Prairie Border Savanna. Photo by Layne Kennedy

University of Minnesota forest ecologist Lee Frelich continues to foresee a transition from forest to savanna taking place at the margins of Minnesota’s north woods.  Newly published research suggests that within the century, climate and ancillary factors will make significant changes to the state’s prairie/forest border.

You can read the abstract to Frelich’s research HERE, in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.

The StarTribune has a story on the subject HERE.

Frelich’s earlier research — noted previously HERE on Wilderness News Online — has also pointed to a transition in the northern Minnesota from forests to savanna projects.  Of his current findings, he says:

“The climate of the future will likely lead to higher mortality among mature trees, because of the greater frequency of droughts, fires, forest-leveling windstorms, and outbreaks of native and exotic insect pests and diseases. In addition, increasing populations of native deer and European earthworm invasions will inhibit the establishment of tree seedlings.”

Frelich told the StarTribune that the forest/savanna border could move from 60 to 300 miles to the northeast, with tree species jack pine, black spruce, balsam fir, and aspen being hard-hit by the transiton, since they currently grow at the southern end of their range in Minnesota.

“The expected net impact of these factors will be a ’savannification’ of the forest, owing to the loss of adult trees at a rate faster than that at which they can be replaced,” Frelich says in his research.  “This will cause a greater magnitude and more rapid northeastward shift of the prairie–forest border, as compared with a shift solely attributable to the direct effects of temperature change.”

In the brand new issue of Wilderness News, HERE, contributor Rob Kesselring ponders what “savannafication” could mean for the Quetico-Superior.

You can also read the feature on the subject we ran in the Summer 2008 issue of Wilderness News HERE.

Freshwater Jellyfish (Craspedacusta sowerbii) photo courtesy http://www.freshwaterjellyfish.org/picture11.html

The Duluth News-Tribune has a story on the recent discovery HERE.

The jellyfish is a regular resident of many Minnesota lakes, but it is not often seen in its signature hydromedusa state.  The hydrozoa spends more of its time as a polyp, attached to the bottoms of lakes.  However, in warm summers that are rich in zooplankton, the jellyfish’s food source, the species often morphs into its gelatinous, tentacled form.

Freshwater jellyfish are thought to be an exotic species to North America, although their decades-long presence in Minnesota lakes has not posed an ecological problem, according to experts.  It is thought that longer ice-free periods for Minnesota lakes and warmer summers may make jellyfish blooms more frequent.

While freshwater jellyfish immobilize their prey with their stinging tentacles, they do not pose a threat to humans.

The U.S. Geological Survey has a fact sheet on freshwater jellyfish HERE.

We also recommend the essay in THIS issue of Wilderness News about contributor Andy Wright’s freshwater jellyfish encounter on the BWCAW’s Ruby Lake.

The fire was first noted on Friday in THIS media release from the Superior National Forest.  There’s an update from this morning on the fire, HERE, on the Boreal Access web-site.

The fire near Lizard Lake was first spotted on August 26 by Forest Service personnel traveling on the Gunflint Trail.  The fire is thought to have been cause by lightening from a storm seven to ten days earlier.

The initial Forest Service report on the fire said it was less than one-quarter of an acre in size and was smoldering on the ground with no open flames.  The latest reports measure the fire at 51 acres, although unburned patches of vegatation remain within the boundaries of the fire.

Aircraft have dropped water on the northern and eastern perimeters of the fire.  Additional water-drops are expected today, according to the Forest Service, to cool the northern and eastern perimeters of the fire in preparation for another day of hot, windy weather.

No closures to the BWCAW have been made due to the fire, and none are expected.  The closest portages are the Rib Lake to Lower George Lake Portage, approximately three-fourths of a mile to the west, and the Lower George to Karl Lake Portage, approximately one-and-a-half miles to the southwest.

There’s a map of the fire area HERE.

The Lizard Lake fire is burning despite overall fire danger in Northeastern Minnesota being categorized as “Low” to “Moderate” by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.  (Find their fire danger map HERE.)

Across the international border, however, fire danger in the neighboring Ontario districts are described as “High.”  (See the Ontario fire danger map HERE.)

The Timberjay has the full story HERE.

Newcastle’s Disease is suspected in the deaths, a bird virus that has killed cormorants elsewhere in Minnesota. The neurological disease affects juvenile birds. Confirmation that the deaths are indeed caused by Newcastle’s Disease won’t be confirmed for 2-3 weeks, according to the Minnesota DNR.

The growing cormorant population on Lake Vermilion has been a cause for concern among anglers and lake residents. The fish-eating bird is viewed as a competitor to humans for the lake’s game fish.

Spiny Waterfleas collect on fishing lines. Photo courtesy Minnesota Sea Grant

Water fleas are tiny, but pose threats to lake life. The animals can collect in masses like gelatin and may compete with fish for desirable native zooplankton.

“Spiny waterfleas can spread when boats, fishing or bait harvesting gear become contaminated with egg-laden females or when water from the infested lakes and rivers is transported,” said Rich Rezanka, DNR invasive species specialist. “Although the waterfleas can die between fishing trips, they might be carrying resting eggs that can begin a new infestation.” Spiny waterfleas are currently found in Lake Superior, Mille Lacs Lake, Fish Lake, and the U.S.-Canadian border waters such as Lake of the Woods, Rainy Lake and Namakan Lake as well as lakes on the Gunflint Trail north of Grand Marais.

Photo courtesy U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

The DNR will declare Burntside Lake infested, post signs and increase enforcement efforts on the lake. Transport of water in and out will be prohibited; livewells, bait containers and bilges must be drained.

Read the Full Article from the Minnesota DNR HERE >

Learn more about this and other invasive species threatening the Quetico Superior region on the Minnesota Sea Grant web site >

Speakers at the program, to be held at the Backus Community Center in International Falls from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., include forest ecologist Lee Frelich, biologists Rolf Peterson and Mark Lenarz, and wildlife veterinarian Erika Butler.

Find detailed information about the program HERE.

Read the abstracts of the symposium presentations HERE.

Also … Earlier this month, researchers at the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Natural Resources Research Institute noted moose are being spotted in unexpected places.

Read an Associated Press story on the matter, HERE.

After a dramatic initial separation and reunion, the mother bear left her cub again shortly afterward and has not returned for it. The cub, with the help of food supplementation by North American Bear Center researchers, continues to grow. The mother appears to be alone, and not paired with a male.

Researchers do not expect mother and cub to reunite.  Indeed, the mother bear may be staying away from her cub’s foraging area on purpose, in a manner similar to the way mother bears avoid the territories of the yearling offspring after the pair breaks up.

You can follow Lily and Hope on a daily basis, HERE, via the North American Bear Center web site.

Common Loon with chick, courtesy National Parks Service http://www.nps.gov/katm/pphtml/photogallery.html

Minnesota Public Radio has an interview with Minnesota Department of Natural Resources bird expert Caroll Henderson on the matter, HERE.

Henderson notes that young loons will spend a full year in their wintering locale after hatching in Minnesota, exposing those who winter along the Gulf to the problems caused by the oil spewing from the Deepwater Horizon well.

Some of Minnesota’s loon population winter on the Atlantic Coast.

The Duluth News-Tribune has an update on the story HERE.

Hope and Lily, so named by researchers at the North American Bear Center in Ely, achieved their fame last winter when Hope’s birth was captured by the Bear Center’s web-cam and web-cast to thousands.

Last week, however, the mother bear abandoned her cub for five days. The pair were reunited after an Ely area resident found Hope in a tree on her property. Bear Center founder Lynn Rogers and fellow researcher Susan Manfield rushed the cub to its mother, which accepted the cub.

The mother abandoned the cub again this week and at last report is far away from it. Meanwhile, the cub is thought to be weakened by the prolonged absence from its mother and possibly near death. The cub was briefly spotted early this morning, alive, near an area it has frequented.

In the News-Tribune story, a bear researcher from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources notes that it is not uncommon for 3-year-old mother bears, like Lily, to abandon cubs. Research has shown that older bear mothers are more successful at raising cubs than their younger counterparts.

You can follow the latest news on Hope and Lily, HERE, at the North American Bear Center web site.

Our previous posts on the Hope and Lily saga are HERE and HERE.

The Duluth News-Tribune’s John Myers has the full story HERE.

As we reported earlier, HERE, Hope, who was made famous when her birth was broadcast via web-cam last winter, became separated on Friday from her mother, named Lily, by researchers at the North American Bear Center. The researchers were able to follow Lily’s movements via a radio collar, but not those of her cub.

Researchers feared Hope may have perished during separation, until she was found yesterday. Additional fears were that Lily wouldn’t accept her cub after the separation, but were put to rest after researchers rushed the cub to her mother.

Bear Center chairman Lynn Rogers called the reunion “the most satisfying moment of my 44 years of bear study.”

You can read his full description of the renuion, HERE, on the Bear Center web site.