Geology topics

Jennifer Read

Publications and source records attributed to Jennifer Read.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2021

A structured approach to remediation site assessment: Lessons from 15 years of fish spawning habitat creation in the St. Clair‐Detroit River system

Ideally, restoration re‐establishes natural processes in degraded habitats (e.g., flow and sediment regimes). However, in altered systems where process‐based restoration is not feasible, habitat construction is another approach to mitigate degradation. Because habitat construction does not directly focus on restoring processes that build and maintain desired habitats, projects must be developed and placed within the contemporary regulatory, ecological, and hydrogeomorphic context of a system, to maximize effectiveness. Here, we develop a framework for evaluating the regulatory, ecological, and hydrogeomorphic components using 15 years of fish spawning habitat construction in the St. Clair‐Detroit River System. The process began by identifying regulatory requirements at a coarse resolution to quickly focus on locations where ecological potential and hydrogeomorphic constraints could be assessed at finer resolutions. Next, ecological potential was assessed using a lithophilic fish spawning habitat suitability index. The suitability index identified five sites for habitat construction and Lake sturgeon spawning was documented at each site following construction. However, qualitative monitoring showed fine sediments accumulated at older sites. Thus, geomorphic assessments were incorporated to identify sediment sources and model flow within targeted areas. Since geomorphic assessments required the finest resolution and had the most uncertainty, they were conducted after broad‐scale regulatory considerations and ecological assessments narrowed focus to a few candidate sites. The order of operations identified in this case study evolved from the iterative approach of the restoration team, but in retrospect, it helped develop a framework that directed project development resources to aspects with more uncertainty, where learning is most critical.

Michigan, Ontario↗

USGS2017

Report from the Workshop on Coregonine Restoration Science

Summary Great Lakes fishery managers have the opportunity and have expressed interest in reestablishing a native forage base in the Great Lakes consisting of various forms and species within the genus Coregonus . This report summarizes the proceedings of a workshop focused on a subset of the genus, and the term “coregonines” is used to refer to several species of deepwater ciscoes (also known as “chubs”) and the one more pelagic-oriented cisco species ( Coregonus artedi , also known as “lake herring”). As the principal conservation agency for the United States Government, the Department of Interior has unique and significant authorities and capacities to support a coregonine reestablishment program in the Great Lakes. To identify and discuss key uncertainties associated with such a program and develop a coordinated approach, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), the principal Department of the Interior bureaus to address Great Lakes fishery issues, held the first of a series of workshops on coregonine science in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on October 11–13, 2016. Workshop objectives were to identify (1) perceived key uncertainties associated with coregonine restoration in the Great Lakes and (2) DOI capacities for addressing these key uncertainties.

Open-File Report↗

USGS2017

Multiple models guide strategies for agricultural nutrient reductions

In response to degraded water quality, federal policy makers in the US and Canada called for a 40% reduction in phosphorus (P) loads to Lake Erie, and state and provincial policy makers in the Great Lakes region set a load-reduction target for the year 2025. Here, we configured five separate SWAT (US Department of Agriculture's Soil and Water Assessment Tool) models to assess load reduction strategies for the agriculturally dominated Maumee River watershed, the largest P source contributing to toxic algal blooms in Lake Erie. Although several potential pathways may achieve the target loads, our results show that any successful pathway will require large-scale implementation of multiple practices. For example, one successful pathway involved targeting 50% of row cropland that has the highest P loss in the watershed with a combination of three practices: subsurface application of P fertilizers, planting cereal rye as a winter cover crop, and installing buffer strips. Achieving these levels of implementation will require local, state/provincial, and federal agencies to collaborate with the private sector to set shared implementation goals and to demand innovation and honest assessments of water quality-related programs, policies, and partnerships.

Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment↗

USGS2017

Ecosystem services in the Great Lakes

A comprehensive inventory of ecosystem services across the entire Great Lakes basin is currently lacking and is needed to make informed management decisions. A greater appreciation and understanding of ecosystem services, including both use and non-use services, may have avoided misguided resource management decisions in the past that resulted in negative legacies inherited by future generations. Given the interest in ecosystem services and lack of a coherent approach to addressing this topic in the Great Lakes, a summit was convened involving 28 experts working on various aspects of ecosystem services in the Great Lakes. The invited attendees spanned a variety of social and natural sciences. Given the unique status of the Great Lakes as the world's largest collective repository of surface freshwater, and the numerous stressors threatening this valuable resource, timing was propitious to examine ecosystem services. Several themes and recommendations emerged from the summit. There was general consensus that: 1) a comprehensive inventory of ecosystem services throughout the Great Lakes is a desirable goal but would require considerable resources; 2) more spatially and temporally intensive data are needed to overcome our data gaps, but the arrangement of data networks and observatories must be well-coordinated; 3) trade-offs must be considered as part of ecosystem services analyses; and 4) formation of a Great Lakes Institute for Ecosystem Services, to provide a hub for research, meetings, and training is desirable. Several challenges also emerged during the summit, which are discussed.

Great Lakes↗

USGS2016

Informing Lake Erie agriculture nutrient management via scenario evaluation

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) have been increasing in extent and intensity in the western basin of Lake Erie. The cyanobacteria Microcystis produces toxins that pose serious threats to animal and human health, resulting in beach closures and impaired water supplies, and have even forced a “do not drink” advisory for the City of Toledo water system for several days in the summer of 2014. The main driver of Lake Erie HABs is elevated phosphorus loading from watersheds draining to the western basin, particularly from the Maumee River watershed (Obenour et al. 2014). Through the 2012 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA), the U.S. and Canadian governments agreed to revise Lake Erie phosphorus loading targets to decrease HAB severity below levels representing a hazard to ecosystem and human health. New targets limit March-July loadings from the Maumee River to 186 metric tonnes of dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) and 860 metric tonnes of total phosphorus (TP) – a 40% reduction from 2008 loads (GLWQA 2016). The Great Lakes region must now determine what policy options are most effective and feasible for meeting those targets. While all sources are important, our focus is on agriculture because it overwhelms other sources. In a conservative ballpark estimate we found that 85% of the Maumee River’s load to Lake Erie comes from farm fertilizers and manures, even though this is only 10% of farmland fertilizer applications (Figure 1). Load targets will not be met without reductions from agriculture. Therefore, the overall goal of this study was to identify potential options for agricultural management to reduce phosphorus loads and lessen future HABs in Lake Erie. We applied multiple watershed models to test the ability of a series of land management scenarios, developed in consultation with agricultural and environmental stakeholders, to reach the proposed targets.

Indiana, Michigan, Ohio↗