Illinois River Research Articles

Native Villages of La Salle's Illinois Country

Native Villages of La Salle's Illinois Country

A flood-crest forecast prototype for river floods using only in-stream measurements

Streamflow forecasting generally relies on coupled rainfall-runoff-routing models calibrated and executed with data estimated by monitoring protocols that do not fully capture the dynamics of unsteady flows. This limits the ability to accurately forecast flood crests and issue hazard warnings. Here we utilize directly measured datasets acquired for streamflow estimation to develop a data-driven forecasting algorithm that does not require conventional physically-based modeling. We test the potential of our algorithm using measurements acquired at an index-velocity gaging station on the Illinois River, USA, between 2014 and 2019. We find that the forecasting protocol is able to deliver short-term predictions of flood crest magnitude and arrival time. The algorithm produces better agreement with larger events and is more reliable for single-peak storms possibly due to the prominence of hysteretic behavior in such events. We conclude that flood hazard can be forecast using directly measured index-velocity and stage alone.

Food Selection by Spring-Migrating Green-Winged Teal

AbstractThe Mississippi Flyway supports millions of waterfowl during spring migration as individuals replenish vital nutrients en route to breeding locations. Green-winged teal Anas crecca consume natural plant and animal foods in shallow wetlands during autumn and winter, but little information is available to describe food use and selection during spring migration. We experimentally collected green-winged teal and quantified food use and availability to determine selection in the Illinois River Valley during February–April 2016–2018. We removed, dried, and weighed (±0.1 mg) food items by taxa from the upper digestive tract (proventriculus and esophagus) of birds and core samples for comparison. Additionally, we evaluated retention of common diet items between small (#60; 250 μm) and medium (#35; 500 μm) sieves and the effect of processing sieve size on selection coefficients. Seeds of moist-soil vegetation occurred in all green-winged teal diets, while invertebrates and vegetation material occurred in 67.4% and 25.8% of diets, respectively. Green-winged teal consumed 85.8% (CI95 = 81.2–90.3%) plant material and 14.2% (CI95 = 9.6–18.7%) invertebrates based on aggregate dry biomass. We failed to find support for selection of either plant or animal foods in general, but green-winged teal selected Cyperus spp., Ammannia spp., Leptochloa spp., and Potamogeton spp. and avoided Amaranthus spp., Ipomoea spp., Echinochloa spp., and Oligochaeta individual taxa. We found no support for a difference in selection ratios between sexes, but selection ratios differed among years and wetland connectivity regimes with changes in food availability. Sieve size had minimal impact on rank and selection intensity of most food items, but only small sieves captured Ammannia spp., which was an important diet item. We found no evidence that green-winged teal selected invertebrates in our midlatitude migration study area, as has been speculated for dabbling ducks in general during spring migration (i.e., spring diet-shift hypothesis). We encourage managers to provide shallowly flooded wetlands with desirable plant taxa (e.g., Cyperus spp., Ammannia spp., Leptochloa spp.) for green-winged teal by maintaining actively managed moist-soil wetlands that are made available during spring migration.

Death at distance: Mobility, memory, and place among the late precontact Oneota in the central Illinois River Valley

AbstractDrawing on literatures on mobility and memory, I present a theoretical and interpretive reframing of skeletal taphonomy and mortuary process previously reported for a precontact Oneota cemetery in the North American midcontinent. Most burials here were single inhumations, with individuals apparently interred promptly after death. Others were placed in graves containing multiple individuals who died violently and whose bones bore taphonomic signatures of extended exposure, suggesting they were killed away from home and not recovered or interred until significant time had passed after their deaths. These burials were previously interpreted as haphazard and carelessly executed, possibly owing to circumstances of death. In this paper, I seek to better understand acts of encountering, collecting, transporting, and interring these decomposed remains as discursive practices, conditioned by localized mobility and charged with social memory. Rather than representing an aberrant burial treatment employed solely for expedient disposal, I suggest that their taphonomy and presence in the cemetery offer insights into intentional and repeated engagement with the landscape, invoking/perpetuating traditional Oneota practices involving skeletonized remains. This interpretation provides a case study on how osteologists can contribute to social perspectives on the power of mobile dead bodies in the deployment of memory and construction of place in the ancient past.

Ecosystem Response Through a Resilience Lens: Do Differences in the Illinois River Over 150 Y Indicate Regime Shifts?

AbstractMost of the world's large river ecosystems are subject to multiple anthropogenic stressors including climate change, disconnection between the main river channel and floodplain, flow regulation, and land‐use modification. Viewed through a resilience lens, these ecosystems are potentially in a new regime, exhibiting a different structure, function, and set of feedbacks. We investigated the trophic status and food web character response to anthropogenic stressors over 150 years in the Illinois River. Differences in stable isotope ratios, community niche space, basal resource contribution to higher levels in the food web, mean trophic position of fish functional feeding guilds, and food chain length among four stressor phases suggest changes in ecosystem function in the Illinois River. Moreover, the river did not return to pre‐stressor conditions following watershed‐wide restoration efforts. Differences in trophic status and food web character also varied between the upper‐ and lower‐river zones of the Illinois River over time. This spatial divergence further highlights the complexity of responses to multiple stressors in this ecosystem. Overall, differences in trophic status and food web character suggest a shift to a new regime–an Anthropocene regime–and one that has a reduced capacity to absorb additional disturbances. Given human pressures are a global issue, our results based on a 150 years data set, could assist in the management of riverine landscapes that face regime shifts due to human stressors.

Detrital zircon geochronology and provenance of Pleistocene loess and contributing glacial sources, midcontinental USA

Midcontinental North America contains extensive loess deposits that have been studied with geochemical, mineralogical, and stratigraphic techniques to explore glacial history and sediment provenance. Much of this analysis has focused on loess deposits that accumulated during the last glacial maximum (LGM), in part because of the ubiquity of unweathered Peoria Silt deposits. We test the utility of detrital zircon (DZ) U–Pb dating, which offers a weathering-resistant approach to the determination of loess provenance and can uniquely be applied to both LGM and older (commonly more altered) pre-LGM loess units. We determined DZ U–Pb age distributions (n = 1385 U–Pb ages) for the lobes that contributed sediment to Mississippi and Illinois River valley loess: Des Moines Lobe, Superior Lobe, Green Bay Lobe, Lake Michigan Lobe and Huron-Erie Lobe. We also measured DZ U–Pb age distributions (n = 4466 U–Pb ages) sampled from loess sites located along the bluffs of the Illinois River Valley and Mississippi River Valley. Samples were collected from Peoria Silt (Wisconsin Episode; Marine Isotope Stage (MIS 2)), Roxana Silt (Wisconsin Episode; MIS 3), Loveland Silt (Illinois Episode; MIS 6), and Crowley's Ridge Silt (pre-Illinois Episode).LGM glacial tills provide distinct DZ age signatures that can be used to identify glacial source contributions to loess deposits. Loess DZ age signatures in the Peoria Silt of the Illinois River Valley and the Roxana Silt of the northern lower Mississippi River Valley change temporally in a manner consistent with blockage and avulsion of the ancient Mississippi River, representing a proof-of-concept for the DZ loess provenance method in the midcontinent. The loess DZ record also provides insight into the pre-LGM drainage network and glacial lobe extents. DZ signatures for the MIS 3 Roxana Silt, along the Mississippi Valley, implies minimal sediment input from the Des Moines Lobe, suggesting this lobe was short-lived, existed further northward, or provided only limited sediment to meltwater valleys during this time. The dominant Huron-Erie Lobe signature throughout pre-LGM loess units shows that ice flow from the eastern Labrador Dome was a persistent feature during earlier glaciations. Finally, some western-derived DZ ages in pre-MIS 2 loess of the middle and lower Mississippi River Valley suggests that drainage networks that followed the modern Missouri River system were present prior to the LGM and integrated with the Mississippi River system.

Juvenile Silver Carp and Bighead Carp as Forage for Predatory Fish in the LaGrange Reach of the Illinois River

AbstractIncreasing numbers of Silver Carp Hypophthalmichthys molitrix and Bighead Carp H. nobilis (commonly called “bigheaded carp”) in the Illinois River have led to concerns about the impact that their invasion has on native food web dynamics. Bigheaded Carp recruited in large numbers in the LaGrange Reach of the Illinois River during the summer of 2014. This provided an opportunity to determine whether native piscivorous fish prey upon invasive carp when they are abundant. Using electrofishing and fyke nets in the LaGrange Reach (August 1–November 8, 2014), we sampled native predatory fish (n = 1,472) for stomach content analysis. Fish community data from the Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program’s Long‐Term Resource Monitoring was used to quantify prey abundance (fish < 100 mm) in the study area and indicated that bigheaded carp represented 9% of available prey. Stomach content analysis revealed that the frequency of occurrence of juvenile bigheaded carp was greater than 15% in Shortnose Gar Lepisosteus platostomus, White Bass Morone chrysops, Black Crappie Pomoxis nigromaculatus, Channel Catfish Ictalurus punctatus, Smallmouth Bass Micropterus dolomieu, Largemouth Bass Micropterus salmoides, White Crappie Pomoxis annularis, Yellow Perch Perca flavescens, Flathead Catfish Pylodictis olivaris, Freshwater Drum Aplodinotus grunniens, and Yellow Bass Morone mississippiensis. Predators sampled in August and September foraged more heavily on juvenile bigheaded carp than those sampled in October and November. Electivity analysis suggested that juvenile bigheaded carp were selected over native forage by White Bass, Black Crappie, and Shortnose Gar, as these predators continued consuming them even as availability declined. Our results imply that native piscivores in the Illinois River consume and sometimes prefer juvenile bigheaded carp as prey. These results suggest that native predators might play a role in regulating bigheaded carp recruitment and that negative impacts to predators in areas of dense carp populations might be somewhat mitigated by the consumption of juvenile bigheaded carp.

Why the Stall? Using metabolomics to define the lack of upstream movement of invasive bigheaded carp in the Illinois River.

Bigheaded Carp have spread throughout the Mississippi River basin since the 1970s. Little has stopped the spread as carp have the ability to pass through locks and dams, and they are currently approaching the Great Lakes. However, the location of the leading edge in the Illinois River has stalled for over a decade, even though there is no barrier preventing further advancement towards the Great Lakes. Defining why carp are not moving towards the Great Lakes is important for predicting why they might advance in the future. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that anthropogenic contaminants in the Illinois River may be playing a role in preventing further upstream movement of Bigheaded Carp. Ninety three livers were collected from carp at several locations between May and October of 2018. Liver samples were analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in a targeted metabolite profiling approach. Livers from carp at the leading edge had differences in energy use and metabolism, and suppression of protective mechanisms relative to downstream fish; differences were consistent across time. This body of work provides evidence that water quality is linked to carp movement in the Illinois River. As water quality in this region continues to improve, consideration of this impact on carp spread is essential to protect the Great Lakes.

GRUPOS FUNCIONAIS FITOPLANCTÔNICOS EVIDENCIAM DIFERENÇAS AMBIENTAIS EM UMA PLANÍCIE DE INUNDAÇÃO TEMPERADA

Floodplain environments have high biodiversity and provide many ecosystem services maintained by the flood pulses. The phytoplankton is essential to the functioning of these ecosystems, acting upon primary productivity and biogeochemical cycles. We evaluated phytoplankton in a river-lake flood system (Illinois River floodplain-USA) during a hydrological cycle and compared the taxonomic (species) and functional (morphologic-based functional groups – MBFG) approaches. As expected, greater species richness was registered in the river and higher biovolume in the lake, as well as the predominance of different MBFGs in each environment. Furthermore, seasonality drove richness and biovolume temporal variation due to the higher water levels during spring. The MBFG IV (i. e. without specialized traits), V (phytoflagellates) and VI (diatoms) were more important for richness and biovolume in both environments. We reinforce the fundamental role of the hydrodynamics characteristics, with higher phytoplankton biovolume values in the lake. Using MBFG resulted in a better explanation to the phytoplankton-environment relationship. Constant water column mixture and high turbidity selected species with traits (e.g. small size, presence of silica) specifically adapted to these conditions.

Implementation of an Award-Winning Invasive Fish Recognition and Separation System

The state of Michigan, U.S.A., was awarded USD 1 million in March 2018 for the Great Lakes Invasive Carp Challenge. The challenge sought new and novel technologies to function independently of or in conjunction with those fish deterrents already in place to prevent the movement of invasive carp species into the Great Lakes from the Illinois River through the Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS). Our team proposed an environmentally friendly, low-cost, vision-based fish recognition and separation system. The proposed solution won fourth place in the challenge out of 353 participants from 27 countries. The proposed solution includes an underwater imaging system that captures the fish images for processing, fish species recognition algorithm that identify invasive carp species, and a mechanical system that guides the fish movement and restrains invasive fish species for removal. We used our evolutionary learning-based algorithm to recognize fish species, which is considered the most challenging task of this solution. The algorithm was tested with a fish dataset consisted of four invasive and four non-invasive fish species. It achieved a remarkable 1.58% error rate, which is more than adequate for the proposed system, and required only a small number of images for training. This paper details the design of this unique solution and the implementation and testing that were accomplished since the challenge.

Spatiotemporal Variation in the Magnitude of Reproduction by Invasive, Pelagically Spawning Carps in the Illinois Waterway

AbstractThe relationship between the magnitude of reproduction and adult density of pelagically spawning carp (PSC) species (bigheaded carp Hypophthalmichthys spp., Grass Carp Ctenopharyngodon idella, and Black Carp Mylopharyngodon piceus) and the influence of environmental factors on this relationship are valuable information for management and control of these highly invasive cyprinids. Six years of standardized monitoring for PSC reproduction and adult density in navigation pools of the Illinois Waterway (IWW; the Illinois River and its connection to Lake Michigan through the Des Plaines River and Chicago Area Waterway System), in conjunction with removal efforts in the upper IWW, where there is limited fish movement between pools, provided an opportunity to deepen our understanding of factors affecting the reproductive productivity of this invasive assemblage. Reproductive activity most commonly occurred in May and June, with the magnitude of reproduction in June far exceeding that occurring in other months. The highest egg counts were found within a 72‐km zone containing the hydromorphological transition between the upper and lower Illinois River, with the majority of PSC larval drift occurring below this zone in the lower Illinois River. Magnitude of reproduction increased nonlinearly with adult PSC density, declining at high adult densities. Annual egg counts were also higher in years that combined more variable spring discharge with higher accumulated degree‐days through June. The density‐dependent reproduction exhibited by PSC implies that any stock–recruitment variation observed for these species needs to be interpreted cautiously before being ascribed to environmental factors affecting survival from hatching to juvenile stages. An increased understanding of which life stages of PSC are subject to density dependence can refine projections of how these species respond to harvest and other control measures.

Contribution of wastewater- versus non-wastewater-derived sources to haloacetonitriles formation potential in a wastewater-impacted river

Population growth and urbanization have led to the increasing presence of treated wastewater effluents in downstream drinking water sources. Drinking water sources influenced by organic matter from upstream wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents are thought prone to the formation of haloacetonitriles (HANs), a group of nitrogenous disinfection by-products (DBPs) that can exhibit higher toxicity than currently regulated carbonaceous DBPs. We develop a framework for studying the HAN formation potential (HAN-FP) considering the WWTP and non-WWTP related sources of HAN precursors, and apply this framework to a representative WWTP-impacted river, the Illinois River, USA. A spatiotemporally-resolved river hydrodynamic and water quality model is developed using HEC-RAS to quantify the contribution of WWTP versus non-WWTP sources of HAN-FP precursors. Results show that non-WWTP sources of HAN-FP are considerable, accounting for up to 78% of HAN-FP concentration. Moreover, the contribution of the two sources varies due to streamflow discharge variability. During lower flows, the contribution of WWTPs drives the high concentration of HAN-FP and during higher flows, the contribution of non-WWTP sources becomes dominant. As a result, a high risk of HAN-FP may exist persistently (HAN-FP concentration is always larger than 9.7 μg/L in this study), not only during low flows but also during high flows due to both wastewater- and non-wastewater-derived HAN-FP sources.

Environmental factors associated with silver carp presence and relative abundance near an invasion front to inform removal efforts

Management of invasive fishes has relied heavily upon understanding their spatial distributions and habitat use at fine spatial scales to guide treatments and removals. In the USA, targeted removal is used in management of bigheaded carps (Hypophthalmichthys spp.) in the Mississippi River system to reduce invasion potential into the Laurentian Great Lakes from the upper Illinois Waterway. Our study tested factors linked to fine-scale spatial distributions of the most prevalent bigheaded carp species—silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix)—in the upper Illinois River to increase effectiveness of removal efforts. Bi-monthly mobile hydroacoustic sampling was conducted from 2017 to 2018 and paired with continuous environmental data collection in the two northern-most invaded reaches of the upper Illinois River. Model selection was used to describe habitat conditions associated with silver carp presence and density. Depth was the most consistent predictor of silver carp presence and density, with shallower depths consistently associated with higher abundance. During summer months, shallow areas in large backwater habitats with lower temperature and higher dissolved oxygen concentration held more silver carp. These results may help managers focus targeted removal efforts through time, increase harvest effectiveness, and reduce the potential for further invasion toward the Laurentian Great Lakes.

Enhanced streamflow prediction with SWAT using support vector regression for spatial calibration: A case study in the Illinois River watershed, U.S.

Accurate streamflow prediction plays a pivotal role in hydraulic project design, nonpoint source pollution estimation, and water resources planning and management. However, the highly non-linear relationship between rainfall and runoff makes prediction difficult with desirable accuracy. To improve the accuracy of monthly streamflow prediction, a seasonal Support Vector Regression (SVR) model coupled to the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model was developed for 13 subwatersheds in the Illinois River watershed (IRW), U.S. Terrain, precipitation, soil, land use and land cover, and monthly streamflow data were used to build the SWAT model. SWAT Streamflow output and the upstream drainage area were used as two input variables into SVR to build the hybrid SWAT-SVR model. The Calibration Uncertainty Procedure (SWAT-CUP) and Sequential Uncertainty Fitting-2 (SUFI-2) algorithms were applied to compare the model performance against SWAT-SVR. The spatial calibration and leave-one-out sampling methods were used to calibrate and validate the hybrid SWAT-SVR model. The results showed that the SWAT-SVR model had less deviation and better performance than SWAT-CUP simulations. SWAT-SVR predicted streamflow more accurately during the wet season than the dry season. The model worked well when it was applied to simulate medium flows with discharge between 5 m3 s-1 and 30 m3 s-1, and its applicable spatial scale fell between 500 to 3000 km2. The overall performance of the model on yearly time series is "Satisfactory". This new SWAT-SVR model has not only the ability to capture intrinsic non-linear behaviors between rainfall and runoff while considering the mechanism of runoff generation but also can serve as a reliable regional tool for an ungauged or limited data watershed that has similar hydrologic characteristics with the IRW.

Variation in Black Bass Angler Characteristics by Stream Size and Accessibility in Oklahoma’s Ozark Highland Streams

AbstractFishing in streams and rivers is a popular outdoor recreation activity in eastern Oklahoma, where most anglers target black bass (Micropterus) species. Since the early 1990s, when the last assessment of black bass fishing in the region was conducted, broadscale factors such as harvesting behavior, state fishery regulations, and bass population dynamics have changed. In 2018, we conducted creel and fish tagging surveys in three tributaries of Lake Tenkiller (Caney Creek, Baron Fork, and Illinois River) that differed in size and accessibility to provide current estimates of catch, harvest, and effort directed toward black bass. We then related these estimates to angler socioeconomic characteristics. The amount of angler effort was concomitant with stream size and accessibility, being greatest in the largest stream with the most access (Illinois River). However, catch rates were highest in the medium‐sized stream (Baron Fork). Harvest rates and exploitation were near zero in all systems. Anglers fishing Caney Creek, the smallest and least accessible stream, were nearly all local, coming from zip codes ~42 km away, with low median household incomes compared to anglers at the other streams who came from a broader array of more distant zip codes and had higher median household incomes. Anglers fishing the smallest stream were also more interested in harvesting fish and having higher creel limits than anglers at the other two systems. In the Oklahoma Ozark Highlands, stream size and accessibility appear to be a significant factor in angler demographics, potentially necessitating different management strategies.

The geophysics of community, place, and identity in the Mississippian Illinois River Valley

Recent geophysical surveys at six sites in the Illinois River Valley (IRV), just north of the Greater Cahokia area, provide new insights into the region’s volatile era of Mississippian occupation by revealing a series of important changes in community organization that occurred from the eleventh to fifteenth centuries. Geophysical data allow us to evaluate these changes through the lens of site layout, special-purpose architecture and communal space, and the spatial alignment of site features to consider how the construction of Mississippian spaces structured social organization and identities. When considered in conjunction with data from previous excavations in the region, this geophysical work indicates that religion played a key role in forging new relationships and shared identities among early Mississippian IRV and Cahokian groups. Our analysis also reveals that IRV Mississippians reconfigured important aspects of these religious practices and socio-political relationships in the context of warfare-induced population nucleation beginning around 1200 CE, leading to more locally structured identities over time.

Linking Reclaimed Water Consumption with Quantitative Downstream Flow Impacts

Although reclaimed water—municipal wastewater treatment plant effluent—can serve as a locally sustainable alternative water resource, this additional consumptive use of reclaimed water may cause impacts downstream. This paper seeks to quantitatively assess these impacts by employing scenario analysis coupled with a two-sample t-test to evaluate the statistical significance of streamflow alteration. Further, the potential for lower volumes of streamflow is linked to impacts on downstream stakeholders through the use of stakeholder performance metrics. To demonstrate the applicability of this approach, two diverse regions are evaluated: (1) the Illinois River downstream from the greater Chicago, Illinois, area, and (2) the Middle Rio Grande River downstream from Albuquerque, New Mexico. In Illinois, impacts to barge transportation are marginal and decrease with distance downstream of effluent consumption. In the Rio Grande, impacts to the Rio Grande silvery minnow worsen downstream such that a proposed consumption would be unlikely to be established under federal regulations. The extent of downstream impacts is important in legal and policy contexts regarding the sustainability of reclaimed water projects.

Visibility Bias of Waterbirds During Aerial Surveys in the Nonbreeding Season

ABSTRACTAerial surveys for waterfowl and other waterbirds provide abundance estimates that are commonly used by state and federal agencies for waterfowl and wetland management. However, most existing surveys provide an index of abundance and are uncorrected for visibility bias, which may limit their use in accurately determining local population size. We used concurrent ground and aerial surveys to estimate visibility bias during cruise‐style waterfowl surveys from September through January 2014–2017 along the Illinois River Valley, Illinois, USA. Immediately before an aerial survey, a ground observer counted waterfowl and other waterbirds by species within a distinct survey area and counts were compared with aerial abundance estimates to quantify detection rate and count bias (i.e., visibility bias). Overall, waterfowl guilds had high detection rates and low count bias, resulting in low overall visibility bias (ducks, −11% [SE = 5%]; geese, −8% [SE = 3%]; swans, −5% [SE = 3%]). At the species level, visibility bias varied greatly (e.g., green‐winged teal [Anas crecca], 182% [SE = 221%]; American wigeon [Mareca americana], −74% [SE = 20%]). Group size, species prevalence, cloud cover, and temperature influenced visibility bias, but direction and magnitude of effects were variable among taxa. Low visibility bias for most guilds indicated that well‐designed, cruise‐style aerial surveys with bias estimation techniques provided reliable estimates of population size and have great utility for monitoring waterfowl and other waterbirds as part of an adaptive management framework. © 2021 The Wildlife Society.

Operational Impacts of a Water Management Structure on the Surrounding Fish Assemblages in a Restored Backwater and a Large Floodplain River

Water management structures (WMS) are used to regulate water levels between large floodplain river backwaters and their adjacent river systems offering a balance between maintaining quality backwater habitat and providing benefits to the river systems. The design and operation of these WMS is dependent on unique management goals, and their impacts on the surrounding ecosystem are understudied. From 2016–2018 we quantified the response of the surrounding fish assemblages (i.e., backwater and river abundance and composition) to the WMS operation at the Emiquon Preserve, a 2723 ha restored floodplain lake located adjacent to the main channel of the Illinois River, U.S.A. Environmental conditions were recorded, and fish were collected using boat electrofishing on both sides of the WMS under three operational levels: closed and no flow, gravity flowing water, and mechanically pumping water to the river. Multivariate analyses determined that there was no difference in fish community composition within the Emiquon Preserve among operation levels. Within the river there were differences in community composition when the WMS was closed and mechanically pumping water. Environmental parameters varied seasonally and WMS operation level varied but indicated an increase in chlorophyll-a in the river when the WMS was mechanically pumping water, although the chlorophyll-a decreased within 200 m downstream of the WMS in the Illinois River. This study suggests that managed connections between restored backwater and habitats operated like this WMS have variable, spatially isolated impacts on fish communities despite supplying chlorophyll-a to large river ecosystems.

Evaluation of engineered soils for bioretention areas containing dredged Illinois River sand, compost, biosolids, and pyrolyzed biosolids

AbstractDredged Illinois River sand is nutrient poor and has low cation exchange capacity. Engineering this soil by adding amendments to increase nutrient retention may help sustain plant growth and absorb contaminants when the sand is used in bioslopes, bioswales, and rain gardens. The objectives of this study were to compare the physical and chemical properties of engineered soils derived from dredged Illinois River sand combined with mixtures of a locally produced compost, dried Class B biosolids from the Greater Peoria Sanitary District (GPSD), and pyrolyzed GPSD biosolids, and to study their effect on the growth of a grass mixture designed for chronically wet areas, such as bioslopes and/or bioswales along Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) highways. Dry and wet bulk densities of the soil mixtures increased with increasing levels of both biosolids and pyrolyzed biosolids. Soils containing higher levels of compost were linked to higher CEC, soluble salts, porosity, and soil moisture. Shoot and root lengths, and fresh and dry tissue mass were highest in mixtures containing the higher compost levels. These results indicate that the addition of compost to Illinois River sand may be required for adequate grass growth in these engineered soils saturated with water. The use of either biosolids or pyrolyzed biosolids as nutrient sources may need to be supplemented with compost for adequate plant growth.