Lower Great Lakes Basin Research Articles

Improving the representation of stream water sources in surrogate nutrient models with water isotope data

An important part of meeting nutrient reduction goals in the lower Great Lakes basin and assessing the success of different land management strategies is modeling nutrient losses from agricultural land. This study aimed to improve the representation of water source contributions to streamflow in generalized additive models for predicting nutrient fluxes from three headwater agricultural streams in southern Ontario monitored during the Multi-Watershed Nutrient Study (MWNS). The previous development of these models represented baseflow contributions to streamflow using the baseflow proportion derived using an uncalibrated recursive digital filter. Recursive digital filters are commonly used to partition stream discharge into separate components from slower and faster pathways. In this study, we calibrated the recursive digital filter using stream water source information from stable isotopes of oxygen in water. Across sites, optimization of the filter parameters reduced bias in baseflow estimates by as much as 68 %. In most cases, calibrating the filter also improved agreement between filter-derived baseflow and baseflow calculated from isotope and streamflow data: the average Kling-Gupta Efficiencies using default and calibrated parameters were 0.44 and 0.82, respectively. When incorporated into the generalized additive models, the revised baseflow proportion predictor was more often statistically significant, improved model parsimony, and reduced prediction uncertainty. Moreover, this information allowed for a more rigorous interpretation of how different stream water sources influence nutrient losses from the agricultural MWNS watersheds.

Total and dissolved phosphorus losses from agricultural headwater streams during extreme runoff events

Eutrophication continues to be a concerning global water quality issue. Managing and mitigating harmful algal blooms demands clear information on the conditions promoting large phosphorus losses from contributing watersheds. Of particular concern is the amount and form of phosphorus loading to receiving water bodies during extreme runoff events, which are expected to increase in frequency due to climate change. Five years (2015 to 2020) of water quantity and quality data from 11 agricultural watersheds in the lower Great Lakes basin were analyzed and used to model total and dissolved phosphorus losses. This study aimed to assess temporal dynamics in phosphorus concentrations and losses over runoff events covering a wide range of hydrologic conditions and to quantify their relative importance on annual phosphorus losses. Event concentration-discharge relationships for total and dissolved phosphorus were hysteretic and had contrasting dominant patterns across watersheds. The proportion of annual phosphorus losses during events was highly variable between watersheds, accounting for 47–94 %. Extreme events were particularly impactful: as few as three events per year were found to be responsible for nearly half of total phosphorus (20–50 %) and total dissolved phosphorus (14–44 %) losses. Variability in total and dissolved phosphorus losses and concentrations over a wide range of flow conditions suggests that event magnitude is an important control on the relative mobility of particulate and dissolved phosphorus fractions. This study showed that insights into nutrient dynamics and phosphorus budgets in the lower Great Lakes basin and agriculture dominated environments more broadly can be gained by assessing event nutrient losses with respect to flow conditions and patterns in concentration-discharge relationships.

Then and now: Revisiting nutrient export in agricultural watersheds within southern Ontario’s lower Great Lakes basin

An enhanced understanding of nonpoint source (NPS) nutrient export to the lower Great Lakes is needed to inform land use and land management decisions within southern Ontario. However, this understanding is limited by a lack of long-term, temporally-intensive monitoring. To address this knowledge gap, we revisit six agriculturally-dominated subwatersheds in southern Ontario, which were intensively studied during the mid-1970s, to assess changes in hydrology and NPS nutrient contributions. We compared 1975–1977 to 2016–2018 stream runoff, nutrient export (kg/day∙km2), and flow-weighted mean concentrations (FWMCs) of total phosphorus (TP), total dissolved phosphorus (TDP), total nitrogen (TN), nitrates (NO3–+NO2–) and Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN). Relative to the 1970s, runoff increased at three of six watersheds (by ~20–35%) while TP and TDP export increased at five watersheds (by ~50–125%). The increases in TP and TDP FWMCs were lower relative to phosphorus export changes at the three watersheds with increased runoff, suggesting that hydrology is an important driver of phosphorus export at these sites. Interestingly, export of TN and nitrates increased while TKN export decreased at most watersheds. We further note a shift in the timing of nutrient export at most sites, with ~40–70% of export now occurring during the winter and fall seasons whereas ~40–85% of past export occurred during spring and summer. These findings support an enhanced importance of non-growing season nutrient export from agricultural watersheds since the mid-1970s and stresses the need for targeted best management practices specific to the fall and winter seasons.

Organochlorine contaminants in wild mink from the lower Great Lakes basin, Canada, 1998-2006.

Organochlorine contaminants were measured in livers of wild mink (Neovison vison) trapped in the lower Great Lakes basin from 1998 to 2006. To assess exposure and potential risk in mink feeding on Great Lakes biota, concentrations of contaminants were compared in mink trapped within 7.8km of the shoreline as well as at inland sites (i.e., 8-40km). Overall, significant spatial variation in mean hepatic concentrations of sum PCBs and seven other organochlorines was found in mink from 13 Great Lakes sites, many of which are within the Great Lakes Areas of Concern. Mean sum PCB concentrations, on a lipid weight basis, ranged from 2μg/g in mink from inland Lake Ontario sites to 44μg/g in mink from western Lake Erie. Concentrations of other organochlorines in mink were generally low. Mink from western Lake Erie had the highest mean cumulative organochlorine burdens dominated largely by PCBs. A significant age effect was found with 1-year-old mink having significantly higher PCB burdens than mink less than 1year in age. With respect to published PCB threshold effect concentrations, some mink exceeded those associated with effects on reproduction and survival as well as the presence of jaw lesions. This was most consistently found in western Lake Erie where the health of populations of wild mink may be adversely affected and where no mink 2years of age or older were collected.

Geology and paleoecology of a Middle Wisconsin fossil occurrence in Zorra Township, southwestern Ontario, Canada

Nonglacial deposits of Middle Wisconsin age are being discovered with increased frequency across a broad region of southern Ontario, Canada, and provide strong evidence for a time of significant ice withdrawal from the lower Great Lakes region. With each new discovery, a refined understanding of regional climatic and paleoecological environments is emerging. In this paper, we present the results of a sedimentological and paleoecological study of a subtill organic deposit in Zorra Township, southwestern Ontario. The organic deposit, which lies beneath Nissouri Phase Catfish Creek Till (Late Wisconsin), has been dated by accelerator mass spectrometry at between 50.5 and 42.9 14C ka BP. The organic remains are contained within slack water pond deposits infilling a channel incised into till either of Early Wisconsin or Illinoian age. The fossil assemblage appears to be strongly influenced by taphonomic processes, including degradation due to oxidation, bacterial and fungal decay, and glacial overriding. Reworking and (or) recycling and selective sorting as well as long-distance transport has also influenced the composition of the fossil assemblage preserved. Nonetheless, meaningful paleoecological information is still obtained from this record. Collectively, the pollen and plant macrofossils indicate a boreal-type pine–spruce forest with temperatures cooler than present. The absence of arctic tundra plants, as are found in many other deposits of similar age in the lower Great Lakes basin, is notable. A pond or wetland inhabited by shoreline herbs, shrubs, and trees was present at or proximal to the site. The freshwater mollusc and ostracode assemblages are consistent with a shallow water habitat with dense submerged vegetation. The terrestrial mollusc assemblage suggests a taiga or transitional taiga–tundra fauna. Together, these fossil groups provide one of the most comprehensive environmental reconstructions of Middle Wisconsin time (oxygen isotope stage 3 or OIS3) in southern Ontario and serve to build on the ever-increasing database of paleoecological information accumulating for this episode of the late Quaternary.

Spatial Distribution, Air–Water Fugacity Ratios and Source Apportionment of Polychlorinated Biphenyls in the Lower Great Lakes Basin

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) continue to be contaminants of concern across the Great Lakes. It is unclear whether current concentrations are driven by ongoing primary emissions from their original uses, or whether ambient PCBs are dominated by their environmental cycling. Freely dissolved PCBs in air and water were measured using polyethylene passive samplers across Lakes Erie and Ontario during summer and fall, 2011, to investigate their spatial distribution, determine and apportion their sources and to asses their air-water exchange gradients. Average gaseous and freely dissolved ∑29 PCB concentrations ranged from 5.0 to 160 pg/m(3) and 2.0 to 55 pg/L respectively. Gaseous concentrations were significantly correlated (R(2) = 0.80) with the urban area within a 3-20 km radius. Fugacity ratios indicated that the majority of PCBs are volatilizing from the water thus acting as a secondary source for the atmosphere. Dissolved PCBs were probably linked to PCB emissions from contaminated sites and areas of concern. Positive matrix factorization indicated that although volatilized Aroclors (gaseous PCBs) and unaltered Aroclors (dissolved PCBs) dominate in some samples, ongoing non-Aroclor sources such as paints/pigments (PCB 11) and coal/wood combustion showed significant contributions across the lower Great Lakes. Accordingly, control strategies should give further attention to PCBs emitted from current use sources.

Aquatic connectivity and fish metacommunities in wetlands of the lower Great Lakes

Although many local and regional variables structure fish assemblage composition, few studies have assessed the effects of aquatic connectivity on fish assemblages in wetlands. Fish and habitat surveys were conducted in 12 wetlands across the lower Great Lakes basin in the spring and fall of 2003 and 2004. Spatial and temporal connectivity were classified into four connectivity classes to evaluate the interaction between aquatic connectivity and fish assemblage structure. Sequential, nested analysis of covariance was used to model the effect of habitat area and connectivity at long- and short-term time scales on aggregate descriptors of assemblage structure (i.e., species richness, piscivore richness, abundance, and diversity). Although no species–area relationship was detected, increases in connectivity were shown to positively affect species richness and piscivore richness. A variation decomposition method indicated that a combination of aquatic connectivity, followed by environmental and area variables, was most influential in structuring fish assemblages at short-term time scales. Connectivity thus influences both the local species pool present, as well as the abundance of these species within a wetland. Future fundamental and applied studies (e.g., climate change predictions, impact of humans on water budget, wetland management) on wetland fish assemblages should include connectivity as an important structuring process.

European Valve Snail Valvata piscinalis (Müller) in the Laurentian Great Lakes Basin

Previously reported from the lower Great Lakes basin and St. Lawrence and Hudson rivers, the nonindigenous gastropod Valvata piscinalis was found for the first time in Superior Bay (Minnesota) of Lake Superior, Lake Michigan (Wisconsin), and Oneida Lake (New York) of the Lake Ontario basin. This snail was not abundant in Lakes Superior and Michigan, whereas in eutrophic Oneida Lake it reached a maximum density of 1,690 individuals/m 2 (mean density = 216 individuals/m 2). Human-mediated disturbances could facilitate the range extension of this snail by providing dispersal opportunities (e.g., canals, shipping traffic) or increasing nutrients (e.g., eutrophication). A native of the Palaearctic region, V. piscinalis has colonized sites across the Great Lakes basin, suggesting that it will likely become common in disturbed Great Lakes areas.

Moitessier's pea clam Pisidium moitessierianum (Bivalvia, Sphaeriidae): a cryptogenic mollusc in the Great Lakes

Pisidium moitessierianum Paladilhe, 1866, a small pea clam native to Europe, was identified for the first time from the lower Great Lakes basin based on an examination of historical collections of Pisidium performed by V. Sterki in 1894 and 1903 and new material collected during 1997 and 1998. During recent surveys, P. moitessierianum individuals were found in the St. Clair River delta, Lake St. Clair and western Lake Erie, but were not detected in the Detroit River or western Lake Ontario. Pisidium moitessierianum was collected on sand, silty sand and mud substrata from water depths ranging between 0.6 and 5.4 m. Populations occurred at an average density of 51 ind. m−2 and included juveniles and adults. All individuals were less than 2.0 mm in length. We examined the structure of the umbos and hinge, surface sculpture and shape of the shell, and the anatomy of gills, mantle and nephridia in populations from the lower Great Lakes and Ukrainian inland basins (Dnieper River and Lake Beloye). The results indicated that the Great Lakes' pea clams match European specimens of P. moitessierianum in these conchological and anatomical characteristics. As with other nonindigenous sphaeriids in the Great Lakes, P. moitessierianum was likely introduced through shipping activities into the Great Lakes, possibly as early as the 1890s.

Historic and comparative perspectives on rehabilitation of marshes as habitat for fish in the lower Great Lakes basin

Retrospective and comparative assessments of fish habitat have been used to guide rehabilitation in Cootes Paradise, a marsh at Hamilton, Ont., on Lake Ontario. The marsh was severely altered by human and natural stresses, including high water levels, influx of fine eroded sediments, and channelization. Recovery has been limited by a different but overlapping set of stresses, including the continued influx of fine eroded sediments, resuspension of sediments, exotic fish, and increased fetch. Assessment has involved the use of accumulator-, residue-, and replica-type retrospective evidence and the comparison of Cootes Paradise with other reference marshes. The emergent narrative science (a synthesis of science in historical and environmental context that serves as a partially testable hypothesis), verified and adjusted by small scale experiments, has identified the need to re-introduce vegetation, reduce fetch, exclude common carp (Cyprinus carpio), anchor the marsh sediments, and reduce the influx of land use derived fine sediments. Narrative science uses the memory of the marsh for historical information on ecological degradation and in the form of the remnant natural resilience upon which ecological rehabilitation could build. The narrative science provides the basis for adaptive management and the monitoring that it requires. Resume : Des evaluations retrospectives et comparatives de l'habitat du poisson ont servi a guider les travaux de restauration du marais Cootes Paradise a Hamilton, sur le lac Ontario. Le marais avait ete gravement perturbe par des agressions humaines et naturelles, notamment le haut niveau de l'eau, l'apport de sediments d'erosion fins et le creusement de chenaux. Le retablissement a ete limite par une serie differente mais simultanee d'agressions, notamment la poursuite de l'apport de sediments d'erosion fins, la remise en suspension des sediments, la presence d'especes exotiques et l'augmentation du fetch. Nous avons eu recours pour l'evaluation a des justifications retrospectives de type accumulateur, residu et replique, et a la comparaison de Cootes Paradise a d'autres marais de reference. Grâce a la nouvelle approche narrative (synthese de la recherche, inscrite dans son contexte historique et ecologique, qui sert d'hypothese partiellement verifiable), apres verification et ajustement par des experiences a petite echelle, nous avons releve la necessite de reintroduire de la vegetation, de reduire le fetch, d'eliminer la carpe ( Cyprinus carpio), d'ancrer les sediments du marais et de reduire l'apport de sediments terrigenes fins. L'approche narrative utilise la memoire du marais pour obtenir des donnees historiques sur la degradation ecologique et pour mesurer la resilience naturelle residuelle sur laquelle pourra s'appuyer le retablissement ecologique. Cette approche scientifique donne une base pour une gestion adaptative et pour la surveillance que cette gestion necessite. (Traduit par la Redaction)

Historic and comparative perspectives on rehabilitation of marshes as habitat for fish in the lower Great Lakes basin

Historic and comparative perspectives on rehabilitation of marshes as habitat for fish in the lower Great Lakes basin

Association between Winter Precipitation and Water Level Fluctuations in the Great Lakes and Atmospheric Circulation Patterns

Abstract Atmospheric precipitation in the Great Lakes basin, as a major mediating variable between atmospheric circulation and lake levels, is analyzed relative to both. The effect of cumulative winter precipitation on lake levels varies from lake to lake and depends on both the state of the lake level itself and air temperature. For periods with a quasi-stable temperature regime, the correlation coefficient between winter precipitation and changes in lake levels from November to spring months reaches 0.8. An analysis of composite maps of mean winter 700-mb heights and sea level pressure for the years with well-above and well-below normal precipitation in the lower Great Lakes basin (Lakes Michigan-Huron, St. Clair, Erie, and Ontario) has shown that changes in precipitation are associated with the wave train structure in the lower and midtroposphere that is similar to the Pacific/North American (PNA) teleconnection pattern. During the positive phase of the PNA-like pattern, when the upper-atmospheric ridg...

Algal-availability of particulate phosphorus from diffuse and point sources in the lower Great Lakes basin

Algal-availability of particulate phosphorus from diffuse and point sources in the lower Great Lakes basin

Algal-availability of particulate phosphorus from diffuse and point sources in the lower Great Lakes basin

Algal-availability of particulate phosphorus from diffuse and point sources in the lower Great Lakes basin

Nonpoint N Runoff from Agricultural Watersheds into the Great Lakes

Eleven agricultural watersheds were continuously monitored for discharge and intensively sampled for runoff N, 1975-77, as part of the IJC Pollution from Land Use Activities Reference Group (PLUARG), Task Group C (Canadian). The watersheds, located in southern Ontario, were sampled between 30 to more than 500 times for NH 4-N, N0 3+N0 2-N, and total Kjeldahl N (TKN). The predominant chemical form of runoff N was N0 3-N with flow weighted concentration means on sampled days ranging from 0.57 to 5.62 mg/L. In contrast, TKN means ranged from 0.64 mg/L to 2.37 mg/L while average soluble NH 4-N concentrations varied from 0.03 mg/L to 0.60 mg/L. High runoff N0 3-N concentrations occurred from watersheds with extensive areas of tile drainage, row crops (especially com), and high kg/ha fertilizer N application rates. Elevated stream TKN concentrations were associated with watersheds with more impermeable soils. Stream N0 3-N loadings ranged from 2.1 ± 0.2 to 39.0 ± 7.6 kg N0 3-N/watershed ha. Significant N fertility losses in excess of 30 kg N0 3-N ha occurred from some watersheds, while other watersheds with extensive areas of hay and pasture and unimproved land gained more N0 3-N in precipitation than was lost as runoff. TKN loads averaged 32% and 25% of total N runoff for the 11 watersheds in 1975 and 1976 respectively. Efforts to reduce Ontario watershed N runoff should concentrate first on soluble N and therefore on improved efficiency of N fertilizer use on the extensive areas of tile drained corn in the lower Great Lakes basin. The effectiveness of standard soil erosion control methods, including grassed waterways and contour planting, should be investigated for reduction of TKN runoff.