Geology topics

K. Schilling

Publications and source records attributed to K. Schilling.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2014

Environmental DNA calibration study. Interim technical review report

Invasive aquatic nuisance species pose a major threat to aquatic ecosystems worldwide. Invasive Asian carps, including bighead carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis) and silver carp (H. molitrix) have been steadily dispersing upstream through the Mississippi, Illinois, and Des Plaines Rivers since the 1990s. To prevent further movement up the Illinois River into the Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS, see Figures 1.1.1 to 1.1.3) and possibly Lake Michigan and the Great Lakes ecosystem, an electrical barrier has been operating near Lockport to deter the advance of Asian carp. Although one adult individual has been detected in Lockport pool of the Illinois Waterway, the leading edge of the invasion of bighead and silver carp is considered to be at RM 281.5 in Dresden Island Pool, 15 miles downstream from the barrier and 55 miles from Lake Michigan, and that front has not progressed upstream since 2006. Although spawning activity has been observed in Marseilles pool in 2012, verified capture of eggs and larvae remain downstream in Peoria pool, over 140 miles from Lake Michigan (Figure 1.1.1). Should a sustainable Asian carp population become established in the Great Lakes, native fish populations, as well as many threatened or endangered plant/animal species populations, could be impacted. In response to this threat, the Asian Carp Regional Control Committee (ACRCC) was formed in part to coordinate efforts to understand and organize against the Asian carp threat. The Asian Carp Control Strategy Framework (2012a) outlined major tasks to be completed for a better understanding of factors related to the advance of Asian carp populations towards the Great Lakes. In addition, the ACRCC formed the Monitoring and Rapid Response Workgroup to address Asian carp monitoring and removal (ACRCC 2012b).

Midwest waterways↗

USGS2011

Enhanced transpiration by riparian buffer trees in response to advection in a humid temperate agricultural landscape

Riparian buffers are designed as management practices to increase infiltration and reduce surface runoff and transport of sediment and nonpoint source pollutants from crop fields to adjacent streams. Achieving these ecosystem service goals depends, in part, on their ability to remove water from the soil via transpiration. In these systems, edges between crop fields and trees of the buffer systems can create advection processes, which could influence water use by trees. We conducted a field study in a riparian buffer system established in 1994 under a humid temperate climate, located in the Corn Belt region of the Midwestern U.S. (Iowa). The goals were to estimate stand level transpiration by the riparian buffer, quantify the controls on water use by the buffer system, and determine to what extent advective energy and tree position within the buffer system influence individual tree transpiration rates. We primarily focused on the water use response (determined with the Heat Ratio Method) of one of the dominant species ( Acer saccharinum ) and a subdominant ( Juglans nigra ). A few individuals of three additional species ( Quercus bicolor, Betula nigra, Platanus occidentalis ) were monitored over a shorter time period to assess the generality of responses. Meteorological stations were installed along a transect across the riparian buffer to determine the microclimate conditions. The differences found among individuals were attributed to differences in species sap velocities and sapwood depths, location relative to the forest edge and prevailing winds and canopy exposure and dominance. Sapflow rates for A. saccharinum trees growing at the SE edge (prevailing winds) were 39% greater than SE interior trees and 30% and 69% greater than NW interior and edge trees, respectively. No transpiration enhancement due to edge effect was detected in the subdominant J. nigra . The results were interpreted as indicative of advection effects from the surrounding crops. Further, significant differences were document in sapflow rates between the five study species, suggesting that selection of species is important for enhancing specific riparian buffer functions. However, more information is needed on water use patterns among diverse species growing under different climatic and biophysical conditions to assist policy and management decisions regarding effective buffer design.

Forest Ecology and Management↗

USGS2007

Tree and stand transpiration in a Midwestern bur oak savanna after elm encroachment and restoration thinning

Oak savannas, once common in the Midwest, are now isolated remnants within agricultural landscapes. Savanna remnants are frequently encroached by invasive trees to become woodlands. Thinning and prescribed burning can restore savanna structure, but the ecohydrological effects of managing these remnants are poorly understood. In this study, we measured sap flow (Js) to quantify transpiration in an Iowa bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa) savanna woodland encroached by elms (Ulmus americana), and in an adjacent restored savanna after thinning to remove elms, during summer 2004. Savanna oaks had greater mean daily Js (35.9 L dm-2 day-1) than woodland oaks (20.7 L dm-2 day-1) and elms (12.4 L dm-2 day-1). The response of Js to vapor pressure deficit (D) was unexpectedly weak, although oaks in both stands showed negative correlation between daily Js and D for D > 0.4 kPa. An earlier daily peak in Js in the elm trees showed a possible advantage for water uptake. As anticipated, the woodland's stand transpiration was greater (1.23 mm day-1) than the savanna's (0.35 mm day-1), yet the savanna achieved 30% of the woodland's transpiration with only 11% of its sapwood area. The difference in transpiration influenced water table depths, which were 2 m in the savanna and 6.5 m in the woodland. Regionally, row-crop agriculture has increased groundwater recharge and raised water tables, providing surplus water that perhaps facilitated elm encroachment. This has implications for restoration of savanna remnants. If achieving a savanna ecohydrology is an aim of restoration, then restoration strategies may require buffers, or targeting of large or hydrologically isolated remnants. ?? 2007.

Forest Ecology and Management↗

USGS2005

Temporal variations and scaling of streamflow and baseflow and their nitrate-nitrogen concentrations and loads

The patterns of temporal variations of precipitation (P), streamflow (SF) and baseflow (BF) as well as their nitrate-nitrogen (nitrate) concentrations (C) and loads (L) from a long-term record (28 years) in the Raccoon River, Iowa, were analyzed using variogram and spectral analyses. The daily P is random but scaling may exist in the daily SF and BF with a possible break point in the scaling at about 18 days and 45 days, respectively. The nitrate concentrations and loads are shown to have a half-year cycle while daily P, SF, and BF have a one-year cycle. Furthermore, there may be a low-frequency cycle of 6-8 years in C. The power spectra of C and L in both SF and BF exhibit fractal 1/f scaling with two characteristic frequencies of half-year and one-year, and are fitted well with the spectrum of the gamma distribution. The nitrate input to SF and BF at the Raccoon watershed seems likely to be a white noise process superimposed on another process with a half-year and one-year cycle. ?? 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Advances in Water Resources↗