Sedges and grasses have a competitive advantage over cattails at higher elevations in Great Lakes wetlands where periodic low lake levels result in soils too dry to support cattails. Regulation of Lake Ontario water levels eliminated low lake-level years, resulting in cattail invasion. At a wetland scale at two Lake Ontario sites, we tested restoration methods by dredging channels through cattails, using spoil materials to create mounds suitable for sedge/grass growth, seeding mounds, and controlling cattails (T. glauca) using methods adapted from experimental studies. Soil moisture and subsidence of mound soils were monitored. Vegetation was sampled pre-restoration and in shoreline sedge/grass meadow, emergent, and mound zones for two years following implementation. Although spoil mounds decreased in elevation at both sites, soil moisture increased more at the site with greater subsidence. Mean percent cover and ramet counts of cattails were reduced in sedge/grass and emergent zones at both sites. Mounds with greater soil moisture held more cattails post-construction. Across years at both sites, Carex lacustris and Calamagrostis canadensis increased in the sedge/grass meadow zone with reduction in Typha; Calamagrostis increased on the mounds. Key factors affecting results were cattail litter and, on the mounds, a second year of seeding with in situ cold, moist stratification, as well as soil moisture related to subsidence. Recommendations for future restorations include conducting more detailed soil surveys to assess potential subsidence, dredging wider and deeper channels to provide spoil for higher mounds, actively controlling invasive species, and conducting additional years of post-restoration data collection. 2022 International Association for Great Lakes Research. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Field observations and measurements of wetland plants have traditionally been used to monitor and evaluate wetland condition; however, there has been increasing use of remote sensing applications for rapid evaluations of wetland productivity and change. Combining key aspects of field- and remote sensing-based wetland evaluation methods can provide more efficient or improved biological indices. This exploratory study set out to develop a raster-based Wetland Vegetation Condition Indicator system that used airborne hyperspectral imagery-derived data to estimate plant-community quality (via wetland classification and Coefficient of Conservatism) and vegetation biomass (estimated using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index). The Wetland Vegetation Condition Indicator system was developed for three Lake Ontario wetland areas and compared to a field-based floristic quality index and a dominant-plant based Floristic quality indexdom. The indicator system serves as a proof-of-concept that capitalized on the spatial and spectral attributes of high-resolution imagery to quantify and characterize the quality and quantity of wetland vegetation. A Pearson correlation analysis showed moderate r values of 0.59 and 0.62 for floristic quality index and floristic quality indexdom, respectively, compared to the indicator method. The differences are potentially due to the spatial resolution of the imagery and the indicator method only accounting for the dominant plants within each assessment unit (pixel), therefore disregarding understory plants or those with low abundance. However, the multi-metric Wetland Vegetation Condition Indicator approach shows promise as an indicator of wetland condition by using remotely sensed data, which could be useful for more efficient landscape-scale assessments of wetland health, resilience, and recovery

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This study examined dysfunctional career thoughts and attitudes as predictors of vocational identity among high school students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Regression analysis results indicated that dysfunctional career thoughts and attitudes were significant predictors of vocational identity, accounting for 42% of the explained variance. Dysfunctional career thinking, measured by the Career Thoughts Inventory (Sampson, Peterson, Lenz, Reardon, & Saunders, 1996) and the CareerMaturity Inventory—Revised (Crites & Savickas, 1996), displayed important predictive relationships with vocational identity as measured by the Vocational Identity Scale (Holland, Daiger, & Power, 1980). Implications for interventions and further research in vocational psychology and career counseling with ADHD students are discussed.

Field measurements of overland runoff and aerial photographs were analyzed in Black Creek watershed (western New York State), to determine if a topographically based loading model could be used to identify overland flow paths in order to rank stream segments for prioritization for nutrient remediation. Discharge and phosphorous concentration were measured at twelve sites to compute the frequency of overland flow, approximate volume of overland flow and flux of phosphorous at each site. Using these metrics, sites were ranked according to their phosphorous contribution to the stream network. Although a nonparametric correlation of observed and modeled rankings suggests that flow accumulation did an inadequate job of ranking the sites, valuable management information on hydrologic connectivity was acquired by identifying where the model did not perform well. An analysis of the model showed that the performance of the weighted flow accumulation model was due primarily to its inaccuracy in estimating contributing area. The field and aerial assessments suggest that subtle anthropogenic changes to topography and hydrography, which altered surface flow paths, were the primary cause of this inaccuracy. These changes were not represented at the resolution of the USGS 10-meter DEM used in the model, either because the landscape modification took place after the source material for the DEM was created or the resolution was too low. In descending order of importance, topographic alterations include road and driveway berms, drainage ditches, stream straightening and stream squaring. One other modification type, tile drains, was important for changing the catchment area of overland flows. These features have an enormous impact on surface flow paths in the study area and were found to be important in controlling hydrologic 'connectivity' to the stream network. Identifying where these features impact surface flow paths is critical information in Best Management Practice (BMP) prioritization. Although the flow accumulation model did not accurately assess overland flow paths well enough to rank stream segments sufficiently for buffer prioritization, useful information was gleaned by overlaying the results of the model on aerial photographs and conducting field assessments. The ease with which this model approach can be carried out, requiring no calibration and needing spatial data that are available in practically all areas, make it a very effective tool for watershed planning. The study underscores the importance that anthropogenic alterations of the landscape have on hydrology and the need for better digital elevation products that represent these features.

Great Lakes coastal wetlands (GLCW) have been severely degraded by anthropogenic activity over the last several decades despite their critical role in fish production. Many Great Lakes fish species use coastal wetland habitats for spawning, feeding, shelter, and nurseries throughout the year. The goal of our study was to compare GLCW fish community composition in the spring, summer, and fall months and investigate how water quality relates to fish diversity, the presence of functional groups, and juvenile fish diets. We summarized fish data collected from GLCW across the basin and used the coastal wetland monitoring program’s water quality-land use indicator to quantify water quality. Basin-wide, we found taxonomic and functional group differences in community composition among three sampling seasons, as well as across the range of water quality. Water quality was positively associated with the abundance of small cyprinids and the relative abundance of some habitat and reproductive specialists. Seasonal differences were also observed for many of these functional groups, with more temperature- and pollution- sensitive fishes captured in the spring and more nest-spawning fishes captured in the summer and fall. In our diet study, we found that age-0 fish primarily consumed zooplankton in the fall, whereas age-1 fish primarily consumed macroinvertebrates in the spring. Moreover, wetland quality was positively associated with trichopteran prey abundance. We concluded that taxonomic and functional composition of fish communities in GLCW vary markedly with respect to water quality and season. Thus, a full understanding of communities across a gradient of quality requires multi-season sampling.

Gas drilling into the Marcellus Shale play has been linked to environmental issues, including potential impacts on wildlife. In 2009, three separate accidents occurred at two gas well sites in central Pennsylvania, USA that resulted in high levels of contaminants in Wallace Mine Fen and a headwater stream that flows through the fen. We collected water chemistry, vegetation, and amphibian data at the impacted fen and at a control fen in 2012 and 2013 to determine similarity of sites and the impacts of the contaminants. We also reviewed water chemistry reports generated by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection for data collected shortly after the accidents occurred to provide insight on the nature of the accidents. Ordinations of vegetation data, as well as water chemistry, showed that the two wetlands are similar and dominated by the same plant species and water chemistry. Historically, both wetlands provided habitat for amphibians. However, unlike in pre-accident amphibian data, we detected virtually no amphibians in the impacted Wallace Mine Fen, suggesting that amphibians were possibly negatively affected by gas-drilling accidents.

A chronosequence of wetland swales between beach ridges in the Manistique/Thompson embayments of Lake Michigan contains plant communities that differ across the strandplain.We characterized vegetation in 33 swales and compared distribution with previously reported groundwater flow systems. Older swales near a groundwater divide created by the peak Nipissing ridge receive local flows and hold sedge/leatherleaf floating mats that transition to swamp. Farther lakeward, another groundwater divide is created by discharge of calcareous waters released by termination of an underlying clay confining layer, resulting in swales dominated by northern white cedar. Cedar swamp continues lakeward in swales having flow-through calcareous groundwater, but several swales are perched above those flows. Farther lakeward, a large amalgamated beach ridge creates another groundwater divide with discharges that again support cedar swamp. Calcareous discharge from the confined aquifer, with downslope flow-through waters, then supports more cedar swamp. Flow-through waters meet yet another calcareous discharge, resulting in ponding and development of floating mats. Finally, a deep regional aquifer discharges at the Lake Michigan shore and supports marsh/shoreline species. Our results have implications for assessing potential responses to climate change, interpretation of past climate changes in paleoecological studies, and management of wetlands facing future climate changes

Beach ridges and wetland swales formed in embayments along Great Lakes shorelines during Holocene lake-level changes. Vegetation differences among swales suggested influence from differing groundwater flow systems. We characterized the hydrology across 79 ridge/swale wetlands in the Manistique/Thompson embayments of Lake Michigan using chemical and physical methods. Cross-sections were built from geologic data, and nested piezometers were installed across three ridges/swales where upwelling was noted. Stainless steel piezometers driven in 30 swales were sampled and water analyzed for specific conductance, alkalinity, and major ions. Surface water from 11 swales was analyzed. Water dominated by Ca-Mg-HCO3 was prevalent across the strandplain, with specific conductance generally less than 100 μS/cm. Conductivity, Ca, Mg, and HCO3 in groundwater were greater at identified groundwater discharges; where an amalgamated beach ridge forms a surficial groundwater divide; and swales nearer Lake Michigan that likely receive greatly mineralized water from a deeper aquifer. Repositioning of the shoreline as the embayments filled over the past 4700 years, coupled with isostatic rebound and changes in lake water levels, altered head differentials and changed the sources of discharge from local, intermediate, and deep flow systems over time. Extant plant communities are consistent with the groundwater dependence of these wetlands.

Scirpus Cyperinus (woolgrass) is a common invader of disturbed wetlands where soils have been exposed by water level reductions or vegetative cover has been reduced by various means. Its usual habitats include ditches, wet meadows, marshes and low, muddy grounds in the eastern United States and Canada. This study documents the encroachment of a woolgrass community onto well-decomposed organic soils exposed when long-term, industrial-related flooding of a wetland was terminated. Data were collected on spatial and temporal distribution patterns, species replacement, seed dispersal and growth, and environmental conditions. The ecological characteristics that enable Scirpus Cyperinus to be an effective colonizer were concluded to be: the vast number of seeds produced, effective dispersal of seeds, the clinging ability of seeds with long bristles, viability of the seeds stored in sediments, exclusion of other plants by a dense, perennial tussock growth form, and a fairly wide range of tolerance to environmental conditions.