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- Author
- Wetherell, Jessica L., Melendez, Josue W.
- Description
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Wetherell, Jessica, Melendez, Josue W., & Zuercher, Gerald L. “Bat Surveys in Eastern Iowa: Simultaneous Stability and Change.” Poster presentation for the Chlapaty Research Fellowship Program, University of Dubuque, 2013.
Abstract: North American bats (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae) are often underrepresented in conservation and management plans due to inadequate current information. The recent spread of white-nose syndrome (WNS) has raised concerns for bats throughout the eastern and mid-western United States. WNS was first detected in Iowa during the winter of 2011-2012. There are nine species of bats recorded for Iowa. This includes Myotis lucifugus (little brown bat) which has been severely impacted by WNS at some locations, the Federally Endangered Myotis sodalis (Indiana bat), Nycticeius humeralis (evening bat) which is “Threatened” within Iowa, and Myotis septentrionalis (northern myotis) which is a “Species of Special Concern” within Iowa. We sampled bat communities at Mines of Spain Recreational Area, a state park along the Mississippi River, between June and August 2013. This location also was sampled during the same time period of 2012. Mist nets were set up before sunset and left in place until one hour after the last bat was captured. Overall, eight of nine potential Iowa bat species were captured with little brown bats being the most common species during both sampling efforts. During the 2012 survey, a single Nycticeius humeralis was detected in Mines of Spain. During the 2013 survey, a suspected Myotis sodalis was captured. Perimyotis subflavus (tricolored bat) was not captured during 2012 but was captured during 2013. While little brown bats were the most common species during both surveys, other changes in community composition were documented including an increase in bat species diversity between 2012 and 2013 despite a decrease in captured individuals. Bats are important components of local biodiversity; we suggest continuing bat surveys in eastern Iowa.
- Author
- Ellison, Nathan M.
- Description
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Ellison, Nate M. Koch, David E., & Zuercher, Gerald L. "Painted Turtle Movement Patterns in a Mississippi River Island Backwater." Poster presentation for the Chlapaty Research Fellowship Program, University of Dubuque, 2013.
Abstract:In our turtle sampling at Nine-mile Island in Pool 12 in the Upper Mississippi River, painted turtles are the dominant species by number. While many captured turtles are recaptures, many of them are also caught only once, which suggests differing movement patterns. In an effort to better understand the type of habitat use and movement patterns of these turtles we used radio-telemetry to track three (3) turtles over a period of two months. Hoop nets were used to capture these turtles in a backwater portion of Nine-mile Island, then radio transmitters were attached to their carapace, and the turtles were released into the backwater they were captured in. All three turtles showed similar movement patterns in that each of them would stay in one small region for several days then moved to another nearby area. Total distance moved by the turtles in the tracking period was variable.
- Author
- Nie, Eric T.
- Description
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Abstract: Water quality is an extremely important driver for the ecological processes that support life and influence biodiversity. Land use has a major influence on water quality, with some of the highest impact activities often associated with agriculture and waste disposal. During the past year grab and automated water samples were taken upstream (above landfill) and downstream (below the landfill) to characterize the water quality impacts of land use on the South Fork of Catfish Creek, a tributary of the Mississippi River. This stretch of Catfish Creek allows for an investigation of the impacts of land use and runoff as is adjacent to multiple land uses including both landfill and agricultural lands and was monitored during both base flow and rain-induced runoff events. Significant differences between water qualities characteristics were noted between the differing flow conditions. The samples were analyzed for suspended particulate matter (SPM), various phosphorus forms, nitrates, and heavy metals. Hydrographs showed the relation to changes in concentrations of phosphorus, metals, and sediment change with the flow levels during storm runoff events. Both our sampling sites, above and below the landfill, held levels of phosphorus that exceeded the EPA’s recommendation for ecoregion VII, likely a result of high amounts of agricultural land use in the study watershed. However the form of phosphorus varied between the sites during runoff events in that the upstream sites had more sediment bound P than downstream. This likely results from storage in the stream of sediment bound P as the velocity slows down and the sediment falls out of suspension, which holds long term implications on nutrients storage and transport in this system. Metal concentrations studied show that the holding (retention) pond have much lower concentrations of metals than does the stream – both before and after passing the ponds. As the downstream concentrations of these metals in nearly all cases are similar in concentration than the upstream water it seems very apparent that the ponds, or groundwater flow, are not contributing these potential leachate components into the stream during base flow conditions. Our results indicate that the agricultural lands are likely impacting Catfish Creek landfill with respect to nutrient loading, however the landfill is not adversely impacting the South Fork of Catfish Creek with respect to the analyses examined.
Citation:Nie, Eric T., & Hoffman, Adam R. “Monitoring the Impact of the Land Use Characteristics on the Surface Water Quality of a Mississippi River Tributary.” Poster presentation for the Chlapaty Research Fellowship Program, University of Dubuque, 2013.
- Author
- Beck, Alex, Schultz, Paul
- Description
- Abstract::This research project entails working with a joint partnership between the City of Dubuque and IBM Research on the Smarter Discards Pilot Study. The purpose of this research has many concepts, but my main focus areas were with diversion strategies from the landfill. It was also to improve Dubuque residents’ awareness of the importance and opportunities for more effective discard management practices. There is an online portal that will allow residents to view and analyze their “behavior” with discarding materials. By increasing public awareness and further opportunities for residents to participate in curbside collection of recyclables, food scraps, yard scraps, and trash, we are trying to provide further opportunities for Dubuque to become a more sustainable and prosperous city. There will be RFID tags installed onto recycling and trash bins to collect and transmit data pertaining to physical amounts that are set out for curbside collection each week. This allowed us to analyze weekly performance for household’s trash to recyclables ratio, landfill diversion, and cost savings. Along with data collection on trash and recycling bins, we also created a Smarter Discards survey asking residents in this program seven recycling questions, seven behavior questions, and open ended questions for participants to leave any comments or suggestions they chose. Shown in these graphs are responses from these participants about the Smarter Discards Pilot Study.
- Author
- Bainbridge, Elizabeth L., Cruise, Chelsie E., Kieffer, Lea M., Matthews, Aaron J.
- Description
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Bainbridge, E.G., Cruise, C.E., Kieffer, L.M., Matthews, A.J., Koch, David E., & Zuercher, G.L. “Gender Differences in Home-Ranges for Southern Flying Squirrels (Glaucomys volans) in Eastern Iowa.” Poster presentation for the Chlapaty Research Fellowship, 2012.
Abstract: In Iowa, southern flying squirrels (Glaucomys volans) are considered a “Species of Special Concern”. This stems mainly from a lack of information about the ecology of southern flying squirrels within the state. Students at the University of Dubuque have been studying this species at Mines of Spain Recreation Area (MoSRA) in eastern Iowa for several years. Beginning in August, 2011 flying squirrels have been fitted with telemetry transmitters in an effort to better understand their spatial needs and movement patterns within the park. Transmitters were affixed to ten flying squirrels which were captured from different parts of the park. The goals were to: 1) determine their locations on a regular basis (usually nightly); 2) calculate home ranges and average daily movement distances; 3) compare between individuals to evaluate whether spatial needs are consistent throughout the park; and 4) determine whether or not females occupy different spatial ranges from male squirrels. While a few flying squirrels have yielded only a few locations, most flying squirrels were routinely located for several weeks each. It appears that the spatial needs of both male and female squirrels changes through time. These data hopefully will yield a better understanding of flying squirrel ecology.
- Author
- Englert, Melissa A., Goff, Mitchell T., Mondragon, Maria F., Olson, Chelsea J., Olson, Kayla S., Sinton, Mark
- Description
- Citation: Englert, Melissa A., Goff, Mitchell, Mondragon, Maria F., Olson, Chelsea, Olson, Kayla, & Sinton, Mark. "An Analysis of the Thermophilic Mechanism of Potato Tyrosinase." Poster presentation for the Chlapaty Research Fellowship Program, University of Dubuque, 2012.
- Author
- Skopek, Jenna L., Marr, Shelby L., Call, Daniel J., Malon, Michael J.
- Description
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Skopek, Jenna L., Hoffman, Adam.R., Marr, Shelby L., Call, Daniel J., & Malon, Michael J. “Interspecies Variations in Growth Rate and Zebra Mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) Among Native Freshwater Mussels in Pool 12 of the Mississippi River.” Poster presentation for the Chlapaty Research Fellowship Program, University of Dubuque, 2014.
Abstract: Mussels are extremely important biological indicators in freshwater systems. Freshwater mussel diversity can be adversely affected by anthropogenic impacts and invasive species. The influence of one invasive species, zebra mussels (Dreissenapolymorpha) have been implicated as a factor in the decline in diversity and abundance of freshwater mussel species. Mussel population distribution and D. polymorphacolonization at nine sites were studied in 2010 through 2014 field seasons near 9-Mile Island in Pool 12 of the Mississippi River. Mussels were collected by pollywoggingalong 25 meter transects of randomly selected quadrants and were examined for D. polymorpha. D. polymorphainfestation was measured on a scale of 0 to 4, depending on the amount of colonization on the freshwater mussel. Live mussels (2,628) and recaptured mussels (n = 297) were measured for shell length, width, and height, which were used to ages of the live mussels. Mussel densities were probed to determine if differences occurred due to an increased growth rates or longer lifespan. A total of 2,628 mussels, representing 21 species, were cataloged. The most prevalent mussel species were Threeridge(Amblemaplicata; n=1420), which had D. polymorphacolonization of 20.4%, Wabash Pigtoe(Fusconaiaflava; n=953), which had a D. polymorphacolonization of 8.2%, ThreehornWartyback(Obliquariareflexa; n=333), which had D. polymorphacolonization of 16.8%, and Plain Pocketbook (Lampsiliscardium; n=183), which had D. polymorphacolonization of 23.4%. Implications of D. polymorphacolonization and human impacts in pool 12 and other pools of the Mississippi River will be discussed.
- Author
- Cruise, Chelsie E., Bainbridge, Elizabeth G., Redmond, Kyle, Johnson, Meghan L.
- Description
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Cruise, Chelsie E., Elizabeth G. Bainbridge, Kyle Redmond, Megan Johnson and Gerald L. Zuercher. "Assessment of a Southern Flying Squirrel (Glaucomys volans) Population in the Upper Mississippi River Watershed." Chlapaty Research Fellowship, 2012.
Abstract:
Southern flying squirrels, Glaucomys volans, are a “species of concern” in Iowa. Within Iowa, they are considered “uncommon” with an “unknown” population trend. This assessment appears driven by a lack of information for the species. While their reported distribution in Iowa includes all but the extreme northwest corner, there are relatively few records of the species for the state. Beginning in early June 2012, we surveyed southern flying squirrels along four transects within Mines of Spain Recreation Area (MoSRA), a state park located in Dubuque County, Iowa. These transects also were sampled in 2011. We used Ugglan multi-capture live-traps, baited with peanut butter mixed with raisins, which were placed on trees approximately 5-meters above ground level. Traps were checked each morning, for five consecutive days, every other week. To date, 18 flying squirrels have been captured and marked with PIT (Passive Integrated Transponder) tags. Capture rates for 2012 were lower than for 2011. Also, patterns of capture success differed between years; the highest capture success for 2012 comes from the transect with the lowest capture success in 2011. We will summarize our capture data for 2012 and compare to previous years.
- Author
- Porter, Tyler J., Duve, Brandon P.
- Description
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Porter, Tyler J., Duve, Brandon, & Koch, David E. “White Sucker Movement Patterns and Stream Diversity of Two Mississippi River Tributary Streams.” Poster presentation for the Chlapaty Research Fellowship Program, University of Dubuque, 2013.
Abstract: In Northeast Iowa, two cold-water streams, Catfish Creek and Little Maquoketa River in Dubuque County are stocked with three trout species (rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss; brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis; brown trout, Salmo trutta) and fished relatively heavily by anglers. The richness of species and diversity of the streams have been an ongoing study for the past five years by the University of Dubuque to measure stream health and inter-annual variations. This summer, both streams were sampled using electro-shocking once a week for eight weeks. The white sucker (Catostomus commersonii) is the most populous fish in both of these streams, and its movement patterns have been studied very little in Eastern Iowa. Three adult white suckers were tagged with radio telemetry tags in Catfish Creek and tracked over the course of three weeks in late summer. The white suckers were mostly stationary, with only short inter-pool movements, except for the occurrence of one large movement near the end of the study. Catfish Creek yielded more fish, with higher diversity and richness than the Little Maquoketa River.