Major shift in the phenology of crustacean biomass in western Lake Superior associated with temperature anomaly

Variable weather patterns during the early months of 2014 and 2015 resulted in differences between years in spring and summer surface water temperatures in the offshore areas of western Lake Superior. Zooplankton were collected in western Lake Superior during several cruises from late spring to early fall in 2014 and 2015 to test the hypotheses that colder summer water temperatures in 2014 were correlated with reduced zooplankton biomass, later peaks in zooplankton biomass, and a smaller contribution of warm-water taxa to the zooplankton assemblage. The total amount of zooplankton biomass from early June through early October did not differ greatly between years. Of the taxonomic subcategories (large-bodied calanoids, small-bodied calanoids, cyclopoids, nauplii, and herbivorous cladocerans) however, cyclopoid and cladoceran biomass was somewhat smaller in 2014 compared to 2015, providing some support for the hypothesis that warm-water taxa contribute less to offshore zooplankton biomass in colder years. The timing of peak biomass for cladocerans, small-bodied calanoids, and cyclopoids did not differ between years, but peaks in the biomass of copepod nauplii and large-bodied calanoids (primarily Limnocalanus macrurus) occurred several weeks later in 2014 than 2015 which was evidence for phenological delay during a year with unusually cold spring and summer surface water temperatures. Though this study only evaluates the role of temperature in driving zooplankton biomass and phenology in Lake Superior, it does provide insight into the potential effects of climate variability on the Lake Superior food web.     

Predation by Limnocalanus as a Potentially Major Source of Winter Naupliar Mortality in Lake Michigan

Predation by adult Limnocalanus macrurus may have a significant impact on naupliar mortality in Lake Michigan. Naupliar mortality rates were estimated from plankton samples from winter and early spring of 1981, and compared with estimates of potential mortality due to predation by adult Limnocalanus. Naupliar mortality rates ranged from. 028 to .149 per day. Predation by Limnocalanus could have accounted for between 3 and 100 percent of the naupliar mortality. These percentages were highest in winter, and decreased with declining Limnocalanus densities in spring. Naupliar mortality rates increased from January through April, during the time of the spring “bloom” in the lake. Predation, rather than competition for food, is probably, the main influence on naupliar mortality rates.     

Patterns in the crustacean zooplankton community in Lake Winnipeg,Manitoba: Response to long-term environmental change

Changes in the crustacean zooplankton community composition and abundance in Lake Winnipeg (1969–2006) provide a rare opportunity to examine their response to environmental changes in the largest naturally eutrophic lake on the Canadian prairies. Since 1929, zooplankton species composition in Lake Winnipeg has changed little except for the addition of the invasive cladoceran, Eubosmina coregoni in 1994. The dominant taxa in the lake in summer include: Leptodiaptomus ashlandi, Acanthocyclops vernalis, Diacyclops thomasi, Daphnia retrocurva, Daphnia mendotae, Diaphanosoma birgei, Eubosmina coregoni, and Bosmina longirostris. Climate-accelerated nutrient loading to southern Lake Winnipeg over the last two decades has led to increased phytoplankton abundance and higher frequency of cyanobacterial blooms especially in its northern basin. Crustacean zooplankton have likewise increased especially in the North Basin, but less so in the more nutrient rich South Basin, possibly as a consequence of higher densities of pelagic planktivorous fish and light-limited primary production compared with the more transparent North basin (Brunskill et al., 1979, 1980). Calanoid copepods play a larger role in the South basin food web in contrast to cyclopoid copepods and Cladocera in the North basin. The study begins to fill the recognized gap in understanding of Lake Winnipeg's food web structure and provides a baseline for evaluating ongoing changes in the zooplankton community with the arrival of new non-indigenous taxa, e.g. Bythotrephes longimanus and Dreissena polymorpha. It reinforces previous work demonstrating that zooplankton provide valuable indices toward evaluating the health of an ecosystem.     

1960-2008年间洞庭湖流域降水变化时空特征分析

依据洞庭湖流域27个气象观测站1960—2008年逐月的降水量资料,综合运用气象统计方法和GIS空间分析技术,对洞庭湖流域近年来降水变化的时空特征进行了分析。结果表明:(1)在1960—2008年间,流域年降水量呈现出不显著的增加趋势,四季中春、秋两季表现为减少趋势,而夏、冬两季则表现为增加趋势,其中夏季的增加最为明显;但在1999—2008年的近10年间,流域年降水量表现为显著的减少趋势,四季中除冬季仍表现为增加的趋势外,其余三季均表现为减少的趋势。(2)在近10年间,流域内除个别站点年降水量仍表现为增加的趋势外,其余多数站点均表现出不同程度的减少。在时间分配上,夏、冬两季降水较流域多年平均值分别偏多2.85%和3.07%,而春、秋两季则偏少1.35%和11.43%。其中,秋季9、10月份偏少明显,而变差系数同期则明显增大,带来入湖水量大幅减少和区域干旱发生增加等不良影响。     

1960-2008年间洞庭湖流域降水变化时空特征分析

依据洞庭湖流域27个气象观测站1960-2008年逐月的降水量资料,综合运用气象统计方法和GIS空间分析技术,对洞庭湖流域近年来降水变化的时空特征进行了分析。结果表明：（1）在1960-2008年间,流域年降水量呈现出不显著地增加趋势,四季中春、秋两季表现为减少趋势,而夏、冬两季则表现为增加趋势,其中夏季的增加最为明显;但在1999-2008年的近10年间,流域年降水量表现为显著的减少趋势,四季中除冬季仍表现为增加的趋势外,其余三季均表现为减少的趋势。（2）在近10年间,流域内除个别站点年降水量仍表现为增加的趋势外,其余多数站点均表现出不同程度的减少。在时间分配上,夏、冬两季降水较流域多年平均值分别偏多2.85%和3.07%,而春、秋两季则偏少1.35%和11.43%。其中,秋季9、10月份偏少明显,而变差系数同期则明显增大,带来入湖水量大幅减少和区域干旱发生增加等不良影响。     

A comparative examination of recent changes in nutrients and lower food web structure in Lake Michigan and Lake Huron

The lower food webs of Lake Huron and Lake Michigan have experienced similar reductions in the spring phytoplankton bloom and summer populations of Diporeia and cladocerans since the early 2000s. At the same time phosphorus concentrations have decreased and water clarity and silica concentrations have increased. Key periods of change, identified by using a method based on sequential t-tests, were 2003–2005 (Huron) and 2004–2006 (Michigan). Estimated filtration capacity suggests that dreissenid grazing would have been insufficient to directly impact phytoplankton in the deeper waters of either lake by this time (mid 2000s). Despite some evidence of decreased chlorophyll:TP ratios, consistent with grazing limitation of phytoplankton, the main impact of dreissenids on the offshore waters was probably remote, e.g., through interception of nutrients by nearshore populations. A mass balance model indicates that decreased phosphorus loading could not account for observed in-lake phosphorus declines. However, model-inferred internal phosphorus dynamics were strongly correlated between the lakes, with periods of increased internal loading in the 1990s, and increased phosphorus loss starting in 2000 in Lake Michigan and 2003 in Lake Huron, prior to dreissenid expansion into deep water of both lakes. This suggests a limited role for deep populations of dreissenids in the initial phosphorus declines in the lakes, and also suggests a role for meteorological influence on phosphorus dynamics. The high synchrony in lower trophic level changes between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron suggests that both lakes should be considered when investigating underlying causal factors of these changes.     

Current state of the sponge fauna (Porifera: Lubomirskiidae) of Lake Baikal: Sponge disease and the problem of conservation of diversity

The spatial distribution of healthy and diseased sponges in Lake Baikal was investigated. The endemic sponges were studied in May ? June 2015 at 11 transects within the depth range of 0 to 40 m. More than 500 sponge specimens were collected, and 29 taxa including 12 species and 17 morphospecies (sp. taxa) were identified. Among the 29 taxa, only B. martinsoni specimens and 14 morphospecies were healthy, whereas specimens of the other 11 species and 3 morphospecies were diseased, making up 35% of the total number of specimens (512). The different body forms of sponge found among the specimens were encrusting (66%), globulous (21%), and branched (13%). Sponges with necrosis signs, discolored specimens or covered with violet film or brown spots, were found in all transects under study (37 stations of 68). The percent cover of the bottom (per m²) by various body forms of sponges was evaluated with a sponge faunal state assessment test. Changes in the diversity and abundance of sponges due to their disease may jeopardize the functioning of the entire ecosystem of Lake Baikal which is a World Heritage Site. This baseline data on patterns of sponges, including their spatial distribution and percent cover, will be utilized to support future management and monitoring of Lake Baikal. Data on the current state of Baikal endemic sponge fauna are essential for understanding the causes and prognosis of disease processes of freshwater sponges.     

Genetic assessment of straying rates of wild and hatchery reared lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) in Lake Superior tributaries

Natal philopatry in lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) has been hypothesized to be an important factor that has lead to genetically distinct Great Lakes populations. Due to declining abundance, population extirpation, and restricted distribution, hatchery supplementation is being used to augment natural recruitment and to reestablish populations. If hatchery-reared lake sturgeon are more likely to stray than naturally produced individuals, as documented in other well-studied species, outbreeding could potentially jeopardize beneficial site-specific phenotypic and genotypic adaptations. From 1983 to 1994, lake sturgeon propagated using eggs taken from Lake Winnebago adults (Lake Michigan basin) were released in the St. Louis River estuary in western Lake Superior. Our objective was to determine whether these introduced individuals have strayed into annual spawning runs in the Sturgeon River, Michigan. Additionally, we estimated a natural migration rate between the Sturgeon River and Bad River, Wisconsin populations. Presumed primiparous lake sturgeon sampled during Sturgeon River spawning runs from 2003 to 2008 were genotyped at 12 microsatellite loci. Genotypic baselines established for the Sturgeon River (n = 101), Bad River (n = 40), and Lake Winnebago river system (n = 73) revealed a relatively high level of genetic divergence among populations (mean F_ST = 0.103; mean R_ST = 0.124). Likelihood-based assignment tests indicated no straying of stocked Lake Winnebago strain lake sturgeon from the St. Louis River into the Sturgeon River spawning population. One presumed primiparous Sturgeon River individual likely originated from the Bad River population. Four first-generation migrants were detected in the Sturgeon River baseline, indicating an estimated 3.5% natural migration rate for the system.     

Effects of using air temperature as a proxy for potential evapotranspiration in climate change scenarios of Great Lakes basin hydrology

Hydrologic impacts of climate change are regularly assessed with hydrologic models that use air temperature as a proxy to compute potential evapotranspiration (PET). This approach is taken in the Large Basin Runoff Model (LBRM), which has been used several times for calculation of the runoff from the terrestrial part of the Great Lakes basin under climate change scenarios, with the results widely cited. However, a balance between incoming and outgoing energy, including the latent heat of evaporation, is a fundamental requirement for a land surface, and is not enforced under this approach. For calculating PET and evapotranspiration (ET) in climate change scenarios, we use an energy budget-based approach to adjusting the PET as an alternative that better satisfies conservation of energy. Using this new method, the increase in ET under enhanced greenhouse gas concentrations has reduced magnitude compared to that projected using the air temperature proxy. This results in either a smaller decrease in net basin supply and smaller drop in lake levels than using the temperature proxy, or a reversal to increased net basin supply and higher lake levels. An additional reason not to rely on a temperature proxy relation is that observational evidence demonstrates that the correlation between air temperature and ET (or PET) is restricted to the mean annual cycle of these variables. This brings into question the validity of air temperature as a proxy for PET when considering non-annual variability and secular changes in the climate regime.     

Seasonal zooplankton dynamics in Lake Michigan: Disentangling impacts of resource limitation,ecosystem engineering,and predation during a critical ecosystem transition

We examined seasonal dynamics of zooplankton at an offshore station in Lake Michigan from 1994 to 2003 and 2007 to 2008. This period saw variable weather, declines in planktivorous fish abundance, the introduction and expansion of dreissenid mussels, and a slow decline in total phosphorus concentrations. After the major expansion of mussels into deep water (2007–2008), chlorophyll in spring declined sharply, Secchi depth increased markedly in all seasons, and planktivorous fish biomass declined to record-low levels. Overlaying these dramatic ecosystem-level changes, the zooplankton community exhibited complex seasonal dynamics between 1994–2003 and 2007–2008. Phenology of the zooplankton maximum was affected by onset of thermal stratification, but there was no other discernable effect due to temperature. Interannual variability in zooplankton biomass during 1994 and 2003 was strongly driven by planktivorous fish abundance, particularly age-0 and age-1 alewives. In 2007–2008, there were large decreases in Diacyclops thomasi and Daphnia mendotae possibly caused by food limitation as well as increased predation and indirect negative effects from increases in Bythotrephes longimanus abundance and in foraging efficiency associated with increased light penetration. The Bythotrephes increase was likely driven in part by decreased predation from yearling and older alewife. While there was a major decrease in epilimnetic–metalimnetic herbivorous cladocerans in 2007–2008, there was an increase in large omnivorous and predacious calanoid copepods, especially those in the hypolimnion. Thus, changes to the zooplankton community are the result of cascading, synergistic interactions, including a shift from vertebrate to invertebrate planktivory and mussel ecosystem impacts on light climate and chlorophyll.     

Intercomparisons of Analytical Methodology and Laboratory Capabilities Between Soviet and American Laboratories—1973 to 1977

As a part of the cooperative scientific efforts between the US and the USSR on aquatic ecosystems, a comparison of analytical methodologies and laboratory capabilities was undertaken between 1973 and 1977. The samples exchanged between participating laboratories in the two countries included water samples from Lake Baikal, and standard reference samples from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In general, the results from the analysis of exchanged materials show a remarkable comparability for parameters of environmental significance.