Some Special Wildlife Colonies in the Lower Great Lakes Region

FRESHWATER SPONGES IN WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT. It’s thought
that, years ago, spawning salmon made their way from Lake Michigan up the
polluted Grand Calumet River, then through a pipe and into the nearly pure water
of an enclosed reservoir in the East Chicago Sanitary District wastewater
treatment plant. Apparently, the salmon brought with them a few strands of
freshwater sponge. A sponge colony developed, subsisting on what little impurities
survived the facility’s new ultraviolet wastewater treatment process.

https://www.roadsbridges.com/wastewater-plants-success-spawns-
salmon-and-sponges

PET GOLDFISH THROWN INTO HAMILTON, ONTARIO, HARBOR. “It used to be
that goldfish in the Ontario outdoors had a very low survival rate and little success
at reproducing. But officials … say that's been changing in recent years in the
warmer weather we've been experiencing. They've noticed exponential increases
in numbers being counted ... And early this winter [2015-2016], millions of five
centimetre, young-of-the-year goldfish have been seen swimming in giant schools
at various locations in the harbour…”

https://www.thespec.com/news-story/6221524-hamilton-harbour-becoming-giant-
goldfish-bowl/

NATIVE MUSSELS FIND REFUGE IN LAKE ST. CLAIR DELTA. “ ‘Freshwater
mussels are considered the most imperiled group of organisms in North America.
Over 70 percent of them are considered at risk of extinction…’ So reported Dr.
Dave Zanatta… In the case of the Great Lakes, invasive species in the form of
zebra mussels and quagga mussels came close to wiping out native mussels …
Zanatta found that the St. Clair Delta and western Lake Erie ‘were the most
healthy areas of the lakes in terms of native mussel abundances.’ “

http://www.voicenews.com/news/written-off-as-doomed-native-mussels-survive-
zebra-mussel-invasion/article_c44cd58d-e019-5492-92ea-0a39b96b6bb9.html

PELICANS COLONIZE POINTE MOUILLEE ON LAKE ERIE. After a long decline,
the North American white pelican population has increased, and the birds are
expanding their range. That includes establishing themselves through the summer
breeding season at Michigan’s Pointe Mouillee State Game Area in the northwest
corner of Lake Erie.

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2018/05/26/pelican-sightings-rise-michigan-lake-erie/637363002/

Utilize Green Infrastructure in Great Lakes Areas of Concern

Part of the reason why remediation of a legacy of industrial pollution identified as Areas of Concern (AOCs) in the St. Clair River-Detroit River corridor is taking decades to achieve is the over-reliance on concrete and steel projects where green infrastructure would be more effective.

For example, as a means of stormwater control, public and private interests in New York City (including one auto company, Toyota) determined to plant a million trees in 10 years. They achieved that goal in eight years.

In the metro Detroit area (home of three auto companies), large-scale tree planting has been forsaken out of preference for huge concrete and steel projects like the so-called retention-treatment basins (RTBs). Nevertheless, downstream pollution, including sedimentation and turbidity, continues to be problematic.

Kuhn RTB - Oakland County, Michigan

One such, the massive Kuhn RTB (formerly known as Twelve Towns) in Oakland County, recently expanded, continues to divert partially screened and treated, sediment-laden surges down the Red Run Drain to the Clinton River and on to Lake St. Clair when overwhelmed by heavy rainstorms, instead of pumping the effluent to the Detroit Wastewater Treatment Plant as usual.

Better water quality in Great Lakes AOCs can be hastened by greater reliance on green infrastructure.

Managing Invasive Phragmites in Coastal Wetlands of Lake St. Clair

Natural coastal wetlands have a profound, positive influence on the water quality in the Great Lakes region. Coastal wetlands are often sacrificed for commercial, recreational and residential development. Along with shoreline development, pollution, turbid storm runoff and the introduction of invasive species greatly diminish our freshwater heritage.

Wetlands slow storm runoff, filter pollutants, suppress waves that would erode the shoreline, and serve as food, shelter and incubator sources for many native fish, mammal, bird and insect species.

Of the numerous invasive species decimating our waters and wetlands in recent decades, phragmites (frag-MY-teze), a tall, virulent reed, is one of the most insidious.

Phragmites can spread by root or seed, expanding in concentrations so dense that it crowds out all other plants, while simultaneously reducing the nutrition, shelter and nursery functions of diverse, native wetland plants.

In a remarkable display of stewardship, a sportsmen’s organization, Ducks Unlimited, aided by federal, state and local partners, organized and implemented a project to control phragmites, including 1200 acres of wetlands in the Anchor Bay portion of Lake St. Clair.

https://www.greatlakesphragmites.net/files/Kafcas_Lake-St.-Clair-status-update.pdf

Lake Sturgeon Population Recovering Near Detroit

The lake sturgeon population in the Great Lakes has been declining for more than a century. It is thought that today’s numbers may be as little as one percent of what they used to be. They are considered threatened or endangered in most states in their range. A mature adult can grow to seven feet and 200 to 300 pounds. They can live for many decades.

A year and a half ago, a barge crew dropped “... 25,000 tons of limestone blocks on the bottom of the Detroit River in the latest phase of a decade-plus effort to lure lake sturgeon to rock spawning reefs and help restore severely depleted populations of the once-common Great Lakes giants.”

UW Stevens Point - Nature Conservancy

The project “... added 4 acres of high-quality spawning habitat just upstream of Belle Isle, bringing the total to 16.6 acres at six locations in the Detroit and St. Clair rivers.”

 Austin Thomason, Michigan Photography

The reefs are “… built from blocks of broken limestone 4 to 8 inches in diameter.”

They work. Sturgeon eggs have been collected on the reefs. Researchers have found young sturgeon in the fast current of the north channel of the St. Clair River, downstream from a reef, before the channel reaches Lake St. Clair.

https://news.umich.edu/searching-for-young-lake-sturgeon-near-detroit-area-spawning-reefs/

(3) Lake St. Clair Delta acts as Native Mussel Sanctuary

--- third and last in a series ---

In The Voice, October 2, 2014, Jim Bloch wrote a story titled, “Written off as doomed, native mussels survive zebra mussel invasion.” Excerpts:

“The causes of the decline and extinction of fresh water mussels are among the same conditions that led the St. Clair River to be classified as an environmental area of concern in 1985: Habitat destruction, pollution, commercial exploitation and invasive species.

Lake St. Clair and delta

“In the case of the Great Lakes, invasive species in the form of zebra mussels and quagga mussels came close to wiping out native mussels, already in a perilous state when the invaders arrived in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

“ ‘Come the late 1980s and early 1990s, all the native mussel populations crashed in Lake St. Clair, Lake Erie and the Great Lakes in general,’ said [Dr. David T.] Zanatta.”

“Average density of native mussels before the arrival of zebra mussels was two per square meter in Lake St. Clair. By 1990, zebra mussel density was at 1,600 per square meter.”

“By 1994, there were almost no native mussels left in the lake, with zebra now at 3,000+ per square meter.”

“ ‘But there was reason for hope,’ said Zanatta. ‘Remnant populations of native mussels were beginning to be found in coastal wetlands in western Lake Erie in the late 1990s.’ ”

"In addition, zebra mussel populations started showing dramatic declines between 1994 and 2001 in Lake St. Clair, even though their sheer numbers remained staggering."

“ ‘In my master’s work, we found that there was a large native mussel refuge in the St. Clair Delta,’ said Zanatta, referring to samplings he participated in 1999-2001.”

“...’There are 37 species known historically from Lake St. Clair. We’ve recorded 22 species actually in the lake in the last decade despite all sorts of pretty negative impacts.’ ”

“In expanded research funded through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, Zanatta found that the St. Clair Delta and western Lake Erie ‘were the most healthy areas of the lakes in terms of native mussel abundances.’ “

http://www.voicenews.com/articles/2014/10/02/news/doc542d9541162c0893321344.txt

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From the abstract of Distribution of native mussel (unionidae) assemblages in coastal areas of Lake Erie, Lake St. Clair, and connecting channels, twenty-five years after a dreissenid invasion, a journal article by David T. Zanatta, et al. published in 2015 (excerpts):

“Despite the invasion, unionids have survived in several areas in the presence of dreissenid mussels.”

Thompson Bay, Presque Isle, Pennsylvania

“We...documented species abundance and diversity in coastal areas of lakes St. Clair and Erie. The highest-quality assemblages of native mussels (densities, richness, and diversity) appear to be concentrated in the St. Clair delta, where abundance continues to decline, as well as in in [sic] Thompson Bay of Presque Isle [Pennsylvania] in Lake Erie and in just a few coastal wetlands and drowned river-mouths in the western basin of Lake Erie. The discovery of several new refuge areas suggests that unionids have a broader distribution within the region than previously thought.”

https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/70160708

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From the abstract of Characteristics of a refuge for native freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionidae) in Lake St. Clair, a journal article by D.J. McGoldrick, et al., last updated January 29, 2016 (excerpts):

“The Lake St. Clair delta ...  provides an important refuge for native freshwater mussels (Unionidae) wherein 22 of the ~35 historical species co-occur with invasive dreissenids.”

“Zebra mussel infestation of unionids in the delta appears to be mitigated by dominant offshore currents, which limit densities of zebra mussel veligers [planktonic larvae] in nearshore compared to offshore waters …”

“Glycogen concentrations in the tissues of a common and widespread species in the delta (Lampsilis siliquoidea) suggest that zebra mussels may be adversely affecting physiological condition of unionids in a portion of the Lake St. Clair delta. Physiological condition and community structure of unionids within the delta may also be influenced by differences in food quantity and quality resulting from the uneven distribution of water flowing from the St. Clair River. The delta likely supports the largest living unionid [?] includes several species that have been listed as Endangered or Threatened in Canada and/or the state of Michigan, making it an important refuge for the conservation of native unionids.”

http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/documents/publications/2009/newton_b_2009.html

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Round Goby

Why no mention, you might ask, of quagga mussels? Don’t know. Maybe Lake St. Clair and the delta are too warm and shallow for them.

And why haven’t the zebras wiped out the bottom of the food web in Lake St. Clair, as the quaggas have done in lakes Huron and Michigan? Possibly the abundance of nutrients like phosphorus in Lake St. Clair (and western Lake Erie) can produce phytoplankton such as algae faster than the zebras can devour it, leaving plenty for tiny animals that become food for an invasive fish, the round goby, now thriving and the favorite prey of some of the popular game fish in Lake St. Clair.

In any event, this saga is far from over. The balance will work out over decades, altered from time to time by further agents of change.

(1) Alien Mussels Dominate Lake Bottoms, Scramble Ecology

--- first in a series ---

Hello, invasive zebra and quagga mussels. Goodbye: introduced salmon, invasive alewives, native Diporeia, diatoms and on and on.

Diporeia

Invasive quagga mussels have out competed their cousins, zebra mussels, at the bottom of Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. Quaggas tolerate colder, deeper water and thrive on mud bottoms. Zebras prefer to attach themselves to less abundant hard surfaces.

Both are efficient filter feeders and prolific breeders. Small quaggas can filter a quart of water daily. Billions of them cover the bottoms Lake Huron and Lake Michigan.

Diatoms are single cell plants, a form of algae, that make up part of the quagga’s diet. Diatoms envelop themselves in a hard shell of silica taken from the water.

The process is useful to mussel researchers as a marker of or proxy for total algal density, i.e. an extrapolation of the quantity of all algae in the water.

Diatom blooms occur in the spring. As the plants absorb silica and sink to the bottom, a reduction or drawdown of silica in the water is measurable. Less silica means more diatoms; more diatoms implies more algae in general.

In 2008, EPA researchers found that silica in the water was 80% lower than 30 years earlier, indicating a similar reduction in algae and coinciding with the proliferation of quaggas, which began in 2004 in Lake Michigan.

“By filtering out the algae, the mussels are robbing other organisms of the food they need to survive. Of particular concern is the plight of Diporeia, a tiny shrimplike creature that was one of the pillars supporting the base of the Great Lakes food web. Nearly every fish species in the Great Lakes relies on Diporeia at some point in its life cycle. But Diporeia populations have crashed in lakes Michigan and Huron, and the change is already impacting Great Lakes commercial fisheries and the sport-fishing enterprise.”

http://michigantoday.umich.edu/a7981/

It’s worth noting, however, that in Lake Huron, where the salmon/alewife-heavy ecology crashed first, native species like lake trout have rebounded and invasive gobies have entered the picture.

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Clearing Phragmites from Wetlands

Clean water in Lake St. Clair depends in significant part on healthy shoreline wetlands.

Mallard Ducklings - Mike Powell

Wetlands slow and filter storm runoff, provide shelter for fish, birds and other wildlife and incubate their young. But a vast array of native wetlands plant life is being choked out by invasive plants.

One in particular spreads rapidly, the ubiquitous tall reed with the feathery top that you see in wet places where there used to be cattails. It is phragmites (frag-MY-teez), an invasive plant from Europe.


Phragmites grows in thickets that now dominate many Great Lakes shorelines, as well as inland ponds, lake shores and ditches.


In addition to displacing other plants, dense stands of phragmites crowd out birds, mammals and amphibians. The plant also inhibits commercial and recreational uses.


Eighty percent of the phragmites plant is underground. It can reach heights of 15 feet or more. The roots can radiate 60 feet, reach a depth of six feet and expand outward at the rate of six feet per year. These giant weeds spread more rapidly by their roots and broken fragments than by seeds.


The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency committed nearly a million dollars to a 1200 acre (later expanded) phragmites eradication project undertaken by Ducks Unlimited, which provided matching funds, around northern Lake St. Clair from 2010 to 2013.  http://glri.us/projects/epa.html

A Ducks Unlimited spokesman reported:

The spread of highly invasive Phragmites (Phragmites australis) is a recent and major factor in the degradation of Lake St. Clair’s coastal wetlands. The recent decrease in Great Lakes water levels has lead to the expansion of emergent vegetation in the littoral zone of Lake St. Clair; however, lower water levels have also facilitated the rapid expansion of Phragmites. In many areas of Lake St. Clair, Phragmites is expanding at a much faster rate than native emergent plants. With its strong capacity to spread by rhizomes, near-monotypic stands of invasive Phragmites have replaced high quality, complex communities of native plants, leading to loss of fish and wildlife habitat, biodiversity, and a native plant community resiliency. In addition to impacts on the area’s natural resources, the residents of Lake St. Clair have also observed ecological, economic and social impacts as a result of the Phragmites invasion.

Ducks Unlimited (DU) along with project partners approached this project through 3 primary components: 1) an integrated management effort to control Phragmites on both public and private coastal wetlands through aerial and ground herbicide treatments, followed by mowing, burning and spot herbicide treatments, 2) monitoring the response of native vegetation and avifauna to these enhancement efforts, and 3) implementation of a public education and outreach program to inform citizens about the impacts and effective management of Phragmites.

http://greatlakesphragmites.net/project-anchor-bay-st-clair-flats-phragmites-control-and-education-project/

The work continues through successive phases.

Upcoming Conferences: Invasive Species

Asian Carp - Chris Bentley

(1) International Association for Great Lakes Research:

“Fellow researchers from around the world will gather at the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario, for IAGLR's 59th annual Conference on Great Lakes Research...focusing on our theme Great Lakes Solutions: Integrating Across Disciplines & Scales. Mark your calendars for June 6-10, 2016.”

Deadline for abstracts: 1-29-16

http://iaglr.org/iaglr2016/            

Zebra Mussels - 100th Meridian Initiative

(2) Upper Midwest Invasive Species Conference

“The 2016 Upper Midwest Invasive Species Conference covers all invasive aquatic and terrestrial plants, animals, insects and pathogens. Its purpose is to strengthen management of invasive species, especially prevention, control, and containment.”

October 17-19, 2016 at La Crosse Center, La Crosse, Wisconsin.     

Deadline for abstracts: 4-4-16

http://www.umisc.net/call-for-abstracts.html

abstracts@umisc.net

Bighead Carp - USGS

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More info:

http://www.invasivemusselcollaborative.net/         

Invasive Mussel Collaborative

2805 S. Industrial Hwy Suite #100

Ann Arbor, Mi 48104

Garble Genes to Destroy Invasive Species?

Scientists are exploring the possibility that gene drives can be used to annihilate invasive species.

How far would you be willing to go to eradicate invasive species like sea lamprey, Asian carp or alien mussels?

Sea Lampreys on Lake Trout - Wikipedia

Entering the Great Lakes through canals built in the 19th century, the sea lamprey had become abundant in the upper lakes by the 1930s and ‘40s. Lampreys are blood suckers, attaching themselves to native fish species, draining and killing them. In Lake Superior, lake trout and whitefish had been abundant and supported an important commercial fishery, but were nearly wiped out by sea lamprey. Efforts to control sea lamprey have had limited success, but are expensive to maintain.

Various invasive species of Asian carp have made their way up the Mississippi River system to within a few miles of the Great Lakes. Some species are voracious filter feeders, consuming great quantities of the plankton on which many native species in the food web depend.

“In some areas of the Mississippi River basin where these fish have steadily taken over, they now comprise up to 97% of fish biomass. Today, commercial fishers in the Illinois River regularly catch more than 25,000 pounds of Asian carp each day, an alarmingly large amount of fish.”

http://www.glfc.org/eforum/article4.html

Zebra and the more dominant quagga mussels arrived in the Great Lakes through the St. Lawrence Seaway in ballast water discharged by ocean-going ships. They have spread throughout most of the Mississippi watershed and much of western North America. Their reproduction rate is prolific, creating dense populations. The alien mussels filter plankton and refuse at the bottom of the water column, altering lake ecology, out-competing and suffocating native clams and mussels, which are disappearing rapidly. Zebras are thought to be vectors for botulism, which has been killing thousands upon thousands of birds that feed on the mussels.

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A gene drive is the cellular apparatus that assures inheritance of a genetic trait. Scientists are exploring the possibility that gene drives can be used to annihilate invasive species. But the risks of such a capability are sobering. Species could be extinguished worldwide. The potential of such technology in warfare is even scarier.

http://www.statnews.com/2015/11/17/gene-drive-hijack-evolution/

The theory has roots in the work of Charles Darwin (1809-1882), Gregor Mendel (1822-1884) and Austin Burt (2003, http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/270/1518/921 ).

In 2014, Harvard biologist Kevin Esvelt read about the remarkable new technique to alter genes. Esvelt and a group of other biologists explored the theory of gene drive and described a technique to build drives.  http://elifesciences.org/content/early/2014/07/15/eLife.03401

The research of Valentino Gantz and Ethan Bier that had drawn Esvelt’s attention was published in 2015. http://www.sciencemag.org/content/348/6233/442

Hard to say where this science is going, but it’s not going away.

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Meeting Notice

Meeting announcement by Erika Jensen  ejensen@glc.org

The 59th Annual Conference on Great Lakes Research will be held June 6 - 10, 2016  at the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario.  Forty six sessions have been proposed to encompass the theme Great Lakes Solutions: Integrating Across Disciplines & Scales.

All abstracts must be submitted online by January 29, 2016.   The deadline will not be extended.

Questions?

Contact conference program chair Paul Sibley, University of Guelph, (519) 824-4120 ext. 52707 or at 16programchair@iaglr.org