Wild Rice Lakes in Comparison to Mapped Surficial Sands in Minnesota

Abstract

Several recent studies have considered the distribution of wild rice (Zizania palustris) compared to a variety of physical and watershed parameters. However, the distribution of wild rice has not been systematically compared to the surficial geology. In this study, a relatively comprehensive list of identified wild rice lakes in Minnesota was compared to the mapped areas of surficial sands. Wild rice is significantly more likely to occur on basins which are within or adjacent to mapped surficial sands. Statewide, an odds ratio of 2.1. indicates that a given lake within the mapped surficial sands has more than twice the odds of wild rice occurrence than a lake outside of the mapped surficial sands. The correlation observed here between mapped surficial sands and wild rice presence suggests that a groundwater-surface water interaction may have more widespread importance for sustaining wild rice populations than previously considered.