Lower Great Lakes Research Articles

Signature of postglacial colonization on contemporary genetic structure and diversity of Quadrula quadrula (Bivalvia: Unionidae)

Contemporary species distributions and geographic patterns of genetic structure largely reflect pre-historic events, often with subsequent alterations from human influences. The geographic genetic structure of a relatively common and widespread unionid species, Quadrula quadrula, was investigated to reconstruct its postglacial history. Hypotheses regarding colonization routes of Q. quadrula into the Great Lakes basin after the most recent glacial retreat were tested. Samples were collected from Q. quadrula at sites spanning hypothesized glacial refugia and postglacial expansion routes in the Mississippi River drainage, including the Ohio and Missouri rivers, and the Great Lakes. Broad-scale phylogeography and population structure were assessed by sequencing a fragment of the mitochondrial CO1 gene and genotyping eight microsatellites. Results of analyses showed marked differences among the Great Lakes, Mississippi River, and Ohio River drainages, and suggested colonization of the Great Lakes basin from a Mississippian source. Populations showed patterns of isolation by distance: geographic and genetic distances were significantly correlated among Great Lakes populations based on colonization through the Chicago–Illinois outlet, but not when following the Wabash–Maumee outlet. All evidence indicates that postglacial colonization of the Great Lakes basin occurred almost exclusively through the Chicago–Illinois outlet, with subsequent expansion into the lower Great Lakes.

“We Then Went to England”: Shawnee Storytelling and the Atlantic World

Abstract Between 1795 and 1808 several Shawnee orators recounted to British and US officials a story about a Shawnee voyage to England. These narratives push scholars to reconsider the Atlantic world paradigm from an Indigenous perspective. They reveal Native constructions of space and historicity that cannot be easily integrated into the standard frameworks of Atlantic history. Instead of an ocean that united four continents into a single “Atlantic world,” the Shawnee storytellers imagined a kčikami, a dangerous borderland separating radically different cultural, spiritual, and racial realms. Such Native understandings of the sea are critical for indigenizing past landscapes often framed in Eurocentric terms. Moreover, the Shawnee narratives highlight the complex roles of storytelling in Native-newcomer relations and Shawnee intranational debates during a critical period when growing colonial power rapidly eroded the “middle ground” across the lower Great Lakes and political disputes factionalized the Shawnees, putting new pressures on how people constructed and forgot the past.

Estimation of Uncertainty in Air-Water Exchange Flux and Gross Volatilization Loss of PCBs: A Case Study Based on Passive Sampling in the Lower Great Lakes.

Compared with dry and wet deposition fluxes, air-water exchange flux cannot be directly measured experimentally. Its model-based calculation contains considerable uncertainty because of the uncertainties in input parameters. To capture the inherent variability of air-water exchange flux of PCBs across the lower Great Lakes and to calculate their annual gross volatilization loss, 57 pairs of air and water samples from 19 sites across Lakes Erie and Ontario were collected using passive sampling technology during 2011-2012. Error propagation analysis and Monte Carlo simulation were applied to estimate uncertainty in the air-water exchange fluxes. Results from both methods were similar, but error propagation analysis estimated a smaller uncertainty than Monte Carlo simulation in cases of net deposition. Maximum likelihood estimations (MLE) of wind speed and air temperature were recommended to quantify the site-specific air-water exchange flux. An assumed 30-40% of relative uncertainty in overall air-water mass transfer velocity was confirmed. MLEs of volatilization fluxes of total PCBs across Lakes Erie and Ontario were 0.78 and 0.53 ng m-2 day-1, respectively, and gross volatilization losses of total PCBs over the whole lakes were 74 kg year-1 for Lake Erie and 63 kg year-1 for Lake Ontario. Mass balance analysis across Lake Ontario indicated that volatilization was the uppermost loss process of aqueous PCBs.

Spatial Distribution and Air-Water Exchange of Organic Flame Retardants in the Lower Great Lakes.

Organic flame retardants (OFRs) such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and novel halogenated flame retardants (NHFRs) are ubiquitous, persistent, and bioaccumulative contaminants that have been used in consumer goods to slow combustion. In this study, polyethylene passive samplers (PEs) were deployed throughout the lower Great Lakes (Lake Erie and Lake Ontario) to measure OFRs in air and water, calculate air-water exchange fluxes, and investigate spatial trends. Dissolved Σ12BDE was greatest in Lake Ontario near Toronto (18 pg/L), whereas gaseous Σ12BDE was greatest on the southern shoreline of Lake Erie (11 pg/m(3)). NHFRs were generally below detection limits. Air-water exchange was dominated by absorption of BDEs 47 and 99, ranging from -964 pg/m(2)/day to -30 pg/m(2)/day. Σ12BDE in air and water was significantly correlated with surrounding population density, suggesting that phased-out PBDEs continued to be emitted from population centers along the Great Lakes shoreline in 2012. Correlation with dissolved Σ12BDE was strongest when considering population within 25 km while correlation with gaseous Σ12BDE was strongest when using population within 3 km to the south of each site. Bayesian kriging was used to predict dissolved Σ12BDE over the lakes, illustrating the utility of relatively highly spatially resolved measurements in identifying potential hot spots for future study.

Range expansion and molecular confirmation of the Asian fish tapeworm in the lower Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River with notes on infections in baitfish

Abstract The Asian fish tapeworm, Schyzocotyle (formerly Bothriocephalus ) acheilognathi , was surveyed in fishes from the lower Great Lakes, surrounding waters, and St. Lawrence River between 2009 and 2015. Sequences of the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS1, 5.8S, ITS-2) and the barcode gene cytochrome oxidase 1 (CO1) are provided, confirming identification. Emerald shiners ( Notropis atherinoides ) collected in 2009–10 from the St. Clair River, the Detroit River, Lake Erie, the Niagara River, and Lake Ontario were infected at most localities with prevalence ranging from 1.9 to 20.0%. Infection intensity was negatively correlated with condition in these emerald shiners. Museum specimens of emerald shiners collected in 2007 from Lake Erie and vicinity also were infected at a prevalence of 5.0%. The parasite was observed for the first time in the St. Lawrence River at Beauharnois, QC, in a bluntnose minnow ( Pimephales notatus ) in June 2012. Subsequent infections in the St. Lawrence River were observed in two bluntnose minnows from Beauharnois in September 2012 and in emerald shiners from Beauharnois (prevalence = 12.0%) in June 2013, at Iles de la Paix, QC (prevalence = 6.7%) and Iles de Boucherville, QC (prevalence = 2.8%) in September 2013, and Ilet Vert, QC (prevalence = 1.8%) east of Montreal in September 2015. Samples of six other fish species from the Great Lakes, eight from surrounding small lakes and rivers, and eight species from the St. Lawrence River were uninfected. Of six species collected from six bait retailers along the north shore of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, emerald shiners were infected at prevalences of 4.0 and 20.0% at two facilities out of six, indicating that infected baitfish have occurred in the wild at some harvest sites with sufficient prevalence to be transferred throughout the commercial supply chain. Results demonstrate that the Asian fish tapeworm has spread rapidly across the lower Great Lakes since its first observation in the Detroit River in 2002 and appears to be spreading eastward from its recent initial capture location in the St. Lawrence River.

“That the People Might Live”: Loss and Renewal in Native American Elegy the Red Land to the South: American Indian Writers and Indigenous Mexico Mark My Words: Native Women Mapping Our Nations Winning the West with Words: Language and Conquest in the Lower Great Lakes

“That the People Might Live”: Loss and Renewal in Native American Elegy the Red Land to the South: American Indian Writers and Indigenous Mexico Mark My Words: Native Women Mapping Our Nations Winning the West with Words: Language and Conquest in the Lower Great Lakes

Evidence of the St. Clair-Detroit River System as a dispersal corridor and nursery habitat for transient larval burbot

Burbot Lota lota are distributed across the Laurentian Great Lakes where they occupy a top piscivore role. The St. Clair-Detroit River System is known to provide a migration corridor as well as spawning and nursery habitat for many indigenous fishes of economic and ecological significance. However, knowledge is scant of the early life history of burbot and the importance of this system in their dispersal, survival, and recruitment. In order to assess the role of the St. Clair-Detroit River System to burbot ecology, we collected larval burbot during ichthyoplankton surveys in this system from 2010 to 2013 as part of a habitat restoration monitoring program. More and larger burbot larvae were found in the St. Clair River than in the lower Detroit River, although this may be due to differences in sampling methods between the two rivers. Consistent with existing studies, larval burbot exhibited ontogenesis with a distinct transition from a pelagic zooplankton-based diet to a benthic macroinvertebrate-based diet. Our results demonstrate that the St. Clair-Detroit Rivers provide food resources, required habitat, and a migration conduit between the upper and lower Great Lakes, but the contribution of these fish to the lower lakes requires further examination.

Temporal Population Genetic Structure of Yellow Perch Spawning Groups in the Lower Great Lakes

AbstractThis study tested the hypothesis that the genetic composition of Yellow Perch Perca flavescens spawning groups at specific sites remained consistent among years or age‐cohorts; this likely would influence spatial population structure and be important for delineating management units. Previous studies identified that spawning groups genetically differed among locations across fine geographic scales, but it was unknown whether these patterns persisted from year to year. We analyzed 15 nuclear DNA microsatellite loci from Yellow Perch spawning at six Lake Erie locations in 2009 in reference to two out‐groups spawning in Lakes St. Clair and Ontario. Results were compared with a prior study of samples from the same locations that had been collected in various years, ranging from 2001 to 2005. We evaluated consistency for two of the spawning groups across multiple birth‐year‐cohorts. Results indicated that the levels of genetic diversity were similar across all spawning groups and years. All eight spawning groups genetically differed from one other, with their allelic compositions varying between the two sampling periods. Some variation occurred among individual sampling years and birth‐cohorts, with the 2003 cohort being the most distinctive. Sampling groups contained relatively high proportions of full siblings (mean = 18.5%, ranging to 75% for the 2001 birth‐cohort spawning at the eastern Lake Erie site), yet inbreeding appeared relatively low. Differences at sampling sites over time did not appear to reflect genetic drift but may instead suggest that spawning groups reproduce in slightly different locations from year to year or perhaps within a given season; this merits examination. Spatial and temporal patterns may reflect kin‐group structuring and differential reproductive success, in which strong year‐classes dominate spawning groups and impact genetic structure.Received October 28, 2013; accepted October 22, 2014

“To Extirpate the Indians”: An Indigenous Consciousness of Genocide in the Ohio Valley and Lower Great Lakes, 1750s–1810

“To Extirpate the Indians”: An Indigenous Consciousness of Genocide in the Ohio Valley and Lower Great Lakes, 1750s–1810

Significance of population centers as sources of gaseous and dissolved PAHs in the lower Great Lakes.

Polyethylene passive samplers (PEs) were used to measure concentrations of gaseous and dissolved polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the air and water throughout the lower Great Lakes during summer and fall of 2011. Atmospheric Σ15PAH concentrations ranged from 2.1 ng/m3 in Cape Vincent (NY) to 76.4 ng/m3 in downtown Cleveland (OH). Aqueous Σ18PAH concentrations ranged from 2.4 ng/L at an offshore Lake Erie site to 30.4 ng/L in Sheffield Lake (OH). Gaseous PAH concentrations correlated strongly with population within 3-40 km of the sampling site depending on the compound considered, suggesting that urban centers are a primary source of gaseous PAHs (except retene) in the lower Great Lakes region. The significance of distant population (within 20 km) versus local population (within 3 km) increased with subcooled liquid vapor pressure. Most dissolved aqueous PAHs did not correlate significantly with population, nor were they consistently related to river discharge, wastewater effluents, or precipitation. Air-water exchange calculations implied that diffusive exchange was a source of phenanthrene to surface waters, while acenaphthylene volatilized out of the lakes. Comparison of air-water fluxes with temperature suggested that the significance of urban centers as sources of dissolved PAHs via diffusive exchange may decrease in warmer months.

The importance of island surveys in documenting disease-related mortality and Botulism E in Great Lakes colonial waterbirds

Type E Botulism is an important source of mortality for waterbirds on the lower Great Lakes. The purpose of this study was to determine: 1) the spatial distribution of waterbird mortality and 2) if that mortality possibly impacted the breeding colonial waterbird populations in eastern Lake Ontario. Six islands in eastern Lake Ontario, Canada, were searched, July–November, 2004–2009, for dead/moribund waterbirds. Over 6600 dead/dying birds were located; five species accounted for >98% of the birds found: double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus), herring, ring-billed and great black-backed gulls (Larus argentatus, Larus delawarensis, Larus marinus, respectively) and Caspian tern (Hydroprogne caspia). Cormorants accounted for 65–78% of all birds annually. Mortality was greatest in 2005 (7.5%). Most carcasses (91%) were documented on four islands. Most necropsied carcasses (58%, N=95) were confirmed/suspected to have died from Type E Botulism; it was the only mortality factor identified in all years and in all five main species. These results produced a different guild of affected birds from previous beached bird surveys; virtually no birds that roost on water (loons and waterfowl) were found. Deaths reported here had minimal impact to herring and ring-billed gull, double-crested cormorant and Caspian tern populations nesting in eastern Lake Ontario. However, they accounted for >100% of the great black-backed gulls breeding there. The species was extirpated from Lake Ontario during the study period. When assessing mortality in aquatic birds, it is crucial to examine off-shore islands, where birds roost, to fully document this critical demographic parameter.

Glacially conditioned specific stream powers in low-relief river catchments of the southern Laurentian Great Lakes

Fluvial systems of the southern Laurentian Great Lakes region are carved into a complex glacial landscape shaped by continental ice and meltwater of the late Pleistocene. These glacially conditioned river catchments are typically small with drainage areas <104km2. A 10-m digital elevation model (DEM) is used to map the spatial distribution of stream gradient for 22 major river catchments of peninsular southern Ontario, which drain to base levels in the lower Great Lakes (Huron, St. Clair, Erie, and Ontario). Raw data from the DEM show stream gradients that exhibit multiscale variance from real and from artifact sources. Based on a vertical slice and multiple-pass moving-window averaging approach, slope data are generalised to the river reach scale (1–2km) as a representative spatial scale for fluvial processes operating over Holocene timescales. Models of specific stream power are then compared with glacial landform and surface geology mapping. Inherited glacial signatures in river slope appear as deviations in a stream length-gradient index (SL/K index), where river reaches are frequently oversteepened or understeepened. Based on a slope–area analysis, and complementary to theories of channel pattern discrimination, constant stream power curves (with power-law exponent of −0.4) provide a first-order approach to stratify river reaches in terms of glacial conditioning and expected planform morphologies. However, multiple-channel planform types are rare and localised in southern Ontario, indicating that oversteepened reaches with high stream powers may often be moderated by (1) sediment calibre, with cobble-beds from inherited glacial sediments; and/or (2) relative bank strength, with limited channel widening particularly in gravel and sand-bed channels. Further discrimination of glacially conditioned fluvial process domains will ultimately require consideration of alluvial floodplain characteristics in addition to general observations of river morphology and channel pattern.

Lakewide dominance does not predict the potential for spread of dreissenids

In recent years, quagga mussels (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis) have almost completely replaced zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) in the Lower Great Lakes. As recreational boats are the main vector of spread for dreissenids in North America, this study examined whether lakes Erie and Ontario could still be sources for the spread of zebra mussels. In the summer–fall of 2010, the abundance of each species of Dreissena on 196 boats from 5 marinas in lakes Erie and Ontario was examined. Additional samples of Dreissena in 2010–2012 were collected in tributaries, bays, and in the upper littoral zones of these lakes. A total of 77 boats were fouled by Dreissena, and of those 61 were fouled by both species, 13 were fouled just by zebra mussels, and only 3 were fouled solely by quagga mussels. Although quagga mussels compose ~99% of dreissenids in eastern Lake Erie and in Lake Ontario, on boats at most marinas sampled, zebra mussels were usually more abundant and significantly larger than quagga mussels. Refugia for zebra mussels were found in bays, tributaries, and upper littoral zones with high wave activity. Thus, although quagga mussels are now more abundant than zebra mussels within the Lower Great Lakes, these waterbodies still have the potential to be a source for the spread of zebra mussels, and for some vectors, the propagule pressure from zebra mussels is likely greater than that from quagga mussels.

Contested Territories: Native Americans and Non-Natives in the Lower Great Lakes, 1700–1850. Edited by Charles Beatty-Medina and Melissa Rinehart . Foreword by Greg O'Brien . ( East Lansing : Michigan State University Press , 2012 . xxxii + 223 pp. Illustrations, maps, notes, bibliography, index. $39.95 .)

Contested Territories: Native Americans and Non-Natives in the Lower Great Lakes, 1700–1850. Edited by Charles Beatty-Medina and Melissa Rinehart . Foreword by Greg O'Brien . ( East Lansing : Michigan State University Press , 2012 . xxxii + 223 pp. Illustrations, maps, notes, bibliography, index. $39.95 .)

Contested Territories: Native Americans and Non-Natives in the Lower Great Lakes, 1700–1850

Contested Territories: Native Americans and Non-Natives in the Lower Great Lakes, 1700–1850

Contested Territories: Native Americans and Non-Natives in the Lower Great Lakes, 1700-1850 by Charles Beatty-Medina and Melissa Reinhart, eds. (review)

Contested Territories: Native Americans and Non-Natives in the Lower Great Lakes, 1700-1850 by Charles Beatty-Medina and Melissa Reinhart, eds. (review)

Analysis of changes in the Great Lakes hydro-climatic variables

A study of changes in hydro-climatology of the Great Lakes was performed incorporating the nonparametric Mann–Kendall trend detection test and a recently developed Bayesian multiple change point detection model. The Component Net Basin Supply (C-NBS) and its components (runoff, precipitation, evaporation) as well as water levels of Great Lakes were analyzed for gradual (i.e. trend type) and abrupt (i.e. shift type) nonstationary behaviors at seasonal and annual scales. It was found that the C-NBS experienced significant upward trends only in the lower Great Lakes (Erie, Ontario) during the summer portion of the year. At an annual scale upward trends were observed only in Lake Ontario. Change point analysis suggested an upward shift in Great Lakes C-NBS in the late 1960s and early 1970s. A combination of gradual and abrupt change analysis of Great Lakes water levels indicated a common upward shift along with a change in trend direction around the early 1970s. It was also found that precipitation and runoff are on a plateau and in some cases on a decreasing course following an increasing trend in the early twentieth century. Results obtained from this study show that the hydro-climatology of Great Lakes is characterized by nonstationary behavior. Changes in this behavior have caused the Great Lakes water levels to decrease during the last few decades. This study provides valuable insights into the nature of the nonstationary behavior of hydro-climatic variables of Great Lakes and contributes useful information to the future water management planning.

Associations Between Female Reproductive Traits and Polychlorinated Biphenyl Sediment Concentrations in Wild Populations of Brown Bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus)

Aquatic contaminants, specifically polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), a class of persistent organic contaminants, have been associated with sublethal effects on reproduction in fishes. Female brown bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus) were used to assess variation in reproductive traits across eight populations differing in sediment sum PCB concentrations in the Lower Great Lakes region. Differences in maternal carotenoid allocation patterns among these populations were also examined. No significant associations were found between sediment sum PCB concentrations corrected for organic content (OC) and reproductive traits. However, egg diameter was negatively correlated with sediment PCB concentrations not corrected for OC, suggesting that observed relationships between sediment sum PCB concentrations and reproductive traits are driven by classes of environmental contaminants whose bioavailability are not predicted by OC, such as metals. An unexpected positive relationship was also found between egg carotenoid concentrations and sediment PCB concentrations. This positive relationship was explained by the maternal allocation of carotenoids based on a negative correlation between female muscle and egg carotenoid concentrations, where females from less contaminated locations had lower egg and greater muscle carotenoid concentrations than those from more contaminated locations. The results of this study identify sublethal effects of environmental contaminants on reproductive life-history traits in female brown bullhead, and investigations of adaptive mechanisms underlying this variation are warranted.

Multi-proxy lake sediment record of prehistoric (Paleoindian–Archaic) archaeological paleoenvironments at Rice Lake, Ontario, Canada

The arrival of Paleoindian peoples in the lower Great Lakes (ca 11.5 ka cal. BP) coincided with a phase of lowstand lakes and rapid environmental change in southern Ontario. At Rice Lake, an archaeologically-rich area north of Lake Ontario, rising Early Holocene water levels inundated wetland areas exploited by Paleoindian and Archaic peoples. In order to better understand the distribution of submerged archaeological sites and the water level history of Rice Lake, a detailed multi-proxy study was conducted on two vibracores extracted from the open lake and a shallow (<4 m) lagoon adjacent to the McIntyre archaeological site (Paleoindian–Archaic-era). Cores were analyzed for particle size, thecamoebians (testate amoebae), magnetic susceptibility and presence of microdebitage (tool lithic fragments) to determine changes in water levels, lake trophic status and the location of submerged archaeological sites.The basin stratigraphy consisted of Holocene organic-rich muds (gyttja), laminated marls, and peats overlying glacial Lake Iroquois sands and clay deposits. Two erosional hiatuses indicating lowstand phases (EH-1 ca 12.5–11 ka cal. BP EH-2 ca 6–3 ka cal. BP) were identified by rapid shifts in particle size and thecamoebian abundance and assemblages. The dominant thecamoebian species in the open lake basin were Arcella vulgaris and Centropyxis constricta ‘aerophila’, indicating the trophic status of the lake has remained stable throughout the Holocene. In the McIntyre lagoon, the EH-1 lowstand was associated with a unique bog and wetland species (Bullinularia and Phryganella sp.) along with the recovery of microdebitage, indicating that Paleoindian peoples were likely exploiting wetland resources such as plants, fish and waterfowl. We show that the study of lacustrine paleoenvironments using a multi-proxy approach provides additional information for identifying areas of archaeological potential and gaining additional understanding of settlement patterns and resource procurement strategies of Paleoindian and Archaic peoples in Southern Ontario.

Contested Territories: Native Americans and Non-natives in the Lower Great Lakes, 1700-1850

Contested Territories: Native Americans and Non-natives in the Lower Great Lakes, 1700-1850