5/20/2015  |   10:30 - 10:45   |  101CD

EVALUATING THREATS TO RAMSAR WETLANDS: LOCAL REPORTING VERSUS GLOBAL MAPPING Wetlands are among the most threatened ecosystems of the planet. Conservation of these habitats is undertaken globally through designation of Ramsar Wetlands of International Importance, though many of these sites remain threatened by human activity. Global patterns of threat to freshwater ecosystems were mapped from 23 distinct threats by Vörösmarty et al. (2010). Despite the maps’ uncertainty, the data has not yet been leveraged to inform monitoring in Ramsar Sites. We compared for 12 of the 23 globally mapped threats against locally reported threats in the Ramsar Sites distributed around the world. The agreement between the mapped continuous indices and binary Ramsar reporting is evaluated separately for different combinations of continents and threat drivers. The mutual validation provided by the comparison highlights threats and continents where Ramsar reporting appears less consistent as well as identify mapped threats having weaker agreement with reporting. Overall, the comparison shows remarkable agreement given the scale mismatch between the two sources. The comparison also highlights threats (e.g. pesticide, sediment loading) and continents (e.g. Europe, Neotropics) where agreement is substantially lower than others.

Etienne Fluet-Chouinard (Primary Presenter/Author), Center for Limnology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, fluetchouina@wisc.edu;


Peter B. McIntyre (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Cornell University, pbm3@cornell.ecu;

5/20/2015  |   10:45 - 11:00   |  101CD

MEASURING SPATIAL VARIATION IN ECOSYSTEM PROPERTIES USING A COMMON CONSUMER APPROACH Direct measurements of ecosystem properties across large spatio-temporal gradients are often difficult. Here we explored the use of a common consumer to provide an index of key ecosystem properties. In a common consumer approach, individuals of a single species are raised under uniform conditions until placed across natural gradients of interest. The responses of that common consumer are measured to provide an index of environmental conditions. We placed hatchery-raised freshwater mussels (Lampsilis siliquoidea) across gradients in habitat and cyanobacterial abundance in the Lake Erie. After three months, mussels were retrieved and spatial variation in growth and the fatty acid (FA) content were measured. We interpreted these measurements as indices of secondary production and food quality, respectively. These metrics suggest that the Maumee rivermouth promotes high secondary production and provides more high-quality FA than open-lake sites. Unexpectedly, sites with high cyanobacterial abundance also had more high-quality FAs. While the common consumer approach allows for more spatial and temporal resolution in measurements than would otherwise be possible, care must be taken in interpreting results.

James Larson (Primary Presenter/Author), U.S. Geological Survey, jhlarson@usgs.gov;


William Richardson (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), U.S. Geological Survey, wrichardson@usgs.gov;


Mary Anne Evans (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), U.S. Geological Survey, maevans@usgs.gov;


Jeff Schaeffer (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), U.S. Geological Survey, jschaeffer@usgs.gov;


Timothy Wynne (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), NOAA, National Ocean Service, timothy.wynne@noaa.gov;


Lynn Bartsch (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), U.S. Geological Survey, lbartsch@usgs.gov;


JC Nelson (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), U.S. Geological Survey, jcnelson@usgs.gov;


Jon Vallazza (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), U.S. Geological Survey, jvallazza@usgs.gov;

5/20/2015  |   11:00 - 11:15   |  101CD

EFFECTS OF SUBSTRATE AVAILABILITY AND INCREASED SALINITY ON METHANOGENESIS IN PONDS OF THE COPPER RIVER DELTA, ALASKA Freshwater wetlands contribute approximately 25% of global CH₄ emissions; however, predicting their response to climate change is challenging. Longer growing seasons could increase the availability of labile substrate, whereas sea level rise may potentially reduce methanogenesis in coastal habitats. For ponds of the Copper River Delta, Alaska (CRD), we conducted laboratory sediment incubations to measure the response in methanogenesis to different macrophyte detritus and to seawater intrusion. Adding detritus tripled methanogenesis in some treatments, although the magnitude varied by species. Methanogenesis in freshwater ponds was double that of intertidal marsh, but adding saline water (~12 ppt) to pond sediment did not alter CH₄ production rates. Our results suggest that overlying water chemistry, such as the increased sulfate in seawater, does not immediately influence methanogenesis; rather, sediment characteristics, including organic content or microbial communities, may be more important. Furthermore, longer growing seasons and subsequently greater substrate availability will likely increase methanogenesis in CRD ponds, but the magnitude of these effects will depend on macrophyte species present. Future research should consider the effects of substrate quantity and quality on methanogenesis.

Carmella Vizza (Primary Presenter/Author), University of Notre Dame, cvizza@nd.edu;


William West (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Notre Dame, wwest@nd.edu;


Stuart Jones (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Notre Dame, sjones20@nd.edu;


Julia Hart (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Notre Dame, Julia.A.Hart.56@nd.edu;


Gary Lamberti (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Notre Dame, lamberti.1@nd.edu;

5/20/2015  |   11:15 - 11:30   |  101CD

EFFECTS OF AN AERATION SYSTEM ON VERTICAL DISTRIBUTION AND MIGRATION OF ZOOPLANKTON IN A RESERVOIR. Aeration systems are often installed in lakes and reservoirs to conserve water quality and control phytoplankton bloom. They destroy the summer stratification by altering lake-mixing regime. The changes in flow regimes would affect vertical distribution and migration of zooplankton in lentic environment. In general, vertical flows are large at immediately near an aerator and gradually decrease with distance from the aerator. We investigated vertical distributions of zooplankton at two sites in a reservoir with aeration systems. One site (site A) was located at a nearby the aerator installed point. Another site (site B) was about 150 m away from the aerator. Automatic samplers collected zooplankton samples at eight depths of the site A and seven depths of the site B in four periods (3:00, 9:00, 15:00 and 21:00) of day to research the duel vertical migrations of zooplanktons. Simultaneously, it was measured 3-dimensional flows of the sites by the Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP). We discuss the effects of flow regime alteration by aerator on vertical distribution and migration of zooplankton.

Ryosuke Yamamoto (Primary Presenter/Author), Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry, r-yama@criepi.denken.or.jp;


Takuya Kobayashi (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry, t-koba@criepi.denken.or.jp;

5/20/2015  |   11:30 - 11:45   |  101CD

THE EFFECTS OF LONG-TERM DRAINAGE ON THE SAX ZIM BOG, NORTHEAST MINNESOTA In the 1920's, an extensive network of drainage ditches was constructed in a portion of the Sax-Zim Bog, in northeast Minnesota. While the plan to create productive farmland was unsuccessful, the ditches remain, and continue to function, although they are not maintained. Loss of hydrology through drainage has resulted in oxidation and humification of organic soils, which is a physical loss of carbon as the water table is depressed within the lateral effect of these ditches. This process has altered topography to create large subsidence areas, halted the process of paludification, and has shifted large portions of the soils from ombrotrophic to minerotrophic. This change in physical characteristics has resulted in alteration of the native plant communities as evidenced by Floristic Quality Analysis. watershed-level restoration of approximately 24,000 acres of the bog is proposed by physical removal of the ditch network through ditch checks and filling, which will restore groundwater based hydrology, halt oxidation of the dried soils, reinitiate the paludification process, and create an environment conducive to the historic plant communities, including Sphagnum bog and fen.

Deric Deuschle (Primary Presenter/Author), Short Eliott Hendrickson Inc., ddeuschle@sehinc.com;


David Urban (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Ecosystem Investment Partners, david@ecosystempartners.com;

5/20/2015  |   11:45 - 12:00   |  101CD

SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL VARIABILITY IN BENTHIC INVERTEBRATE ASSEMBLAGES IN UPPER KLAMATH LAKE, OREGON Upper Klamath Lake (UKL) is a shallow, hypereutrophic lake in southern Oregon, where excessive nutrient loading leads to Aphanizomenon flos–aquae blooms and poor water quality. We determined the distribution of benthic invertebrates in 3 geographic regions (north, central, and south) and 2 habitats (littoral and open-water). Samples were collected in May, June, and July 2013 using a modified Ekman grab and sieved at 500 µm. Invertebrate density in littoral and open-lake habitats was consistently high (mean=12,745 inds/m² ±7,934 S.D.; n=54) with oligochaetes, chironomids, and leeches representing 97% of all individuals. Two-way repeated measures ANOVAs were used to identify differences in invertebrate densities among times, locations and habitats. There were no differences in total density among periods; however, leech densities were lower in May than in June and July and oligochaete densities were higher in May and June than in July. Total density was higher in littoral compared to open-water and in the northern location compared to the central or southern. Variation in invertebrate populations likely leads to variable nutrient loading from excretion and bioturbation that potentially influences algal blooms.

Natalie Stauffer-Olsen (Primary Presenter/Author), UC Berkeley, natjst@berkeley.edu;