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Proceedings of the Floodplain Vegetation Monitoring Workshop for the Long Term Resource Monitoring Element of the Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program, January 7–8, 2025, Moline, Illinois

Open-File Report 2026-1001
Prepared in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program and the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center
By: , , , , and 
https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20261001

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Preface 

In anticipation for increased funding made possible by the Water Resources Development Act of 2020, the Upper Mississippi River Restoration (UMRR) Program identified a need to conduct river-wide assessments of floodplain vegetation. In January 2025, we assembled a group of subject matter experts to perform the following tasks:

  1. Review Upper Mississippi River Restoration’s current floodplain vegetation research portfolio,
  2. Identify important features and goals for long-term floodplain vegetation monitoring,
  3. Evaluate the suitability of existing datasets for system-wide vegetation assessments, and
  4. Discuss emerging opportunities to learn about floodplain vegetation dynamics from local-scale restoration and management projects.

This document is a summarization of what occurred at the meeting and provides suggested next steps toward developing the capacity to conduct routine long-term monitoring and assessment of floodplain vegetation as part of the Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program.

Suggested Citation

Weiss, S.A., Trumper, M.L., De Jager, N.R., Guyon, L.J., and Van Appledorn, M., 2026, Proceedings of the Floodplain Vegetation Monitoring Workshop for the Long Term Resource Monitoring Element of the Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program, January 7–8, 2025, Moline, Illinois: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2026–1001, 29 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20261001.

ISSN: 2331-1258 (online)

Table of Contents

  • Preface
  • Workshop Introduction
  • Day 1: Long Term Resource Monitoring’s Floodplain Ecology Research Portfolio and Identification of Important Features of Long-Term Floodplain Vegetation Monitoring
  • Day 2: Evaluating the Suitability of Existing Datasets for System-Wide Vegetation Assessments and Discussing Emerging Opportunities to Learn about Floodplain Vegetation Dynamics from Local-Scale Restoration and Management Projects
  • Synthesis and Next Steps
  • Acknowledgments
  • References Cited
Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title Proceedings of the Floodplain Vegetation Monitoring Workshop for the Long Term Resource Monitoring Element of the Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program, January 7–8, 2025, Moline, Illinois
Series title Open-File Report
Series number 2026-1001
DOI 10.3133/ofr20261001
Publication Date April 13, 2026
Year Published 2026
Language English
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Publisher location Reston, VA
Contributing office(s) Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
Description Report: viii, 29 p.
Online Only (Y/N) Y
Additional Online Files (Y/N) N
Additional publication details