This project will address the presence and fate of enveloped viruses (e.g. coronaviruses) and their survivability in aqueous environments with emphasis on wastewater and drinking water treatment processes.
Moose, one of Minnesota’s most iconic wildlife species, are dying at increasingly higher rates in Minnesota and there is uncertainty as to why. Estimates suggest the population declined 35 percent just between 2012 to 2013, and projections suggest moose could be nearly gone from the state by 2020 if this trend is not halted and, ideally, reversed.
Project will restore and demonstrate a native prairie habitat in order to enhance the local ecosystem for beneficial pollinators as well as to offer educational opportunities.
Native to the western United States and Canada, mountain pine beetle is considered the most devastating forest insect in North America. Trees usually die as a result of infestation and an unprecedented outbreak in the west is currently decimating pine forests there. While mountain pine beetle is not presently believed to reside in Minnesota, there are risks posed by an expanding species range resulting from warming climate and the potential for accidental introduction via lumber imports from infested areas.
Eastern larch beetle, native to Minnesota, is suddenly decimating Minnesota?s tamarack forests. This proposal develops insect management techniques and determines how bad this problem may remain in the future.
Septic tank systems aim to treat sewage generated by homes and facilities that do not have access to centralized wastewater treatment plants. Currently 25% of the U.S. population relies on these systems as their primary means of wastewater treatment. However, the treatment capabilities of these systems are limited and so byproducts can contribute to degradation of water resources and other environmental problems and the systems emit instead of collect powerful greenhouse gases such as methane.
This proposal requests funding for a new integrated process with potential to promote nutrient removal/recovery and renewable energy production at rural municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants (WWTP).
There are 3 million acres of peatland forests in Minnesota. This proposal will identify management actions that maximize ecosystem benefits of peatland forests, including wildlife, water, timber, and native plants.
Pollinators play a key role in ecosystem function and in agriculture, including thousands of native plants and more than one hundred U.S. crops that either need or benefit from pollinators. However, pollinators are in dramatic decline in Minnesota and throughout the country. The causes of the decline are not completely understood, but identified factors include loss of nesting sites, fewer flowers, increased disease, and increased pesticide use. Developing an aware, informed citizenry that understands this issue is one key to finding and implementing solutions to counteract these factors.
The Pollinator Ambassadors for Urban Gardens project will enhance outreach capacity for pollinator education by creating an outreach toolkit and training educators and youth for engagement in native pollinator education.
Pollinator Education in the Science Classroom will provide professional development for 58 science teachers to use pollinator education curriculum and outreach materials, ultimately reaching >6000 students annually.
Healthy prairies contribute numerous benefits, such as providing habitat for wildlife and pollinators, maintaining and improving water quality, stabilizing roadsides, and providing a sustainable source of materials for bioenergy production and other products. Since European settlement the once vast expanses of Minnesota prairie covering 18 million acres have been reduced to small remnants totaling about 235,000 acres. With this decline has also come a drastic reduction in the genetic diversity of the various species typical of Minnesota prairies.
Brushlands provide critical habitat for >250 wildlife species. We compare effects of spring, summer and fall burns on birds and vegetation, providing much needed management guidelines for this key habitat.
Minnesota's 48 native orchids are at risk. The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum will expand conservation of species through propagation and banking and begin restoration planting research in the program's second phase.
Minnesota's only population of ball cactus is threatened as a significant proportion of the population is on private, unprotected lands. Moving plants to protected land will better protect this species.
Earthworms are common throughout much of Minnesota, but few realize that they are not native to the state and were in fact introduced from Europe and Asia. Earthworms are invasive in Minnesota and have been shown to have large and potentially irreversible impacts on hardwood forest biodiversity and regeneration. As dispersal by human actions is the primary means of introduction and spread of invasive earthworms, there exists great potential to arrest the current spread of earthworms already present and prevent the introduction of additional species.
Because Minnesota is at the juncture of three distinct types of ecosystems - western prairie, northern coniferous forest, and eastern deciduous forest - the region is particularly sensitive to changes in climate conditions. Understanding how the plants, animals, and waterways of Minnesota might respond to these changes will help the state plan for and manage the potential impacts. The University of Minnesota's Department of Forestry is using this appropriation to analyze past climate conditions in Minnesota and make estimates pertaining to changes expected in the foreseeable future.
Oak savanna is imperiled and threatened ecosystem with only 0.2% remaining of historically 5.5 million acres in Minnesota. This project will demonstrate the use of silvopasture to restore this ecosystem.
Wastewater contains many environmental contaminants including pharmaceuticals, personal-care products, PFAS and micro-plastics. They are not removed by treatment plants. We propose to remove them using commercially available drinking water coagulants.
Create a semi-automated system to acquire, process, and deliver new satellite derived water quality data (water clarity, algae, turbidity and color) for all Minnesota lakes ~biweekly and in near real-time
Minnesota decadal increases in precipitation have increased runoff, groundwater recharge, and infrastructure damage. We will assess and define selected quaternary settings to better define hydrologic response to extreme changes.
We propose to quantify the amount, type, and source of microplastics in the water, sediment, and fishes of a range of Minnesota lakes in collaboration with MN DNR.
