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SPRING 2021 NEWSLETTER
DIRECTOR'S LETTER

A Message from CIGLR’s Director, Dr. Thomas Johengen

As I was thinking about what message I wanted to share, two specific themes kept resonating in my mind, Transition and Perseverance. Let’s be encouraged by a new administration that is committed to leading action to address climate change, advancing racial and environmental justice, letting our public health response to the pandemic be driven by science, and trying to instill a common belief that we must find a way to move forward together in order to persevere. READ MORE

ANNOUNCEMENTS
  • CIGLR Completes Program Review, April 12-14, 2021
  • CIGLR Master’s Students Win Outstanding Student Conference Poster from AMS!
  • Dr. Casey Godwin Receives Research Faculty Recognition Award!
  • Research Institute Spotlight: Heidi Purcell 
    Detecting Harmful Algal Bloom Toxins in Freshwater                                                 READ MORE
     
SPOTLIGHT

Environmental DNA and RNA for Advanced Management and Accurate Surveillance of Aquatic Invasive Species in the Great Lakes

For successful management of bio-invasions and monitoring the reintroduction of threatened or endangered species in the Great Lakes or elsewhere, managers and stakeholders need timely and robust scientific advice. Traditionally, scientists have relied on conventional approaches such as visual surveys to measure species presence, but low rates of detection can increase the cost and labor required for this approach. CIGLR and NOAA GLERL scientists recently published an article in Scientific Reports describing a new methodology they developed that uses environmental DNA and RNA (eDNA and eRNA) to accurately detect and distinguish the presence of living organisms and improve estimates of their relative abundances. READ MORE

Lake Erie’s ‘Dead Zone’ Fuels Sediment Phosphorus Release

New research led by CIGLR graduate student Hanna Anderson and her advisors, Drs. Thomas Johengen and Casey Godwin, is helping to reveal the relationship between two of the most perplexing water quality issues in Lake Erie: hypoxia and it’s consequences for the lake’s biogeochemical cycles. Excessive phosphorus, largely from agricultural sources, fuels annual HABs in Lake Erie’s western basin and contributes to hypoxia. The hypoxic conditions in the central basin are believed to drive the release of even more phosphorus from Lake Erie sediments in a widely-recognized process called internal phosphorus loading, which has been documented in Lake Erie since the 1970s. Hanna Anderson, a recent alumna of the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability graduate program, led a monitoring study focused on this seasonal phenomenon and suggests that internal phosphorus loading is likely increasing the severity of Lake Erie’s ‘dead zone’. READ MORE

PHOTOS FROM FRIENDS

Photos from Friends is a new addition to our quarterly newsletter that shares exciting research and activities from our colleagues and friends across the Great Lakes region. Each picture includes a short description highlighting the exciting and important work captured through the lens. To learn even more, click on the images and read the full story.

 

                                                

FEATURED RESEARCH

Postdoctoral Research Fellow Update
Uncovering Lake Erie's Harmful Algal Bloom Partners and Interactions

Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (HABs) are increasing in magnitude and frequency worldwide and pose major economic, human health, and ecological threats in the Great Lakes. The main culprit in Lake Erie HABs is Microcystis, a cyanobacterium that produces multiple toxins, known as microcystins, that cause liver damage in humans. Previous studies have shown that Microcystis does not live alone, but has potentially many bacterial partners. Dr. Sara R. Rivera is a CIGLR Postdoctoral Research Fellow working to identify the microbial partners of both toxin producing Microcystis and non-toxin producing Microcystis to isolate and understand these partnerships. Ultimately, this research may help us to better understand why some blooms are bigger or more toxic than others. READ MORE

Graduate Research Fellow Update
The Influence of Extreme Water Levels on Coastal Wetland Extent across the Laurentian Great Lakes

Great Lakes coastal wetlands (GLCW) are immensely productive ecosystems that provide many ecosystem services for the Great Lakes region. In recent years, the hydrologic regime of the Great Lakes has been shifting. The concern is not simply a rise from low to high water but a shift in the frequency and magnitude of fluctuations away from historic patterns. Olivia Anderson, a biology master’s student at Central Michigan University (CMU) and a 2020–2021 CIGLR Graduate Research Fellow recipient, developed a study to better understand how GLCWs shift with extreme changes in water levels. Wetlands can moderate the impact of increased water levels via migration when shoreline barriers like roads are absent. However, because there is a lag period between water level shifts and wetland migration, water levels could change faster than wetlands can migrate. This could result in decreases to wetland extent and integrity, subsequently diminishing the ability of GLCWs to provide ecosystem services. READ MORE

RECENT ARTICLES
Journal Article Highlights
  • Anderson, H.S., T.H. Johengen, C.M. Godwin, H. Purcell, P.J. Alsip, S.A. Ruberg, and L.A. Mason. 2021. Continuous In Situ Nutrient Analyzers Pinpoint the Onset and Rate of Internal P Loading under Anoxia in Lake Erie’s Central Basin. Environmental Science & Technology: Water. (DOI:10.1021/acsestwater.0c00138).
  • Cai, Q., J. Wang, D. Beletsky, J. Overland, M. Ikeda, and L. Wan. 2021. Accelerated decline of summer Arctic sea ice during 1850–2017 and the amplified Arctic warming during the recent decades. Environmental Research Letters. 16(3). (DOI:10.1088/1748-9326/abdb5f).
  • Guo, T., V. Campbell-Arvai, and B.J. Cardinale. 2021. Why does the public support or oppose agricultural nutrient runoff regulations? The effects of political orientation, environmental worldview, and policy specific beliefs. Journal of Environmental Management. 279. (DOI:10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.111708).
  • Marshall, Nathaniel T., H.A. Vanderploeg, and S.R. Chaganti. 2021. Environmental (e)RNA advances the reliability of eDNA by predicting its age. Scientific Reports. 11:2769. (DOI:10.1038/s41598-021-82205-4).
  • Robinson, K.F., P.J. Alsip, A.R. Drake, Y.C. Kao, M.A. Koops, D.M. Mason, E.S. Rutherford, H. Zhang. 2021. Reviewing uncertainty in bioenergetics and food web models to project invasion impacts: Four major Chinese carps in the Great Lakes. Journal of Great Lakes Research. 47(1):83-95. (DOI:10.1016/j.jglr.2020.11.003).
  • Rowland, F.E., C.A. Stow, L.T. Johnson, and R.M. Hirsch. 2021. Lake Erie tributary nutrient trend evaluation: Normalizing concentrations and loads to reduce flow variability. Ecological Indicators. 125. (DOI:10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.107601).
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As one of 16 NOAA Cooperative Institutes, CIGLR helps NOAA accomplish its goals for research and management of the Laurentian Great Lakes by leading exciting new research efforts, training the next generation of Great Lakes scientists, expanding NOAA research in the Great Lakes through our Consortium, and translating research into actionable science to meet societal needs. Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) is our primary NOAA sponsor and home of CIGLR research personnel.

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Office #G110
Ann Arbor, MI, 48109






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