- Fall 2007
Dr. W. Carter Johnson was an invited speaker at the South Dakota Climate Challenge Conference on September 29, 2007 in Sioux Falls, SD. The conference was organized by the National Wildlife Federation and the South Dakota Wildlife Federation.
- Summer 2006
Dr. W. Carter Johnson, Dr. Bruce V. Millett, Dr. Richard M. Adams, Dr. Glenn R. Guntenspergen, Dr. Richard A. Voldseth, and Dr. Phil A.Fay were the recipients of a three-year STAR Grant from the Environmental Protection Agency. The research project is titled "Non-Linear Responses of Prairie Pothole Landscapes to Climate Change and Land Management." The project objective is to identify possible future climatic and land use conditions that could sharply reduce biodiversity in wetlands across the Prairie Pothole Region of the northern Great Plains.
- Spring 2006
South Dakota State University recognized Dr. W. Carter Johnson with the title of "Distinguished Professor of Horticulture, Forestry, Landscape and Parks" on May 6, 2006. Since coming to South Dakota State University, Dr. Johnson has been awarded approximately $1.5 million in competitive grant funds. Much of this funding has been for projects in South Dakota, such as the Mortenson Ranch, Waubay Lake, Big Sioux River, Grand River, Missouri River, and two prairie wetland sites near Clear Lake. Prior South Dakota State University recognitions have included: Dean's Award for Excellence in Research; selected for a Sewrey Colloquium Presentation; SDSU representative on the Research and Development Advisory Committee of the International Arid Lands Consortium; and F. O. Butler Foundation Faculty Award for Excellence in Research.
- Fall 2005
BioScience Publication Generates Widespread Media Coverage:
The manuscript Vulnerability of Northern Prairie Wetlands to Climate Change, by Dr. W. Carter Johnson and other authors was recently published in the journal BioScience (October, 2005). The article has generated considerable coverage within the mainstream media. To date, 53 newspapers, including the NY Times, LA Times, Washington Post and USA Today have printed articles referencing the research on global warming and wetlands in the Prairie Pothole Region. In addition, CNN Headline News, ABC News and CBS News ran segments on the results of the study. Copies of articles from the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the Associated Press follow below.
Study offers a dire prediction for waterfowl population
Tom Meersman, Star Tribune
Last update: November 27, 2005 at 8:54 PM
North America's premier duck breeding grounds will be much drier and in many places will disappear, according to a study on how climate change could affect the Upper Midwest in the next 50 to 100 years.
Carter Johnson, a professor of ecology at South Dakota State University and co-author of the research, said that the number of ducks could plummet by 50 percent or more as early as 2050 if global warming dries up the wetlands where they nest.
The area, known as the prairie pothole region, contains an estimated 5 million small ponds spread across more than 300,000 square miles of the Dakotas, western Minnesota and Iowa, northeastern Montana and three Canadian provinces. It is notorious for episodic wet and dry spells, but is large enough for waterfowl to adapt and migrate past localized areas of drought to find other ponds in the region with enough water and cover.
That would end if climate change increases average temperatures across the entire prairie pothole region, Johnson said.
Most of the area would become too dry for ducks and other birds, he said. Only the fringes of the region -- in western Minnesota and northwestern Iowa -- might still have wetlands, he said.
Johnson and a team of researchers from Minnesota and Montana reached these dire conclusions after studying 95 years of climate data and using hydrologic models to simulate how the Northern Great Plains would change during this century. Their report, published in the journal BioScience, offers detailed predictions on how global warming might affect the prairie potholes, which produce between 50 to 80 percent of the continent's ducks.
Region is a 'duck factory'
The prairie pothole region has been described as a "duck factory" and is considered to be one of the most productive habitats for waterfowl in the world. The reason, according to study co-author Glenn Guntenspergen, is that it contains different types of wetlands that birds need at different times. Temporary wetlands that hold water only in early spring are critical for ducks as they migrate north because they harbor insects and other food while deeper wetlands remain frozen, he said. After the ducks pair, mate and nest, he said, they and their ducklings need deeper wetlands for food and protection in late spring and summer.
Guntenspergen, a research ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Duluth, said the team used conservative projections of temperature increases in the study, and estimated what would happen with an average temperature increase of 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit during the next 100 years.
The area would still have occasional wet years, he said, but they would be much less frequent. The net effect would be lower water levels, longer dry periods and no water for years in many shallow wetlands.
The effect on birds would be dramatic, and the research paper cited mallards as an example. Whereas the number of mallards during the past century has ranged from 2 million to 7 million birds a year during droughts and wet periods, it said, the outlook for the coming decades is that mallard populations will drop below historical lows and remain there.
The next best habitat
Guntenspergen said that if the most productive waterfowl breeding areas in the Dakotas become marginal, the next best habitat for birds will be on the eastern and northern fringes of the pothole region, including western Minnesota and northwestern Iowa.
In those areas, most wetlands have been drained and would need to be restored, he said. For that reason, federal conservation managers may need to "hedge their bets" and begin spending more money on wetlands restoration in Minnesota and Iowa, he added.
The study's predictions left Dave Zentner dumbfounded. He is a Duluth conservationist who coordinated a rally for ducks, wetlands and clean water in April that drew an estimated 4,000 people to the state Capitol.
The predicted wetland and waterfowl losses should concern not only hunters but everyone who cares about trumpeter swans, gulls, terns, bitterns, night herons and other wildlife that depends on wetlands, he said.
"I would hope that duck hunters would take this seriously and realize that this is not far-fetched theory," he said. "This is a real threat and the country needs to develop policies for it."
Many conservation groups have worked to protect and restore wetlands. That work is continuing, said Bill Henke, president of the Minnesota division of the Izaak Walton League. Now, the threat of global warming means that conservationists must take on that issue as well.
Tom Meersman • 612-673-7388
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2005-11-28-global-warming-ducks_x.htm
Study says global warming will hurt ducks
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The gradual warming of the Upper Midwest could cut the duck population in half as early as 2050, according to a new study published in the journal BioScience.
The study looked at how climate change could affect the Upper Midwest, where North America's best duck breeding grounds are, over the next 50 to 100 years.
The area, known as the prairie pothole region, produces 50% to 80% of the continent's ducks and contains an estimated 5 million small ponds spread across the Dakotas, western Minnesota and Iowa, northeastern Montana and three Canadian provinces. Even though the area is notorious for wet and dry spells, it is large enough for waterfowl to adapt and migrate to other ponds with enough water and cover.
That would end if climate change increases average temperatures across the entire prairie pothole region, said Carter Johnson, a professor of ecology at South Dakota State University who co-authored the study.
He said most of the area would become too dry for ducks and other birds. Wetlands might remain only in the fringes of the region, in western Minnesota and northwestern Iowa, he said.
Johnson and researchers from Minnesota and Montana reached their conclusions after studying 95 years of climate data and using hydrologic models to simulate changes to the Northern Great Plains during this century.
Study co-author Glenn Guntenspergen, a research ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Duluth, said the area would still have occasional wet years, but they would be much less frequent. That would lead to lower water levels, longer dry periods and no water for years in many shallow wetlands.
He said that if the most productive waterfowl breeding areas in the Dakotas become marginal, the next-best habitat for birds will be on the eastern and northern edges of the pothole region, including western Minnesota and northwestern Iowa.
Most wetlands have been drained and would need to be restored in those areas, he said, adding that he believes federal conservation managers may need to begin spending more money on wetlands restoration there.
The study's predictions left Duluth conservationist Dave Zentner dumbfounded. Zentner coordinated a rally for ducks, wetlands and clean water in April that drew an estimated 4,000 people to the state Capitol.
He said wetland losses should concern hunters and anyone else who cares about trumpeter swans, gulls, terns, bitterns, night herons and other wildlife that depend on wetlands.
"I would hope that duck hunters would take this seriously and realize that this is not far-fetched theory," he said. "This is a real threat and the country needs to develop policies for it."
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Media Outlets Referencing the October 2005 BioScience Paper:
Print Media:
South Dakota
Minnesota
North Dakota
Montana
National/Other
Television Media:
- Fall 2005
On September 26, 2005, Dr. W. Carter Johnson participated in a news conference in Sioux Falls, SD sponsored by the National Environmental Trust, a private non-profit organization. The purpose of the news conference was to highlight a recent report published by the group on the effects of global warming on South Dakota's winters and water supplies.
- Summer 2005
Dr. Johnson and Dr. W. Leo Schleicher are preparing demonstration plots near the McCrory Gardens main entrance in Brookings, SD and at Sertoma Park in Sioux Falls, SD as part of their research "Resource conservation using native turfgrasses in the Northern Plains." Native prairie wildflowers are also planted at the McCrory Gardens site to demonstrate the use of native plants for landscaping. The two-year study is funded by the International Arid Lands Consortium to investigate low-maintenance, minimum-irrigation alternatives to traditional landscaping and lawns.
- Summer 2005
As part of an internship program between SDSU and the Institut National Polytechnique - ENSAT in Toulouse, France, the Forest and Wetland Ecology Lab hosted Pauline Rey from June 13 to August 13, 2005. Pauline's internship focused on investigating the possibility of using automated sensing devices to monitor water levels in monitoring wells within wetland basins. By using the automated devices we can record changing water levels more frequently and track the effects of individual rainfall events on wetland hydrology. As a result of this pilot project, we will install additional sensing devices in wetland basins for the 2006 field season.
- Spring 2005
Dr. Johnson was the recipient of the annual Gamma Sigma Delta Outstanding Contributions to Agriculture in Research award. The award was presented to him by the agricultural honor society at the SDSU Gamma Sigma Delta awards banquet on April 19, 2005. Dr. Johnson received the award "in recognition of the broad-ranging and far-reaching impacts of his research and for the contributions his research has made to agriculture".
- 2004-2005
MORTENSON RANCH:
On recent trips to the Mortenson Ranch ( 2004-2005), Carter Johnson, Craig Olawsky and Waite Osterkamp (USGS- Tucson, AZ) met with Jeff Mortenson to re-survey cross-sections on Foster Creek which were established over ten years ago by the North Central Resource Conservation and Development Association. Eleven of twelve transects had been relocated and remarked.
Clarence Mortenson
RIVER DYNAMICS ISSUES:
Dr. Johnson completed service on three National Academy of Sciences panels. One was studying "Water Resources Management, Instream Flows, and Salmon Survival in the Columbia River Basin, Washington." The duration of the project was from early 2003 through August 2004. Twelve other scientists from throughout the United States also served on the panel which convened for its first meeting in February in Washington state.
The second panel on which Dr. Johnson served held its first meeting May 6-8, 2003 in Kearney, Nebraska. It was entitled "Endangered and Threatened Species in the Platte River Basin" and evaluated the Platte River habitat needs of the whooping crane, piping plover, interior least tern, and pallid sturgeon. Recent meetings were held in Grand Island, Nebraska in early August and Denver in early September. The panel completed its report in 2004.
W. Carter Johnson was the recipient of the annual Phi Kappa Phi lectureship award and presented, "Recovering Lewis and Clark's River," on November 24, 2003 at the Volstorff ballroom. Dr. Johnson was a member of the National Research Council Committee that proposed, in 2002, far-reaching and comprehensive changes in the management of the Missouri River. The lecture emphasized the ecological changes that have occurred since Lewis and Clark's expedition in 1804 and presented the Committee's specific recommendations designed to lead to ecosystem recovery and sustainability.
RECENTLY PUBLISHED RESEARCH:
Voldseth, R.A., W.C. Johnson, T. Gilmanov, G.R. Guntenspergen and B.V. Millett. 2007. Model estimation of land-use effects on water levels of northern prairie wetlands. Ecological Applications 17(2):527-540.
Millett, B.V., W.C. Johnson, and G.R. Guntenspergen. Climate trends in the Prairie Pothole Region of North America. Association of American Geographers (with editor).
Johnson, W.C., B.V. Millett, T. Gilmanov, R.A. Voldseth, G.R. Guntenspergen, and D.E. Naugle. 2005. Vulnerability of northern prairie wetlands to climate change. BioScience 55(10):863-872.
Shapley, M.D., W.C. Johnson, D.R. Engstrom, and W.R. Osterkamp. 2005. Late-Holocene flooding and drought in the Northern Great Plains, USA, reconstructed from tree rings, lake sediments, and ancient shorelines. The Holocene 15(1):29-41.
Boettcher, S.E. and W.C. Johnson. 2005. Cattle and wooded draws: A second look. Rangelands 27(4):40-42.
Johnson, W.C., S.E. Boettcher, K.A. Poiani, and G. Guntenspergen. 2004. Influence of weather extremes on the water levels of glaciated prairie wetlands. Wetlands 24:385-398.