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USGS2015

General classification handbook for floodplain vegetation in large river systems

This handbook describes the General Wetland Vegetation Classification System developed as part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Upper Mississippi River Restoration (UMRR) Program, Long Term Resource Monitoring (LTRM) element. The UMRR is a cooperative effort between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the states of Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin. The classification system consists of 31 general map classes and has been used to create systemic vegetation data layers throughout the diverse Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS), which includes the commercially navigable reaches of the Mississippi River from Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the north to Cairo, Illinois, in the south, the Illinois River, and navigable portions of the Kaskaskia, Black, St. Croix, and Minnesota Rivers. In addition, this handbook describes the evolution of the General Wetland Vegetation Classification System, discusses the process of creating a vegetation data layer, and describes each of the 31 map classes in detail. The handbook also acts as a pictorial guide to each of the map classes as they may appear in the field, as well as on color-infrared imagery. This version is an update to the original handbook published in 2004.

Techniques and Methods↗

USGS2016

Landscape ecology of the Upper Mississippi River System: Lessons learned, challenges and opportunities

The Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS) is a mosaic of river channels, backwater lakes, floodplain forests, and emergent marshes. This complex mosaic supports diverse aquatic and terrestrial plant communities, over 150 fish species; 40 freshwater mussel species; 50 amphibian and reptile species; and over 360 bird species, many of which use the UMRS as a critical migratory route. The river and floodplain are also hotspots for biogeochemical activity as the river-floodplain collects and processes nutrients derived from the UMR basin. These features qualify the UMRS as a Ramsar wetland of international significance. Two centuries of land-use change, including construction for navigation and conversion of large areas to agriculture, has altered the broad-scale structure of the river and changed local environmental conditions in many areas. Such changes have affected rates of nutrient processing and transport, as well as the abundance of various fish, mussel, plant, and bird species. However, the magnitude and spatial scale of these effects are not well quantified, especially in regards to the best methods and locations for restoring various aspects of the river ecosystem. The U.S. Congress declared the navigable portions of the Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS) a “nationally significant ecosystem and nationally significant commercial navigation system” in the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 (Public Law 99-662) and launched the Upper Mississippi River Restoration (UMRR) Program, the first comprehensive program for ecosystem restoration, monitoring, and research on a large river system. This fact sheet focuses on landscape ecological studies conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey to support decision making by the UMRR with respect to ecosystem restoration.

Upper Mississippi River System↗

USGS2017

The Upper Mississippi River System—Topobathy

The Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS), the navigable part of the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers, is a diverse ecosystem that contains river channels, tributaries, shallow-water wetlands, backwater lakes, and flood-plain forests. Approximately 10,000 years of geologic and hydrographic history exist within the UMRS. Because it maintains crucial wildlife and fish habitats, the dynamic ecosystems of the Upper Mississippi River Basin and its tributaries are contingent on the adjacent flood plains and water-level fluctuations of the Mississippi River. Separate data for flood-plain elevation (lidar) and riverbed elevation (bathymetry) were collected on the UMRS by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) Upper Mississippi River Restoration (UMRR) Program. Using the two elevation datasets, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center (UMESC) developed a systemic topobathy dataset.

Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin↗

USGS2018

Indicators of ecosystem structure and function for the Upper Mississippi River System

This report documents the development of quantitative measures (indicators) of ecosystem structure and function for use in a Habitat Needs Assessment (HNA) for the Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS). HNAs are led periodically by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Upper Mississippi River Restoration (UMRR) Program, which is the primary habitat restoration program on the UMRS. The UMRR Program helps determine how Federal, State and nongovernmental agencies can best address environmental issues on one of the world’s largest and most diverse river systems. Each indicator in this report represents at least one management objective developed for the river system. These objectives were developed in a previous planning effort using an ecosystem management conceptual framework (USACE, 2011). The objectives represent five essential ecosystem characteristics: hydraulics and hydrology, biogeochemistry, geomorphology, habitat, and biota. Subsequent to the 2011 planning effort, the UMRR increased its focus on improving the health and resilience of the UMRS. The indicators presented here are based on the five essential ecosystem characteristics and four aspects of ecosystems thought to support general ecosystem resilience (the ability of an ecosystem to adapt and respond to disturbances): (1) connectivity, (2) diversity and redundancy, (3) controlling variables, and (4) slow processes. Thus, we developed indicators that quantify both essential ecosystem characteristics and characteristics of a resilient river system. The indicators documented in this report focus on important aspects of river floodplain hydrogeomorphology, given the fundamental role hydrogeomorphology plays in determining habitat conditions and ecosystem health and resilience at broad geographic scales. The information contained within this report provides a broader scale (for example, system-wide) context for management decisions made at finer scales (for example, within river reaches or at project sites) and is designed for use in the formal system-wide Habitat Needs Assessment II (HNA–II) led by the UMRR Program.

Upper Mississippi River System↗

USGS2020

Recent planform changes in the Upper Mississippi River

Geomorphic changes in the Upper Mississippi River (UMR) have long been a concern of river agencies charged with maintaining and restoring river habitat (GREAT 1980; Jackson et al. 1981; USFWS 1992). Large meandering alluvial rivers like the UMR are expected to constantly change and adjust their fluvial landforms within their riparian corridors as a result of the natural interaction of hydrologic processes, sediment movement, and vegetation over time. However, present geomorphic changes in the UMR reflect altered hydrologic, hydraulic, and sediment conditions caused by regulated flows, constructed agricultural levees and navigation dams, altered land use in the watershed, and climate change. Levees reduce lateral hydrologic and sediment connectivity between channels and floodplains on many tributaries and on the Mississippi River downstream of Pool 13. Between each of the dams are a repeating series of landforms associated with tailwater, intermediate, and impounded conditions. The dams maintain a minimum water level, thus creating many off-channel areas that act as sediment traps. Whereas high-head dams cut off sedimentological connectivity longitudinally through the river corridor (Skalak et al., 2013), low head dams on the UMR only slightly altered transport longitudinally. Deltaic-like sedimentation can be common in the impounded sections of dammed rivers. Erosion of relict land surfaces that remained above the raised impounded water levels has been the dominant change in UMR impounded sections due to increased wind fetch leading to increased wave action. Even though upland sources of sediment from tributaries have decreased over the middle to late 20th century, increased annual precipitation, the interplay of increased variability in flood magnitudes from year to year, and more fall and winter flooding have likely changed erosion and sedimentation patterns in the UMR (Belby, et al., 2019). Paradoxically, monitoring and research indicates that the concentration of some water column constituents like total suspended solids and phosphorous has decreased during the 1991 to 2014 time period (Kreiling and Houser, 2016). In areas prone to increased sedimentation, bed elevations rise and thereby water depths are reduced at a given discharge, resulting in loss of fish habitat. Sediment deposition or erosion further influences water exchange rates between main channel and off-channel areas in the river by increasing resistance in connecting channels or enlarging existing connecting channels. Water depth and water exchange rates are the most prominent features describing habitat quality in the UMR (De Jager et al. 2018), and in some cases, the trajectory of planform change from heightened deposition promises to threaten deep backwater habitats particularly important for overwintering fish. Although information on the rate of vertical change in bed elevation is needed for a complete assessment of geomorphic change associated with the loss of deep backwater habitats, mapping planform changes over time (i.e., lateral changes between the land-water boundary) provide needed information on the location, potential cause, and progressive direction of deposition, especially in the mid sections between dams where deltaic processes are the most pronounced. Several types of planform changes have been observed and identified as concerns. For example, island loss in the large impounded areas of the upper part of the UMR was one of the concerns identified by river managers in the 1980s and 90s, and subsequently island construction became a common form of restoration implemented by the Upper Mississippi River Restoration (UMRR) Program (USACE 2012). Other subtler planform changes, such as channel bank erosion and delta formation in backwaters, are perceived to be important, but have largely gone unquantified. A systemwide reconnaissance of the UMR and IWW conducted in 1998 concluded that 14-percent of the river banks were eroding (Nakato and Anderson 1998). However, stabilization of existing river banks has never been widely pursued as a restoration measure, due to the high cost and uncertain benefits. Delta formation reduces the amount of backwater habitat; however, the deltas maintain and create a mix of riparian and aquatic habitats, and that is generally considered to be beneficial for wildlife and fish. If recent hydrologic trends of more frequent and longer duration flood events continue, a better understanding of planform changes can help in describing past changes, and then be used to forecast potential future trajectories of change. If UMR resource managers determine that past and forecasted conditions are undesirable, then UMRR projects could be identified and prioritized to address those concerns. Vegetative cover associations with landform changes have been used to detect and quantify planform changes in many rivers (Johnson 1985; Hiatt 2015; Volte et al. 2015). Freyer and Jefferson (2013) completed such a study in Pool 6 of the UMR using the landcover data from 12 dates over a 115-yr period, including the 1989, 2000, and 2010/2011 landcover/use (LCU) data from the UMRR Program. Planform change detected over the last 20 years represented by the UMRR Program data best reflect present-day geomorphic patterns, rates and processes. Changes occurring prior to dam construction and changes occurring soon after dam construction are likely not the same as those happening now, 50-70 years after dam construction and creation of the impoundments (McHenry et al., 1984; Bhowmik and Adams, 1986; WEST Consultants, 2000). The LCU data from each of the 1989, 2000, and 2010/2011 imagery was developed using similar methods and is available in a Geographical Information System (GIS) for the entire UMR and therefore provides the opportunity for a more comprehensive planform change analysis. This study used GIS overlays of LCU classes to map and quantify changes in planform features over two periods, looking specifically for depositional areas where terrestrial and wetland vegetation expanded at the expense of open water. The land expansion was grouped into four possible process-based types common in large floodplain rivers, some following that used by Lewin et al. (2017). The four types include: crevasse deltas emanating from a breach from a main channel through a natural levee or narrow floodplain into backwaters (crevasse deltas), tributary deltas expanding into backwaters (tributary deltas), deltaic bars at the upstream end of impoundments (impounded deltas), and linear-like bars extending from the downstream ends of narrow levees and remnant floodplains (bar-tail limbs). The methods deployed for change detection addressed possible errors from a variety of sources.

Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin↗

USGS2014

Long Term Resource Monitoring Program procedures: fish monitoring

This manual constitutes the second revision of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Upper Mississippi River Restoration-Environmental Management Program (UMRR-EMP) Long Term Resource Monitoring Program (LTRMP) element Fish Procedures Manual. The original (1988) manual merged and expanded on ideas and recommendations related to Upper Mississippi River fish sampling presented in several early documents. The first revision to the manual was made in 1995 reflecting important protocol changes, such as the adoption of a stratified random sampling design. The 1995 procedures manual has been an important document through the years and has been cited in many reports and scientific manuscripts. The resulting data collected by the LTRMP fish component represent the largest dataset on fish within the Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS) with more than 44,000 collections of approximately 5.7 million fish. The goal of this revision of the procedures manual is to document changes in LTRMP fish sampling procedures since 1995. Refinements to sampling methods become necessary as monitoring programs mature. Possible refinements are identified through field experiences (e.g., sampling techniques and safety protocols), data analysis (e.g., planned and studied gear efficiencies and reallocations of effort), and technological advances (e.g., electronic data entry). Other changes may be required because of financial necessity (i.e., unplanned effort reductions). This version of the LTRMP fish monitoring manual describes the most current (2014) procedures of the LTRMP fish component.

Illinois;Iowa;Minnesota;Montana;Wisconsin↗

USGS2014

Spatially explicit habitat models for 28 fishes from the Upper Mississippi River System (AHAG 2.0)

Environmental management actions in the Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS) typically require pre-project assessments of predicted benefits under a range of project scenarios. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) now requires certified and peer-reviewed models to conduct these assessments. Previously, habitat benefits were estimated for fish communities in the UMRS using the Aquatic Habitat Appraisal Guide (AHAG v.1.0; AHAG from hereon). This spreadsheet-based model used a habitat suitability index (HSI) approach that drew heavily upon Habitat Evaluation Procedures (HEP; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1980) by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). The HSI approach requires developing species response curves for different environmental variables that seek to broadly represent habitat. The AHAG model uses species-specific response curves assembled from literature values, data from other ecosystems, or best professional judgment. A recent scientific review of the AHAG indicated that the model’s effectiveness is reduced by its dated approach to large river ecosystems, uncertainty regarding its data inputs and rationale for habitat-species response relationships, and lack of field validation (Abt Associates Inc., 2011). The reviewers made two major recommendations: (1) incorporate empirical data from the UMRS into defining the empirical response curves, and (2) conduct post-project biological evaluations to test pre-project benefits estimated by AHAG. Our objective was to address the first recommendation and generate updated response curves for AHAG using data from the Upper Mississippi River Restoration-Environmental Management Program (UMRR-EMP) Long Term Resource Monitoring Program (LTRMP) element. Fish community data have been collected by LTRMP (Gutreuter and others, 1995; Ratcliff and others, in press) for 20 years from 6 study reaches representing 1,930 kilometers of river and >140 species of fish. We modeled a subset of these data (28 different species; occurrences at sampling sites as observed in day electrofishing samples) using multiple logistic regression with presence/absence responses. Each species’ probability of occurrence, at each sample site, was modeled as a function of 17 environmental variables observed at each sample site by LTRMP standardized protocols. The modeling methods used (1) a forward-selection process to identify the most important predictors and their relative contributions to predictions; (2) partial methods on the predictor set to control variance inflation; and (3) diagnostics for LTRMP design elements that may influence model fits. Models were fit for 28 species, representing 3 habitat guilds (Lentic, Lotic, and Generalist). We intended to develop “systemic models” using data from all six LTRMP study reaches simultaneously; however, this proved impossible. Thus, we “regionalized” the models, creating two models for each species: “Upper Reach” models, using data from Pools 4, 8, and 13; and “Lower Reach” models, using data from Pool 26, the Open River Reach of the Mississippi River, and the La Grange reach of the Illinois River. A total of 56 models were attempted. For any given site-scale prediction, each model used data from the three LTRMP study reaches comprising the regional model to make predictions. For example, a site-scale prediction in Pool 8 was made using data from Pools 4, 8, and 13. This is the fundamental nature and trade-off of regionalizing these models for broad management application. Model fits were deemed “certifiably good” using the Hosmer and Lemeshow Goodness-of-Fit statistic (Hosmer and Lemeshow, 2000). This test post-partitions model predictions into 10 groups and conducts inferential tests on correspondences between observed and expected probability of occurrence across all partitions, under Chi-square distributional assumptions. This permits an inferential test of how well the models fit and a tool for reporting when they did not (and perhaps why). Our goal was to develop regionalized models, and to assess and describe circumstances when a good fit was not possible. Seven fish species composed the Lentic guild. Good fits were achieved for six Upper Reach models. In the Lower Reach, no model produced good fits for the Lentic guild. This was due to (1) lentic species being much less prominent in the Lower Reach study areas, and (2) those that do express greater prominence principally do so only in the La Grange reach of the Illinois River. Thus, developing Lower Reach models for Lentic species will require parsing La Grange from the other two Lower Reach study areas and fitting separate models. We did not do that as part of this study, but it could be done at a later time. Nine species comprised the Lotic guild. Good fits were achieved for seven Upper Reach models and six Lower Reach models. Four species had good fits for both regions (flathead catfish, blue sucker, sauger, and shorthead redhorse). Three species showed zoogeographic zonation, with a good model fit in one of the regions, but not in the region in which they were absent or rarely occurred (blue catfish, rock bass, and skipjack herring). Twelve species comprised the Generalist guild. Good fits were achieved for five Upper Reach models and eight Lower Reach models. Six species had good fits for both regions (brook silverside, emerald shiner, freshwater drum, logperch, longnose gar, and white bass). Two species showed zoogeographic zonation, with a good model fit in one of the regions, but not in the region in which they were absent or rarely occurred (red shiner and blackstripe topminnow). Poorly fit models were almost always due to the diagnostic variable “field station,” a surrogate for river mile. In these circumstances, the residuals for “field station” were non-randomly distributed and often strongly ordered. This indicates either fitting “pool scale” models for these species and regions, or explicitly model covariances between “field station” and the other predictors within the existing modeling framework. Further efforts on these models should seek to resolve these issues using one of these two approaches. In total, nine species, representing two of the three guilds (Lotic and Generalist), produced well-fit models for both regions. These nine species should comprise the basis for AHAG 2.0. Additional work, likely requiring downscaling of the regional models to pool-scale models, will be needed to incorporate additional species. Alternately, a regionalized AHAG could be comprised of those species, per region, that achieved well-fit models. The number of species and the composition of the regional species pools will differ among regions as a consequence. Each of these alternatives has both pros and cons, and managers are encouraged to consider them fully before further advancing this approach to modeling multi-species habitat suitability.

Upper Mississippi River System↗

USGS2008

Coastal Louisiana ecosystem assessment and restoration program: The role of ecosystem forecasting in evaluating restoration planning in the Mississippi River Deltaic Plain

The development of ecosystem management plans to restore and rehabilitate natural resources requires an understanding of how specific ecological mechanisms regulate the structure and function of ecosystems. To achieve restoration goals, comprehensive plans and engineering designs must effectively change environmental drivers at the regional level to reduce stress conditions at the local environment that are responsible for ecosystem degradation. This document focuses on the Coastal Louisiana Ecosystem Assessment and Restoration (CLEAR) ecosystem forecasting framework and how it can be used to support the analysis of Louisiana’s coastal restoration plans. Specifically, the framework is designed to (1) develop and incorporate conceptual ecological models that can be used to integrate ecological needs and opportunities with engineering designs, (2) utilize wetland loss rates to describe the most likely “future without” scenario for a variety of ecosystem attributes, (3) estimate broad ecosystem responses to restoration alternatives based on processes associated with succession of geomorphic and ecological systems, and (4) calculate ecological benefits for incorporation into decision support tools associated with large-scale geomorphic and hydrologic processes. This paper provides a brief overview of the spatial framework and modular design of the CLEAR ecosystem forecasting framework and describes in greater detail the evolution of the landscape change module, concepts for its refinement, and how it was utilized in evaluating a coastal restoration alternative proposed in the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Preliminary Draft Master Plan. Such projections by the CLEAR forecasting framework can evaluate processes and conditions that result in sustainable coastal ecosystems with habitat functions that support higher trophic levels.

Louisiana↗

USGS2006

The role of the Wetland Reserve Program in conservation efforts in the Mississippi River Alluvial Valley

The Mississippi River Alluvial Valley includes the floodplain of the Mississippi River from Cairo, Illinois, USA, to the Gulf of Mexico. Originally this region supported about 10 million ha of bottomland hardwood forests, but only about 2.8 million ha remain today. Furthermore, most of the remaining bottomland forest is highly fragmented with altered hydrologic processes. During the 1990s landscape-scale conservation planning efforts were initiated for migratory birds and the threatened Louisiana black bear ( Ursus americanus luteolus ). These plans call for large-scale reforestation and restoration efforts in the region, particularly on private lands. In 1990 the Food, Agriculture, Conservation and Trade Act authorized the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP). The WRP is a voluntary program administered by the United States Department of Agriculture that provides eligible landowners with financial incentives to restore wetlands and retire marginal farmlands from agricultural production. As of 30 September 2005, over 275,700 ha have been enrolled in the program in the Mississippi River Alluvial Valley, with the greatest concentration in Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi, USA. Hydrologic restoration is common on most sites, with open-water wetlands, such as moist-soil units and sloughs, constituting up to 30% of a given tract. Over 33,200 ha of open-water wetlands have been created, potentially providing over 115,000,000 duck-use days. Twenty-three of 87 forest-bird conservation areas have met or exceed core habitat goals for migratory songbirds and another 24 have met minimum area requirements. The WRP played an integral role in the fulfillment of these goals. Although some landscape goals have been attained, the young age of the program and forest stands, and the lack of monitoring, has limited evaluations of the program's impact on wildlife populations.

Mississippi River Alluvial Valley↗

USGS2015

Understory vegetation as an indicator for floodplain forest restoration in the Mississippi River Alluvial Valley, U.S.A.

In the Mississippi River Alluvial Valley (MAV), complete alteration of river-floodplain hydrology allowed for widespread conversion of forested bottomlands to intensive agriculture, resulting in nearly 80% forest loss. Governmental programs have attempted to restore forest habitat and functions within this altered landscape by the methods of tree planting (afforestation) and local hydrologic enhancement on reclaimed croplands. Early assessments identified factors that influenced whether planting plus tree colonization could establish an overstory community similar to natural bottomland forests. The extent to which afforested sites develop typical understory vegetation has not been evaluated, yet understory composition may be indicative of restored site conditions. As part of a broad study quantifying the ecosystem services gained from restoration efforts, understory vegetation was compared between 37 afforested sites and 26 mature forest sites. Differences in vegetation attributes for species growth forms, wetland indicator classes, and native status were tested with univariate analyses; floristic composition data were analyzed by multivariate techniques. Understory vegetation of restoration sites was generally hydrophytic, but species composition differed from that of mature bottomland forest because of young successional age and differing responses of plant growth forms. Attribute and floristic variation among restoration sites was related to variation in canopy development and local wetness conditions, which in turn reflected both intrinsic site features and outcomes of restoration practices. Thus, understory vegetation is a useful indicator of functional progress in floodplain forest restoration.

Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee↗

USGS2008

Slowing of coastal subsidence is good news for restoration of Louisiana's wetlands

Every year, volunteers use thousands of discarded Christmas trees to build brush fences in the coastal waters of Louisiana. The fences slow down waves and trap sediment, allowing aquatic vegetation to take root in the still water and stimulating the growth of new marsh. This is one of many efforts to counteract wetland loss (the loss of saline, brackish, intermediate, and freshwater marshes) that has plagued coastal Louisiana since the mid-20th century. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists recently announced good news for Louisiana's coastal-restoration projects: using a combination of historical and recently released data, they discovered that subsidence of coastal land in the Mississippi River delta plain appears to have slowed considerably since the 1990s. This discovery means that new marshlands created by the Christmas tree program and other restoration projects may persist—that is, stay above sea level—longer than previously thought.

Louisiana↗

USGS2005

Implications of global climatic change and energy cost and availability for the restoration of the Mississippi delta

Over the past several thousand years, inputs from the Mississippi River formed the Mississippi delta, an area of about 25,000 km 2 . Over the past century, however, there has been a high loss of coastal wetlands of about 4800 km 2 . The main causes of this loss are the near complete isolation of the river from the delta, mostly due to the construction of flood control levees, and pervasive hydrological disruption of the deltaic plain. There is presently a large-scale State-Federal program to restore the delta that includes construction of water control structures in the flood control levees to divert river water into deteriorating wetlands and pumping of dredged sediment, often for long distances, for marsh creation. Global climate change and decreasing availability and increasing cost of energy are likely to have important implications for delta restoration. Coastal restoration efforts will have to be more intensive to offset the impacts of climate change including accelerated sea level rise and changes in precipitation patterns. Future coastal restoration efforts should also focus on less energy-intensive, ecologically engineered management techniques that use the energies of nature as much as possible. Diversions may be as important for controlling salinity as for providing sediments and nutrients for restoring coastal wetlands. Energy-intensive pumping-dredged sediments for coastal restoration will likely become much more expensive in the future.

Louisiana↗

USGS2019

Monitoring plans for Louisiana’s system-wide assessment and monitoring program (SWAMP). Version IV

The System-Wide Assessment and Monitoring Program (SWAMP) has been envisioned as a long-term monitoring program to ensure a comprehensive network of coastal data collection activities is in place to support the development, implementation, and adaptive management of the coastal protection and restoration program within coastal Louisiana. The Coastwide Reference Monitoring System (CRMS) and Barrier Island Comprehensive Monitoring (BICM) programs have been implemented under SWAMP, while other aspects of system dynamics, including offshore and inland water-body boundary conditions, nontidal freshwater habitats, riverine conditions, risk status, and protection performance, are not presently the subject of CPRA-coordinated (Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority) monitoring. In order to implement these additional aspects of SWAMP, CPRA partnered with The Water Institute of the Gulf and others to develop 1) a programmatic monitoring plan for evaluating the effectiveness of the coastal protection and restoration program on a coastwide scale, and 2) basinwide monitoring plans that will incorporate the elements of the programmatic plan with specific data collection activities designed to capture effects within the basin. Monitoring plans were developed for Barataria Basin, Pontchartrain Region (includes Breton Sound, Pontchartrain and Mississippi River Delta Basins), and the western basins (Calcasieu-Sabine, Mermentau, Teche-Vermilion, Atchafalaya, and Terrebonne) for both the natural and human systems using a process to identify the monitoring variables, objectives, and sampling design. The monitoring variables and objectives identified fall under the general categories of weather and climate, biotic integrity, water quality, hydrology, physical terrain, population and demographics, housing and community characteristics, economy and employment, ecosystem dependency, residential properties protection, and critical infrastructure and essential services protection. A rigorous statistical analysis, examination of modeling needs, and thorough reviews of previous planning and monitoring efforts were conducted to develop the sampling designs for the natural and human system monitoring plans. The plan relies heavily on the use of existing data, thus, coordination with other agencies (e.g., LDEQ , LDWF) and CPRA’s existing monitoring programs (e.g., BICM, CRMS) is critical to the plan’s success. Implementation of the plans will require development of quality control and quality assurance protocols, specific standardized operating procedures for each of the data collection efforts, a data management plan, and a reporting framework to contribute to decision making and reducing uncertainty in management actions.

Louisiana↗

USGS2018

Genetic diversity, effective population size, and structure among black bear populations in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley, USA

Multiple small populations of American black bears Ursus americanus , including the recently delisted Louisiana black bear subspecies U. a. luteolus , occupy a fragmented landscape in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley, USA (LMAV). Populations include bears native to the LMAV, bears translocated from Minnesota during the 1960s, and recently reintroduced and colonizing populations sourced from within the LMAV. We estimated population structure, gene flow, and genetic parameters important to conservation of small populations using genotypes at 23 microsatellite markers for 265 bears from seven populations. We inferred five genetic clusters corresponding to the following populations: White River and western Mississippi, Tensas River and Three Rivers, Upper Atchafalaya, Lower Atchafalaya, and Minnesota. Upper Atchafalaya was suggested as the product of Minnesota-sourced translocations, but those populations have since diverged, likely because of a founder effect followed by genetic drift and isolation. An admixture zone recently developed in northeastern Louisiana and western Mississippi between migrants from White River and Tensas River, resulting in a Wahlund effect. However, gene flow among most populations has been limited and considerable genetic differentiation accumulated (global F ST = 0.22), particularly among the three Louisiana black bear populations that existed when federal listing occurred. Consistent with previous bottlenecks, founder effects, and persisting isolation, all LMAV bear populations had low genetic diversity ( A R = 2.08–4.81; H E = 0.36–0.63) or small effective population size ( N E = 3–49). Translocating bears among populations as part of a regional genetic restoration program may help improve genetic diversity and increase effective population sizes.

Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley↗

USGS2012

Exploring relationships among land ownership, agricultural land use, and native fish species richness in the Upper Mississippi River Basin

The general effects of agriculture on in-stream fish communities in the Upper Midwestern United States have been well studied for nearly three decades (Karr et al. 1985; Nerbonne and Vondracek 1991; Zimmerman et al. 2001; Goldstein and Meador 2005). Specific impacts include: lowered water levels, sediment loading and nutrient enrichment, loss of riparian habitat, changes to channel morphometry and physical habitat, and changes to the forage base. As part of the National Fish Habitat Action Plan (NFHAP), an initiative to protect, restore, and enhance the nation's fish and aquatic communities, the Fishers and Farmers Partnership specifically focuses on working with agricultural producers to help protect and restore aquatic resources in the Upper Mississippi River Basin (UMRB) (Fig. 1). Successful protection and/or restoration will require the partnership and local conservation agencies to effectively communicate and work with local landowners. However, roughly 43% of the agricultural lands in the UMRB are not operated by those who own the land (National Agricultural Statistics Service 2009) and this is expected to increase as heirs of farm estates now reside greater distances from their home farms than ever before (Arbuckle 2010). It has long been presumed that changes in land ownership trends, toward more absentee landowners, would have important consequences for soil erosion and other conservation practices, as larger, more corporate agriculture, is thought to maximize farm income at the expense of environmental quality (Lee 1980). Absentee landowners may be less likely to take advantage of conservation programs. For example, land operated by renters lags enrollment in the Conservation Reserve (CRP) and Wetland Reserve (WRP) programs by 64% nation-wide (Petrzelka et al. 2009). Also, it has been found that the more detached an absentee landowner becomes from their land, both geographically and culturally, their commitment to land stewardship decreases (Arbuckle 2010). The Fishers and Farmers Partnership recognizes the challenge agricultural producers face in maintaining food and fiber production for a growing world population while also trying to improve environmental quality and fish habitat. This challenge is likely exacerbated when the landowners are absentee. Thus, reaching non-owner-operated farmers and convincing them to help protect and/or restore aquatic resources may be critical to the success of the Fishers and Farmers Partnership. In this study, we explored relationships among agricultural land use, land ownership, and native fish biodiversity in the UMRB as a first step toward helping the Fishers and Farmers Partnership identify specific locations in the UMRB that may pose conservation challenges. For example, places that have experienced a loss of native fish species richness relative to historical conditions and also have high proportions of absentee landowners may provide restoration challenges. We were also interested in identifying areas that have retained high levels of species richness and are owner-operated. These areas present good opportunities to work with local landowners to protect aquatic resources. To identify such areas, we addressed two primary questions: 1) Is there a relationship between the type of agricultural land use (i.e. cropland vs pastureland) and the % of land rented or leased within the UMRB? and 2) How does the type of agricultural production and whether land is rented or leased relate to the maintenance of historical levels of native fish species richness? We predicted that areas with large amounts of land devoted to crop production will have experienced the greatest losses of native fish species richness. However, our hypothesis is that watersheds with large amounts of land rented or leased will have experienced even greater declines in native fish species richness than would be predicted from the amount of cultivated cropland alone. By testing these hypotheses, we intended to identify watersheds that would be strong candidates for protection, restoration, and enhancement of fish species richness by accounting for land use and ownership characteristics.

Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Miss↗

USGS2011

Cumulative effects of restoration efforts on ecological characteristics of an open water area within the Upper Mississippi River

Ecological restoration efforts in large rivers generally aim to ameliorate ecological effects associated with large-scale modification of those rivers. This study examined whether the effects of restoration efforts-specifically those of island construction-within a largely open water restoration area of the Upper Mississippi River (UMR) might be seen at the spatial scale of that 3476ha area. The cumulative effects of island construction, when observed over multiple years, were postulated to have made the restoration area increasingly similar to a positive reference area (a proximate area comprising contiguous backwater areas) and increasingly different from two negative reference areas. The negative reference areas represented the Mississippi River main channel in an area proximate to the restoration area and an open water area in a related Mississippi River reach that has seen relatively little restoration effort. Inferences on the effects of restoration were made by comparing constrained and unconstrained models of summer chlorophyll a (CHL), summer inorganic suspended solids (ISS) and counts of benthic mayfly larvae. Constrained models forced trends in means or in both means and sampling variances to become, over time, increasingly similar to those in the positive reference area and increasingly dissimilar to those in the negative reference areas. Trends were estimated over 12- (mayflies) or 14-year sampling periods, and were evaluated using model information criteria. Based on these methods, restoration effects were observed for CHL and mayflies while evidence in favour of restoration effects on ISS was equivocal. These findings suggest that the cumulative effects of island building at relatively large spatial scales within large rivers may be estimated using data from large-scale surveillance monitoring programs. Published in 2010 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

River Research and Applications↗

USGS2019

Fish assemblages in a Mississippi reservoir mudflat with low structural complexity

In shallow reservoirs, seasonal water drawdowns expose littoral areas and over time produce barren mudflats. When flooded, mudflats provide homogeneous substrates, turbid water, and eroding shorelines of limited ecological value. We hypothesized that in mudflats structurally complex habitats are occupied by more fish, smaller fish of a larger range in sizes, more species, and fish assemblages that are different from those in simpler habitats. We tested these hypotheses over two consecutive years with fish collections made in sites with varying structural complexity. Results indicated that structural complexity harbors more fish in transects and enclosures. Structural complexity did not influence median length, but length range increased with structural complexity. Average species richness increased with structural complexity. Fish assemblage composition changed as structural complexity increased. The ability of cover to provide survival, growth, and carrying capacity benefits is fundamental to programs aimed at increasing structural complexity. Results suggest observed effects on fish assemblages can lead to such benefits. Considering mudflats are a major component of reservoirs, expand as reservoirs age, and there is a potential to exert meaningful change on fish assemblages of impounded rivers by managing mudflats, we suggest additional attention is needed to develop practical habitat restoration options.

Mississippi↗

USGS2002

Evaluation of reforestation in the Lower Mississippi River Alluvial Valley

Only about 2.8 million ha of an estimated original 10 million ha of bottomland hardwood forests still exist in the Lower Mississippi River Alluvial Valley (LMAV) of the United States. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Forest Service, and state agencies initiated reforestation efforts in the late 1980s to improve wildlife habitat. We surveyed restorationists responsible for reforestation in the LMAV to determine the magnitude of past and future efforts and to identify major limiting factors. Over the past 10 years, 77,698 ha have been reforested by the agencies represented in our survey and an additional 89,009 ha are targeted in the next 5 years. Oaks are the most commonly planted species and bare-root seedlings are the most commonly used planting stock. Problems with seedling availability may increase the diversity of plantings in the future. Reforestation in the LMAV is based upon principles of landscape ecology; however, local problems such as herbivory, drought, and flooding often limit success. Broad-scale hydrologic restoration is needed to fully restore the structural and functional attributes of these systems, but because of drastic and widespread hydrologic alterations and socioeconomic constraints, this goal is generally not realistic. Local hydrologic restoration and creation of specific habitat features needed by some wildlife and fish species warrant attention. More extensive analyses of plantings are needed to evaluate functional success. The Wetland Reserve Program is a positive development, but policies that provide additional financial incentives to landowners for reforestation efforts should be seriously considered.

Restoration Ecology↗