BRD Activities in Michigan

• The Great Lakes Science Center (GLSC) meets the Nation's need for scientific information for restoring, enhancing, managing, and protecting the living resources and their habitats in the Great Lakes. Since 1927 the Center's research has provided critical information for the sound management of Great Lakes fish populations and other important natural resources (e.g. coastal wetlands and aquatic biota) in the basin. GLSC staff has a wealth of expertise in fish stock assessment and community dynamics, aquatic habitat and food web interactions, nearshore and coastal wetlands ecology, terrestrial ecology, and exotic species.

• The GLSC uses an interdisciplinary approach, teams, and collaboration to provide the information needed to solve the complex biological issues (e.g., exotic species impacts) and natural resource management problems (e.g., fisheries allocations) facing the Great Lakes. Working in partnership with resource management agencies, GLSC provides unbiased scientific information on Great Lakes biological and habitat resources, and determines the effectiveness of resource management and ecological restoration efforts. All eight Great Lakes states, tribal fishery management authorities, Canadian federal and provincial authorities and U.S. federal partners are the Centerís main cooperators.

• Long-term, systematic surveys of fish species in Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, and Erie have provided a database for documenting and analyzing changes in fish populations. In 1994, for the first time since their populations collapsed, wild lake trout were caught by biologists in Lake Huron--indicating that hatchery fish placed in the lake are reproducing in the wild. Through intensive study of successfully reproducing lake trout near Alpena, BRD scientists hope to discover factors contributing to their success. State and Provincial agencies, Tribes, and private groups have also contributed to efforts to restore the late trout.

• Investigations of sea lamprey biology and ecology are under way in Hammond Bay to aid in the development of control techniques. The BRD and State natural resource agency partners have made significant progress in controlling this non-native parasite, which preys on lake trout and other Great Lakes fish.

• The BRD is collaborating with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and others to evaluate the effects of zebra mussels in the Great Lakes. Technical support is being provided to Detroit Edison on ways to combat the effects of the zebra mussel, an exotic species that reproduces so rapidly it clogs utility pipes.

• A research team including biologists with the BRD, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources is investigating contaminants in the Saginaw River and Saginaw Bay to better understand how these contaminants are transferred to fish and up the food chain.

• By investigating prehistoric ecological disturbances through the fossil record, BRD scientists will be able to identify plant communities adapted to disturbance to help recognize indications of global climate change.

• In collaboration with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and others, the BRD is coordinating a regional effort to map current vegetation and terrestrial vertebrate distribution in support of the Upper Midwest Gap Analysis Program to identify significant ecological areas and gaps in biodiversity conservation.

• The BRD is cooperating with the State of Michigan, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Michigan State University on assessing the impacts of the extended winter navigation season on St. Mary's River fish populations and wetlands.

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biology.usgs.gov/state.partners/activities/mi-act.html
Last Updated: Tuesday, 10-Feb-2004 08:57:10 MST
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