Browsing by Author "Reschke, Carol"
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Item 21st Avenue West Remediation to Restoration Project: Biological Survey and Hydrodynamic Modeling Results(University of Minnesota Duluth, 2012) Host, George E; Reschke, Carol; Brady, Valerie; Breneman, Dan; Dumke, Josh; Niemi, Gerald J; Austin, Jay; James, Matthew; Johnson, Lucinda BThe 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 “21st Avenue West Habitat Complex” (approximately 215 ha; Map 1), was identified by a focus group within the SLRA Habitat Workgroup as a priority for a “remediation-to-restoration” project. The focus group subsequently developed a general description of desired future ecological conditions at the 21st Avenue West Habitat Complex, hereafter referred to as the ‘Project Area’, including known present conditions and 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. As the next step toward the creation of an “Ecological Design” for the Project Area, Natural Resource Research Institute researchers, in cooperation with USFWS, USEPA, MPCA, MnDNR, and other partners, sampled the 21st Avenue West site in late summer of 2011 to establish baseline information on vegetation, sediment types, benthic macroinvertebrates, toxins and bird usage of the area. This work will inform development of an ecological design that will allow assessment of restoration scenarios in the Project Area. The project will build on the 40th Ave West Remediation to Restoration effort, which developed an aquatic vegetation model based on depth, energy environment (predicted from a fetch model), water clarity, and other environmental factors. The model allows the evaluation of restoration scenarios involving changes in bathymetry, remediation or enhancement of substrate, reduction in wave energy, and other strategies. In this report we also incorporate a hydrodynamic model of the estuary to inform the ecological design process. Relationships between vegetation and the macroinvertebrate and avian communities will provide information on the efficacy of these strategies in remediating and restoring overall habitat and biological productivity in the 21st Avenue West Habitat Complex. This project was funded under USFWS Cooperative Agreement Number F11AC00517; full details of the project can be found in Attachment 1 of that Agreement.Item 40th Avenue West Remediation to Restoration Project: Biological Survey Results(University of Minnesota Duluth, 2010-11) Brady, Valerie; Reschke, Carol; Breneman, Dan; Host, George E; Johnson, Lucinda BThe 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 estuarywide 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 focus group subsequently 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 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. As the next step toward the creation of an “Ecological Design” for the Project Area, Natural Resource Research Institute researchers, in cooperation with USFWS, USEPA, MPCA, MnDNR, and other partners, sampled the 40th Avenue West site during the late summer and fall of 2010 to establish baseline information on vegetation, sediment types, benthic macroinvertebrates, 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. This project was funded under USFWS Cooperative Agreement Number 30181AJ68; full details of the project can be found in Attachment 1 of that Agreement.Item Aquatic Habitat Mapping in the St. Louis River Estuary(University of Minnesota Duluth, 2020-06) Reschke, Carol; Hill, CraigThe goal of this project has been to use data from recent aquatic vegetation sampling in the St. Louis River estuary to refine aquatic habitat maps for four restoration sites and four reference sites that can serve as models for restoration design and management. These aquatic habitat maps are designed for use by resource managers working to restore impaired habitats. St. Louis River estuary restoration plans are part of the multi-agency St. Louis River Area of Concern Remedial Action Plan (RAP) to restore fish and wildlife habitats and remove impairments that led to listing the St. Louis River as a Great Lakes Area of Concern (MPCA and WDNR 2013). This 12,000-acre freshwater estuary was designated an Area of Concern in the 1980s because legacy contaminants and disturbances led to nine key impairments, including loss of fish and wildlife habitat. Current restoration plans rely on aquatic habitat maps prepared for the 2002 Lower St. Louis River Habitat Plan (Appendix 1, Map 1); the original aquatic habitat polygons were drawn using minimal data on aquatic vegetation (SLRCAC 2002). The classification of aquatic habitats used in the 2002 Habitat Plan was qualitative, based primarily on the extensive expertise of local fisheries biologists. Since 2008, biologists in Minnesota and Wisconsin have conducted field surveys yielding over 3000 samples for aquatic and wetland vegetation in 23 key restoration and reference sites within the estuary. The objectives of this project were to 1) identify restoration site mapping priorities and appropriate reference sites, and compile existing data on aquatic vegetation, water depths, and wind fetch as characterized by relative exposure index (REI) for the estuary; 2) run hydrodynamic models for at least four scenarios of river discharge and Lake Superior water levels and extract data on water velocities and temperatures at vegetation sample sites; 3) use multivariate analyses to classify aquatic habitats based on aquatic and wetland plant communities and associated environmental data, and prepare habitat maps and supporting data for four restoration sites and four reference sites; and 4) share progress on this project with estuary resource managers at least five times during the project period, at meetings of the St. Louis River Estuary Habitat Work Group.Item 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, ElissaThe 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.Item 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 BThe 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.Item Effects of Soil Compaction and Organic Matter Removal on Ground-flora Diversity: Seventeen-year Results from the Chippewa National Forest Long-term Soil Productivity Project(University of Minnesota Duluth, 2011) Reschke, Carol; Host, George ESoil is one of the key factors regulating the productivity and diversity of forest ecosystems. Soil organic matter resulting from the decomposition of leaf litter and branch and bole material provides an important reservoir of nutrients for future forest growth. The structure of soils, in conjunction with soil texture, determines the ability of a soil to retain moisture. Forest harvest operations, through the use of heavy equipment and slash management practices, have the potential to damage soil structure and remove organic matter from the forest floor. We lack a clear understanding, however, of which soil types are most susceptible, and what degree of impact soils can sustain before the potential productivity and diversity are reduced. To address this issue, the US Forest Service initiated a nationwide Long-Term Soil Productivity (LTSP) study to assess the effects of logging operations on the structure and organic matter content of forest soils (Powers et al. 1990). In the Lake States, study plots were installed on the Chippewa, Ottawa, and Huron National Forests. These plots represent the range of soil textures which occur across the Lake States: silt loams, clays, and sands, respectively. Using an experimental approach, different levels of soil compaction and organic matter removal were applied to harvested aspen stands across this soil gradient. Aspen reproduction, forest biomass, and the diversity of the ground-flora layers are being monitored on a periodic basis to assess their response to these treatments. The results of this experiment will allow us to predict the degree of protection required to sustain productivity and floristic diversity in aspen stands across a range of common Lake State soil types.The Lake States LTSP study included an analysis of floristic diversity to the suite of measurements made on the study plots. Biodiversity and forest management have become critical issues in the Lake States Forests. In Minnesota’s Generic Environmental Impact Statement, diversity was one of the key focal issues. Ground-flora has received wide use as ecological indicators and in ecological land classification systems across the Great Lakes (Spies and Barnes 1985, Host and Pregitzer 1991, Coffmann et al. 1983, Shadis et al. 1995, MN DNR 2003). A study by Berger, Peuttmann and Host showed a strong response of ground-flora to on-site operations, particularly on landings and skid trails, which receive a high degree of compaction (Berger, Peuttmann and Host 2004). The rate and degree to which sites recover from compaction, however, is poorly understood. The primary objective of this study was assess changes in species richness, diversity and community composition seventeen years after installation of the LTSP treatments on the Chippewa National Forest of north central Minnesota.Item Evaluation of DNR Aquatic Vegetation Surveys: Data Summaries and Comparative Analysis(University of Minnesota Duluth, 2006) Reschke, Carol; Host, George E; Johnson, Lucinda BItem Plant Communities of Hartley Park(University of Minnesota Duluth, 2019-09-18) Reschke, Carol; Nixon, Kristi; Pomroy, Deb; Barnes, Ray; Host, George EThis project builds on and updates an ecological survey of Hartley Park in Duluth, Minnesota that was conducted in 2003 by consulting ecologist Ethan Perry to evaluate the potential to nominate the park to the Duluth Natural Areas Program (DNAP). In 2003 DNAP was a new program to provide legal protection to city-owned or private lands of ecological or geological significance. DNAP guidelines explain that land in Duluth can be eligible for this protection by meeting criteria in at least one of five categories. The 2003 ecological survey gathered information necessary to determine if parts of Hartley Park qualify for the Native Plant Communities category of DNAP criteria. Although Hartley Park was not designated under DNAP after the 2003 survey, the City of Duluth and Hartley Park managers recently wanted to update the maps and submit a DNAP nomination package in fall of 2019. The City of Duluth contracted with ecologists and geographic information system (GIS) staff at the University of Minnesota Duluth, Natural Resources Research Institute (NRRI) to update the maps. This technical report describes the methods and results of surveys conducted in summer 2019 to update the Plant Community maps of Hartley Park. The project area for this map includes Hartley Park (660 acres) and 38 acres of adjacent open land that the park wants to evaluate for acquisition. The total area mapped in 2019 was 698 acres, with a wide variety of types of vegetation. To evaluate the quality of these vegetation types, the entire park was divided into patches or polygons of different plant community types, most of which were visited by ecologists, some more intensively than others. Access to some polygons was difficult due to steep topography and many trees blown down in a July 2016 wind storm. For these more remote or difficult-access polygons, air photo imagery was interpreted, and additional low-altitude air photos were acquired by NRRI staff using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). For native plant communities, the polygons were classified using the system developed by the MN DNR Biological Survey Program, described in the 2003 publication Field Guide to the Native Plant Communities of Minnesota, The Laurentian Mixed Forest Province. Since the names of the DNR communities are often long and not always descriptive of local vegetation, we have provided alternative cover names specific to Hartley (Table 1). Vegetation types not considered native plant communities (including conifer plantations, parking lots, ball fields, and areas dominated by non-native species) were divided into general land cover categories; these land cover types as a group are called “Cultural and other communities” similar to NOAA classifications of “Cultural” cover types so modified by human activities that they are not considered “natural” or native plant communities. The cultural cover types had a total of 168 acres. This report focuses primarily on the 530 acres of native plant communities in the project area.