On June 4th, after a week of clear-water conditions in Lake Mendota, some of us here at Hasler Lab decided that our window for swimming in clear water was closing. So we decided to take an up-close and personal reading of conditions. It turns out that our timing was perfect for a refreshing (read: cold) …
by AnnaKay Kruger “Well, that was an adventure!” says Aaron O’Connell, a UW-Plateville undergraduate, looking down at his bare feet as he steps gingerly across the gravel driveway. In one hand he carries his sodden shoes, and like me, he is covered from head-to-toe in lake grime. We have just spent the last two hours …
Last week on this blog, we wondered if Lake Mendota’s clear water phase was a thing of the past. You see, last year, the algae-eating native zooplankton, daphnia pulicaria were so diminished by predation from the invasive spiny water flea, that their numbers couldn’t grow large enough to keep algae from clouding our waters. Combined with …
Join us FRIDAY, JUNE 12th for the Hasler Lab Open House! If you’re in the Madison area, come on down for a “behind the scenes” event and spend a half hour or the whole …
Lake Monona is crystal clear, while Mendota stays murky and, on Wednesday, we asked you to help us monitor Lake Mendota as we wait to see if the native zooplankton, daphnia pulicaria, can rally and clear up the situation after being decimated by a tiny invasive predator called the spiny water flea. Read that previous …
Last year at this time, we asked you to help us monitor Lake Mendota, as we worried that we’d missed its “clear-water” window. We’re happy to report that, in 2016, we’re nearing a 6 meter Secchi depth and seeing lots of daphnia in our nets. Will this be a clear spring for Madison’s lakes? Stay …
We’re swamped here at the CFL, so apologies for the slow posting. Today, though, we’ve dug up a classic post on one of the aquatic rites of spring – the crazy sex life of bluegill. I know, I know, bluegill aren’t exactly a rare species. In fact, they’re often the first fish kids learn to …
Vera Swanson is a UW–Madison undergraduate in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS). She spent her spring semester in Thailand working with CFL grad student, Aaron Koning. Here’s her amazing video recap of life doing international fieldwork! Vera’s Time in Thailand from Aaron Koning on Vimeo.
by Kelly April Tyrrell A few years ago, researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison Center for Limnology created the first map of all the road crossings and dams blocking the tributary rivers that feed the five Great Lakes. These tributaries serve as migratory highways, providing fish like walleye and lake sturgeon access to headwater breeding …
Water is a common theme in scholarship across the UW–Madison campus, where more than 100 faculty and staff are involved in water-related research. But what, exactly, everyone is up to and how might they inform one another’s work? At Water@UW–Madison – A Wisconsin Idea Symposium, we will try to gather this water-rich research into a …