Stewardship after delisting: Sustaining long-term progress in Michigan’s Areas of Concern

The Michigan Areas of Concern (AOC) program has made significant progress in recent years following the influx of external funding from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and the Great Lakes Legacy Act. However, as more AOCs near delisting, community members from Michigan Public Advisory Councils (PACs) are concerned that the loss of programmatic funding will constrain their ability to sustain key public engagement and long-term restoration progress. In order to understand the local community perspectives surrounding delisting, our study presents findings and recommendations that emerged from interviews with Michigan PAC members. We found that PACs recognize the need to transition away from projects with a short-term focus and instead prioritize longer-term, holistic strategies that could help catalyze effective public engagement and produce transformative community revitalization. This study’s recommendations for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) include: (1) dedicating more time to post-delisting planning, (2) enhancing communication efforts with PACs, and (3) strengthening long-term public engagement efforts and PAC organizational capacity. These recommendations add to the growing literature supporting the value of local community perspectives and social dimensions of environmental restoration and may also provide transferable insights to communities outside of Michigan that are currently engaged in similar complex, multi-stakeholder environmental restoration projects.     

Bridging the implementation gap: Designing a course of action with Michigan Public Advisory Councils

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) enlisted the help of three past capstone program participants through the University of Michigan, School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS). Between 2019 and 2020, graduate students researched how Michigan Public Advisory Councils (PACs) can maximize their effectiveness and stewardship impact within the Michigan Areas of Concern (AOC) program, a regulatory program established to restore polluted water systems within Michigan. Each capstone participant provided several recommendations to achieve these goals, but converting these recommendations into solutions for decision-makers and practitioners is challenging. To address this “implementation gap,” we collaborated with ten Michigan PACs and EGLE to translate these recommendations into implementation plans. We synthesized the 24 cumulative recommendations from the previous capstone participants into a shortlist of eight, which we used throughout an interview process. We divided this process into Phase I interviews with individual PAC members and Phase II community conversations with multiple PAC members to identify each PAC's priority objectives and workshop their implementation. We analyzed interviews both as individual PACs and as a state-wide program using three main codes: progress, interest, and readiness, as well as an auto-coding process to check our work. These analyses showed that PAC members felt they had made the most progress toward recommendations related to PAC structure, community education, and partner organizations. While PAC members varied in their interview responses, most expressed interest in implementing recommendations where there was the greatest opportunity for progress: community education, life after delisting, and PAC recruitment.     

Thirty-five years of restoring Great Lakes Areas of Concern: Gradual progress,hopeful future

In 1985, remedial action plan development was initiated to restore impaired beneficial uses in 42 Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOCs). A 43rd AOC was designated in 1991. AOC restoration has not been easy as it requires networks focused on gathering stakeholders, coordinating efforts, and ensuring use restoration. As of 2019, seven AOCs were delisted, two were designated as Areas of Concern in Recovery, and 79 of 137 known use impairments in Canadian AOCs and 90 of 255 known use impairments in U.S. AOCs were eliminated. Between 1985 and 2019, a total of $22.78 billion U.S. was spent on restoring all AOCs. Pollution prevention investments should be viewed as spending to avoid future cleanups, and AOC restoration investments should be viewed as spending to help revitalize communities that has over a 3 to 1 return on investment. The pace of U.S. AOC restoration has accelerated under the Great Lakes Legacy Act (GLLA) and Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI). Sustained funding through U.S. programs like GLRI and GLLA and Canadian programs such as Canada-Ontario Agreement Respecting Great Lakes Water Quality and Ecosystem Health and the Great Lakes Protection Initiative is needed to restore all AOCs. Other major AOC program achievements include use of locally-designed ecosystem approaches, contaminated sediment remediation, habitat rehabilitation, controlling eutrophication, and advancing science. Key lessons learned include: ensure meaningful public participation; engage local leaders; establish a compelling vision; establish measurable targets; practice adaptive management; build partnerships; pursue collaborative financing; build a record of success; quantify benefits; and focus on life after delisting.     

Drivers of revitalization in Great Lakes coastal communities

Sediment remediation and habitat restoration projects have been increasingly employed along the coast of the Great Lakes to improve environmental quality since the designation of 43 highly degraded Areas of Concern (AOCs) by the 1987 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement between the U.S. and Canada. Improvements in water quality, habitat, and other environmental conditions can also support community wellbeing and revitalization; however, the mechanisms that support these connections are relatively unclear. We address this gap through a case study of three AOCs near Lake Michigan: 1) Grand Calumet River; 2) White Lake, and 3) Muskegon Lake. By analyzing secondary data and planning documents, we found that alongside environmental cleanup, anchor institutions, housing and economic development, and local events drive revitalization. Our research also illustrates that, rather than acting as discrete processes, environmental cleanup and revitalization drivers overlap in time and space. Finally, our research reveals a high level of variation within and across AOCs in terms of diverse socioeconomic contexts, planning capacities, and existing partnerships. Together, our findings point to the need for collaborative and inclusive planning processes that account for the heterogeneity present within and across AOCs to simultaneously support remediation, restoration, and revitalization and to sustain continued revitalization in AOC communities after delisting.     

Goals,beneficiaries, and indicators of waterfront revitalization in Great Lakes Areas of Concern and coastal communities

Cleanup of Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOCs) restores environmental benefits to waterfront communities and is an essential condition for revitalization. We define waterfront revitalization as policies or actions in terrestrial waterfront or adjacent aquatic areas that promote improvements in human socioeconomic well-being while protecting or improving the natural capital (the stocks of natural assets, biodiversity) that underlies all environmental, social, and economic benefits. Except for economic measures such as development investments, visitation rates, or commercial activity, evidence of waterfront revitalization in the Great Lakes is mostly anecdotal. We offer a perspective on waterfront revitalization that links indicators and metrics of sustainable revitalization to community goals and human beneficiaries. We compiled environmental, social, economic, and governance indicators and metrics of revitalization, many of which are based on or inspired by Great Lakes AOC case studies and community revitilization or sustainability plans. We highlight the role of indicators in avoiding unintended consequences of revitalization including environmental degradation and social inequity. Revitalization indicators can be used in planning for comparing alternative designs, and to track restoration progress. The relevancy of specific indicators and metrics will always depend on the local context.     

Condition of macroinvertebrate communities in the Buffalo River Area of Concern following sediment remediation

The lower 10 km of the Buffalo River, a tributary to Lake Erie, was designated as an Area of Concern (AOC) in 1987 through the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement because sediment contamination and habitat alteration from past industrialization caused several Beneficial Use Impairments (BUIs). Extensive remediation efforts conducted between 2011 and 2015 removed approximately 688,100 cubic meters of contaminated sediment from the Buffalo River AOC, and subsequent chemical analysis of sediments indicated that most remedial goals had been achieved. Benthic macroinvertebrate communities and sediment toxicity were evaluated in the AOC and an upstream reference area in 2017 and 2020 to determine whether remediation has improved benthic conditions sufficiently that the benthos BUI designation can be removed. Community condition was characterized using the New York State multi-metric index of biological integrity and bed sediments were used for 10-day toxicity tests with Chironomus dilutus and Hyalella azteca. Macroinvertebrate communities were classified as moderately to slightly impacted at most AOC sites compared to slightly impacted at most reference sites, but toxicity tests did not identify any evidence of toxicity in sediments from the AOC. A linear mixed effects model indicated that total organic carbon concentration in sediments, distance upstream from the river mouth, and the relative dominance of zebra mussels Dreissena polymorpha were the primary predictors of macroinvertebrate community condition. These findings are consistent with those from other AOCs in New York which indicate that contemporary benthic communities are generally shaped by legacy habitat alterations rather than AOC-specific sediment contamination and toxicity.     

Toxicity of waters from the St. Lawrence River at Massena Area-of-Concern to the plankton species Selenastrum capricornutum and Ceriodaphnia dubia

In 1972, the US and Canada committed to restore the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Great Lakes Ecosystem under the first Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. During subsequent amendments, part of the St. Lawrence River at Massena NY, and segments of three tributaries, were designated as one Area of Concern (AOC) due to various beneficial use impairments (BUIs). Plankton beneficial use was designated impaired within this AOC because phytoplankton and zooplankton population data were unavailable or needed “further assessment”. Contaminated sediments from industrial waste disposal have been largely remediated, thus, the plankton BUI may currently be obsolete. The St. Lawrence River at Massena AOC remedial action plan established two criteria which may be used to assess the plankton BUI; the second states that, “in the absence of community structure data, plankton bioassays confirm no toxicity impact in ambient waters”. This study was implemented during 2011 to determine whether this criterion was achieved. Acute toxicity and chronic toxicity of local waters were quantified seasonally using standardized bioassays with green alga Selenastrum capricornutum and water flea Ceriodaphnia dubia to test the hypothesis that waters from sites within the AOC were no more toxic than were waters from adjacent reference sites. The results of univariate and multivariate analyses confirm that ambient waters from most AOC sites (and seasons) were not toxic to both species. Assuming both test species represent natural plankton assemblages, the quality of surface waters throughout most of this AOC should not seriously impair the health of resident plankton communities.     

A decision support tool for measuring and tracking the social benefits of water resources in Michigan coastal communities

This Research Study was conducted to demonstrate and measure social wellbeing in Michigan coastal communities resulting from investments in local water-related projects and resource development that can lead to community vibrancy and to provide a model for communities throughout Michigan and the Great Lakes Basin. The primary goal of the study was to develop and implement an online Community Vibrancy Dashboard that would assist planners, decision makers, business leaders, and residents in defining, reviewing, and tracking community vibrancy. The study was supported by the Michigan Office of the Great Lakes under the 2016 Michigan Water Strategy and funded through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.Four coastal communities in Michigan – Alpena, Manistee, Port Huron, and Sault Ste. Marie – participated in the study. These communities were selected because of their long economic and cultural histories with the Great Lakes, all are similar in size, and all have conducted relatively recent water-related resource restoration projects and were willing to participate.This study demonstrates how community engagement can result in measurable social indicators of community vibrancy that focus on the use of and connectedness to water resources in the Great Lakes Region. The study resulted in an innovative online visualization toolkit that provides opportunities for public review of local water projects and their resultant contributions to community vibrancy. The Community Vibrancy Dashboard provides timely and visible feedback to local leaders, planners, and decision makers on past and future projects and a means of tracking progress in meeting community vibrancy goals.     

Thinking outside the “water box” in the Detroit River Area of Concern

Despite sustained attention to water resource issues in the Great Lakes and around the world, many water problems remain unresolved because their sources or causes are external to the water sector. Water governance often is based on water-centric problem framings that do not take sufficient account of the role of external actors, institutions, and drivers. Recognition of this problem is growing, but identifying external connections and addressing the critical ones is challenging for water managers. Using a flexible diagnostic process, we explore external factors that are relevant in the context of the Detroit River Area of Concern (AOC) between Canada and the United States. We used a two-case multiple case study research design, triangulating data gathered from 28 key informant interviews, review of 58 documents, and personal observations. We find that the AOC program is intentionally narrowly-focused to achieve its objectives, and that a water-centric perspective may in fact be needed for delisting the Detroit River as an AOC. However, there are broader issues beyond those considered in the AOC process that affect the river, including climate change, invasive species, population and land use change, shifting public perceptions, and an unstable institutional environment. To address these external challenges, practitioners should consider engaging more proactively with the topic of “life after delisting”, and connecting more strongly with existing initiatives and networks in the area with the help of “boundary spanners.” Strengthening binational ties within the AOC, and clarifying the role of AOCs in the large governance environment are also important.     

The bricks and mortar of collaborative ecosystem-based restoration and management

For three decades, communities, agencies, industries, and stakeholders throughout the Great Lakes have been working together to restore degraded ecosystems and revitalize local communities through the Areas of Concern Program. Their work constitutes a set of natural experiments in collaborative ecosystem-based management (EBM). Similar experiments have been occurring simultaneously elsewhere in North America and the world. Despite differences in scale, scope, and context, these initiatives all share several notable attributes in common. These findings are distilled in a conceptual framework of core factors that enable effective EBM. The analogy of Bricks and Mortar distinguishes between the organizational elements that support, structure, and guide a process and the motivational factors that energize and sustain it. Bricks provide the governance infrastructure within which activities occur: the table that provides a legitimate convening place; the authorities, purpose, and scope that bound the initiative; the organizational form that ensures essential functions are fulfilled; and the formally codified roles and responsibilities. Mortar is what motivates people to engage and stay engaged: the relationships that they form and the personal skillsets they bring to the table; a shared sense of place, purpose, and responsibility; an effective and rewarding process; and sustained commitment and leadership at all levels. These findings about the critical role of Bricks and Mortar in enabling EBM are translated into simple diagnostic tools for assessing their strength and viability in similar initiatives within the Great Lakes region and elsewhere.     

Determining preferences for ecosystem benefits in Great Lakes Areas of Concern from photographs posted to social media

Relative valuation of potentially affected ecosystem benefits can increase the legitimacy and social acceptance of ecosystem restoration projects. As an alternative or supplement to traditional methods of deriving beneficiary preference, we downloaded from social media and classified ≈ 21,000 photographs taken in two Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOC), the St. Louis River and the Milwaukee Estuary.Our motivating presumption was that the act of taking a photograph constitutes some measure of the photographer's individual preference for, or choice of, the depicted subject matter among myriad possible subject matter. Overall, 17% of photos downloaded from the photo-sharing sites Flickr, Instagram, and Panoramio depicted an ecosystem benefit of the AOC. Percent of photographs depicting a benefit and the photographs' subject matter varied between AOCs and among photo-sharing sites. Photos shared on Instagram were less user-gender biased than other photo-sharing sites and depicted active recreation (e.g., trail use) more frequently than passive recreation (e.g., landscape viewing). Local users shared more photos depicting a benefit than non-local users. The spatial distribution of photograph locations varied between photos depicting and not depicting a benefit, and identified areas within AOCs from which few photographs were shared. As a source of beneficiary preference information, we think Instagram has some advantages over the other photo-sharing sites. When combined with other information, spatially-explicit relative valuation derived from aggregate social preference can be translated into information and knowledge useful for Great Lakes restoration decision making.     

Assessing terrestrial wildlife populations in the Toronto and Region Area of Concern

Beneficial use impairments (BUIs) under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement identify environmental issues requiring remedial action within the Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOCs). We conducted this study to support the assessment of the wildlife component of BUI 3: degradation of fish and wildlife populations. We compared bird and amphibian (frogs and toads) data from the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority’s Terrestrial Long-term Monitoring Program in the Toronto and Region AOC to an adjacent, but otherwise similar, reference watershed, Duffins Creek. Twelve of 13 targets were met within the AOC for forest bird, wetland bird, meadow bird and amphibian populations based on averages of mean annual values at sites within the AOC that were within two standard deviations of averages at sites in the Duffins Creek reference watershed between 2008 and 2017. Even though wildlife populations within the AOC were within the normal range of variability expected from a reference watershed, they were often at lower levels than within the Duffins Creek reference watershed. In addition, forest bird and amphibian populations were negatively affected by urbanization within the AOC and meadow bird indices declined. We conclude that while wildlife populations within the AOC currently meet targets for BUI 3, they continue to be negatively impacted by numerous stressors that are primarily related to past and ongoing urbanization. Thus, continued restoration of wildlife habitat and protection of existing habitat within the AOC is highly recommended.     

Assessment of fish consumption beneficial use impairment at the Great Lakes Thunder Bay and St. Marys River Areas of Concern,Canada

The North American Great Lakes were designated with 43 locally degraded Areas of Concern (AOCs) in the 1980s. Remediation activities geared towards restoring beneficial use impairments (BUIs) at the AOCs have been conducted by both the American and Canadian governments. Here we examine if the fish consumption BUI has been restored at the Thunder Bay Harbour and St. Marys River AOCs within the Canadian waters by applying a three-tier assessment framework using the fish contaminant data collected by the Government of Ontario, Canada. Fish consumption advisories published by the government as well as simulated advisories based on the post-2005 data were examined in Tiers 1 and 2. The results highlighted that the restrictions advised on eating fish from the AOCs are mild and are typically similar to other non-AOC areas of lakes Superior and Huron. Temporal trend analyses of three contaminants of concern, mercury, PCB and dioxins/furans, generally showed substantial improvements over the last 30+ years and mostly continued declining trends in the recent years. These findings support a re-designation of the fish consumption BUI to “not impaired” at the two AOCs. As a follow up, it is recommended to confirm improvements in the dioxin/furan/dioxin-like PCB levels in fish at the Thunder Bay AOC. It is also advisable to conduct a survey to properly define “beneficial use” of fish consumption for the AOCs (i.e., which fish and in what quantity do people eat), and thereby validate the critical assumption of 8+ meals/month as a non-restrictive advice used in this assessment.     

Condition of resident fish communities in the Eighteenmile Creek Area of Concern,New York

The lower 3.5 km of Eighteenmile Creek, a tributary to Lake Ontario in New York, was designated as an Area of Concern (AOC) in 1985 under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement due to extensive contamination of bed sediments by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other toxicants. Five beneficial use impairments (BUIs) have been identified in this AOC, including degraded fish and wildlife populations. We surveyed fish communities in the Eighteenmile Creek AOC and in a comparable section of a nearby reference stream (Oak Orchard Creek) during June 2019 to infer whether legacy contaminants are currently impairing fish communities in the AOC to an extent that they differ from the regional reference condition. Estimates of community abundance, biomass, diversity, and fish condition from each system were compared using a noninferiority testing framework. Biomass, diversity, and fish condition in the Eighteenmile Creek AOC were similar or superior to that in Oak Orchard Creek, while abundance was 20% lower in the AOC. These findings and those of a 2007 sampling effort suggest that fish communities in the Eighteenmile Creek AOC are not impaired despite recent studies indicating that PCBs are bioaccumulating in fish tissues at 1–2 orders of magnitude above background levels. Future assessments in the Eighteenmile Creek AOC might focus on the condition of benthic macroinvertebrate communities and potential toxicity of local contaminants to piscivorous wildlife in order to fully address the remaining aspects of the fish and wildlife populations beneficial use impairment.     

Assessing Contamination in Great Lakes Sediments Using Benthic Invertebrate Communities and the Sediment Quality Triad Approach

Sediments in many Great Lakes harbors and tributary rivers are contaminated. As part of the USEPA's Assessment and Remediation of Contaminated Sediment (ARCS) program, a number of studies were conducted to determine the nature and extent of sediment contamination in Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOC). This paper describes the composition of benthic invertebrate communities in contaminated sediments and is one in a series of papers describing studies conducted to evaluate sediment toxicity from three AOC's (Buffalo River, NY; Indiana Harbor, IN; Saginaw River, MI), as part of the ARCS Program. Oligochaeta (worms) and Chironomidae (midge) comprised over 90% of the benthic invertebrate numbers in samples collected from depositional areas. Worms and midge consisted of taxa identified as primarily contaminant tolerant organisms. Structural deformities of mouthparts in midge larvae were pronounced in many of the samples. Good concurrence was evident between measures of laboratory toxicity, sediment contaminant concentration, and benthic invertebrate community composition in extremely contaminated samples. However, in moderately contaminated samples, less concordance was observed between the benthos community composition and either laboratory toxicity test results or sediment contaminant concentration. Laboratory sediment toxicity tests may better identify chemical contamination in sediments than many commonly used measures of benthic invertebrate community composition. Benthic measures may also reflect other factors such as habitat alteration. Evaluation of non-contaminant factors are needed to better interpret the response of benthic invertebrates to sediment contamination.     

Defining community revitalization in Great Lakes Areas of Concern and investigating how revitalization can be catalyzed through remediation and restoration

An international effort to restore contaminated areas across the Great Lakes has been underway for over 50 years. Although experts have increasingly recognized the inherent connections between ecological conditions and community level benefits, Great Lakes community revitalization continues to be a broad and complex topic, lacking a comprehensive definition. The purpose of this study was to generate a testable “AOC-Revitalization Framework” for linking remediation and restoration success, represented by Beneficial Use Impairment (BUI) removal in U.S. Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOC), to community revitalization. Using directed content analysis, we conducted a literature review and identified 433 potential revitalization metrics and indicators and grouped them into 15 broader community revitalization attributes to develop the following definition of Great Lakes community revitalization: “locally driven community resurgence resulting in resilient and equitable enhancements to social, economic, and environmental community structures.” We surveyed experts within the Great Lakes AOC program on the likelihood remediation and restoration success, would positively impact revitalization attributes. Focus groups triangulated survey results. Results identified BUI removal was expected to positively affect revitalization, but the type of revitalization outcome was based on the BUI being removed. The AOC-Revitalization Framework is the first to empirically outline these possible linkages, providing a clear testable structure for future research; it can be used to better understand how environmental improvements are or are not leading to community revitalization and more accurately identify components of revitalization impacted, thus supporting more equitable representation, communication, and measurement of the relationship.     

Re-assessing the degradation of benthos beneficial use impairment in the Toronto and Region Area of Concern

Sediment quality of the Toronto and Region Area of Concern (AOC) waterfront was assessed using a weight of evidence approach following the Sediment Quality Triad, with the addition of contaminant bioaccumulation data, to determine current status following the 2013 re-designation of the “degradation of benthos” Beneficial Use Impairment as “no longer impaired.” Five stations within the AOC were sampled in 2015 and compared to lower Great Lakes nearshore reference areas (n = 22) selected based on similarity of sediment physicochemical properties. Sediment chemistry was comparable except for a localized instance of elevated perfluorinated compounds at one AOC site. Laboratory sediment toxicity bioassays indicated chronic toxicity associated with point sources to the AOC, corresponding to increased invertebrate body burdens measured in laboratory exposures. Diversity metrics and multivariate analysis showed that benthic invertebrate community composition present at the AOC sites was not significantly different from reference conditions of the lower Great Lakes. The weight of evidence from this study indicates benthic invertebrate communities continue to show effects of degraded sediment conditions at sites impacted by point sources. While the 2013 RAP decision was to re-designate the “degradation of benthos” BUI to “no longer impaired,” our results support the notion that life after AOC delisting must continue to prioritize monitoring efforts.     

Quantitative restoration targets for fish and wildlife habitats and populations in the Lower Green Bay and Fox River AOC

The Lower Green Bay and Fox River Area of Concern (LGB&FR AOC) is one of the most ecologically diverse but demonstrably impaired AOCs in the Laurentian Great Lakes. We outline a transparent, quantitative process for setting targets to remove two fish and wildlife-related beneficial use impairments (BUIs). The method identifies important habitats and species/species groups and weights them according to ecological and socioeconomic criteria. These weights are paired with standardized estimates of current condition ranging from 0 (worst possible) to 10 (best possible). A weighted average of the condition scores gives an overall AOC condition for each BUI, creating a baseline for setting future restoration or BUI removal targets. Weighted averages for the LGB&FR AOC yielded a current condition of 3.60 for fish and wildlife habitats and 4.65 for species/species groups. Based on achievable restoration scenarios and discussions with local experts and stakeholders, we propose removal targets of 6.0 for the “loss of fish and wildlife habitat” BUI and 6.5 for the “degradation of fish and wildlife populations” BUI. This quantitative approach illuminates multiple pathways for reaching restoration targets and facilitates informed discussions about cost effective restoration projects. According to our results, species and species groups in this AOC are generally in better current condition than habitats when compared on the same 0–10 scale. This suggests that many (though not all) desirable fish and wildlife populations in the LGB&FR AOC are able to survive in relatively degraded habitats or are able to use these habitats productively during part of their life cycle.     

Towards improving an Area of Concern: Main-channel habitat rehabilitation priorities for the Maumee River

The Maumee River watershed in the Laurentian Great Lakes Basin has been impacted by decades of pollution and habitat modification due to human settlement and development. As such, the lower 35 km of the Maumee River and several smaller adjacent watersheds comprising over 2000 km² were designated the Maumee Area of Concern (AOC) under the revised Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement in 1987. As part of pre-rehabilitation assessments in the Maumee AOC, we assessed fish and invertebrate communities in river km 24–11 of the Maumee River to identify: 1) areas that exhibit the highest biodiversity, 2) habitat characteristics associated with high biodiversity areas, 3) areas in need of protection from further degradation, and 4) areas that could feasibly be rehabilitated to increase biodiversity. Based on benthic trawl data, shallow water habitats surrounding large island complexes had the highest fish diversity and catch per unit effort (CPUE). Electrofishing displayed similar fish diversity and CPUE patterns across habitat types early in the study but yielded no discernable fish diversity or CPUE patterns towards the end of our study. Although highly variable among study sites, macroinvertebrate density was greatest in shallow water habitats <2.5 m and around large island complexes. Our results provide valuable baseline data that could act as a foundation for developing rehabilitation strategies in the lower Maumee River and for assessing the effectiveness of future aquatic habitat rehabilitation projects. In addition to increasing in-channel habitat, watershed-scale improvements of water quality might be necessary to ensure rehabilitation strategies are successful.     

Nearshore Community Characteristics Related to Shoreline Properties in the Great Lakes

Successful protection and restoration of Great Lakes nearshore ecosystems will likely rely on management of terrestrial resources along Great Lakes shorelines. However, relationships between biological communities and changing shoreline environmental properties are poorly understood. We sought to begin understanding the potential roles of shoreline geomorphological and land cover properties in structuring nearshore biological communities in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Despite high variability in densities (benthic macroinvertebrates and zooplankton) and catch per unit effort (CPUE, shallow water and nearshore fish) within and among lake areas, several biological community patterns emerged to suggest that nearshore aquatic communities respond to shoreline features via the influences of these features on nearshore substrate composition and stability. Benthic macroinvertebrate densities were not different between shoreline types, although they were generally lower at nearshore sites with less stable substrates. Shallow water fish CPUE and zooplankton densities were generally lower for nearshore areas adjacent to developed mid-bluff shorelines and sites characterized by less stable substrates. Larger fish CPUE appeared to be unresponsive to local shoreline and substrate properties of nearshore zones. The emergence of these patterns despite significant ecological differences among lake areas (e.g., productivity, community composition, etc.) suggests that shoreline development may have comparable influences on nearshore ecosystems throughout the Great Lakes, providing a terrestrialbased indicator of relative nearshore biological and ecological integrity.