Climate change as a long-term stressor for the fisheries of the Laurentian Great Lakes of North America

Aquatic Ecosystems in a Shifting Indiana Climate: A Report from the Indiana Climate Change Impacts Assessment

“…Observations show that near-surface summer water temperatures in Lake Michigan have been warming about 1°F per decade 14 (Collingsworth et al 2017). By mid-century, summer water temperatures are projected to increase about 5°F to 6°F above the historical average 15 (Kao et al 2015).…”

The Laurentian Great Lakes: A case study in ecological disturbance and climate change

“…Climate changes are likely to exacerbate conditions in ecological systems already degraded by human activity, particularly aquatic systems, most of which have been anthropogenically degraded (Postel, Daily & Ehrlich, ; Poff et al., ; Postel, ; for example). Increased air temperature (and subsequently water temperature) and altered patterns of precipitation at global and finer spatial scales, with increased variability in both and spatially variable patterns of extreme conditions (Kharin, Zwiers, Zhang & Hegerl, ; Westra, Alexander & Zwiers, ), affect aquatic systems both directly and indirectly (Magnuson et al., ; Kling et al., ; IPCC, ; Christidis, Jones & Stott, ; Mann & Toles, ; Collingsworth et al., ). For example, many rivers are dammed (Tharme, ), limiting connectivity and changing hydrology and thermal regimes, both of which are affected by changes in air temperature and precipitation patterns (Magnuson et al., ).…”

Editorial

“…Also, temperature can influence fishes directly through physiological processes and indirectly through interspecific interactions (see Myers et al 2017). Additionally, climate change often interacts with other anthropogenic stressors with unanticipated consequences (see Collingsworth et al 2017;Klein et al 2017). The resilience or adaptive ability of many species to adjust to new climate scenarios and new externalities can only be projected at this point (see Myers et al 2017).…”

“…Collingsworth et al (2017), for instance, pointed out that human activities will moderate climate impacts to fisheries of the Laurentian Great Lakes. While in isolation, lake habitats are expected to experience increased temperatures and reduced ice cover which could increase the habitat suitability for many fish species; however, human activities have increased the occurrence of bottom hypoxia, susceptibility to invasive species, nutrient eutrophication, and altered precipitation which impact fish phenology and the outlook for the future of Great Lakes ecosystems and the fisheries that they support (Collingsworth et al 2017).…”

“…Collingsworth et al (2017) suggested the management need to balance the immediate concerns of overfishing, eutrophication, and invasive species with the long-term stressors associated with climate change. Likewise, Henderson et al (2017) highlighted the need to better understand phenological responses of fishes to warming and the incorporation of such knowledge into stock assessments.…”