Publications
Welcome to the Great Lakes Science Center's Publications page.
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Angler-caught salmonid diets illustrate Lake Ontario Alewife population and predator-prey dynamics
Lake Ontario fisheries decision makers use information about the status and trajectory of prey fish populations, such as alewife, for salmonid sport fish management. In 2020, the April bottom trawl survey, typically used to assess alewife, was canceled the day after it began due to Coronavirus health concerns. This prompted NYSDEC and USGS science teams to initiate a diet study using angler-collec
Authors
Brian C. Weidel, Scott P. Minihkeim, Michael Connerton, Christopher Legard, Nicholas Farese, Christopher Osborne, Jana Lantry
Exploiting common senses: Sensory ecology meets wildlife conservation and management
Multidisciplinary approaches to conservation and wildlife management are often effective in addressing complex, multi-factor problems. Emerging fields such as conservation physiology and conservation behaviour can provide innovative solutions and management strategies for target species and systems. Sensory ecology combines the study of ‘how animals acquire’ and process sensory stimuli from their
Authors
Laura K Elmer, Christine L Madliger, Daniel T. Blumstein, Chris K Elvidge, Esteban Fernandex-Juricic, Andrij Z Horodysky, Nicholas S. Johnson, Liam P McGuire, Ronald R. Swaisgood, Steven J. Cooke
The species–area relationship for a highly fragmented temperate river system
Despite the importance of species–area relationships (SARs) to conservation, SARs in human‐fragmented rivers have received little attention. Our aim was to test for the presence and strength of SARs for littoral fish assemblages of an extensively dammed river in south‐central Ontario, Canada, and to examine long‐running hypotheses for the drivers of SARs. Twenty‐six navigational dams with locks bu
Authors
Leon M. Carl, Peter C. Esselman, Beth L Sparks-Jackson, Christopher C. Wilson
Hydroacoustic survey standardization: Inter-vessel differences in fish densities and potential effects of vessel avoidance
Hydroacoustics is used broadly to assess fish populations in marine and freshwater systems. Large-scale surveys often employ multiple vessels to complete a survey. Vessels can be a source of variation in multi-vessel surveys, and accounting for this variation is critical to precise and accurate assessments, whether as indices or measures of absolute abundance. We examined areal and volumetric dens
Authors
Mark D. DuFour, Patrick Kočovský, J Deller, Paul W. Simonin, Lars G. Rudstam
Assessment of sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) diet using DNA metabarcoding of feces
Sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) are invasive in the Laurentian Great Lakes, parasitize large-bodied fishes, and therefore are the focus of an international control program. However, damage caused by sea lamprey to modern day fish stocks remains uncertain because diet analysis of juvenile sea lamprey has been challenging; they feed on blood and are difficult to randomly sample in the lakes. Here,
Authors
Nicholas S. Johnson, Sean A. Lewandoski, Christopher M. Merkes
Progress towards integrating an understanding of chemical ecology into sea lamprey control
The sea lamprey, Petromyzon marinus, is a destructive invader in the Laurentian Great Lakes that relies on several complex chemical cues to complete their life cycle. The central roles of chemical cues in sea lamprey reproduction provide opportunities to leverage knowledge of sea lamprey chemical ecology when developing alternative or supplemental strategies for sea lamprey control. A solid founda
Authors
Skye D. Fissette, Tyler John Buchinger, C. Michael Wagner, Nicholas S. Johnson, Anne M Scott, Weiming Li
Before the first meal: The elusive pre-feeding juvenile stage of the sea lamprey
Although sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) in the Laurentian Great Lakes have been studied intensively for more than 70 years, many questions remain about their complex life cycle. One of the least understood portions is the post-metamorphic stage (hereafter pre-feeding juvenile, PFJ) that occurs prior to parasitic feeding. PFJ must emerge from stream sediments and migrate downstream into nearshore
Authors
Thomas M. Evans, C. Michael Wagner, Scott M. Miehls, Nicholas S. Johnson, Taylor Haas, Erin Dunlop, Richard G. Manzon
Seasonal movements of muskellunge in the St. Clair – Detroit River System: Implications for multi-jurisdictional fisheries management
The St. Clair-Detroit River System contains a world-class Great Lakes muskellunge (Esox masquinongy) fishery that has avoided the declines observed in many Great Lakes muskellunge populations. Muskellunge are an upper trophic level predator, and therefore a naturally low-density species. Limited fishery-independent data exist on which to base management decisions. To remedy this, we initiated an a
Authors
Jan-Michael Hessenauer, Cleyo Harris, Stephen Marklevitz, Matthew D. Faust, Michael W. Thorn, Brad Utrup, Darryl W. Hondorp
Trophic ecology
The trophic ecology of lake charr Salvelinus namaycush morphotypes from small and large lakes within their native and introduced ranges is reviewed over the past 50 years. The lake charr is an apex predator in most habitats it occupies, where it plays a significant role in defining food webs. While often considered piscivores, lake charr feed on a range of aquatic prey throughout their life histor
Authors
Mark Vinson, Louise Chavarie, Caroline Lynn Rosinski, Heidi K. Swanson
Distribution
The lake charr Salvelinus namaycush is restricted in its native distribution to oligotrophic fresh waters of northern North America largely within the extent of the Pleistocene glaciations. It is the only freshwater species in northwest North America that does not occur in Siberia. A GIS-based native occurrence map linked to the HydroLAKES database does not extend the lake charr range but provides
Authors
Andrew M. Muir, David Bennion, Michael J Hansen, Stephen Riley, John Gunn
Reproduction
Lake charr Salvelinus namaycush are typically fall spawners although one ecotype has populations that spawn during spring and fall (siscowets in Lake Superior). Lake charr are iteroparous (reproduce more than once in a lifetime) with group-synchronous ovarian development and typically spawn once per year. However, lake charr may not reproduce every year, a phenomenon known as skipped spawning. Fre
Authors
Frederick W. Goetz, J. Ellen Marsden, Catherine A. Richter, Donald E. Tillitt, Shawn P. Sitar, Stephen Riley, Charles C. Krueger
Stationary hydroacoustics demonstrates vessel avoidance biases during mobile hydroacoustic surveys of alewife in Lake Ontario
Mobile hydroacoustic surveys are routinely used to estimate pelagic fish abundance. In the Great Lakes, alewife are commonly surveyed with mobile hydroacoustics, however, their behavior often has them associated with epilimnetic habitats which increases the potential for vessel avoidance to bias hydroacoustic observations. Abundance estimates from mobile hydroacoustic surveys are typically made us
Authors
Conner Elliot, Jeremy Holden, Michael Connerton, Brian C. Weidel, Bruce Tufts