HABITAT NEEDS ASSESSMENT for the UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM Technical Report October 2000
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HABITAT NEEDS ASSESSMENT FOR THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM Technical Report October 2000 Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center The Upper Mississippi River System Habitat Needs Assessment was a cooperative effort of the state and Federal agencies represented by their logos below. These agencies have made great strides to protect and restore river habitats under the auspices of the Environmental Management Program. Reauthorization of the program continues the partnership and ensures that this Habitat Needs Assessment can be used to assist future Upper Mississippi River System Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement planning. Citation: Theiling, C.H., C. Korschgen, H. De Haan, T. Fox, J. Rohweder, and L. Robinson. 2000. Habitat Needs Assessment for the Upper Mississippi River System: Technical Report. U.S. Geological Survey, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, La Crosse, Wisconsin. Contract report prepared for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Louis District, St. Louis, Missouri. 248 pp. + Appendices A to AA. Web Site: www.umesc.usgs.gov/habitat_needs_assessment/emp_hna.html Additional Copies or Comments: Environmental Management Program Regional Program Manager U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Rock Island District Clock Tower Building P.O. Box 2004 Rock Island, IL 61204-2004 Acknowledgements HNA Technical Committee Gordon Farabee – Chair Missouri Department of Conservation, Jefferson City, MO Robert Clevenstine U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Rock Island, IL Michael Thompson U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Louis, MO Dan Wilcox U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul, MN Scott Whitney U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island, IL T. Miller U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Louis, MO Michael Davis Minnesota Department of Conservation, Lake City, MN Jeffery Janvrin Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, La Crosse, WI Michael Griffin Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Bellevue, IA William Bertrand Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Aledo, IL Richard Steinbach U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Quincy, IL Report Contributors Dan Wilcox U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul, MN Jeffery Janvrin Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, La Crosse, WI Scott Whitney U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island, IL John C. Nelson Illinois Department of Natural Resources Species Group Specialists Eileen Kirsch U.S. Geological Survey, La Crosse, WI Melinda Knutson U.S. Geological Survey, La Crosse, WI Kevin Kenow U.S. Geological Survey, La Crosse, WI Robert Hrabik Missouri Department of Conservation, Jefferson City, MO John Pitlo Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Bellevue, IA John Tucker Illinois Natural History Survey, Brighton, IL We also thank the members of the UMRS natural resource management community and the public that contributed to the many workshops and surveys needed to complete the HNA. It is continued cooperation and coordination among natural resource professionals and the public they serve that will protect and preserve the Upper Mississippi River System ecosystem for future generations. Habitat Needs Assessment for the Upper Mississippi River System: Technical Report Prepared by: Charles Theiling, Carl Korschgen, Henry De Haan, Timothy Fox, Jason Rohweder, and Larry Robinson U.S. Geological Survey Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center 2630 Fanta Reed Rd. La Crosse, Wisconsin 54601 October 2000 Prepared for: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers St. Louis District 1222 Spruce St. St. Louis, Missouri 63103-2833 Upper Mississippi River Navigation System Geomorphic Reaches 1 – Pools 1 – 3 2 – Pool 4 3 – Pools 5 – 9 4 – Pools 10 – 13 5 – Pools 14 – 17 6 – Pools 18 – 19 7 – Pools 20 –22 8 – Pools 24 – 26 9 – Pool 26 – Thebes Gap 10 – Thebes Gap – Ohio River IR1 – Lk. Michigan – Starved Rock IR2 – Peoria Pool – Alton Pool ii Contents Contents iii Tables v Figures vii Appendices ix 1 Introduction........................................................................................................................... 10 1.1 Background ................................................................................................................ 10 1.2 General Approach to Conducting a Habitat Needs Assessment for the UMRS......... 11 1.3 Application of a Habitat Needs Assessment to the EMP ........................................... 11 1.4 Need for a Habitat Needs Assessment ....................................................................... 11 2 UMRS Geomorphology and Climate.................................................................................... 14 2.1 Longitudinal Geomorphologic Variation................................................................... 14 2.2 Lateral Geomorphic Variation ................................................................................... 20 2.3 Substrates and Soils.................................................................................................... 20 2.4 Climate ....................................................................................................................... 23 2.5 Summary .................................................................................................................... 23 3 Historic Land Cover Change................................................................................................. 24 3.1 Landscape Perspective ............................................................................................... 24 3.2 Forest Successional Change....................................................................................... 34 3.3 Summary .................................................................................................................... 37 4 UMRS Ecological Disturbances and Habitat Forming Processes......................................... 38 4.1 Natural Disturbances.................................................................................................. 38 4.2 Biotic Disturbances .................................................................................................... 47 4.3 Human-Induced Disturbances.................................................................................... 48 4.4 Summary .................................................................................................................... 56 5 Land Cover and Geomorphic Area Classification ................................................................ 58 5.1 Land Cover................................................................................................................. 58 5.2 Geomorphic Area....................................................................................................... 64 5.3 Summary .................................................................................................................... 68 6 HNA Guild/Species Query Tool Development..................................................................... 69 6.1 HNA Habitat Areas Classification and GIS Database ............................................... 69 6.2 HNA Species and Guild Approach ............................................................................ 71 6.3 HNA Guild Classifications......................................................................................... 72 6.4 Task 1.3 HNA Area and Species/Guild Matrices....................................................... 81 6.5 Summary .................................................................................................................... 85 7 Existing Conditions............................................................................................................... 87 7.1 Systemic and River Summaries.................................................................................. 87 7.2 HNA Land Cover Areas Distribution/Abundance/Scarcity ..................................... 104 7.3 HNA Geomorphic Areas Distribution-Abundance-Scarcity.................................... 131 7.4 Habitat Richness and Diversity................................................................................ 151 7.5 Habitat Fragmentation.............................................................................................. 151 7.6 Habitat Connectivity ................................................................................................ 156 7.7 Public Land Distribution.......................................................................................... 157 7.8 Potential Species/Guild Habitat Abundance/Scarcity/Absence ............................... 161 7.9 Species/Guild Habitat Fragmentation, Connectivity, and Distribution.................... 163 7.10 Summary .................................................................................................................. 163 8 Terrestrial Vegetation Successional Model ........................................................................ 164 8.1 Approach.................................................................................................................. 164 8.2 Results...................................................................................................................... 169 8.3 Summary .................................................................................................................. 173 iii 9 Future Geomorphic and Land Cover Conditions ................................................................ 181 9.1 Qualitative Assessment of Geomorphic Change...................................................... 181 9.2 Future Geomorphic Conditions...............................................................................