Two Combined Sessions

Speaker: Thomas Boisvert and Lisa Burns

Evaluating Zebra Mussel Suitability in NW Wisconsin Lakes

Burnett and Washburn Counties have both received inquiries concerning suitability of area lakes to zebra mussels. Currently, the AIS Smart Prevention Tool predicts suitability for the majority of lakes across Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula. Diving deeper into this tool, it was noted that a majority of Northwestern Wisconsin data used in the suitability analyses was very old (40-50 years). Because of this, Burnett and Washburn Counties decided to gather new data for 30 lakes and compare the results to the current suitability outlined in the AIS Smart Prevention Tool. Results will be used to accurately prioritize ZM control efforts within the two Counties.  
 

Speakers: Peter Weishampel, Hannah Beeler, and Caleb Slemmons
A Lake Research Platform: Aquatic Sampling and Instrumentation at Crampton and Little Rock Lake in Northern Wisconsin, National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON)

The NSF’s National Ecological Observatory Network is a 30-year project to collect ecological data at terrestrial and aquatic field sites across the US. The aquatic sites include 24 wadeable streams, 3 non-wadeable rivers, and 7 lakes, encompassing a wide range of climates and ecosystems. NEON uses a combination of automated sensors, field observations, and laboratory analyses to collect data addressing biological diversity (zoo and phytoplankton, plants, invertebrates, fish and microbes), water quality, biogeochemistry, hydrology, and bathymetry. In this talk, we use data from two lakes in NEON’s Great Lakes Domain to illustrate the observatory’s aquatic data collection approaches. NEON’s open-access data portal (data.neonscience.org) includes 59 different aquatics data products. Open-access datasets from NEON sites represent an emerging research platform for investigations of aquatic ecology at local, regional, and continental scales, including short-term and longer-term dynamics.