Publications

We analyzed the structure and stability of the summer fish communities of Chequamegon Bay, Lake Superior, during 1973–1996 from data collected with bottom trawls at 39 stations. Fifty‐three taxa were collected during the study, but we found that relative abundances for 20 taxa described most of the internal variability of the data for all taxa. Abundance data for the 20 species showed...

Sport and commercial fishing interest groups are concerned about potential impacts double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) may have on fish species. Our objectives for this study were to determine the diet of the cormorant in western Lake Erie and the diet overlap and competition for resources with piscivorous fish, such as walleye (Stizostedion vitreum). The stomach contents...

We examined 4,848 regurgitated digestive pellets of double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) over a 6-year period (1992–97) to estimate annual predation on sport and other fishes in the eastern basin of Lake Ontario. We found more than 51,000 fish of 28 species. Using a model that incorporates annual colony nest counts; fledgling production rates; adult, immature, and young-of...

We tested the hypothesis that the efficiency with which fish retain polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners from their food strongly depends on Kow and degree of chlorination of the congener. We used diet information, determinations of concentrations of individual PCB congeners in both coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and their prey, and bioenergetics modeling to estimate the...

Toxicities of ten organophosphorus (OP) insecticides were measured against midge larvae (Chironomus riparius) under varying temperature (11, 18, and 25°C) and pH (6, 7, and 8) conditions and with and without sediment. Toxicity usually increased with increasing temperature and was greater in the absence of sediment. No trend was found with varying pH. A series of unidimensional parameters...

Aragonite is the normal form of calcium carbonate found in teleost otoliths, but it is sometimes replaced by vaterite, an alternate crystalline structure. We investigated the assumption that sagittal otoliths with vaterite replacement were unique to stocked lake trout Salvelinus namaycush in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Earlier studies had attributed these abnormalities to stocking stress...

The southern Lake Michigan basin in northwest Indiana possesses a variety of aquatic habitats including riverine, palustrine, and lacustrine systems. The watershed draining this area is a remnant of glacial Lake Chicago and supports fish communities that are typically low in species richness. Composition of the presettlement Lake Michigan fish community near the Indiana Dunes has been...

Excessive fecal coliform bacteria in public swimming waters can potentially threaten visitor health. Fecal coliform bacteria (1984-1989) and Escherichia coli (1990-1995) density were monitored weekly at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore beaches for 12 summers, and park officials closed swimming areas when fecal coliform density exceeded the state water quality criteria (400 CFU fecal...

The Northern Refuge in Lake Michigan was established in 1985 as part of a rehabilitation program to stock yearling lake trout Salvelinus namaycush in areas with the best potential for success. Stocking of hatchery-reared lake trout within the refuge began in 1986 at three reefs: Boulder Reef, Gull Island Reef, and Richards Reef. On each reef from 1991 to 1997 we conducted gill-net...

Aquatic algal communities are sensitive to environmental stresses and are used as indicators of water quality. Diatoms were collected from three streams that drain the Great Marsh at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Diatom communities, water chemistry, and land use were measured at each site to test the hypothesis that differences in land use indirectly affect diatom communities...

The vast, well-oxygenated hypolimnia of Lake Baikal and the Great Lakes were both dominated by endemic planktivorous fishes. These dominants, two species of sculpins (Comephorus, Comephoridae) in Lake Baikal and six species of deepwater ciscoes (Coregonus, Salmonidae) in the Great Lakes, although distant taxonomically, have morphologies suggesting a surprising degree of functional...

Historically, Lake Ontario may have supported the world's largest freshwater population of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). However, by the late 1800's, salmon were virtually extinct in the lake due to the damming of tributaries, overharvest, deforestation, and pollution. Of these factors, the building of dams on tributaries, which precluded access by the salmon to natal spawning streams...