Browsing by Author "Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center (MAISRC)"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Complete data and code to generate datasets in: Occurrence and environmental data for aquatic plants of Minnesota from 1999-2018
    (2024-07-15) Verhoeven, Michael; michael.verhoeven.mrv@gmail.com; Verhoeven, Michael; Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center (MAISRC); Fisheries Systems Ecology Lab
    A dataset (and multi-scale aggregations thereof) of point-level occurrences, relative abundances, and associated environmental data for macrophytes (freshwater plants) across Minnesota. The data encompass 3,194 surveys of 1,520 lakes and ponds performed over a 19-year timespan. A total of 372,091 points were sampled, across which 231 taxa were recorded. Macrophyte occurrence data and depth, as well as point-level relative-plant-abundance measures for a subset of surveys, were collated, cleaned, and joined to geospatial data and Secchi-depth measurements of water clarity, enabling light availability, a primary control on aquatic plant growth, to be estimated.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Data and R-code for: “Integrating DNA fingerprinting of invasive watermilfoil strains into aquatic vegetation monitoring and assessment”
    (2024-06-06) Gannon, Kathryn A; Newman, Raymond M; Thum, Ryan A; newma004@umn.edu; Newman, Raymond M; Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center (MAISRC)
    Invasive Eurasian watermilfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum L.) hybridizes with native northern watermilfoil (Myriophyllum sibiricum Komarov). Previous genetic studies have identified numerous distinct Eurasian and hybrid strains that can differ in their invasiveness (e.g., growth and potential for spread) and response to herbicides. To identify problematic or invasive strains of watermilfoil we assessed the response of different watermilfoil strains to aquatic vegetation management in eight Minnesota lakes over the course of 3 yr. Specifically, we looked for changes in strain composition of watermilfoil populations over time to identify strains of specific interest for further characterization of growth and herbicide response. Eurasian watermilfoil was collected from point intercept surveys (125 to 230 points at each waterbody) before and after herbicide treatments and generally twice per year over 3 years. Plants were idented to genotype using microsatellite markers and changes in genotype occurrence and frequency were assess for changes over time and in response to treatment. Additional details and methods are presented in Gannon et al. 2022.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Data in support of Quantifying the effectiveness of three aquatic invasive species prevention methods
    (2023-05-04) Angell, Nichole R; Campbell, Tim; Brady, Valerie; Bajcz, Alex; Kinsley, Amy; Doll, Adam; Dumke, Josh; Keller, Reuben; Phelps, Nicholas BD; nangell@glc.org; Angell, Nichole R; Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center (MAISRC)
    Efforts to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species (AIS) have been widely implemented at many scales to mitigate economic and environmental harms. Boater education, watercraft inspection, and hot water decontamination are popular strategies for prevention of AIS moving through the recreational boating pathway. However, few studies have actually quantified the effectiveness of these strategies under field conditions. We estimated their effectiveness based on the performances of boaters, watercraft inspectors, and hot water decontaminators. Participants (n=144) were recruited at 56 public water access sites in Minnesota and 1 in Wisconsin. Each participant was asked to inspect and remove AIS from a boat staged with macrophytes, dead zebra mussels, and spiny water fleas. The types and amounts of AIS removed were used to estimate the effectiveness of each prevention method. We observed that removal varied by type of AIS, with macrophytes being most commonly removed for all participants. There were also regional (metro and outstate) differences for some species perhaps due to awareness and education. Hot water decontamination was the most effective (83.7%) intervention but was not significantly better at reducing risk of spread than was watercraft inspection (79.2%). Boaters were less effective at AIS removal (56.4%). Our results suggest that watercraft inspection is an effective prevention method for most boats, and that hot water decontamination is an important tool for high-risk boats. However, robust decontamination protocols are difficult to effectively execute. Furthermore, our results provide insights into how to increase boater awareness of often-overlooked locations and help reduce risk when inspectors cannot be present at a public water access site.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Data in support of: AIS Explorer: Intervention Impact - An application for planning cost-effective AIS prevention programs
    (2024-01-22) Angell, Nichole R; Bajcz, Alex; Kinsley, Amy; Keller, Reuben; Phelps, Nicholas B. D.; nangell@glc.org; Angell, Nichole R.; Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center (MAISRC)
    The movement of aquatic invasive species (AIS) between waterbodies is often facilitated by overland transport on recreational boats. Once established, AIS can have detrimental ecological effects that are difficult or impossible to manage. Prevention is the most cost-effective AIS intervention strategy, with many management agencies focused on implementing spread prevention techniques such as boater education, watercraft inspection, and hot water decontamination. Given resource constraints, deciding which spread prevention techniques to implement and where to place them is a decision fraught with uncertainty. In this study, we collected data for, developed, and tested a new application entitled “Intervention Impact” for the AIS Explorer, an online AIS program-planning dashboard (www.aisexplorer.umn.edu). The application assists AIS managers by simulating scenarios derived from user-defined lake-level budgets, effort, and effectiveness of interventions, enabling them to make comparisons. The outputs provide estimates for risk reduction and infestations averted for both zebra mussel and starry stonewort in Minnesota lakes. We demonstrate the utility of this application using the conditions of Cass County, Minnesota, USA as a case study. Our simulation outputs highlight the tradeoffs of each prevention strategy applied given budget constraints and demonstrate that value of a data-driven approach to guide the implementation of cost-effective prevention plans.