Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge Wildlife Inventory Results
Bald Eagle Surveys
Upper Mississippi River NW&FR, Pools 4-14 BALD EAGLE PRODUCTION Young Active Nests Still growing in 2008!!
Great Blue Heron Nesting Surveys
GREAT BLUE HERON NESTING ACTIVITY Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge Colonies ? 2008: No survey; poor production
Aerial Waterfowl Surveys
Upper Miss Refuge 2007 Waterfowl Peak Counts - Pools 4-14 SpeciesPeak Count DatePeak Count Tundra SwanNovember 2623,375 Canada GooseNovember 2617,395 MallardNovember 2656,395 GadwallNovember 1328,530 American WigeonSeptember 277,570 Blue-winged TealSeptember 271,520 Green-winged TealSeptember 271,955 Wood DuckSeptember CanvasbackOctober 29284,885 Ring-necked DuckNovember 1331,915 Lesser ScaupNovember 1355,215 American CootOctober 29117,195
Reed Canary Grass Control And Succession to Wetland Forest and Meadow Three districts on Upper Miss participating in FWS inter-region study on rcg
Study Questions –Rcg adjacent to floodplain forest: effect of seed rain following rcg eradication –Rcg in understory of forest: effect of seed rain following rcg eradication –Rcg-dominated meadow: success of reseeding after eradicating all vegetation –Native-dominated meadow: ability of native species to prevent rcg growth following rcg eradication.
Fall Determined management units - Set up monitoring wells and gauges -Collected soil samples -Collected seedbank samples in meadows
Spring/Summer Marked vegetation sampling plots -Sampled plots pre- treatment and peak biomass -Set up and monitored seed traps in forest units -Contracted herbicide treatment -High water issues
Collect seedbank samples in forest units Continue monitoring vegetation plots, wells, seed traps Treat all sites a second time Prepare for reseeding 2009 Field Season
Veg Ad Hoc’s Pool 3 Vegetation Sampling 20 crews 10 agencies Sampled between Red Wing, MN and Hastings, MN
57 vegetated sites 227 NOAQVG sites (includes 15 too deep to rake) 15 sites on land or inaccessible 13 species submersed vegetation 4 species emergent vegetation 2 species rooted floating-leaved Preliminary results
Comparison to previous sampling efforts