FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact cjwatras (at) wisc (dot) edu, 608-356-4892 BOULDER JUNCTION, WI – A new study has found an unexpected connection between water levels in lakes and toxic mercury levels in fish. When droughts cause water levels to drop, the levels of mercury found in fish also plummet. In extended periods of wetter weather, …
Steve Carpenter, professor emeritus of the Center for Limnology at the University of Wiscosnin-Madison, received the Ramon Margalef Prize in Ecology today at a ceremony in Barcelona. The award is given each year by the Government of Catalonia, an autonomous community in the northeastern corner of Spain, in memory of ecologist, Ramon Margalef, who was …
As fall turns to winter and layers of skim ice form in the bays and shallows of Madison’s lakes, another seasonal phenomenon is taking place on the open water. Currently, the far eastern bay of Lake Monona near Olbrich park is filled with thousands of migratory water fowl. From water birds like the American coot, …
When the tiny and invasive spiny water flea began appearing in University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers’ nets in 2009, scientists began to wonder how Lake Mendota, one of the most-studied lakes in the world, went from flea-free to infested seemingly overnight. Subsequent studies found the invader had persisted for years at low population densities that went …