Research
Current Projects
For over 25 years, the Great Rivers Field Station has gathered data along a 50-mile stretch of the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers near Melvin Price Lock and Dam 26. The monitoring supports river management by providing a steady flow of ecological information used in decision-making about the Upper Mississippi River System.
Annual assessments are performed on fish, water, and macroinvertebrates to yield valuable data for scientists. This provides a solid baseline to indicate shifts in the environment and helps to explain why these changes have occurred.
This program is authorized by the Water Resources Development Acts of 1986 and 1999 (Public Laws 99-662 and 106-53) as a part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Environmental Management Program. The LTRM is administered by the USGS Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center in La Crosse, WI.
Since 1957, the Long-Term Survey and Assessment of Large-River Fishes in Illinois (historically known as Long-Term Electro Fishing, or LTEF) project has gathered fish population data across major rivers, including the Illinois, Mississippi, Ohio, and Wabash Rivers. The Great Rivers Field Station conducts surveys of fish populations and maintains monitoring programs across multiple river sections, helping to provide information that supports river management and conservation efforts.
Invasive Species
More than twenty years ago, zebra mussels and bigheaded carp were first discovered in waters near the Great Rivers Field Station. When invasive species, such as these, establish a presence, the populations of native species may be threatened. Years of sampling have made it possible to determine where environmental changes have happened. Uncovering this information assists agencies in making preemptive decisions before invasive populations establish a foothold.
Endangered Species
The Illinois chorus frog is small, secretive, and easily overlooked. It spends most of the year underground, surfacing only briefly during early spring to breed. Because it relies on particular conditions, even minor changes to the landscape can put the remaining populations at risk. Fieldwork focused on its habitat range and breeding sites helps guide land-use and conservation planning.
Past Research
Interdisciplinary Research
Between 2015 and 2019, the Great Rivers Field Station partnered with Dr. Carol Colaninno and the STEM Center at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville to support two NSF-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates programs. The focus combined aquatic ecology and archaeology—two fields that are not often linked but are well-suited for understanding long-term environmental change.
Students compared archaeological fish remains with present-day survey data collected from the Upper Mississippi River. The work provided a deeper view of how fish communities have changed over the centuries and gave students hands-on experience with both scientific fieldwork and archaeological analysis.
Floodplain Forest Dynamics
Floodplain forests change when river levels rise and fall. Rising levels can uproot young trees, or, depending on timing and depth, leave behind just enough to support new growth. Long-term records from the GRFS have been used to show which areas were resilient to this change by exposing seedling survival, seed dispersal, and forest community composition. This information has helped inform decisions that assist in the protection and restoration of floodplain forests.