Our Strategies
Key Terms
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Baseline data
Basic information gathered before a scientific study begins and used later to provide a comparison for assessing changes.
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Nutrients
The “food” plants need in order to grow, including nitrogen and phosphorus. Too many nutrients can deprive water of oxygen, harming the things that live in it.
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PCBs
A group of toxic chemicals used in industry. Although their sale and new use was banned in the U.S. in 1979, earlier use continues to have harmful effects on environmental and human health.
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pH
An expression of the intensity of the basic or acid condition of a liquid. May range from 0 to 14, where 0 is the most acidic and 7 is neutral. Natural waters usually have a pH between 6.5 and 8.5.
Explore: Science of Wild Rice
One way scientists study wild rice is with annual aerial photos. By looking at the size of the rice beds in combination with factors like weather and wind, they learn what affects the rice.
Because the amount of wild rice on the same lake can naturally vary a lot from year to year, scientists need to collect data over a long period of time. The orange areas show where rice grew in 2005. The areas outlined in yellow show rice in 2006.
Try These Questions
That is correct!
Even without the effects of pollution or development, rice productivity is highly variable. This is why the Ojibwe are undertaking a long-term analysis of the rice beds, comparing annual aerial photos.
That is correct!
There are hundreds of lakes on the Leech Lake Reservation. Analyzing the differences between them, and how those differences affect wild-rice habitats, is time-consuming and difficult.
That is correct!
Leech Lake’s Division of Resource Management employs scientists who monitor the environment in many different ways.
Story Project Planner
Choose Images for Story Project
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Image 1 of 10
Toggle Favorite "That's why we have such good scientists...Bruce Johnson, director, Leech Lake Division of Resources Management
"That's why we have such good scientists employed. To help us save what we have left."
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Image 2 of 10
Toggle Favorite The Leech Lake band is taking steps to k...The Leech Lake band is taking steps to keep out invasive species that can crowd out wild rice. 2010
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Image 3 of 10
Toggle Favorite "The wild rice, in and of itself, is nat...Becky Knowles, plant ecologist, Leech Lake Division of Resources Management
"The wild rice, in and of itself, is naturally highly variable. And so the band has recognized that understanding the variability of rice is very important."
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Image 4 of 10
Toggle Favorite Scientists monitor water quality so they...Scientists monitor water quality so they can understand its effect on wild rice growth. c. 2009
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Image 5 of 10
Toggle Favorite "What we've done in the past is just com...
Becky Knowles, plant ecologist, Leech Lake Division of Resources Management
"What we've done in the past is just compare photos to photos, and we can see from year to year that the overall coverage of rice is expanding or contracting, and so that we can know exactly where we need to focus our protection efforts."
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Image 6 of 10
Toggle Favorite Scientists collect data by taking random...Scientists collect data by taking random plant density samples from lakes. For each sample they place a quadrant into the water and count the number of plants and stalks within the square. c. 2009
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Image 7 of 10
Toggle Favorite "We did a study on wild rice. We were al...Jeff Harper, water quality specialist, Leech Lake Division of Resources Management
"We did a study on wild rice. We were also looking for mercury and PCBs and other widely known chemicals. We found that the plant does uptake those chemicals. We know that in humans, they cause nerve damage. We don't know what that does to the wild rice."
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Image 8 of 10
Toggle Favorite The tribe protects rice plants by requir...The tribe protects rice plants by requiring the use of traditional harvesting methods. Push poles are designed to disturb the bottom of the rice beds as little as possible. 1998
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Image 9 of 10
Toggle Favorite "We do know that we need clean water for...
Jeff Harper, water quality specialist, Leech Lake Division of Resources Management
"We do know that we need clean water for the wild rice."
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Image 10 of 10
Toggle Favorite "Within our water program, we do a lot o...Levi Brown, environmental director, Leech Lake Division of Resource Management
"Within our water program, we do a lot of water sampling on a majority of the lakes within Leech Lake. But what we're looking for is a baseline data background, so we can measure the changes from year to year, and what's going on with the water."
Take Notes for Story Project
Take notes and save images to help answer these questions. Your images and notes will be saved to the Story Project where you can use them to create your own slideshow.
