Landscape ecology of the Upper Mississippi River System: Lessons learned, challenges and opportunities
Links
- Document: Report (6.58 MB)
- Download citation as: RIS | Dublin Core
Abstract
The Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS) is a mosaic of river channels, backwater lakes, floodplain forests, and emergent marshes. This complex mosaic supports diverse aquatic and terrestrial plant communities, over 150 fish species; 40 freshwater mussel species; 50 amphibian and reptile species; and over 360 bird species, many of which use the UMRS as a critical migratory route. The river and floodplain are also hotspots for biogeochemical activity as the river-floodplain collects and processes nutrients derived from the UMR basin. These features qualify the UMRS as a Ramsar wetland of international significance.
Two centuries of land-use change, including construction for navigation and conversion of large areas to agriculture, has altered the broad-scale structure of the river and changed local environmental conditions in many areas. Such changes have affected rates of nutrient processing and transport, as well as the abundance of various fish, mussel, plant, and bird species. However, the magnitude and spatial scale of these effects are not well quantified, especially in regards to the best methods and locations for restoring various aspects of the river ecosystem.
The U.S. Congress declared the navigable portions of the Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS) a “nationally significant ecosystem and nationally significant commercial navigation system” in the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 (Public Law 99-662) and launched the Upper Mississippi River Restoration (UMRR) Program, the first comprehensive program for ecosystem restoration, monitoring, and research on a large river system. This fact sheet focuses on landscape ecological studies conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey to support decision making by the UMRR with respect to ecosystem restoration.
Suggested Citation
De Jager, N., 2016, Landscape Ecology of the Upper Mississippi River System: Lessons learned, challenges and opportunities. U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2016–3007, 4 p., http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/fs20163007.
ISSN: 2327-6932 (online)
ISSN: 2327-6916 (print)
Study Area
| Publication type | Report |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | USGS Numbered Series |
| Title | Landscape ecology of the Upper Mississippi River System: Lessons learned, challenges and opportunities |
| Series title | Fact Sheet |
| Series number | 2016-3007 |
| DOI | 10.3133/fs20163007 |
| Year Published | 2016 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | U.S. Geological Survey |
| Publisher location | Reston, VA |
| Contributing office(s) | Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center |
| Description | 4 p. |
| Country | United States |
| Other Geospatial | Upper Mississippi River System |
| Online Only (Y/N) | N |
| Additional Online Files (Y/N) | N |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |