Midwest Fish & Wildlife Conference 2018

AUTHORS: Kaylee Luke; Dr. Andrew Gregory

ABSTRACT: In 2010, the Kalamazoo River suffered major damage when an oil pipeline burst, pouring over one million gallons of oil into the water and soil. Mnomen (wild rice); (Z. Aquatica, Z. Palustris, Z. Palustris Interior) populations of the Kalamazoo River watershed were damaged by the oil spill. Mnomen is an important cultural and natural resource to native peoples, particularly to the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi Nation. To address this conservation concern, the Nottawaseppi Band is beginning work to inventory, manage and reintroduce Mnomen to impacted reaches of the Kalamazoo River (and connecting tributaries), and to re-establish existing populations along the St. Joseph River. Mnomen has shown strong evidence for co-adaption of geographically distinct aquascapes that have evolved over time due to adaptive gene complexes involving important quantitative traits. Maintaining adequate adaptive potential via high genetic diversity is critical for the long-term success of Mnomen reintroductions. The focus of this study is to identify the distinctive genetic patterns of rice populations across South-West Michigan, focusing mainly on the Kalamazoo and St. Joseph Rivers and tributaries. To date, we have collected 140 Mnomen samples from our focus areas.  Based on characteristics of leaf, seed, and shoot, 101 of the 140 samples are predicted to be Aquatica, 20 are predicted to be Palustris and 19 are potential hybrids. Genetic analysis is still underway, once it is complete, we will know if the predictions are correct or not. To date, we have completed genetic analysis testing three genetic markers (ZM5, Zt-16 and ZM36).  Further genetic analysis will allow categorization of species within the samples of Mnomen, however from these three markers we have identified noticeable differences in bands across the different types of rice.