Wetland Coffee Break

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!

Beavers are a keystone wildlife species. They are ecosystem engineers capable of maintaining and enhancing wetland functionality. Restoration ecologist Clay Frazer will discuss beaver behavior and how having beavers on the landscape can improve water quality, mitigate flooding, support biodiversity, and increase wetland functionality. Clay will also discuss successful beaver co-existence projects where flow devices such as pond levelers and beaver dam analogs (BDAs) were successfully installed in Wisconsin.

Clay Frazer has worked as a Restoration Ecologist for more than 20 years in Wisconsin and is passionate about helping landowners and land managers learn methods of managing beavers non-lethally. He is the co-owner of Native Range Ecological, LLC.

Details coming soon!

Manoomin (wild rice) 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. Abundance of manoomin has declined in recent decades on lakes once supporting major beds in Wisconsin. 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 excluded Traditional Ecological Knowledge; however, with clear alignment of goals, collaborative research can complement tribal interests, strengthen partnerships, and lead to higher impact. 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.

Brandon Byrne is an Inland Fisheries Biologist for the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC). His work focuses on assessing inland fish populations in northern Wisconsin and Michigan and assisting GLIFWC member Tribes with the protection of Ceded Territory fish populations and habitat. Brandon previously co-managed GLIFWC’s Manoomin Program as a Wetland Ecologist.

Blaine Rothrock is a Computer Science PhD candidate at Northwestern University. He earned his master’s degree in artificial intelligence from Northwestern University and his bachelor’s degree in informatics from Indiana University. Blaine’s work focuses on novel applications of health wearables and environmental sensors, with the ultimate goal of democratizing access to the development of ubiquitous embedded devices to promote research, creativity, and education.

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.