Data

Underwater measurements of photosynthetically active radiation were collected along multiple transects throughout Lake Michigan during the 2021 cooperative science monitoring initiative survey of the lake. These data were collected as part of an effort to quantify the water transparency of the lake. The data included in this release provide the percent of photosynthetically active...

This dataset represents field data from a multi-year experiment testing the cut-to-drown management strategy in patches of Phragmites australis at two sites in the Great Lakes coastal zone. We established research plots where Phragmites was cut under the water to test that treatment's effectiveness as a control strategy. The experiment took place in 2022 and 2023. Over the multi-year...

This dataset records Cladophora and associated benthic algae, collectively the Cladophora community or submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV), biomass collected during the growing season of 2024 at stations located along the U.S. shoreline of Lakes Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. It also records a variety of supporting data collected at Cladophora measurement stations. These supporting...

This data set contains Lake Trout (Salvelinus namaycush) egg catch per unit effort (CPUE) estimates obtained from egg traps set on Stony Island Reef in Lake Ontario. These data were collected from sampling efforts in November 2017 and October-November 2019. Stony Island Reef is a cobble spawning reef located in the eastern basin of Lake Ontario and was chosen as the study site because it...

This dataset includes larval fish catches, species identifications, total length measurements, and relevant covariate data from a larval fish community survey of the U.S. waters of Lake Ontario. Sites were surveyed along a bottom depth gradient of 5 to 225 meters, covering a range of nearshore and offshore habitat between the months of May and July 2024. Vessel and gear descriptions are...

This data set contains Lake Trout (Salvelinus namaycush) egg density estimates obtained from suction sampling across five locations in Lake Ontario. These data were collected in October-November 2020 and November-December 2024 as part of an effort to identify Lake Trout spawning locations and habitat preference in Lake Ontario. Additional information on habitat characteristics at each...

This dataset is associated with an examination of environmental DNA (eDNA) obtained from freshwater matrices (i.e. benthic algae, sediment, and near bottom water) collected by scuba divers from previously established transects located along the U.S. shoreline of Lakes: Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing (i.e., targeting bacterial communities) and high...

This data set includes information on benthic algae community composition collected during the growing season of 2024 at stations located along the U.S. shoreline of Lakes Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. Benthic algal community observations were taken by scuba divers in the field and by personnel in the lab during sample processing, including detailed microscopic examination of...

Since 2005, the U.S. Geological Survey - Great Lakes Science Center's Lake Erie Biological Station (LEBS) has participated in a collaborative, multiagency effort to assess pelagic prey fish populations in the western (WB), central (CB), and eastern (EB) basins of Lake Erie through a combination of hydroacoustic and midwater trawl sampling. Assessing lake-wide distribution and abundance...

This dataset contains more than 37,000 high-resolution images of natural lake bottom habitats containing round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) captured by autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). Round goby are invasive to the Laurentian Great Lakes, but are an important prey item for economically valuable predators, and thus of interest to managers. Individual round goby within each image...

The data being released were part of a project funded by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). This study sought to identify the bacterial and planktonic communities (cyanobacteria, eukaryotic algae) potentially contributing to eutrophication within the Grand Calumet River Area of Concern (AOC) in northern Indiana along the southern shore of Lake Michigan. In 2021...

Data represent physical (water quality) and biological (fish, macroinvertebrate, and vegetation community) collections as indicators for Pool 1A and the Maankiki Marsh North and South units at the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge in Saginaw, MI, USA. The Maankiki North and South units were recently reconnected to the Shiawassee River in 2018, whereas Pool 1A represents a historically