Resource Symposium Day 2 Articles

Articles about day 2 of the 2021 Resource Symposium.

Under the surface and Zaaga’igan Ma’iinganag (lakewolves)

Under the surface and Zaaga’igan Ma’iinganag (lakewolves)

The Apostle Islands National Lakeshore (APIS) has personally impacted the lives of people across the nation. Lake Superior permeates nearly every aspect of Park visitor experience, forming the bonds between ecological, cultural, and deeply personal dimensions of the Park. Connections between our well-being and the protected waters of the Park are important but not always easy to access, maintain or articulate for all people. Under the Surface and Zaaga’igan Ma’iinganag (Lakewolves) are sister programs that provide literally immersive experiences to teens in the Apostle Islands. Northwest...

Through the eyes of 4th graders

Through the eyes of 4th graders

Through the Eyes of Fourth Graders is a book written and illustrated by students about their experiences in the natural environments of the area. This presentation shares that journey, the experiences, lessons and most importantly, the thoughts expressed by young people through words and images. The objectives of environmental education programs are to develop participant awareness, sensitivity and the understanding of their affective relationship to the natural environment, usually through conceptual knowledge and personal experience. Recent, evidence-based studies suggest that experiences...

Resiliency and vulnerability of Apostle Islands coastal wetlands

Resiliency and vulnerability of Apostle Islands coastal wetlands

The Apostle Islands National Lakeshore supports several types of coastal and interior wetlands including lagoons, bogs, freshwater estuaries, marshes and peatlands that provide many important ecological functions. We investigated wetland hydrology, geomorphology, vegetation, macro-invertebrates, and fish to identify communities or wetland types that are most at risk of climate-related impacts. The interaction between Lake Superior water levels and hydrologic connectivity between the wetlands and the lake influence how these wetlands will respond to changing conditions. For example, the...

A Vulnerability Assessment for Terrestrial Ecosystems

A Vulnerability Assessment for Terrestrial Ecosystems

How might climate change affect Apostle Islands National Lakeshore? It’s a simple question with lots of potential answers! This presentation will describe a recently published climate change vulnerability assessment for the terrestrial ecosystems throughout the park. Peggy Burkman will describe why the park felt it was necessary to complete this vulnerability assessment, and she’ll also cover some of the important context of the Apostle Islands landscape that might cause climate change to play out differently than on the mainland. Stephen Handler will explain how the assessment was completed...

American Martens on the Apostle Islands

American Martens on the Apostle Islands

Rapid environmental change is reshaping ecosystems and driving species loss globally. Carnivore populations have declined and retracted rapidly and have been the target of numerous translocation projects. Identifying refuges, locations that are resistant to environmental change, should improve population recovery and persistence. American martens (Martes americana) were extirpated across much of the Great Lakes region by the 1930s and, despite multiple translocations beginning in the 1950s, martens remain of regional conservation concern. Surprisingly, martens were rediscovered in 2014 on...

Longitudinal Trends and Ecology of the Small Mammal Community

Longitudinal Trends and Ecology of the Small Mammal Community

As part of the first ever comprehensive survey of the mammal community of the Apostle Islands archipelago, we documented changes in distribution of small mammals since the establishment of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in 1970. Using recent data, we also described trends in abundance and multiple aspects of small mammal species ecology. We trapped small mammals from 20 of the 22 islands of the archipelago (2017-2020) and compared those results to historical (1961- 2004) records. Small mammal community diversity was driven by island size and less so by island isolation, regardless of...

New Insights Into the Dynamics of Apostle Islands Carnivore Communities

New Insights Into the Dynamics of Apostle Islands Carnivore Communities

While protected areas are often considered strongholds for wildlife populations, recent research in protected areas has highlighted that both human activity (i.e. presence) and footprint (i.e. structures) can influence wildlife. To determine how human activity and footprint affect the spatiotemporal activity of wildlife on the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, we monitored the carnivore community for five years (2014-2018) using camera traps. We found that all structure types had a negative impact on carnivore community relative abundance, except for campgrounds, which were positively...

Amphibians of the Apostle Islands

Amphibians of the Apostle Islands

This presentation will review the amphibian diversity and biogeography in the Apostle Islands, and describe the park’s acoustic monitoring program. The Apostles support 6 species of salamanders and 7-9 species of frogs. One species (Common Mudpuppy) is restricted to Lake Superior and its river mouths. Amphibian diversity on the islands is influenced by available habitat, island size, and colonization events. Some species like Central Newt and Mink Frog are restricted to islands with lagoons. The distribution of Eastern Red-backed Salamander is particularly interesting in being absent from...

Past, present, and future of piping plovers in the Apostle Islands

Past, present, and future of piping plovers in the Apostle Islands

Piping plovers were first documented nesting on Long Island in the Apostle Islands in 1974, and one to two pairs continued to nest on Long Island through 1983. Then, after an absence of 15 years that coincided with a regional collapse of the population, a rebound started in 1998, but with no more than one pair recorded nesting in the Apostle Islands most years until 2006. Coinciding with a regional resurgence of the population, breeding numbers in the Apostles began to increase. From 2006 to 2020, three to six pairs of piping plovers have nested in the Apostle Islands, with pairs fanning out...

A singing wilderness: Songbirds of the Apostle Islands

A singing wilderness: Songbirds of the Apostle Islands

People have been describing bird populations in the Apostle Islands since at least the early 1940s. The first real count of breeding birds occurred in 1977, then the National Park Service began formal monitoring in 1990. There have been slight changes in monitoring methods since that time, but the top three most abundant species have stayed fairly consistent. The most current analyses show the national lakeshore maintains high species diversity and a greater number of increasing species than decreasing ones. These are all good signs, but monitoring helps us keep an ear out for troubling...