Cold and wet: Diatoms dominate the phytoplankton community during a year of anomalous weather in a Great Lakes estuary

As sentinels of climate change and other anthropogenic forces, freshwater lakes are experiencing ecosystem disruptions at every level of the food web, beginning with the phytoplankton, a highly responsive group of organisms. Most studies regarding the effects of climate change on phytoplankton focus on a potential scenario in which temperatures continuously increase and droughts intersperse heavy precipitation events. Like much of the conterminous United States in 2019, the Muskegon River watershed (Michigan, USA) experienced record-breaking rainfall accompanied by unusually cool temperatures, affording an opportunity to explore how an alternate potential climate scenario may affect phytoplankton. We conducted biweekly sampling of environmental variables and phytoplankton in Muskegon Lake, a Great Lakes Area of Concern that connects to Lake Michigan. We compared environmental variables in 2019 to the previous eight years using long-term data from the Muskegon Lake Observatory buoy, and annual monitoring excursions provided historical phytoplankton data. Under cold and wet conditions, diatoms were the single dominant division throughout the entire growth season – an unprecedented scenario in Muskegon Lake. In 10 of the 13 biweekly sampling days in 2019, diatoms comprised over 75% of the phytoplankton community in the lake by count, indicating that the spring diatom bloom persisted through the fall. Additionally, phytoplankton seasonal succession and abundance patterns typically seen in this lake were absent. In a world experiencing reduced predictability, increased variability, and regional climate anomalies, studying periods of extreme weather events may offer insight into how natural systems will be affected and respond under future climate scenarios.     

Using bald eagles to indicate the health of the Great Lakes' environment

The bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) is one of the most studied birds of North America, and a great amount of natural life‐history information, including the response of various stressors on the eagles' ability to reproduce, are well known. In Michigan, the eagle has been chosen to track the trends of bioaccumulative compounds of concern across watersheds in the state. The state has been divided into major watersheds, and 20% of these are surveyed each year. A control area in northern Minnesota, Voyageurs National Park, is also sampled annually. We report here on the methods used, the preliminary results of the 1999 field season, and how differences in mercury concentrations varied over a 10‐year period. Mercury in feathers of nestling eagles declined over time only in Lakes Michigan and Huron, but have not decreased among other subpopulations in Michigan. Concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and 4,4′‐DDE in blood plasma from nestling eagles have declined over time for most subpopulations; however, they remain greater for breeding areas associated with the Great Lakes' food web. Sea eagles of the genus Haliaeetus are a good sentinel species to track trends in bioaccumulative compounds in aquatic systems.     

Satellite SAR Remote Sensing of Great Lakes Ice Cover,Part 2. Ice Classification and Mapping

During the 1997 winter season, shipborne polarimetric backscatter measurements of Great Lakes (freshwater) ice types using the Jet Propulsion Laboratory C-band scatterometer, together with surface-based ice physical characterization measurements and environmental parameters, were acquired concurrently with Earth Resource Satellite 2 (ERS-2) and RADARSAT Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data. This polarimetric data set, composed of over 20 variations of different ice types measured at incident angles from 0° to 60° for all polarizations, was processed to radar cross-section to establish a library of signatures (look-up table) for different ice types. The library is used in the computer classification of calibrated satellite SAR data. Computer analysis of ERS-2 and RADARSAT ScanSAR images of Great Lakes ice cover using a supervised classification technique indicates that different ice types in the ice cover can be identified and mapped, and that wind speed and direction can have an influence on the classification of water as ice based on single frequency, single polarization data. Once satellite SAR data are classified into ice types, the ice map provides important and necessary input for environmental protection and management, ice control and ice breaking operations, and ice forecasting and modeling efforts.     

Occurrence of Lawn Care and Agricultural Pesticides in the Don River and Humber River Watersheds (1998–2002)

Between 1998 and 2002, surface water samples were collected from several sites in the Don River and Humber River watersheds, both tributaries to Lake Ontario, and analyzed for a variety of pesticides, including those used for urban lawn care. Analyses included 152 pesticide active ingredients and eight metabolites. Samples were collected during base flow periods (i.e., dry events) and rainfall events (i.e., wet events). The objectives of the study were to determine which pesticides were detectable, whether there was a difference in the detection frequency between the two watersheds and between upstream and downstream in each river, and whether precipitation influenced the frequency of detection. Eleven pesticides and one metabolite were detected in surface waters of the Don and Humber rivers or their tributaries, with approximately 72% of samples containing at least one pesticide attributable to lawn care use. The pesticides and pesticide metabolite detected in this study included 2,4-D, atrazine, bromacil, carbofuran, chlorpyrifos, cypermethrin, diazinon, dicamba, MECOPROP, metolachlor, metribuzin, and an atrazine metabolite (des-ethyl atrazine). Four pesticides exceeded federal or provincial water quality guidelines/objectives. Diazinon exceeded the provincial water quality objective in 28% of the samples taken. For the three other pesticides (atrazine, carbofuran and chlorpyrifos) exceedance of a water quality criteria occurred in less than 1% of the samples.     

Effects of plant community composition and exposure to wave action on invertebrate habitat use of Lake Huron coastal wetlands

Invertebrate communities from different coastal marsh‐plant communities were compared along wave‐exposure gradients using data from 1994, 1998 and 1999. Data were subjected to correspondence analyses to search for patterns in invertebrate communities in relation to plant‐community structure and wave exposure. In 1994, quantitative plant‐ and sediment‐invertebrate samples were taken from nine habitats: four from inland, subsurface‐connected marshes and five from littoral, emergent marshes. In 1998, sweep‐net samples were taken from 13 plant communities: six on the exposed and seven on the protected side of an island. In 1999, 2–3 plant communities/sites were sampled with sweep nets from four sites around the Bay so that intersite differences between inner, less‐exposed and outer, more‐exposed habitats could be examined. In all three studies, correspondence analyses separated inland, protected or inner sites from littoral, exposed or outer sites, suggesting differences in invertebrate‐community structure. For example, Hydracarina and Asellidae occurred in large numbers in inland sites, but were less common or absent from exposed, littoral sites. Littoral marshes also separated along an exposure gradient with Tanytarsini and Orthocladiinae collectors of organic particles occurring in very high numbers in outer, exposed areas where organic particles from the pelagic zone entered the marsh. Certain plant‐community types clustered together (e.g. wet meadow and Scirpus) while others, such as Typha, stands clustered according to exposure to waves suggesting the importance of both plant‐community structure and wave exposure in determining invertebrate‐community structure. We present a conceptual model that suggests that invertebrates in Great Lakes' marshes are distributed along gradients of decreased mixing of pelagic water and increases in sediment organic matter from outer to inner marsh and between littoral and adjacent inland marshes. Some invertebrates do best on one end of these gradients, while the majority are generalists found across habitat types.     

Biophysical Model of Larval Yellow Perch Advection and Settlement in Lake Michigan

Potential for large-scale physical transport processes to affect recruitment of Lake Michigan yellow perch (Perca flavescens) was studied by examining the variation in larval distribution, growth rate, and settlement during June–August 1998–2003 using a 3D particle transport model linked with an individual-based bioenergetics growth model. In all years, virtual larvae were released nearshore in southwestern Lake Michigan, a known and important spawning region for yellow perch. For any given year, the same circulation pattern and water temperature either promoted or reduced yellow perch settlement depending on the consumption rates and settlement size chosen in the growth model. Increased consumption increased the number of settled larvae and expanded the total area where larvae settled, whereas increased settlement size reduced the number of settled larvae and reduced the overall settlement area. Interannual variability in circulation patterns and water temperature also resulted in contrasting larval settlement rates, settlement locations, and size of settlement areas between years. Model predictions were most consistent with field observations of age-0 yellow perch from Illinois and Michigan waters when settlement was assumed to occur at 50 mm. Moreover, our model suggests that larvae originating from southwestern Lake Michigan can recruit anywhere within the southern basin and even in the northern basin. Future model improvement will require information on the relative contribution of various sectors to the larval pool, their distribution with reference to the hydrodynamic landscape, the feeding and growth of yellow perch during their pelagic phase, and the size at transition to demersal stage.     

Vegetation Change in Great Lakes Coastal Wetlands: Deviation from the Historical Cycle

Water-level change is integral to the structure and function of Great Lakes coastal wetlands, and many studies document predictable relationships between vegetation and water level. However, anthropogenic stressors, such as invasive species, land-use change, and water-level stabilization, interact to shift the historical cycle (of native vegetation migration up- and down-slope) toward dominance by invasive Typha species. Knowing from earlier studies that water-level stabilization alters the historical vegetation cycle, we asked if similar shifts can occur where water levels are not stabilized. Using historical aerial photographs of three coastal wetlands (in Lake Michigan's Green Bay, Wisconsin), we determined that habitat dominated by Typha species has expanded to eliminate wet meadow habitat. Between 1974 and 1992, linear regressions showed strong, significant relationships of both meadow area (R² ≥ 0.894; p < 0.02) and marsh area (R² ≥ 0.784; p < 0.05) to water level in all three wetlands. In 2000, meadow area was below that predicted by the historical pattern due to the landward advance of marsh habitat during a year of decreasing water levels. In the same period, land use in the wetland watersheds converted from agriculture to urban. Urbanization and the replacement of native Typha latifolia by the invasive hybrid Typha xglauca may have overwhelmed the beneficial impact of water-level fluctuation. The documentation of vegetation shifts, as herein, is an essential step in the process of preserving and restoring ecological integrity.     

Tributary use and large-scale movements of grass carp in Lake Erie

Infrequent captures of invasive, non-native grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) have occurred in Lake Erie over the last 30+ years, with recent evidence suggesting wild reproduction in the lake’s western basin (WB) is occurring. Information on grass carp movements in the Laurentian Great Lakes is lacking, but an improved understanding of large-scale movements and potential areas of aggregation will help inform control strategies and risk assessment if grass carp spread to other parts of Lake Erie and other Great Lakes. Twenty-three grass carp captured in Lake Erie’s WB were implanted with acoustic transmitters and released. Movements were monitored with acoustic receivers deployed throughout Lake Erie and elsewhere in the Great Lakes. Grass carp dispersed up to 236 km, with approximately 25% of fish dispersing greater than 100 km from their release location. Mean daily movements ranged from <0.01 to 2.49 km/day, with the highest daily averages occurring in the spring and summer. The Sandusky, Detroit, and Maumee Rivers, and Plum Creek were the most heavily used WB tributaries. Seventeen percent of grass carp moved into Lake Erie’s central or eastern basins, although all fish eventually returned to the WB. One fish emigrated from Lake Erie through the Huron-Erie Corridor and into Lake Huron. Based on our results, past assessments may have underestimated the potential for grass carp to spread in the Great Lakes. We recommend focusing grass carp control efforts on Sandusky River and Plum Creek given their high use by tagged fish, and secondarily on Maumee and Detroit Rivers.     

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.     

Wild juvenile salmonid abundance in Wisconsin tributaries indicates limited contributions to Lake Michigan fisheries

Natural reproduction of salmonids occurs in many Lake Michigan tributaries, yet little is known about abundance and the potential contribution of wild fish hatching in Wisconsin tributaries. The objectives of our study were to determine if: 1) abundance of wild juvenile salmonids (primarily adfluvial rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, referred to as steelhead) varied among selected Wisconsin streams based on available spawning and age-0 habitat; 2) stream temperature regimes could limit survival of juvenile salmonids, and 3) wild juvenile salmonids outmigrate from Wisconsin tributaries into Lake Michigan or larger tributaries. In 2016 and 2017, juvenile salmonid abundance was estimated in six Wisconsin tributaries to Lake Michigan by multiple-pass depletion sampling using backpack electrofishing. Habitat assessments included steelhead redd surveys, age-0 habitat surveys, and stream temperatures were monitored using in-stream loggers. Passive integrated transponder (PIT) tagging and PIT antennas were used to detect outmigration from three streams (Willow, Stony and Hibbard creeks). Population estimates for individual streams ranged from 75 to 2276 for juvenile steelhead and from 0 to 243 for juvenile coho salmon, Oncorhynchus kisutch. No correlation was detected between juvenile steelhead abundance and quality age-0 habitat. Stream temperatures rarely exceeded the thermal limit for steelhead (27 °C). Outmigration rates for three streams ranged from 0.6% to 3.1%, but these estimates were considered minimum values. Low abundance of wild juvenile steelhead and coho salmon alone suggest that the contributions of these tributaries to Lake Michigan fisheries are likely small. Furthermore, relying on returns of wild steelhead produced in these streams is probably insufficient to maintain stream fisheries.