Feasibility of implementing an integrated long-term database to advance ecosystem-based management in the Laurentian Great Lakes basin.

The North American Great Lakes have been experiencing dramatic change during the past half-century, highlighting the need for holistic, ecosystem-based approaches to management. To assess interest in ecosystem-based management (EBM), including the value of a comprehensive public database that could serve as a repository for the numerous physical, chemical, and biological monitoring Great Lakes datasets that exist, a two-day workshop was organized, which was attended by 40+ Great Lakes researchers, managers, and stakeholders. While we learned during the workshop that EBM is not an explicit mission of many of the participating research, monitoring, and management agencies, most have been conducting research or monitoring activities that can support EBM.

Evidence of a compensatory response in invasive Rusty Crayfish () following intensive harvest removal from northern Lake Michigan fish spawning reefs.

Unlabelled: The goal of most invasive species suppression programs is to achieve long-term sustained reductions in population abundance, yet removal programs can be stymied by density-dependent population responses. We tested a harvest removal strategy for invasive Rusty Crayfish () at two nearshore native fish spawning habitats in northern Lake Michigan. Changes in average Rusty Crayfish densities were evaluated with a before-after reference-impact study design.

Yellow perch genetic structure and habitat use among connected habitats in eastern Lake Michigan.

Maintenance of genetic and phenotypic diversity is widely recognized as an important conservation priority, yet managers often lack basic information about spatial patterns of population structure and its relationship with habitat heterogeneity and species movement within it. To address this knowledge gap, we focused on the economically and ecologically prominent yellow perch (). In the Lake Michigan basin, yellow perch reside in nearshore Lake Michigan, including drowned river mouths (DRMs)-protected, lake-like habitats that link tributaries to Lake Michigan.