Browsing by Author "Reavie, Euan D"

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Assessing the condition of Great Rivers using benthic and planktonic algal indicators
(University of Minnesota Duluth, 2013) Reavie, Euan D
The 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.
Environmental Indicators for the Coastal Region of the U.S. Great Lakes
(University of Minnesota Duluth, 2006) Niemi, Gerald J; Axler, Richard P; Brady, Valerie; Brazner, John; Brown, Terry; Ciborowski, Jan H; Danz, Nicholas P; Hanowski, JoAnn M; Hollenhorst, Thomas; Howe, Robert; Johnson, Lucinda B; Johnston, Carol A; Reavie, Euan D; Simcik, Matthew; Swackhamer, Deborah L.
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.
Environmental Indicators for the US. Great Lakes Coastal Region
(University of Minnesota Duluth, 2006) Niemi, Gerald J; Axler, Richard P; Brady, Valerie; Brazner, John; Brown, Terry; Ciborowski, Jan H; Danz, Nicholas P; Hanowski, JoAnn M; Hollenhorst, Thomas; Howe, Robert; Johnson, Lucinda B; Johnston, Carol A; Reavie, Euan D; Simcik, Matthew; Swackhamer, Deborah L.
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 (P AH) 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 P AH 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 P AH 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. EPA methods documents.
Final Data Summary Report: Phytoplankton Monitoring in the Great Lakes: 2007-2012 Funding Years
(University of Minnesota Duluth, 2013) Reavie, Euan D
The Laurentian Great Lakes have a long record of adverse anthropogenic impacts on water quality and food webs. Tracking these impacts and their causes is critical so that remedial efforts can be directed where and how they are most needed. The EPA’s Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO) is now in its 30th year of comprehensive monitoring of the Great Lakes. Pelagic monitoring includes physical and chemical parameters, phytoplankton, zooplankton, benthic invertebrates and other measurements. These monitoring data have revealed significant changes in whole-lake conditions (e.g. Barbiero et al. 2009), thus justifying GLNPO’s mandate to track changes under the Great Lakes Water Quality Act of 1978. Specifically, phytoplankton collections provide important information on the primary food source at the bottom of the food web, and we aim to track long-term changes in the phytoplankton resulting from human influences, and so characterize causes of disturbance, their impacts, and remedial necessity. Phytoplankton are known to respond to stressors such as nutrient loading and invasive species, and ultimately integration with other program components (e.g., zooplankton, water quality) will allow the evaluation of interactions among trophic levels and provide a more holistic interpretation of causal factors in biological changes. The abbreviated objectives of the phytoplankton program are to: 1) collect phytoplankton from the Great Lakes in spring and summer excursions on board the R/V Lake Guardian; 2) identify and enumerate phytoplankton, maintaining quality assurance standards; 3) maintain and provide a database of phytoplankton data; 4) interpret phytoplankton data, including evaluation of long-term trends in phytoplankton and food web dynamics; and 5) dissemination of data and interpretations through reports, presentations and peer-reviewed journals so that results are available for aquatic management considerations. This report summarizes phytoplankton data collected under 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. Data and analyses in this report were generated by the Natural Resources Research Institute (NRRI), University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) under the direction of Euan Reavie (Senior Research Associate -- NRRI), and this report fulfills the final task as agreed in cooperative agreement GL-00E23101-2.
Final Report on Sediment Diatom Reconstructions for Four Itasca County Lakes
(University of Minnesota Duluth, 2009) Reavie, Euan D
Due 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.
Great Lakes Coastal Diatoms
(2014-06-13) Reavie, Euan D; Brady, Valerie; akireta@nrri.umn.edu; Kireta, Amy R; Natural Resource Research Institute, University of Minnesota Duluth
A Great Lakes Environmental Indicators (GLEI) project. Diatom community data were collected from periphytic substrates at approximately 0.5-3.0 m depths along two different land-use transects from more than 200 wetlands, bays, and high energy sites on the U.S. side of the Great Lakes coastline. Collections included four within-site replicates and approx. 10 percent re-sampling over a three year period. Additionally, approximately 25 offshore, open water samples were collected from surface sediment at depths up to 30 m. The data link with other GLEI datasets to provide water chemistry, site, and landscape information. This study represents the most extensive synoptic diatom dataset of the Great Lakes and includes both undescribed species and species that have not been previously identified in the Great Lakes. The major goal of this GLEI subproject was to develop diatom ecological indicators, and these indicators are presented in a number of publications. The diatom data in this database include the complete raw counts from all samples that were enumerated under the GLEI program, as well as corresponding (condensed) environmental data that were used to develop the indicators.
Mid-project Data Report: Phytoplankton Monitoring in the Great Lakes
(University of Minnesota Duluth, 2009) Reavie, Euan D
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.
Minnesota Taconite Workers Health Study: Environmental Study of Airborne Particulate Matter in Mesabi Iron Range Communities and Taconite Processing Plants - Lake Sediment Study
(University of Minnesota Duluth, 2019-12) Zanko, Lawrence M; Reavie, Euan D; Post, Sara P
Atmospheric deposition of airborne particulate matter such as fugitive dust contributes to sediment that accumulates at the bottom of a lake. Because of this phenomenon, lake sediment can provide an historic mineralogical and chemical record of what may have been in the air at the time of its atmospheric deposition. This point is important, because the NRRI’s role in the Minnesota Taconite Workers Health Study (MTWHS) was to not only help answer the question “What is in the air?” by conducting present-day in-plant and community air sampling, but – and even more challengingly – to potentially answer the question “What was in the air, when?” by collecting and analyzing historic samples. Lake sediment was the only historic sampling medium available that could allow the investigators to make an attempt to assess what might have been present in the air in the past on Minnesota’s Mesabi Iron Range (MIR). The NRRI therefore core-sampled, age-dated, and characterized intervals of sediment from two MIR lakes – Silver Lake in Virginia, on the central MIR, and “North-of-Snort” Lake on the eastern end of the MIR, near Babbitt (Fig. i). The objective was to determine if fugitive mineral dust generated by past iron ore/taconite mining activity could be discerned in mineral particulate matter (PM) deposited and preserved in the sediment of both lakes.
Monitoring Diatom Algae in Northeastern Minnesota
(University of Minnesota Duluth, 2005) Reavie, Euan D; Kingston, John; Peterson, Morgan; Edlund, Mark B
Surface sediment samples from 37 Itasca region lakes were appended onto an existing Minnesota lakes diatom calibration set to create a new 145 lake diatom training set with better representation of lakes throughout Minnesota and better reconstruction performance for total phosphorus values above 60 μg/L. Relationships among 15 chemical, physical and spatial (i.e., region) variables and 170 diatom species distributions in the new 145 lake training set were explored using canonical correspondence analysis (CCA), a multivariate ordination technique. Environmental variables that independently explained a significant portion of variation in species distribution were identified using forward selection. Total phosphorus (TP) was one of the most explanatory variables in the refined calibration set, including pH, lake depth, color, chloride, Secchi depth, conductivity, mean lake depth, lake area, and ANC. Weighted averaging partial least squares regression and calibration was identified as the appropriate method for model evaluations. A transfer function for inferring TP was generated from three versions of the lake calibration set: 1) the full 145-lake calibration set; 2) a reduced, 129-lake set where lakes with pH ≥ 9.0 removed to better represent conditions in the Itasca region; and 3) a further-reduced model that eliminated five lakes with poor diatom-inferred (DI) total phosphorus concentrations. The 124-lake calibration set produced a total phosphorus transfer function covering a gradient spanning lakes from 5-364 μg/L TP, and strong predictive ability for TP (r2 = 0.87, r2 jack = 0.77, RMSEP = 0.210 log(μg/L+1)). The transfer function was applied to estimate historical epilimnetic total phosphorus from subfossil diatom assemblages in a sediment core recovered from Jessie Lake, Itasca region. Pre-settlement conditions in Jessie Lake were inferred to be eutrophic, with a temporary augmentation in nutrient load between ~1950 and ~1980.
Paleolimnological Reconstructions for the White Iron Chain of Lakes
(University of Minnesota Duluth, 2013) Reavie, Euan D
To 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.
Paleolimnology of the Lake of the Woods southern basin
(University of Minnesota Duluth, 2015) Reavie, Euan D; Edlund, Mark B; Andresen, Norman A; Engstrom, Daniel R
To quantify the environmental history of the southern basin of Lake of the Woods (Ontario, Manitoba and Minnesota), seven core locations 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. Sediments were dated using isotopic analyses and fossil remains, in concord with other stratigraphic indicators (organic and inorganic materials, sedimentation rates, other biological entities), were used to reconstruct the ~150-year history of the lake. 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. Nutrient reconstructions indicated a period of cultural eutrophication throughout much of the 20th century. Despite a known reduction in anthropogenic nutrient flux to the lake in recent decades, there has been no apparent reversal in eutrophication in the pelagic system. Contemporary observations indicate that blooms of blue-green algae are becoming a greater problem. It appears that legacy nutrient recycling and other environmental drivers are maintaining the current condition of pelagic nutrient enrichment. Sedimentary analyses also indicated that physical changes to the lake resulting from warming may be contributing in small part to the recent reorganization of algal assemblages.
Paleolimnology of the St. Louis River Estuary
(University of Minnesota Duluth, 2016-05) Reavie, Euan D; Alexson, Elizabeth; Axler, Richard P; Yost, Chad; Ladwig, Jammi; Nurse, Andrea; Estepp, Lisa; Krasutsky, Pavel A; Kennedy, Kathleen; Yemets, Sergiy; Engstrom, Daniel R
The St. Louis River Watershed which drains to the St. Louis River and its associated estuary near Lake Superior has more than 150 years of human development history since Euro‐Americans first settled there, resulting in critical water quality impacts. In 1987, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency designated the St. Louis River as an Area of Concern primarily due to that history which entailed inappropriate discharge of untreated wastewater and debris from poor industrial and community practices. The organic matter loading from inadequate treatment of sewage and paper mill products along with the dumping of woody debris from sawmills contributed to low oxygen levels in the river. The result included devastating impacts to the entire food web from the bacteria to vegetation to invertebrates to fish. Concurrently, poorly managed stormwater runoff from this post‐logged, barren landscape contributed excessive loading of suspended sediments resulting in increased turbidity and nutrient concentrations (e.g., phosphorus, nitrogen) to the river. Since then, government and private entities have taken action to restore the water quality in the St. Louis River Estuary, and to eventually remove the eight remaining SLRAOC BUIs. This summary focuses on the research documenting water quality changes over time associated with the excessive loading of sediment and nutrients BUI.
A Whole-Lake Assessment of Long-Term Human Impacts to Lake Superior
(University of Minnesota Duluth, 2010) Reavie, Euan D
Objectives: 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.

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