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

Abstract

Climate change effects are already significant, but can also magnify other ecological problems. This can be clearly seen in the Laurentian Great Lakes, which have suffered habitat degradation, fishery overharvest and dramatic alterations by invasive species. Thermal changes are expected to cause extensive loss of suitable fish habitat, and changing precipitation patterns will aggravate the problems with our highly modified lotic and lentic systems. A brief summary of the historic ecological context provided by the Great Lakes case is presented, followed by the descriptions of selected tools that help to understand and evaluate both ecological and climate change problems. Species distribution models and habitat classification combined with climate change predictions can identify the distribution and extent of optimal habitats, and identify which are most vulnerable to climate change. Ecological flow modelling can help to identify when critical flow changes are likely. Mechanistic simulation modelling specifies understanding of how aquatic systems function and can reveal cause and effect relationships. These tools can be used to help managers to protect optimal habitat, resist climate change effects to other habitats and adapt cultural systems to climate‐altered aquatic systems.

Ontario’s decision for the province-wide cull of Double-crested Cormorants

“…Thousands of plant and animal species occur in the Great Lakes Basin, including over 170 fish species (Hubbs and Lagler 1958). However, also unquestionably, this system is a textbook example of ecological change on a massive scale and one that now faces the additional burden of climate change (McKenna 2019). This brief editorial in no way can adequately summarize this situation and the interested reader is referred at first to the review by McKenna (2019) upon which I have relied (Table 1).…”

“…Summary of ecological disturbances identified for the Laurentian Great Lakes. Based on the review byMcKenna (2019). Several factors contribute and interact and the history of individual lakes can differ.…”

Within- and transgenerational plasticity of a temperate salmonid in response to thermal acclimation and acute temperature stress

“…The brook trout is a cold-adapted salmonid native to eastern North America found in cold (10-16□), well-oxygenated, freshwater habitats such as streams and lakes (Power, 1980; Smith & Ridgway, 2019). Brook trout also have a poor tolerance for warm temperatures (Beitinger & Bennett, 2000) making them highly vulnerable to climate change as temperatures become warmer and suitable habitat is lost (McKenna Jr, 2019). Thermal refugia in lakes are also being reduced as epilimnetic temperatures rise and the metalimnion shrinks (King et al ., 1999); in some smaller lakes brook trout populations already encounter temperatures that push them to their physiological limits (21-23□; Smith et al ., 2020) or prevent reproduction (Warren et al ., 2012).…”

Recruitment Bottlenecks for Age‐0 Walleye in Northern Wisconsin Lakes

“…2015; Lynch et al. 2016; McKenna 2019; Smalâs et al. 2020), and some of these effects have already been documented (Brunel and Boucher 2007; Asch 2015).…”

“…Recruitment failure can occur for many reasons, including overfishing (Sullivan 2003;Sánchez-Hernández et al 2016), pollution (Mapes et al 2015), and changes in environmental conditions (Gobin et al 2015;Le Brisa et al 2018). Projected changes in climate may influence the recruitment potential of many fish species around the world (Pletterbauer et al 2015;Lynch et al 2016;McKenna 2019;Smalâs et al 2020), and some of these effects have already been documented (Brunel and Boucher 2007;Asch 2015). Specifically, populations of cool-and coldwater species in the northern USA are projected to decline in relation to climate change (Sharma et al 2009;Jacobson et al 2012;Hansen et al 2017), suggesting that recruitment failure will become more prevalent.…”