factors. The 21st Avenue West Habitat Complex is one of several priority sites for a 'Remediation-to-Restoration' (R-to-R) project. The intent of the R-to-R process is to implement remediation activities to address limiting factors such as sediment contamination while also implementing restoration projects that best complement the desired ecological vision. This report documents the initial steps in the R-to-R process underway at 21st Avenue West, the development of an “Ecological Design” for the project area, and a preliminary evaluation of factors potentially limiting the realization of habitat and other land use goals. To establish the basis for this ecological design, researchers at the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Natural Resources Research Institute (NRRI), in cooperation with U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and other partners, sampled the project area from late summer 2011 through fall 2012. The intent of field sampling was to establish baseline information on vegetation, benthos, birds, sediment contamination and types, and ecotoxicology. The subsequent ecological design effort will explore options to increase the overall footprint of quality aquatic vegetation beds and spawning habitat available, soften and extend shorelines, and remove or reduce the effect of industrially-influenced substrates. These options will be presented to adjacent landowners, as well as local and regional stakeholders, to contribute to the discussion on R-to-R options. The desired outcome of the project is to significantly increase the biological productivity of this complex of river flats and sheltered bays, in fulfillment of the SLRA Habitat Plan (SLRA 2002), while minimizing the risk of exposure of contaminants to fish and wildlife resources. This project was funded under USFWS Cooperative Agreement Number F11AC00517, and is part of the USFWS Environmental Contaminants Program’s goal to address contaminant-related needs of the St. Louis River Area of Concern as part of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.
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    An Ecological Design for the 40th Avenue West Remediation-to-Restoration Project
    (University of Minnesota Duluth, 2012) Host, George E; Meysembourg, Paul; Brady, Valerie; Niemi, Gerald J; Bracey, Annie; Reschke, Carol; Johnson, Lucinda B
    The lower 21 miles of the St. Louis River, the largest U.S. tributary to Lake Superior, form the 4856 ha St. Louis River estuary. Despite the effects of more than 100 years of industrialized and urban development as a major Great Lakes port, the estuary remains the most significant source of biological productivity for western Lake Superior, and provides important wetland, sand beach, forested, and aquatic habitat types for a wide variety of fish and wildlife communities. The lower St. Louis River and surrounding watershed were designated an 'area of concern' (AOC) under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement in 1989 because of the presence of chemical contaminants, poor water quality, reduced fish and wildlife populations, and habitat loss. Nine beneficial use impairments (BUIs) have been identified in the AOC, including: loss of fish and wildlife habitat, degraded fish and wildlife populations, degradation of benthos, and fish tumors and deformities. The St. Louis River Citizens Action Committee, now the St. Louis River Alliance (SLRA), was formed in 1996 to facilitate meeting the needs of the AOC. Following the recommendations of the St. Louis River AOC Stage II Remedial Action Plan, the SLRA completed the Lower St. Louis River Habitat Plan (Habitat Plan) in 2002 as 'an estuary-wide guide for resource management and conservation that would lead to adequate representation, function, and protection of ecological systems in the St. Louis River, so as to sustain biological productivity, native biodiversity, and ecological integrity.' The SLRA also facilitated development of 'delisting targets' for each BUI in the St. Louis River AOC in December 2008. The Habitat Plan identified several sites within the AOC with significant habitat limitations. One of these sites, the '40th Avenue West Habitat Complex' (approximately 130 ha; Figure 1), was identified by a focus group within the SLRA habitat workgroup as a priority for a 'remediation-to-restoration' project. The purpose of the 'remediation to restoration' process is to implement remediation activities to address limiting factors such as sediment contamination, followed by restoration projects that best complement the desired ecological vision. The focus group developed a general description of desired future ecological conditions at the 40th Avenue West Habitat Complex, hereafter referred to as the 'project area,' including known present conditions and potential limiting factors of the area. In addition, the focus group recommended a process to develop specific plans and actions to achieve the desired outcomes at the site. This report documents the first step in the 'remediation-to-restoration process being implemented at the '40th Avenue West Habitat Complex,' the development of an 'Ecological Design' for the project area, and a preliminary evaluation of those factors potentially limiting the realization of those habitat and other land use goals. This report is intended to serve as a basis for a subsequent feasibility study in which remediation alternatives will be evaluated along with restoration alternatives, which may achieve the habitat goals noted here. This project was funded under USFWS Cooperative Agreement Number 30181AJ68, and is part of the USFWS Environmental Contaminants Program's goal to address contaminant-related needs of the St. Louis River Area of Concern as part of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. To establish the basis of an 'ecological design' for the project area, researchers at the University of Minnesota Duluth's Natural Resource Research Institute (NRRI), in cooperation with USFWS, USEPA, MPCA, MNDNR, and other partners, sampled the project area from the late summer 2010 through spring 2011 to establish baseline information on sediment contamination, ecotoxicology, vegetation, sediment types, benthic macroinvertebrates, fish assemblage, and bird usage of the area. Vegetation, macroinvertebrates, and sediment characterization were also completed for five reference areas selected by project cooperators. These reference areas represent less disturbed locations having high or low wind and wave exposure that can serve to demonstrate restoration potential for the project area.
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    Geospatial Modeling of Native Plant Communities of Minnesota’s Laurentian Mixed Forest
    (University of Minnesota Duluth, 2013) Brown, Terry; Meysembourg, Paul; Host, George E
    The MFRC Landscape Program recognizes several distinct regional landscapes, formed by integrating the natural physiographic and climatic regions of the state with social and economic objectives. These landscapes have served as focal points for regional planning efforts involving multiple groups of stakeholders. While the landscape regions have unique issues and potentials, they all have common data needs. Foremost among these is an assessment of landscape potential, which is required to formulate desired future conditions. To date, numerous efforts studies have been conducted to map landscape potential – these efforts typically integrate spatial data in a Geographic Information System (GIS) with forest compositional and structural information from remote sensing (e.g. Landsat; Wolter et al 1995, airphoto interpretations) or field inventories. White and Host (2000) created a landscape ecosystem map for the Northern Superior Uplands based on a spatial analysis of GIS data layers known to be important determinants or correlates of forest type distribution, including soils, elevation, landtype associations, climate, and numerous other factors. Subsequently, Host et al. (2006) mapped Native Plant Communities (NPCs) for the northern landscape, a landscape dominated by extensive peatland systems. In the late 1990’s, David Shadis, soil scientist and ECS coordinator for the Chippewa National Forest created a map of the Drift and Lake Plains (DLP) Section. This map however, was at a much coarser resolution than the previously mentioned mapping efforts. Moreover, since the initial DLP maps were developed, the MN DNR published the Field Guide to Native Plant Communities of the Laurentian Mixed Forest Province (MN DNR 2003). For both strategic and tactical planning purposes, there is a strong need to produce a map of the DLP and other unmapped forested lands of the state using MN DNR Native Plant Community classification and based on a common, consistent and cross-boundary set of geospatial data. The specific objectives of this proposal were to: 1) Integrate a suite of geospatial data layers to predict potential Native Plant Communities of the Drift and Lake Plains and Western and Southern Superior Uplands ecological sections, with a spatial resolution similar to the Minnesota-Ontario Peatlands and Northern Superior Uplands NPC maps map and based on the DNR classification of Native Plant Communities. 2) In support of the Landscape Committee planning efforts, summarize acreages of Native Plant Communities by Ownership (MFRC 2010); provide other reports in consultation with Committee members.
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    High-resolution Mapping of Urban Land Use Intensity in Watersheds of the St. Louis River Estuary
    (University of Minnesota Duluth, 2015-07) Host, George E; Meysembourg, Paul; Johnson, Lucinda B
    Agriculture and development are the source of a multitude of environmental stressors influencing coastal ecosystems, including sediment and nutrient runoff, alterations to hydrologic and thermal regimes, delivery of pollutants and loss of habitat. Many studies have addressed the effects of land use on aquatic ecosystem, but fundamental issues of scale remain unresolved. Land use data are common inputs to environmental indicator development, hydrologic models such as SWMM or HSPF, and decision support models such as the EPA National Stormwater Calculator. The difference in areal estimates of urban land cover between NLCD and higher resolution land classification can result in significant differences in predicted amounts of runoff and infiltration. Using these data to develop remediation strategies using green or gray infrastructure could potentially result in costly errors through under or over-engineering retention structures. For this reason, we initiated this project to expand the Stueve et al. (2014) methodology, which focused on a single watershed, to multiple urban watersheds entering the St. Louis River Estuary (SLRE). We then used these data to develop indices of urban land use intensity, focusing on impervious surface, building footprints, building heights and height diversity within municipal parcels. Finally, we assessed the relationship of these urban land use intensity indices to water quality data collected in nine tributary watersheds of the St. Louis River.
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    Land Use and Water Resources in the Minnesota North Shore Drainage Basin
    (University of Minnesota Duluth, 1991) Johnston, Carol A; Bonde, John; Meysembourg, Paul; Allen, Brian; Sales, James
    The major land use change currently occurring in the Lake Superior drainage basin is the increase in deforestation resulting from demand for wood and paper products, which is projected to increase total harvest by 50% between 1988 and 1995 (Minnesota DNR 1989). We know that the extensive pre-settlement logging of the Great Lakes drainage basin affected water quality, as indicated by sediment evidence of increased phosphorus concentrations (Kemp et al. 1972) and diatom production (Stoermer et al. 1985; Schelske et al. 1988), and model predictions of increased phosphorus loading (Chapra 1977). However, we don’t know the magnitude of land affected by more recent clearcutting, nor its effects on water resources. The purpose of this report is to describe these land use changes and other characteristics of the Minnesota North Shore drainage basin that could potentially affect fluxes of sediment and nutrients into Lake Superior.
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    Natural Resources of Minnesota Point: Maps and Data in Support of the Minnesota Point Environmental Plan
    (University of Minnesota Duluth, 1999) Johnston, Carol A; Trauger, Amy; Meysembourg, Paul; Bonde, John; Hawrot, Rita Y; Walton, Gary B
    Includes maps and data regarding ecological subsections of Minnesota, information regarding the distribution and relationships of habitats and birds in the St. Louis River estuary, a map and inventory of open space in Duluth, and a map and data from an aquatic habitat survey (fish monitoring) in the Park Point area.
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    Wetland Inventory and Classification for Carlton and South St. Louis Counties : Final Report and Deliverables
    (University of Minnesota Duluth, 2008-12-31) Host, George E; Meysembourg, Paul
    Accurate maps of the type and locations of wetlands are critical for land use planning, particularly for watersheds undergoing rapid develoment or facing increased development pressure. The important role wetlands play in maintaining habitat, water quality and surface and ground-water protection is well documented, but cun*ent information on the types, sizes, and locations of wetlands is difficult to obtain. As coastal environments come under increased pressure from development, this infonnation is essential for zoning, buildout scenarios and numerous other planning objectives. Within the Coastal Program boundary, however，up-to-date information on wetland type and distribution is sparse, outdated, or lacking for many watersheds. While the National Wetland Inventory is the most extensive and commonly used inventory, the limitations with respect to spatial and classification accuracy are well-recogiiized. Over several iterations, we have systematically been mapping wetlands within high- gi*owth areas of the Minnesota's Lake Superior Coastal Program. The objective of the current proposal is to use recent MN DNR aerial photography and other spatial data to delineate and characterize wetlands for the southwestern portion the Coastal Program area. These includes approximately tliree townships in Carlton County and watershed extensions into St. Louis County (Figure 1). Our primary end products are digital maps of classified wetlands and with associated data tables, which are here provided to the Lake Superior Coastal Program for distribution to decision makers and the general public. Wetland maps are delivered in two fomiats. As part of this final report to the MN DNR, we have included a DVD that contains the rectified raw imagery, inteipreted wetland in GIS fonnat, and metadata for the data layers. We have also created, as part of the CoastalGIS website at the Natural Resources Research Institute, downloadable and online versions of the interpreted wetlands. The download versions are delivered in ESRI shapefile fonnat, with associated metadata. We also provide an interactive version using the Arc Internet Map Server, which allows maps to be viewed and manipulated over the Internet with a standard web brower. The NOAA-funded CoastalGIS web site was established in March 2002 to sei*ve as a clearinghouse for spatial data relevant to the Coastal Program. The site currently contains a wide range of data sets on natural resources and infrastructure，and is designed to assist local decision makers and the general public in land use planning. The CoastalGIS web site can be accessed at: http://www. nrri. umn. edu/Coastal GIS