For fans of ice fishing, ice skating, cross-country skiing and just enjoying a winter walk, this holiday season was especially timely. One year ago today, Lake Mendota was still making waves and waiting on its …
Learn Your Lakes
A Tale of Two Fishes: Study Maps the Future of Trout Populations in Wisconsin
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: [Madison, WI] – Climate change is being felt across the world in many different ways. Atlantic hurricanes intensify. Western droughts deepen. And, here in Wisconsin, the future of fishing gets more uncertain. …
Study: Big Rains Bring Big Algae Blooms … Eventually
By Adam Hinterthuer In the lake-rich regions of the world, algae blooms are a growing problem. Not only are the floating green scums a nuisance for anyone hoping to enjoy the water, they can turn …
Study of “Annual Life Cycle” in Wisconsin Lakes Finds Unpredictable Fate “Up North,” While Southern Waters Routinely Run Out of Air
A new study has found that, despite relatively similar climate conditions, there is a big difference in how lakes in northern and southern Wisconsin are responding to a warmer, wetter world. Using data collected on …
Beneath the Surface, Long-Term Lake Monitoring Reveals the Drama of a Food Web in Flux
Seen from shore, it doesn’t look like a lot is going on in Trout Lake in northern Wisconsin. Aside from windy days that shove waves against its mostly wooded shoreline, the lake presents, more often …
Help Keep Our Freshwater Fresh! Salt Smarter, Not Harder.
Yesterday, I rounded the corner of the block in my neighborhood and immediately pulled my dog off the sidewalk. Spread out before us was a carpet of chalky white salt crystals stretching across nearly a …
January Freeze Dates Becoming the Norm for Madison Lakes
When Lake Monona in Madison, Wisconsin froze over a few days after New Year’s Eve, it marked the beginning of “ice season,” a time of year when (once the ice gets thick enough, of course) …
Our Top 5 Posts of 2021: Dead Zones, Sleeper Populations & Good News on Algae Blooms
Happy New Year! Here’s hoping 2022 trends upward a little more steeply than the past couple of years. We here at the Center for Limnology are excited to share even more freshwater news, research and …
Study: Not Even the Largest Lakes in the World Are Immune to Salt
Tourist towns along the Lake Michigan shoreline love to proclaim the giant body of water “Unsalted and Shark-Free.” The slogan is plastered on t-shirts, magnets and bumper stickers but, according to a study published December …
Langmuir Circulation: Explaining Lines of Bubbles on the Surface of A Lake
When you live in a state defined by lakes like we do here in Wisconsin, you often get a front-row view of just how dynamic and changing those bodies of water can be. Each day …