This project will accelerate production of County Geologic Atlases (part A). This is a set of geologic maps and associated databases for a county that facilitate informed management of natural resources, especially water and minerals.
This project will accelerate production of County Geologic Atlases (part A). An atlas is a set of geologic maps and associated databases for a county that facilitate informed management of natural resources, especially water and minerals.
A robot, powered by solar energy, will be developed to control weeds on agricultural lands. We envision significant reductions in fossil-fuel and herbicide use while increasing local energy production.
The project team at the WCROC will model and evaluate alternative solar system designs that will maximize energy production as well as provide maximal benefits to cattle and farmers .
Through various means, human produced chemicals can make their way into surface waters where they can have adverse effects on the function of ecological communities. Of particular concern are antibiotics and other antimicrobial substances because they have the potential to create increased antibiotic resistance. While there is a background level of naturally occurring antibiotic resistance in the natural world, elevated or persistent levels caused by human activities have the potential to harm human, animal, and overall ecosystem health.
Aquatic invasive species pose critical ecological and economic challenges for the entire state and beyond. They can cause irreparable harm to fisheries and aquatic habitat as well as damage to infrastructure. The problems posed by aquatic invasive species continue to grow as existing infestations expand and new exotic species arrive, most of which are poorly understood. New ideas and approaches are needed to develop real solutions.
The legislature granted the University of Minnesota $2,000,000 from the LCCMR to start an Aquatic Invasive Species Cooperative Research Center to address and solve aquatic invasive species (AIS) problems in the state. The University will use this initial funding to establish the administrative structure for this center, establish and renovate its facilities, start studies of Asian carp biology designed to control this species, and develop work plans for the LCCMR to ensure continuing funding for the center.
Aquatic invasive species pose critical ecological and economic challenges for the entire state and beyond. They can cause irreparable harm to fisheries and aquatic habitat as well as damage to infrastructure. The problems posed by aquatic invasive species continue to grow as existing infestations expand and new exotic species arrive, most of which are poorly understood. New ideas and approaches are needed to develop real solutions.
There is a critical need to understand how our natural resources are already responding to climate change in order to develop tools for projecting natural resource responses into the future and to devise plans for actions that can be taken in reaction to observed and predicted changes. Phenology – the timing of seasonal biological events such as budburst, flowering, bird migration, and leaf coloring – provides a tested indicator of climate change response by plants and animals.
The objective of the present proposal is to assess and provide remedy to the urgent problem of microscopic plastic particles polluting water bodies in Minnesota.
Large deposits of copper, nickel, cobalt, and other minerals in northeastern Minnesota could provide huge economic and employment benefits to the state while becoming an important source of important metals for the country. However, the mining required to extract them could have significant water quality impacts in a region that includes the Boundary Water Canoe Area Wilderness and other environmentally sensitive watersheds.
Bees play a key role in ecosystem function and in agriculture, including more than one hundred U.S. crops either need or benefit from pollinators. However, bee pollinators are in dramatic decline in Minnesota and throughout the country. One of the potential causes appears to be a scarcity of bee-friendly flowers, particularly in urban areas, which is leading to nutritional deficiencies, chronic exposure to pesticides, and debilitating diseases and parasites.
Our goal is to protect native pollinators by screening and neutralizing bee pathogens, and promoting best honey bee management practices to prevent pathogen spillover into native bees.
The goal of the work is to design and implement an acoustic deterrence protocol that will discourage bald eagles from entering hazardous air space near wind energy installations.
We will identify wastewater treatment and natural processes that prevent the formation of highly toxic byproducts from fluoro-pharmaceuticals. This will lead to improved treatment and rules for better pharmaceutical design.
Silver carp are migrating north up the Mississippi River and pose threats to the native fish and aquatic ecosystems of Minnesota rivers and lakes where they can become established. Additionally, the unique jumping ability of silver carp also places recreational boaters in danger of being injured during collisions with airborne fish. However, it is believed that this jumping ability could potentially be exploited as a weakness to help detect, manage, and control silver carp populations. Researchers at the University of Minnesota – Duluth, in cooperation with the U.S.
This study will use autonomous recording devices to determine the statewide distribution and reproduction of red-headed woodpeckers and develop a protocol to monitor population trends and responses to habitat management.
Compare the historic and contemporary flora of Minnesota?s Big Woods to see whether all species are able to survive on a small fraction of the original area
