THE WISCONSIN CONSERVATIONIST MAGAZINE
Highlighting the natural resources of Wisconsin and the people who care for them
Beckie Gaskill
Editor Volume 1, Edition 1 January 2024 1
Table of Contents Citizen science provides important data .. P3 Road salt not here today gone tomorrow… P6 Invader Crusaders ……………………………… P9 Concern over northern deer herd …………. P10 Hunters Safety Class registration ………… P13 Keeping bats safe from WNS ……………….. P14 Making waves: the enhanced wake debate P17 PFAS in Food: What are the risks? …………. P22 Pyro-diversity begets ecosystem diversity P27 From the editor: Thank you for taking time to check out the first edition of The Wisconsin Conservationist Magazine. It has been an endeavor long in coming and I appreciate everyone’s patience. I look forward to finding ways to blend the interests of all stakeholders of the state’s natural resources to come together on important issues. Sincerely, Beckie Gaskill 2
Citizen science provides resources management data WI Frog and Toad Survey offers several opportunities By Beckie Gaskill Wisconsin has a variety of citizen science opportunities for those who love to be out in nature and also want to contribute to a bigger cause. Citizen scientists are exactly what the name implies. They are simply citizens, whether they are residents or visitors, who participate in collecting data about the state’s resources for scientific research. Citizen scientists across Wisconsin take to the field each year to help add to the database of many species of flora and fauna. Turtles, frogs, raptors, bats and even rare plants are all part of the citizen science programs of the state. The best part about citizen science is that nearly anyone with an interest in the subject matter can get involved. These programs are all contained in the Wisconsin Aquatic and Terrestrial Resources Inventory website. The Wisconsin Frog and Toad Survey is the oldest citizen science program of its kind in the country, beginning in 1981. Ruth Hine and Mike Mossman of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) created the program in response to declining populations of several native frog species. Over 40 years later, the program is still going strong with approximately 100 permanent roadside routes as well as phenology surveys and, most recently, a more specific mink frog survey. Citizen scientists involved in roadside surveys are each given a route with 10 separate stops on that route. One volunteer is assigned to each route, but there are several routes in the state that currently do not have volunteers covering them. Those interested may pick up an open route, or they may propose a new route consisting of 10 wetland sites that can be 3
monitored from close to a roadway. New routes need to be approved through the program, however. Before heading out into the field, surveyors take some time to familiarize themselves with the calls of the state’s 12 native frogs and toads. New observers can learn more about the various calls they will hear from the program website or be accompanying a more experienced surveyor into the field until they are comfortable identifying the calls. Volunteers have access to the Wisconsin Frog and Toad Survey Manual, which delineates everything about the program and protocol for roadside surveyors to follow. All of the information needed to complete roadside surveying is included in the manual. Surveyors spend five minutes at each stop on their route, listening for frog calls and recording their experiences. Surveys are conducted just after dark during favorable weather. According to the manual, warm, cloudy evenings are good, preferably with little or no wind and high humidity. While five minutes is all that is required at each stop, certain things may cause frogs to briefly stop calling. The passing of a car or even the arrival of a person on foot may make for a temporary break in the action. Surveyors then wait until frogs begin to call again to record their findings. It is not necessary to record an exact number of frogs that are present. Instead, calls are given a rating of 1, 2 or 3. A “1” rating would mean the volunteer heard only one of a certain species. A “2” would indicate there were several frogs of that species, but they could be heard as individuals. A rating of “3” would mean a chorus of a particular species of frogs where individual voices of frogs could not be distinguished. There are three survey periods in which volunteers conduct one survey each. They are early spring, late spring and summer. In a normal year, the first period runs from April 8-30, the second from May 20-June 5, and the third from July 1-15. However, in years with a later spring, those survey dates can be pushed back.
Data recording sheets are available for volunteers to fill out. They record the species they have heard at each stop, assigning a number (1-3) to the calls they hear from each species. Other information is also recorded on the data sheets in relation to time of day as well as weather conditions. All of this data is used in a large, central database to help inform management decisions. Compiling all of the data gives wildlife biologists a better picture of how frog and toad populations, and their distributions, are changing over time.
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Phenological surveys Anyone interested in getting involved can conduct phenological surveys. Phenology is defined as the “study of cyclical and seasonal natural phenomena, especially in relation to climate and plant and animal life.” As climate changes, it is unknown what exactly that may mean to different plant and animal species. In some cases, climate change may cause trophic mismatches with differing responses between consumer and resource organisms. Phenological surveys in the Wisconsin Frog and Toad Survey look to see if that timing is being affected. It is also looking to see if any changes in climate also cause changes in distribution or abundance of the state’s native frog and toad species. Those who decide to take part in phenological surveys simply pick a wetland or waterbody nearby. This can be near a person’s home, or along a favorite hiking trail.
Each volunteer then listens after sunset for five minutes at least twice weekly between April 1 and June 5 and at least once per week through August 1. Volunteers then fill out data recording sheets which include other information such as time, temperature and other conditions at the time of the survey. In this case, it is important the citizen scientist monitors the same calling location each time. Those involved in the program this way can also use the Frog Quiz on the website for the program to learn or review their knowledge of frog and toad calls. For more information about the Wisconsin Frog and Toad Survey, see the Wisconsin Aquatic and Terrestrial Resources Inventory website wiatri.net and click on the photo of the leopard frog.
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Road salt, not a case of “here today, gone tomorrow” By Beckie Gaskill
Winter in Wisconsin means ice and snow. In order to keep people safe, Winter also means road salt. We salt our road, sidewalks and parking lots in an effort to keep people from having car accidents or falling while they are walking. But where does that salt go once it leaves those impervious surfaces?
One answer is into our water supply. Both ground water and surface water can be affected by the excessive use of road salt. Research has also shown that applying salt today does not mean it is gone tomorrow, so to speak. One of the biggest issues with the chloride found in road salt is that it is difficult and expensive to remove. Chloride is not removed from municipal wastewater systems. That said, it will likely run through that system and find its way back into streams, rivers and other surface waters. When chloride gets into surface water, its effects can be many. While there are some effects on fish, the effects on smaller organisms such as invertebrates, microbes and plankton are often even more detrimental. When elevated levels of chloride is chronic, this increases issues with exposure exponentially. 6
Dr. Amy Downing’s research in Ohio, involving 16 different test sites, found zooplankton abundance to decline as chloride levels increased. With that loss came increases algae in those waters as there was less zooplankton to feed on the algae-producing phytoplankton. She cautioned that this did not necessarily mean phytoplankton did better in the presence of chloride, but simply that it was not eaten at the same levels due to the decrease in zooplankton, which is highly susceptible to chloride. In a recent webinar, Dr. Sujay Kaushal of the University of Maryland also addressed a syndrome he called Freshwater Salinization. In a study of drinking water in Baltimore, he said, he expected the amount of chloride to affect the potability of the drinking water there over the next century if it stayed on the same trajectory on which it had been. The issues with chloride and water quality issues have made national news in places such as Flint, Michigan. While road salt was one issue with drinking water and could cause corrosion of pipes, causing manganese, copper and lead to be stripped from the pipes into drinking water, other inputs could add to those hazards. One tactic highway departments and even smaller municipalities have taken to combat the amount of salt that may reach drinking water and surface water is the application of a salt brine that has become widespread across the state. This brine, which is sprayed onto the road surface before a storm, allows for less salt use while being more effective at keeping roadways clear. The use of brine is much like using a nonstick spray on a pan when cooking. It does not allow the snow and ice to stick to the road to begin with, meaning easier removal while using less potentially detrimental environmental contaminants. It would seem that salinity problems would be limited only to big cities, but that is simply not the case. In fact, in recent years spikes in 7
salt were found in at least one lake in the Northwoods was found to have elevated chloride levels, which was attributed to a nearby parking lot. Of course, the more impervious surfaces that surround a waterbody, the higher the potential for road salt, as well as other contaminants, to make it to that water body. One bright spot in the salt battle is the use of “smart tucks” for salt applications. These plow trucks, used by many municipalities in Wisconsin, are calibrated to put out only a certain amount of salt per lane mile. As the driver slows down or comes to a stop, the sensors on the truck respond by adjusting the amount of salt that is released. Salt Watch, a project created by the Izaak Walton League of America, came about organically when the League noticed a large pile of salt on a roadway nearby in an area close to a stream crossing. They wondered what the impact might be on that stream. What started as a question is now a full-fledged citizen science project that spans across states of the snowbelt. Volunteers in the Salt Watch Program are asked to choose a road stream crossing to monitor, and to test that stream crossing at four specific times during the winter to determine what elevation, if any, of chloride is found in the surface water in relation to salt application on the roadway. One of the main goals of the program is to conduct advocacy and outreach activities. Educating people about smart salt use and the impacts of excessive salt on the environment are at the heart of the program. For more information about the Salt Watch program, see the Izaak Walton League website at iwla.org. To view webinars and research information about salt use, see the Izaak Walton League YouTube channel. 8
Submit a nomination to recognize someone for a 2024 Invader Crusaders Award
Here's another wonderful opportunity to celebrate the people that protect the health of our waters. Nominations are now open for the 20th annual Wisconsin Invasive Species Council Invader Crusaders Awards! Invader Crusaders are Wisconsin residents and organizations who made significant contributions in 2023 to prevent, control or eradicate invasive species that harm Wisconsin's native wildlife, wetlands, forests, prairies, lakes and rivers. Nominees can be individuals, groups or organizations who showed exemplary efforts to address issues surrounding terrestrial and aquatic invasive plants and animals. The Wisconsin Invasive Species Council, an advisory council to the DNR, presents Invader Crusaders Awards for volunteer and professional categories.
To nominate an individual or organization, download and complete a nomination form on the Wisconsin Invasive Species Council webpage and email the completed form to Invasive.Species@wisconsin.gov by Feb. 18, 2024. This year marks 20 years of Invader Crusaders, with 166 awards 9 given out to date!
Residents of northern counties express dire concerns over fate of deer herd “No doe” bill looks to help bolster the herd By Beckie Gaskill
A bill has recently been drafted, sponsored by Senator Romaine Quinn (R-Cameron), Representative Chanz Green (R-Grandview), Representative Rob Swearingen (R-Rhinelander), Senator Mary Felzkowski (R-Tomahawk) and Representative Cavlin Callahan (R-Tomahawk) would change the face of deer hunting in the Northern Forest Zone, at least for 49 months.
Representative Rob Swearingen addressed the large crowd in Woodruff Photo Credit: Beckie Gaskill
After a series of listening sessions about the past fall’s deer hunt, legislators felt something must be done to end what some called a “crisis” decline in deer numbers. One of those listening sessions was held in Woodruff, Wis., and attended by more than 175 people. Hunter after hunter took the microphone to relay their hunting stories to the legislators present.
U.S. Representative Tom Tiffany was also present, as was State Senator Cory Tomczyk (R-Mosinee) and Natural Resources Board chair Bill Smith. An empty space at the front of the room was saved for Governor Tony Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul, but neither appeared at that meeting.
Senator Mary Felzkowski assured stakeholders she would take their concerns back to Madison with her. 10 Photo Credit: Beckie Gaskill
Oneida County Deer Advisory Council member and lifetime hunter Gregg Walker said the deer that were left in former Unit 31, where he hunts, had moved into town to stay away from predators. The everexpanding wolf population, he said, was a variable that had never been taken into account when it came to managing the deer herd. Added to that were the abundance of opportunities given to hunters to harvest a deer with vastly improved muzzle loaders and the popularity of cross bows, coupled with seasons that ran from September into January in the state, he felt no one was looking at managing for deer or for protecting the northern herds especially. This current bill, which was to be introduced within days of this writing, would change several things during the deer hunting season in the Northern Forest Zone. The first change it would look to make was to prohibit the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) from issuing any authorizations for antlerless deer in the entire zone. It would also not allow a hunting season in which only antlerless deer were targeted, such as the four day antlerless hunt late in the season. The other change would mean only one tag for hunters in either the muzzle loader and firearm season and only one tag in the traditional archery and crossbow season. These harvest authorizations would be for antlered deer only. Should a hunter not fill their tag in one season, they would be allowed to use it in the other. For instance, a hunter who failed to harvest a buck in the nine-day gun deer season could use that authorization to bag a buck in the muzzle loader season, provided they were using that season-specific weapon.
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Whether the bill, as written, gains traction or not is yet to be seen. However, it does draw attention to what many hunters in the northern part of the state have seen as a drastic decline in deer numbers in the face of increased predators on the landscape. While there have always been factors that could negatively effect the herd, such as severe winters, Walker told legislators at the meeting in Woodruff last month, the herd numbers had been able to cycle up and down over the years. That, he said, is simply not the case anymore in areas where wolf, bear and other predator populations continue to increase.
The proposed bill would make changes to the deer hunting season in the Northern Forest Zone, which lies above Highway 64. Photo Credit: WDNR
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A social media post from WDNR’s Bob Nack: Thinking about taking a Hunter Safety class? Don’t wait until the hunting season to take one. You may not find a class and instructors would prefer to be hunting instead of teaching. Columbus area friends – The DNR and Pheasants Forever are providing the “Online + Field Day” class option at the MacKenzie Center near Poynette on February 25. Open to students of any age, but parents/guardians are asked to use good judgement in determining the maturity level of their student. The student will take an online course (8-10 hours), then attend a field day (4-6 hours) at MacKenzie on Feb 25. Students will need to pass the field exam to be certified as HE graduates. Register for the class by visiting: https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/Education/OutdoorSkills/idcheck. Students will need a DNR customer ID to register. Search “hunter internet field day” for course type and “Columbia” for county.
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Help keep bats safe from White Nose Syndrome this winter By Beckie Gaskill
White nose syndrome has decimated some little brown bat populations. Photo AI generated.
In 2006, white nose syndrome was found in the United States for the first time in New York State. White Nose Syndrome (WNS) is a fungus that affects bats and has been responsible for a severe decline in some bat populations and for even removing some bat populations from the landscape completely. The disease was first reported in Wisconsin in 2014.
Some may wonder why we should care about these nocturnal beings at all. Besides the fact that fewer species of any animal on the landscape has the potential to cause a trophic cascade of issues throughout the entire food web, bats provide valuable services to humans. A 2011 study published in the journal Science estimated that bats save humans $3 billion per year by eating insects for which farmers would otherwise have to spray pesticides. Since WNS has been found in Wisconsin, some bat populations have disappeared altogether. Of course, climate change, habitat fragmentation and other issues have an effect on these populations as well, but white nose syndrome has been a bigger issue, at least for many populations. Humans are one vector by which WNS can move from one bat population to another. WNS affects cave-dwelling bats. During the winter, many bat species hibernate in caves where temperatures are somewhat stable. 14
The high humidity in caves and other enclosures like them also keep the bats hydrated while the temperatures in those enclosures keep them from freezing. As with most species that hibernate, the bats’ body temperature, breathing and metabolism decrease. When the fungus responsible for WNS is introduced, it increases the amount of energy a bat needs while hibernating. This causes bats to “wake up” from hibernation and leave their enclosures to look for food. The harsh winter conditions and lack of food needed cause bats to die. Bats affected by WNS can often be seen out of their hibernacula in winter, often flying around during the daytime. There are still many questions surrounding the disease. While some bats seem to be fairly unaffected by the disease, it has high mortality rates in other populations. Exactly how the disease naturally travels may not be completely understood, either. However, it is known that unsuspecting hikers and cave explorers can move the disease from one place to another.
Unlike some other species of bats, hoary bats migrate south in the winter. Photo Credit WIATRI.NET 15
Winter adventurers who enjoy exploring caves can help prevent exposure to WNS to bat populations in several ways. The easiest way to not introduce the disease to a new population is to stay out of caves and other enclosures where bats may be hibernating. However, hikers may not know they are about to walk into a bat hibernaculum. Observing the rules of the popular “Play, Clean, Go” campaign can ensure that hikers and adventurers do not introduce this disease, or any other, to a new location. While Play, Clean, Go was aimed at stopping the spread of terrestrial invasive species such as plants, the same concepts can also go a long way toward halting the movement of a disease like white nose syndrome. Completely cleaning boots and other clothing, or changing clothing, before entering an area that may serve as a bat hibernaculum is recommended. Clothing, backpacks and even hiking sticks can pick up the fungus in a contaminated area and transport the disease to a new area. The fungus can attach to any item that may have been in an area where it was present. Washing and drying clothing before heading to another area will help hikers keep the disease from spreading. Boots should be scrubbed clean and other gear such as backpacks or hiking sticks should be thoroughly cleaned and inspected as well. The best course of action is to not enter caves or other areas where bats are known to hibernate. Short of that, ensuring that all clothing and gear is clean before heading out for a hike is the next best thing. Full decontamination protocols can be found on the DNR website dnr.wi.gov by searching the keywords “White nose syndrome.”
The Wisconsin Wetland Science Conference will be held in Green Bay on February 20-22. Click the logo for more information.
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Making waves: Enhanced wakes a hot topic for lake stakeholders By Beckie Gaskill
Arguably, there is not a hotter topic in the outdoors in Wisconsin right now than enhanced wakes. Listening sessions have popped up, ordinances have been drafted, and even statewide legislation has been proposed, with studies bandied about showing different views of the science behind the effects of enhanced wakes and the ballasted boats that cause them. Enhanced wakes are most commonly associated with wake boarding or wake surfing. In theses sports, the idea is not to travel as fast as possible, but to create as large of a wake as possible. This allows a skier or surfer, who travels behind the boat, to surf those large waves much as saltwater surfers do in the ocean. The thrust of these boats in aimed toward the bottom and are meant to be driven in a stern-up position, which helps to achieve the wakes needed for these sports. The boats are equipped with ballast tanks, which also help to facilitate those wakes. These tanks can increase the weight of the boat by 500-600 pounds. According to The Ski Monster dot com, for most 20– to 22-foot V-Drive wakeboard boats, 1,500-2,500 pounds of ballast is ideal. 17
Those who take issue with these wakes point to the damage large waves can do to shorelines as well as the ability of these boats to scour the bottom of the lake in shallow water. This can disturb the substrate and bring nutrients back up into the water column, causing turbidity and increasing algae growth. The scouring of the bottom can also mean fewer weeds and silted in spawning areas. An often-referenced study from Minnesota offers up the following conditions where enhanced wake forming boats can operate with minimal damage to ecosystems and without safety concerns for others. While current Wisconsin state statute allows for a slow no wake within 100 feet of shore for boats and 200 feet of shore for personal watercraft, this study found a more acceptable distance for a wake-enhancing boat would be 500 feet. Other studies have proposed 700 feet. The Minnesota study found that it took 500 feet for the waves from an enhanced wake creating boat to be minimized to the same height and kinetic energy as many other common recreational boats.
The study also looked at minimum depth that would mitigate any bottom scouring. It found 15 feet to be the line where less damage was being done to the lake bottom. Most industry experts, however, recommend 20 feet or more for wake boat operation and to create the best performing enhanced wakes. In this, at least, the sides seem to fit well together. Of course, there is still the issue that lakes are not a consistent depth throughout, and a boat traveling along in even 30 feet of water could conceivably cross a hump or ridge in the lake that is much shallower than the recommended 15 or even 20 feet.
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Invasive species transportation is another point of contention with those who look to limit the use of wake enhancing boats. The ballasts on some of those boats, which take in water from the lake to increase the weight of the boat, hence creating a larger wake, cannot be fully drained. It seems as though the industry, upon hearing more of these complaints, has selfpoliced itself and has made strides to rectify that problem. But, some say, that does nothing for the boats already on many lakes in the state. The issue with ballast water not being drained completely is the possibility for aquatic invasive species (AIS) to be transported with that water from one lake to another. It is worth mentioning, however, this is not an issue specifically related to these wake enhancing boats, however. Any watercraft, even a kayak, can transport invasive species from one place to another. There has also been anecdotal evidence presented at each enhanced wake listening session of safety concerns by other recreational users of various lakes on which these boats are used. According to Department of Natural Resources boating law administrator, at a meeting last year held in Vilas County, said complaints such as those, without proof of a safety violation, were difficult if not impossible to prosecute without physical damage to property or someone involved actually being injured. One proposition floated out by more than one group was to disallow wake enhancing boats on lakes smaller than 1,500 acres. This, others said, would put even more undue pressure on those lakes and that, even with that restriction, some lakes would still not be suitable for operation of wake enhancing boats. Lake Winnebago, which is a large lake but relatively 19 shallow, has been brought up many times as one of those.
Kuhn also spoke about local ordinances regulating enhanced wakes, which have been cropping up at town board meetings across the state. The DNR, he said, had no power to enforce a local ordinance. They could only enforce state statutes on the books that covered boating, some of which could have a bearing on the operation of these boats, such as transportation of invasive species and distance from shore. He did warn, however, that, in many cases, it was impossible to tell whether there was still water in the ballast tank of those boats. When going to court, he said, the judge would ask whether he knew for sure there was water remaining in the ballast, and he would have to reply that he could only assume there was due to the type of boat. That, he said, would never hold up in court. “Where do one person’s rights end and another’s begin?” Mike Engleson of Wisconsin Lakes asked at the 2023 Lakes and Rivers Convention in Stevens Point. Engleson started his presentation on the Public Trust Doctrine this way. The Public Trust Doctrine demands the state hold all waters of the state in trust to be used by all. That said, it begs the question of what that may mean in the case of wake boats. It is a foregone conclusion that all forms of recreation must be allowed on the lakes of the state. However, some argue, the infringement on the rights of others to safely enjoy their recreational activity of choice, and potential damage done to the health of a lake, is where the issue lies. While some towns and, indeed even at the state level, would rather tackle the issue through ordinances and state statutes, others feel education may be enough to mitigate many of the issues seen on lakes throughout the state. Some lakes have been successful in educating boaters, most of whom do want to do the right thing and
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mitigating many of the issues they have had with all user groups “getting along” on the lake. Anecdotal success stories were prevalent in the room during Engleson’s presentation and have been brought up at other meetings across the state as well.
It seems there is likely no immediate end to the debate in sight. However, an open dialogue remains strong with riparian owners, boat owners, the industry and other stakeholders. Talking about an issue is the first step toward finding an amicable solution. With some give and take, likely neither “side” will be completely happy with the outcome, but the more groups come together to work on an issue, the more progress can be made.
Lakes at Stake Wisconsin is a bipartisan group with a single focus on ONE issue. That one issue being the damage to our lakes, properties and tourism caused by wake enhanced boating.
Learn more about Lakes at Stake at their website lakesatstake.org. 21
PFAS in food: what are the risks? By Beckie Gaskill
During the 2023 PFAS Summit, there was a great deal of information regarding these compounds and their effects, as well as ways researchers are looking at to mitigate the issues caused by PFAS. Amy Quinn of WSP was one of the presenters at the Summit. She spoke about the potential risks of PFAS in food. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of chemicals used to make fluoropolymer coatings and products that resist heat, oil, stains, grease and water. These compounds do not occur naturally but can be found in many manmade products such as clothing, furniture, adhesives, non-stock cooking surfaces, coating of electrical wiring and many more. Many of them do not break down in the environment. Quinn spoke about foods that may be grown near a potentially contaminated site and the relative risks. She said it was important to know which pathways to focus on first when looking at how to mitigate these risks. PFAS, she said, can move through surface water or groundwater, both of which create a perfect pathway for those chemicals to move. Regardless of the source, PFAS can and does move through water, with potential implications for both animals and plants humans use as food. Freshwater fish, she said, is at the highest end of the PFAS risk pyramid due to their continual exposure and the fact that they are what she called PFAS sponges with high bioaccumulation factors.
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The bottom part of the inverted pyramid, she said was fruits. In general, animals posed a higher relative risk of PFAS exposure and plants a lower risk. The frequency of consumption, she said, could lower associated risks in foods that were more likely to pose a relatively higher risk if consumed at a lower rate, however. For instance, in the case of maple syrup, a person may not ingest a large amount. But when it comes to people raising back yard chickens, they may be eating a high number of eggs from those chickens.
Amy Quinn’s presentation at the 2023 Great Lakes PFAS Summit spoke about various PFAS pathways and how those could pose risks in foods. Graphic Credit: Amy Quinn
“This prioritization includes a few different things,” she said. “It includes how much PFAS could potentially be taken into these foods, the type of PFAS – so, is it short chain, is it long chain? Some are more toxic for human health than others.”
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Long-chain PFAS, such as PFOS, was more likely to be found in animals, she said, with short-chain PFAS being found in plants. Aquatic plants, she found, were more likely to uptake PFAS than terrestrial plants, once again pointing toward water as a pathway for moving PFAS to other nearby areas. Short chain PFAS are more mobile, which is why they are found in plants. Any longer chain PFAS found in plants is usually in aquatic plants, Quinn said. In a drought year, there seems to be more PFAS uptake than in a wet year. She said there are many different factors that seem to influence the uptake of PFAS into plants. Quinn said interviews with people in a study area are important as well. Learning how they use the soil and whether they have amended the soil at all can be clues as to where any PFAS is coming from. For instance, amended soil could potentially contain biosolids from wherever the land owner procured their amendments. Due to this, vastly different signatures can be found in close proximity, she said. Quinn’s research looked at 105 product samples collected in four sampling events in gardens in Australia, Canada and the US. There were four PFAS detections in that sampling effort. Of those two detections, PFAS was not found in the co-located media. Each time vegetables were tested, the team also tested the soil and ground or surface water or both to look for PFAS in those media as well. This would show if there was a clear way in which PFAS moved to the plant from co-located media, she said. Most PFAS found were short chain and at the lowest level of detectable limits. It could be that PFAS was present in the soil, she said, but it too low of a concentration to detect with current 24 technology.
She also looked at foraged foods, and said from the perspective of intake, these food tend to be more sparsely eaten, meaning they may have less of an impact. At the same time, many grow in or near riparian areas, meaning they could have higher uptake amounts due to their relationship with water.
Quinn’s study included cattle and chickens as well. In cattle, milk was the preferential pathway for PFAS elimination from those animals. Once the source of PFAS was removed, whether that be from water, biosolids or another source, the levels of PFAS in the milk dropped dramatically. In chickens, eggs were found to be the preferential pathway by which PFAS was eliminated. Literature, she said, showed free range eggs to contain, overall, more PFAS than commercial eggs. She found most PFAS was contained to the yolk of the egg and that the PFAS in eggs was likely form airborne deposition rather than another pathway. Lastly, Quinn spoke about hunting and fishing as it related to PFAS. Fish consumptive advisories have been around for many years, she said. PFAS in fish is a concern because it both bioaccumulates and biomagnifies. Bioaccumulation is the gradual buildup of PFAS in a particular animal. Because fish in waters with PFAS are exposed to those chemicals 24/7, there is a higher risk of bioaccumulation. Biomagnification is the amplification of PFAS as it moves up the food chain. Wisconsin has also seen advisories for eating white tailed deer in areas known to have high concentrations of PFAS. For the size of them as an animal, she said, deer have relatively small home ranges. They also tend to congregate in riparian areas. 25
With both fish and wild animals, the control, Quinn said, would be to eat fewer meals of these animals. Her research would look to continue to work in partnership with communities to better understand local consumption habits to better learn what is important to those affected communities, learn what they are growing, and what people may be hunting or foraging.
SAVE THE DATE! APRIL 10-12, 2024 Holiday Inn and Convention Center Stevens Point, Wisconsin LEARN from respected experts, grassroots organizers and passionate water advocates. ENGAGE in the workshops and interactive sessions.
ENHANCE your network of water focused professionals. Click the logo to learn more! 26
Pyro-diversity begets ecosystem diversity By Beckie Gaskill
Earlier this month several panelists came together from various organizations to talk about prescribed burns, their timing, and their benefits. Photo Credit: Screenshot from presentation
Earlier this month fire managers and researchers came together for a Fueling Collaboration panel discussion of fire and phenology. Prescribed burns and fires are management techniques that do not always sit well with the public, but these techniques can bring about much-needed changes in ecosystems by providing habitat, removing invasive species, or to achieve a wealth of other desired outcomes. Indeed, Native Americans used fire as a land management technique long before European settlers came to this land. Burning can be used as a tactic to rid an area of invasive species, or it can be used to benefit other species that need that disturbance or even those 27 that actually need fire to for their seeds to become viable.
Fire managers got together in this recent panel format to discuss how burning outside of the traditional “burn season” of winter and very early spring had different implications for the flora and fauna that occupy that space. Phenology, or the timing of recurring biological events, can give land managers cues as to when to burn, based on their management needs. In winter, plant resources are all underground. When spring comes around, those resources come back above ground into plant shoots, which eventually put their energy into flowers and seeds. Then, in the fall, resources primarily go back into the root systems of plants. Mary Parr, stewardship manager at Pierce Cedar Creek Institute said the most important consideration when deciding when to burn was to have a full knowledge of the plant composition and biology of the site. The same can be said for a battle against an invasive species. Knowing when that species is most vulnerable to fire allows managers to time those burns to have the maximum impact, leaving way for native species to take hold once again.
Tyler Briggs, resource manager with Albany Pine Bush Preserve said his preserve was home to the Karner Blue Butterfly, a federally listed species. He inherited a program that contained growing season burns, he told the other panelists. This strategy provided benefits for many species, none more important than the Karner Blue. This butterfly needs wild blue lupine during its life cycle, he said. The lupine benefits from the soil disturbance created by prescribed fire. When deciding on an area to burn, Briggs told the other panelists, only one-third of that area would be burned in any given year, leaving the other two-thirds of the habitat available for those 28
species living there. In the third that is burned, the forest floor is reopened to allow sunlight in, which then brings about more wild blue lupine, benefitting the Karner Blue Butterfly. Don Hagan, associate professor of forestry ecology at Clemson University spoke about the presence of fire adapted species on the landscape. Located in the southern Appalachians, where it is rainy and extremely wet, Hagan said people often wondered how fire could be used as a management technique at all. Because it is a very fertile and rich landscape, there is a high degree of fuel that is flammable at any time of the year it is drier. Table mountain pine, which is prevalent in the area, he said, is a fire adapted species and the pine cones themselves will not open until they are heated. “This tells us that fire has been on this landscape for a long time,” he said. Other species such as rattlesnake master and little blue stem, which are found in good numbers, show a picture of a landscape that was historically a bit more sunny and open, meaning fire has played a role there. “After many decades of fire exclusion, he continued, “we see what happens when we take fire out of the equation, right? These diverse, heterogeneous landscapes just sort of homogenize in this process that we now call mesophication.” Director of stewardship and forestry education with Forest Stewards Matt Vaughan also said there were many potential benefits of year round burning. When burning was limited to the traditional window of late winter and early spring, managers would not be able to affect much change on the landscape. Focusing on understory species and promoting holistic effects on vegetation rather than targeting only the traditional species such as oak had been shown to have ecosystem benefits as 29 well.
Panel moderator Todd Aschenbach spoke about burning and its effects on ground nesting birds. While those burns may have been detrimental to the specific animals on the landscape at the time, it was seen that overall benefits in the long run could outweigh those mortalities. “It’s interesting to think about the negative impacts, the death of the organisms we’re trying to maintain or increase their population, is obviously a negative when you’re adding fire to the landscape,” he said. “And part of the debate sometimes is whether you’re taking a specie approach or a habitat ecosystem approach.” It is debatable too, he said, which approach is better. When managers become overly obsessed with the individuals already on the landscape, burning may be suppressed to the point where the habitat for those species degrades to the point that it will no longer support the very species the land manager was attempting to maintain or foster.
Presenters spoke about different benefits to burning at different times of the year. Graphic Credit: Fire and Phenology presentation 30
Parr reiterated that no growing season burn is ever the same. Differences in fire behavior, intensity, severity and other factors made each burn unique, and those characteristics were shaped by other conditions on the landscape. Learning how all of these intricate pieces might fall together or creating a databank of foundational knowledge around tying burn seasons to specific variables would be some next steps in this space, Parr and other panelists agreed. Those interested in learning more or viewing the entire panelist webinar can find the link here.
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