Ecological Risk Assessment
2015 Monitoring Activities for Lake Michigan Long-term Ecological Research
Overview and Objectives
CILER supports the Ecosystem Dynamics branch at NOAA-GLERL to continue its collection of long-term ecological data and conduct targeted fundamental research on ecosystem processes critical to understanding ecosystem structure and function for managing water quality, fisheries, and other ecosystem services in the Great Lakes. Towards this goal, NOAA-GLERL has developed a Long-Term Research (LTR) program that integrates a core set of long-term observations on biological, chemical, and physical variables, with short-term process-based studies for understanding ecosystem change. Such information is essential for the development of new concepts, models, and forecasting tools to explore impacts of various stressors on the ecosystem. This research will contribute to GLERL’s core mission by providing data and understanding for the development of models and forecasting capabilities, and the application of new sampling technologies. The proposed research activities are organized into two general projects: LTR observations and process-based studies. It is implicitly understood that all process studies are targeted to understand critical processes affecting Great-Lakes LTR sites or ecosystems. It is our ultimate goal to understand structure and function of Great Lakes food webs from viruses to fishes and work efficiently as team to be ready for Coordinated Science and Monitoring Initiative (CSMI) Year of Lake Michigan 2015, when we intend to take a major leadership role. The single most important stressor in the system remains dreissenid mussels, and our team recognizes that observation of the pelagic realm alone is no longer an option. Dreissenid mussels, because of their high filtration rates and high abundance in all depth zones of the lake, have decimated the spring phytoplankton bloom and have decreased the abundance of phytoplankton in the hypolimnion and deep chlorophyll layer during the stratified season. They have also reengineered the ecology of the entire food web by increasing water clarity and altering nutrient cycling. It is believed they have had a negative effect on the food web, which is putting the valuable sport fishery at risk and is exacerbating nuisance growths of algae in the nearshore. We believe it is possible that dreissenid populations may be poised for a correction or crash.
Publications
Carrick, H.J., E. Butts, D. Daniels, M. Fehringer, C. Frazier, G.L. Fahnenstiel, S.A. POTHOVEN, and H.A. VANDERPLOEG. Variation in the abundance of pico, nano, and microplankton in Lake Michigan: Historic and basin-wide comparisons. Journal of Great Lakes Research 41(Supplement 3):63-74 (DOI:1016/j.jglr.2015.09.009) (2015).
Denef, V.J., R.S. Mueller, E. Chiang, J.R. Liebig, and H.A. VANDERPLOEG. Chloroflexi CL500-11 populations that predominate deep lake hypolimnion bacterioplankton rely on nitrogen-rich DOM metabolism and C1 compound oxidation. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 82(5):1423-1432 (DOI:10.1128/AEM.03014-15) (2016).
Ptachnikova, R., H.A. VANDERPLOEG, and J.F. CAVALETTO. Big versus small: Does Bythotrephes longimanus predatiaon regulate spatial distribution of another invasive predatory cladoceran, Cercopagis pengoi? Journal of Great Lakes Research 41(Supplement 3):143-149 (DOI:10.1016/j.jglr.2015.10.006) (2015)
ROWE, M. D., D. R. OBENOUR, T. F. NALEPA, H. A. VANDERPLOEG, F. Yousef, and W. C. Kerfoot. 2015. Mapping the spatial distribution of the biomass and filter-feeding effect of invasive dreissenid mussels on the winter-spring phytoplankton bloom in Lake Michigan. Freshwater Biology 60:2270–2285.
ROWE, M.D., E.J. ANDERSON, J. WANG, and H.A. VANDERPLOEG. Modeling the effect of invasive quagga mussels on the spring phytoplankton bloom in Lake Michigan. Journal of Great Lakes Research 41:17 pp. (DOI:10.1016/j.jglr.2014.12.018) (2015).http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/pubs/fulltext/2015/20150011.pdf
NALEPA, T.F., D.L. FANSLOW, G.A. LANG, K. MABREY, and M. ROWE. Lake-wide benthic surveys in Lake Michigan in 1994-95, 2000, 2005, and 2010: Abundances of the amphipod Diporeia spp. and abundances and biomass of the mussels Dreissena polymorpha and Dreissena rostriformis bugensis. NOAA Technical Memorandum GLERL-164. NOAA, Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, Ann Arbor, MI, 21 pp. (2014).http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/ftp/publications/tech_reports/glerl-164/tm-164.pdf
VANDERPLOEG, H.A., D.B. Bunnell, H.J. Carrick, and T.O. Hook. Complex interactions in Lake Michigan’s rapidly changing ecosystem. Journal of Great Lakes Research 41 (Supplement 3):1-6 (DOI:10.1016/j.jglr.2015.11.001) (2015).
VANDERPLOEG, H.A., S.A. POTHOVEN, D.M. Krueger, D.M. MASON, J.R. LIEBIG, J.F. CAVALETTO, S.A. RUBERG, G.A. LANG, and R. Ptacnikova. Spatial and predatory interactions of visually preying nonindigenous zooplankton and fish in Lake Michigan during midsummer. Journal of Great Lakes Research 41(Supplement 3):125-142 (DOI:10.1016/j.jglr.2015.10.005) (2015).
Presentations
BALDRIDGE, A.K. Dreissenid mussel population trajectories and associated patterns in mussel growth and condition. Great Lakes Center Seminar Series, Buffalo State College, Buffalo, NY, March 3, 2016 (2016).
BALDRIDGE, A.K. Invasive Dreissenid Mussels in the Great Lakes Region. Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council Ice Breaker Speaker Series, Petoskey, MI , March 10, 2016 (2016).
BALDRIDGE, A.K. The Status of Quagga Mussel Populations in Lake Michigan and Complementary Growth Experiments. International Conference on Aquatic Invasive Species, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, April 14, 2016 (2016).
BALDRIDGE, A.K., and T.F. NALEPA. The status of Dreissenid mussels in the Great Lakes and suggested future research directions. 58th Annual Conference of the International Association of Great Lakes Research. Burlington, VT, May 25-29, 2015 (2015). BALDRIDGE, A.K. Relative impacts of climate change and Dreissenid mussels on Lake Michigan zooplankton. Aquatic Invasive Species: Impacts and Resources (“The Current” Webinar Series), October 15, 2014. North Central Region Water Network (2014).
BALDRIDGE, A.K., G.L. FAHNENSTIEL, J.R. LIEBIG, T.F. NALEPA, S.A. POTHOVEN, E.S. RUTHERFORD, and H.A. VANDERPLOEG. Exploring the relative impacts of climate change and dreissenid mussels on the Lake Michigan zooplankton community. 57th Annual Conference of the International Association for Great Lakes Research, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, May 26-30, 2014 (2014).
BALDRIDGE, A.K., G.L. FAHNENSTIEL, J.R. LIEBIG, T.F. NALEPA, S.A. POTHOVEN, E.S. RUTHERFORD, and H.A. VANDERPLOEG. Exploring the relative impacts of climate change and Dreissenid mussels on Lake Michigan zooplankton. Adaptation in the Great Lakes Region Conference, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, June 25, 2014 (2014)
ROWE, M.D., H.A. VANDERPLOEG, E.J. ANDERSON, J. WANG, S.A. POTHOVEN, J.R. LIEBIG, T.F. NALEPA, and T.H. JOHENGEN. Modeling the effects of stratification and bathymetry on the interaction of phytoplankton and invasive Quagga mussels in nearshore Lake Michigan. Joint Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Portland, OR, May 18-23, 2014 (2014).
ROWE, M.D., H.A. VANDERPLOEG, J. WANG, and E.J. ANDERSON. Modeling the effects of stratification and bathymetric depth on the interaction between phytoplankton and invasive quagga mussels in the nearshore zone of Lake Michigan. Great Lakes Adaptation Assessment for Cities’ Adaptation in the Great Lakes Region Conference, Ann Arbor, MI, June 24-25, 2014 (2014).
RUTHERFORD, E.S., A. SHAKOOR, K. Bouma-Gregson, H. ZHANG, D.M. MASON, D.M. Lodge, M.E. Wittmann, J.E. Breck, and H.A. VANDERPLOEG. Relative importance of timing, life history, and habitat of non-indigenous species for invasion success and impact in Great Lakes ecosystems. Joint Aquatic Sciences Meeting 2014, Portland, OR, May 18-23, 2014 (2014).
RUTHERFORD, E.S., H.A. VANDERPLOEG, J.F. CAVALETTO, J.R. LIEBIG, D.M. MASON, T.F. NALEPA, T.H. JOHENGEN, D. Burnette, D. WELLS, K. MABREY, D.B. Bunnell, D.M. Warner, T. O’Brien, and J.E. Johnson. Effects of spatial and temporal variability in lower food web dynamics on larval fish feeding growth and survival in Thunder Bay, Lake Huron, 2012. 57th Annual Conference of the International Association for Great Lakes Research, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, , May 26-30, 2014 (2014).
RUTHERFORD, E.S., H.A. VANDERPLOEG, J.F. CAVALETTO, J.R. LIEBIG, S.A. POTHOVEN, D.M. MASON, A. HOOVER, D. Burnette, D. WELLS, K. MABREY, D.B. Bunnell, D.M. Warner, and T. O’Brien. Compensatory response of the lower food web and larval fish growth and survival to multiple stressors in Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. 144th Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society, Quebec City, Canada, August 17-21, 2014 (2014).
Vanderploeg H.A. “Complex Interactions in Post-Dreissenid Great Lakes Ecosystems: The Importance of Process Experiments” at Iowa State University 4th Annual Environmental Science Graduate Research Symposium, April 1, 2016, Ames, Iowa, Environmental Science Interdepartmental Graduate Program
Vanderploeg, H.A. “Great Lakes Ecology (for Oil Spill Responders)” at NOAA Science of Oil Spills (SOS) Class, May 16-29, 2016, Ann Arbor, MI, Office of Response & Restoration (OR&R) Emergency Response Division (ERD)
Vanderploeg, H.A., Johengen, T.H., Sarnelle, O. An ecological stoichiometry story: impacts of dreissenid mussel feeding and nutrient excretion on nuisance and harmful algal blooms. ASLO 2016 Summer Meeting, June 5-10, Santa Fe, NM
Vanderploeg, H.A. Henry Vanderploeg, J. Cavaletto, A. Baldridge, L. Burlakova, H. Carrick, A. Karatayev, G.Lang, J. Liebig, D. Mason, T. Nalepa, S. Pothoven, M. Rowe, E. Rutherford, and D. Wells. Spatial Organization of Pelagic and Benthic Food Webs in Southern Lake Michigan in 2015. 59th Annual Conference on Great Lakes Research, University of Guelph, June 6-10, 2016.
PrincipaI Investigator(s):
Tom Johengen (CILER)
NOAA Technical Lead(s):
Henry Vanderploeg (NOAA-GLERL)
Ashley Baldridge (NOAA-GLERL)
Quagga mussels are native to eastern Europe and invasive to the Great Lakes. THey were first found in the Great Lakes in 1989 near Port Colbourne in Lake Erie. Quagga mussels are contributing to the dramatic decline of the shrimp-like amphipod known as Diporeia, a key food source for a number of native Great Lakes fish at various points in the food web; and they are contributing to reemergence of blooms – the toxic alga known as Microcystis – around the lakes. Photo Credit: Michele Wensman.
Rinsing sample from Ponar, dresseina-rostriformis-bugensis-quagga
Benthos sample from Lake Michigan Southern Basin Survey July 2016
Servicing equipment (temperature sensors and fluorometers) on mussel pods at 45 and 90 meters in Lake Michigan
CILER crew (Paul Glyshaw & Jenny Par) bringing in Ponar, Lake Michigan Southern Basin Survey July 2016
Servicing equipment (temperature sensors and fluorometers) on mussel pods at 45 and 90 meters in Lake Michigan
CILER crew dumps Ponar sample into elutriator, Lake Michigan Southern Basin Survey July 2016
Aaron Dunnuck (contractor at Lake Michigan Field Station) on maintenance trip to service equipment on mussel pods
Figure shows increasing biomass of dressenid mussels in Lake Michigan from 1995 to 2010, and how reduction in satellite-derived spring chlorophyll is spatially associated with dressenid mussel biomass.
Crew & Auto crane for Ponar collection, Lake Michigan Southern Basin Survey July 2016
Bringing Ponar on deck, Lake Michigan Southern Basin Survey July 2016
Paul Glyshaw weighing quagga mussels