scholarly journals Shining a light on Laurentian Great Lakes cisco (Coregonus artedi): how ice coverage may impact embryonic development

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taylor R Stewart ◽  
Mark R Vinson ◽  
Jason D Stockwell
Keyword(s):  
Light Intensity ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Light Exposure ◽  
Lake Superior ◽  
Lake Ontario ◽  
Yolk Sac ◽  
Laurentian Great Lakes ◽  
Embryo Survival ◽  
Ice Coverage ◽  
Coregonus Artedi

Changes in winter conditions, such as decreased ice coverage and duration, have been observed in the Laurentian Great Lakes over the past 20+ years and hypothetically linked to low Coregonus spp. survival to age-1. Most cisco (Coregonus artedi) populations are autumn spawners whose embryos incubate under ice throughout the winter. The quantity and quality of light during winter is regulated by ice and snow coverage, and light has been shown to affect embryo survival and development in some teleosts. We experimentally evaluated how cisco embryos from lakes Superior and Ontario responded to three light treatments that represented day-light intensity under 0-10, 40-60, and 90-100% ice coverage. Embryonic response measures included two developmental factors (embryo survival and incubation period) and two morphological traits (length-at-hatch and yolk-sac volume). Embryo survival was highest at the medium light treatment and decreased at high and low treatments for both populations suggesting cisco may be adapted to withstand some light exposure from inter-annual variability in ice coverage. Light intensity had no overall effect on length of incubation. Length-at-hatch decreased with increasing light in Lake Superior, but had no effect in Lake Ontario. Yolk-sac volume was positively correlated with increasing light in Lake Superior and negatively correlated in Lake Ontario. Contrasting responses in embryo development between lakes suggests differences in populations' flexibility to light. These results provide a step towards better understanding the recent high variability observed in coregonine recruitment and may help predict what the future of this species may look like under current climate trends.

scholarly journals How Many Ciscoes are Needed for Stocking in the Laurentian Great Lakes?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Rook ◽  
Michael J. Hansen ◽  
Charles R. Bronte
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Lake Michigan ◽  
Lake Superior ◽  
Production Capacity ◽  
Lake Huron ◽  
Laurentian Great Lakes ◽  
Saginaw Bay ◽  
Thunder Bay ◽  
Western Lake ◽  
Coregonus Artedi

Historically, Cisco Coregonus artedi and deepwater ciscoes Coregonus spp. were the most abundant and ecologically important fish species in the Laurentian Great Lakes, but anthropogenic influences caused nearly all populations to collapse by the 1970s. Fishery managers have begun exploring the feasibility of restoring populations throughout the basin, but questions regarding hatchery propagation and stocking remain. We used historical and contemporary stock-recruit parameters previously estimated for Ciscoes in Wisconsin waters of Lake Superior, with estimates of age-1 Cisco rearing habitat (broadly defined as total ha ≤ 80 m depth) and natural mortality, to estimate how many fry (5.5 months post-hatch), fall fingerling (7.5 months post-hatch), and age-1 (at least 12 months post-hatch) hatchery-reared Ciscoes are needed for stocking in the Great Lakes to mimic recruitment rates in Lake Superior, a lake that has undergone some recovery. Estimated stocking densities suggested that basin-wide stocking would require at least 0.641-billion fry, 0.469-billion fall fingerlings, or 0.343-billion age-1 fish for a simultaneous restoration effort targeting historically important Cisco spawning and rearing areas in Lakes Huron, Michigan, Erie, Ontario, and Saint Clair. Numbers required for basin-wide stocking were considerably greater than current or planned coregonine production capacity, thus simultaneous stocking in the Great Lakes is likely not feasible. Provided current habitat conditions do not preclude Cisco restoration, managers could maximize the effectiveness of available production capacity by concentrating stocking efforts in historically important spawning and rearing areas, similar to the current stocking effort in Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron. Other historically important Cisco spawning and rearing areas within each lake (listed in no particular order) include: (1) Thunder Bay in Lake Huron, (2) Green Bay in Lake Michigan, (3) the islands near Sandusky, Ohio, in western Lake Erie, and (4) the area near Hamilton, Ontario, and Bay of Quinte in Lake Ontario. Our study focused entirely on Ciscoes but may provide a framework for describing future stocking needs for deepwater ciscoes.

scholarly journals Influence of Lake Erie on a Lake Ontario Lake-Effect Snowstorm

2018 ◽  
Vol 57 (9) ◽  
pp. 2019-2033 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. R. Kristovich ◽  
Luke Bard ◽  
Leslie Stoecker ◽  
Bart Geerts
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Moisture Transport ◽  
Lake Erie ◽  
Surface Wind ◽  
Lake Ontario ◽  
Laurentian Great Lakes ◽  
Lake Surface ◽  
High Moisture ◽  
Lake Effect

AbstractAnnual lake-effect snowstorms, which develop through surface buoyant instability and upward moisture transport from the Laurentian Great Lakes, lead to important local increases in snowfall to the south and east. Surface wind patterns during cold-air outbreaks often result in areas where the air is modified by more than one Great Lake. While it is known that boundary layer air that has crossed multiple lakes can produce particularly intense snow, few observations are available on the process by which this occurs. This study examines unique observations taken during the Ontario Winter Lake-effect Systems (OWLeS) field project to document the process by which Lake Erie influenced snowfall that was produced over Lake Ontario on 28 January 2014. During the event, lake-effect clouds and snow that developed over Lake Erie extended northeastward toward Lake Ontario. OWLeS and operational observations showed that the clouds from Lake Erie disappeared (and snow greatly decreased) as they approached the Lake Ontario shoreline. This clear-air zone was due to mesoscale subsidence, apparently due to the divergence of winds moving from land to the smoother lake surface. However, the influence of Lake Erie in producing a deeper lake-effect boundary layer, thicker clouds, increased turbulence magnitudes, and heavier snow was identified farther downwind over Lake Ontario. It is hypothesized that the combination of a low-stability, high-moisture boundary layer as well as convective eddies and limited snow particles crossing the mesoscale subsidence region locally enhanced the lake-effect system over Lake Ontario within the plume of air originating over Lake Erie.

ELECTRONIC DESKTOP MAPPING: ENVIRONMENTAL SENSITIVITY ATLASES OF THE GREAT LAKES

1995 ◽  
Vol 1995 (1) ◽  
pp. 855A-855
Author(s):  
Philip Baker ◽  
Christine Rowe
Keyword(s):  
Information System ◽  
Geographic Information System ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Lake Superior ◽  
Lake Ontario ◽  
Hazardous Materials ◽  
Geographic Information ◽  
Lake Huron ◽  
Environmental Sensitivity ◽  
Common Basis

ABSTRACT Environmental sensitivity atlases of the Canadian shorelines of Lake Superior, Lake Ontario, and Lake Huron have been completed in digital (desktop geographic information system) and paper formats for use in responses to spills of oil and other hazardous materials. These atlases allow responders to work from a common basis to rapidly identify the resources at risk during a spill and their relative priorities for protection and cleanup.

scholarly journals SATELLITE OBSERVED WATER QUALITY CHANGES IN THE LAURENTIAN GREAT LAKES DUE TO INVASIVE SPECIES, ANTHROPOGENIC FORCING, AND CLIMATE CHANGE

2017 ◽  
Vol XLII-3/W2 ◽  
pp. 189-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. A. Shuchman ◽  
K. R. Bosse ◽  
M. J. Sayers ◽  
G. L. Fahnenstiel ◽  
G. Leshkevich
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Quality ◽  
Time Series ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Primary Productivity ◽  
Lake Superior ◽  
Water Clarity ◽  
Quality Parameters ◽  
Water Quality Parameters ◽  
Laurentian Great Lakes

Long time series of ocean and land color satellite data can be used to measure Laurentian Great Lakes water quality parameters including chlorophyll, suspended minerals, harmful algal blooms (HABs), photic zone and primary productivity on weekly, monthly and annual observational intervals. The observed changes in these water quality parameters over time are a direct result of the introduction of invasive species such as the <i>Dreissena</i> mussels as well as anthropogenic forcing and climate change. Time series of the above mentioned water quality parameters have been generated based on a range of satellite sensors, starting with Landsat in the 1970s and continuing to the present with MODIS and VIIRS. These time series have documented the effect the mussels have had on increased water clarity by decreasing the chlorophyll concentrations. Primary productivity has declined in the lakes due to the decrease in algae. The increased water clarity due to the mussels has also led to an increase in submerged aquatic vegetation. Comparing water quality metrics in Lake Superior to the lower lakes is insightful because Lake Superior is the largest and most northern of the five Great Lakes and to date has not been affected by the invasive mussels and can thus be considered a control. In contrast, Lake Erie, the most southern and shallow of the Laurentian Great Lakes, is heavily influenced by agricultural practices (i.e., nutrient runoff) and climate change, which directly influence the annual extent of HABs in the Western Basin of that lake.

scholarly journals Temporal and Spatial Variability of Great Lakes Ice Cover, 1973–2010*

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 1318-1329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jia Wang ◽  
Xuezhi Bai ◽  
Haoguo Hu ◽  
Anne Clites ◽  
Marie Colton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Variability ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Seasonal Cycle ◽  
Lake Ontario ◽  
Ice Cover ◽  
Total Variance ◽  
Lake Ice ◽  
Ice Coverage ◽  
Temporal And Spatial Variability ◽  
Temporal And Spatial

Abstract In this study, temporal and spatial variability of ice cover in the Great Lakes are investigated using historical satellite measurements from 1973 to 2010. The seasonal cycle of ice cover was constructed for all the lakes, including Lake St. Clair. A unique feature found in the seasonal cycle is that the standard deviations (i.e., variability) of ice cover are larger than the climatological means for each lake. This indicates that Great Lakes ice cover experiences large variability in response to predominant natural climate forcing and has poor predictability. Spectral analysis shows that lake ice has both quasi-decadal and interannual periodicities of ~8 and ~4 yr. There was a significant downward trend in ice coverage from 1973 to the present for all of the lakes, with Lake Ontario having the largest, and Lakes Erie and St. Clair having the smallest. The translated total loss in lake ice over the entire 38-yr record varies from 37% in Lake St. Clair (least) to 88% in Lake Ontario (most). The total loss for overall Great Lakes ice coverage is 71%, while Lake Superior places second with a 79% loss. An empirical orthogonal function analysis indicates that a major response of ice cover to atmospheric forcing is in phase in all six lakes, accounting for 80.8% of the total variance. The second mode shows an out-of-phase spatial variability between the upper and lower lakes, accounting for 10.7% of the total variance. The regression of the first EOF-mode time series to sea level pressure, surface air temperature, and surface wind shows that lake ice mainly responds to the combined Arctic Oscillation and El Niño–Southern Oscillation patterns.

Identification of factors constraining nitrate assimilation in Lake Superior, Laurentian Great Lakes

Hydrobiologia ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 731 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
John A. Berges ◽  
Yuelu Jiang ◽  
Robert W. Sterner ◽  
George S. Bullerjahn ◽  
Natalia A. Ivanikova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Lake Superior ◽  
Nitrate Assimilation ◽  
Laurentian Great Lakes
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