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Great Lakes Science Center

Welcome!  The Great Lakes Science Center (GLSC) is part of the Midcontinent Region of the USGS, DOI Regions 3 and 5. Our scientists work in the Great Lakes region and other parts of the country to meet the nation’s need for scientific information used by resource managers to restore, enhance, manage, and protect the living resources and habitats in the Great Lakes basin. 

News

A Tale of Two Islands and the Future of an Ocean Sentinel Seabird

A Tale of Two Islands and the Future of an Ocean Sentinel Seabird

EcoNews - Vol. 7 | Issue 2

EcoNews - Vol. 7 | Issue 2

Tree rings provide an important multi-century context for the current wildfire crisis

Tree rings provide an important multi-century context for the current wildfire crisis

Publications

Bayesian hierarchical model of lake whitefish cohort strength from sparse trawl data Bayesian hierarchical model of lake whitefish cohort strength from sparse trawl data

Recruitment indices for rare or intermittently recruiting fishes are needed to compare year classes and evaluate recruitment drivers, but sparse trawl data with many zero-catch observations complicate estimation. We used fall bottom trawl data from New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio surveys in Lake Erie's central and eastern basins to estimate annual relative cohort strength of age-0 lake...
Authors
Zachary J Amidon, Song S. Qian, Robin L. DeBruyne, Mark Richard Dufour, Christine M. Mayer, Edward Roseman, Alexis McCarter

Lake trout colonization of artificial reefs: Who’s interested, and how long does it take? Lake trout colonization of artificial reefs: Who’s interested, and how long does it take?

Restoring self-sustaining lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) populations has been a major management objective for decades across the species’ native range. Reproduction has been observed but recruitment has been limited in many areas of the Laurentian Great Lakes. Reef restoration and construction have been proposed to increase recruitment, leading to the construction of experimental...
Authors
Matthew H. Futia, Tyler Reid Funnell, Ji He, J. Ellen Marsden, Thomas R Binder

Is "weediness" and "invasiveness" of weeds a function of the plant microbiome? Is "weediness" and "invasiveness" of weeds a function of the plant microbiome?

Over the past several decades, the extent to which microbes enhance plant development and health has become clearer; however, this has not been explored in terms of the aggressiveness and hardiness of weedy plants. In this review, we explore the hypothesis that many features of weeds and invasive plants are related to the activities of plant microbiomes. Microbes contribute to weed...
Authors
Carmaleen U. Rodrigopulle, James F. White, Kurt P. Kowalski, Surendra K. Gond, Katheryn L. Kingsley, Matthew T. Elmore

Science

eDNA for Water-Quality Monitoring and Public Health Protection

eDNA for Water-Quality Monitoring and Public Health Protection

By analyzing genetic traces left behind in water, eDNA provides early warning signs of problems—helping managers respond faster, protect public health, and keep freshwater ecosystems resilient.
Learn More
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