Wetland Coffee Break

Invasive species are considered a major threat to wetland ecological integrity. However, I suggest in this presentation that many invasive species are better understood as symptoms of stressed ecosystems instead of as invasive. I assemble seven ecological concepts to help illuminate invasive species as manifestations of stressed conditions and not the cause. Concepts include: 1) biological controls over nutrient cycles (ecosystem phenomenology); 2) loss of keystone species; 3) trophic cascades; 4) eutrophication; 5) functional traits analysis; and 6) unadaptable management plans that unintentionally create and reinforce invasible conditions. I identify threats and management regimes to reduce factors that drive invasion. In conclusion, the continuum framework provides a new frontier in invasive species management by targeting both the species and the drivers of invasion.

Stephen Thomforde has designed and implemented more than 10,000 acres of Midwest restoration projects. His undergraduate training occurred on the Mississippi River, studying mayflies, buffalo fish, and watersheds. His UW-Madison graduate work focused on ecosystem dynamics, food webs, and nutrient cycles. Stephen’s research and experience inspire innovative, scientifically valid, and technically feasible projects.

The Upper Mississippi River is recognized as one of the most important fall staging areas for canvasbacks in the eastern United States. Stephen Winter, wildlife biologist for the USFWS, will use information from previous research and aerial survey data to highlight three important components of canvasback habitat quality on the Upper Mississippi River: (1) a critically important food resource, the submersed aquatic plant wild celery; (2) the presence, absence, or relative amount of human activity/disturbance; and (3) the availability of vast open riverscapes.

Stephen Winter is a wildlife biologist for the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife ad Fish Refuge, a 250,000+ acre refuge that stretches approximately 260 miles from where the Chippewa River enters the Mississippi near Nelson, Wisconsin, down to where the Wapsipinicon River enters near Clinton, Iowa. He particularly enjoys working with waterfowl, which he’s had a love for since he was a small child.

Interpretation of historic and current aerial photography is an important skill for wetland ecologists of all disciplines because it helps tell the story of land use over time. Whether you are conducting a wetland delineation or planning for habitat restoration, review of historic aerial imagery can reveal land use changes that help you better understand soil structure, hydrology, and vegetative patterns. In this session, wetland ecologist Sarah Majerus will discuss potential sources of aerial imagery, acceptable methods for interpretation, and requirements for wetland delineations in Wisconsin. She will also review case studies and collectively evaluate various wetness signatures to illustrate the intricacies of this practice.

Sarah Majerus is a wetland ecologist with more than 15 years of experience working with partners to provide integrated solutions that minimize impacts to natural resources and provide ecological function for the future. Her expertise includes wetland delineation, permitting, watershed planning, and habitat restoration. She is a professional wetland scientist (PWS) with the Society of Wetland Scientists and a Wisconsin DNR Assured Wetland Delineator.

Ecologist Sally Jarosz will provide an introduction to the wetland monitoring and assessment methodologies employed by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. She will share wetland assessment considerations, links to user guides, and additional information about designing a wetland monitoring or assessment effort.

Sally Jarosz has worked for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for 14 years in various roles in the waterway and wetland regulatory program and the water quality program. She has served as the statewide wetland monitoring and assessment coordinator for the past 6 years. She holds a masters degree in wetland ecology from the University of Wisconsin Botany Department and a bachelors degree in biology from Mary Washington College in Virginia.

Wisconsin’s beaver management policies are primarily aimed at benefiting the state’s trout populations. But what if beaver ponds are ideal habitats for threatened and endangered species like the bats of Wisconsin? Research being done in northern Wisconsin suggests that beaver ponds are a source of increased bat activity and foraging as compared to beaver-free streams. This begs the question: Can and should we leverage natural (and low cost) beaver activity to support and create new habitat for species of conservation concern?

Cortney Dean is a graduate student at UW-Stout researching the ecosystem impacts of beavers and beaver ponds in Northwest Wisconsin. She is currently finishing her thesis in anticipation of graduating in May!

Manoomin, known as Zizania palustris or northern wild rice in western science, occurs throughout the western Great Lakes basin. It played a central role in the Anishinaabe migration story and has long been sacred in sustaining the Anishinaabe lifeway. Manoomin’s distinct ecology leaves it susceptible not only to climate change, but to other factors like pollution and aquatic recreation. Abundance of manoomin has declined in recent decades on lakes once supporting major beds in Wisconsin; tribal members associate the loss of manoomin with a loss of identity. Research involving spiritually significant beings like manoomin begins with the communities that value them, not with the research questions themselves. Manoomin has garnered significant research interest in recent years due to its importance to the identity of Ojibwe and other Indigenous peoples inhabiting the Great Lakes region. Historically, research efforts have excluded Traditional Ecological Knowledge; however, with clear alignment of goals, collaborative research can complement tribal interests, strengthen partnerships, and lead to higher impact. Such efforts are imperative to inform policy that protects manoomin as a cultural and ecological keystone. Using a co-design approach, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Northwestern University collaborated with Ojibwe nations and the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission to develop a low-cost remote sensor to monitor environmental factors affecting manoomin. The sensor, known as makak, the Ojibwe word for “container,” was deployed for the first time in 2024. We wish to share our experience interweaving western science and TEK to further manoomin conservation and uphold tribal sovereignty.

Brandon Byrne is an inland fisheries biologist and former wetland wcologist for GLIFWC. He earned his master’s degree from UW-Green Bay, where he studied the relationship between fish-eating birds and fish communities in lower Green Bay. His current work focuses on assessing fish populations in Ceded Territory lakes. He previously co-managed GLIFWC’s Manoomin Program and served as its migratory bird specialist.

While working on wetland delineations, environmental scientist Matt Knickelbine has been observing instances of showy lady slipper (Cypripedium reginae) flowers being filled with dead European skipper butterflies (Thymelicus lineola). Showy lady slipper is an inhabitant of a variety of wetland types and is susceptible to many other stressors, including deer browse, habitat destruction, and changes to groundwater processes. European skipper butterflies were introduced to North America by accident in 1910 and require hayfields near nectar sources. Showy lady slipper is a species of special concern in Wisconsin, endangered in Illinois. It is protected by law as the State Flower of Minnesota. Learn about Matt’s observations, past accounts of this phenomenon that Matt discovered in the literature, and ideas for future research.

Matt Knickelbine is an environmental scientist at Stantec and a Wisconsin DNR Assured Wetland Delineator. He mostly works on wetland science and botany projects but also has experience in restoration ecology, wildlife surveys, and landscape-level ecology, to name a few.