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Great Lakes Science Center

Welcome!  The Great Lakes Science Center (GLSC) is part of the Great Lakes Region 3 of the USGS. 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

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USGS and partners deploy autonomous vehicles on lakes Michigan and Huron to improve fishery assessments

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USGS and partners deploy autonomous vehicles on Lake Erie to improve fishery assessments

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Photo Edition | Field Season 2022 - Vol. 2023 | Issue Summer

Publications

Morphological differences between wild and hatchery-reared Bloater (Coregonus hoyi) from Lake Michigan, USA

Coregonines (ciscoes and whitefishes) are economically, ecologically, and culturally important fishes that are distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere. In the Laurentian Great Lakes, coregonines declined throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, and managers have prioritized their restoration. A key restoration tool is reintroduction via stocking. However, hatchery-reared coregonines can disp
Authors
Andrew Edgar Honsey, Yu-Chun Kao, Christopher Olds, David Bunnell

Large-scale variation in lakebed properties interpreted from single-beam sonar in two Laurentian Great Lakes

Acoustic seabed classification (ASC) is an important method for understanding landscape-level physical and biological patterns in the aquatic environment. Bottom habitats in the Laurentian Great Lakes are poorly mapped to date, and will require a variety of contributors and data sources to complete. We repurposed a long-term split-beam echosounder dataset gathered for purposes of fisheries assessm
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Samuel Pecoraro, Peter C. Esselman, Timothy P. O'Brien, Steve A. Farha, David Warner

Phragmites management in high water: Cutting plants under water limits biomass production, carbohydrate storage, and rhizome viability

Invasion of Phragmites australis (common reed) in wetlands throughout North America, and particularly the Laurentian Great Lakes Basin, poses significant ecological problems. The extended period of low Great Lakes water levels from 2000 to 2013 created conditions for large expansions of Phragmites in the Great Lakes coastal zone. The following extended period of high water in the Great Lakes durin
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Spenser L. Widin, Wesley A. Bickford, Kurt P. Kowalski

Science

Using Pollinator Environmental DNA to Assess the Ecological Resilience of America’s Grasslands

Scientists from six USGS science centers are collaborating with USDA, university, and Tribal partners, and Department of the Interior land managers, to assess the status of pollinator communities and the distribution of species of conservation concern using environmental DNA. These methods will be used to improve assessments of habitat quality and pollinator responses to restoration, including...
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Using Pollinator Environmental DNA to Assess the Ecological Resilience of America’s Grasslands

Scientists from six USGS science centers are collaborating with USDA, university, and Tribal partners, and Department of the Interior land managers, to assess the status of pollinator communities and the distribution of species of conservation concern using environmental DNA. These methods will be used to improve assessments of habitat quality and pollinator responses to restoration, including...
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Phragmites Adaptive Management Framework – Active Adaptive Management

Non-native Phragmites australis (Common Reed) has become established across the Great Lakes basin, outcompeting native plants and degrading natural habitats. Phragmites is managed using a variety of resource-intensive techniques, yet effectiveness of treatment may vary due to infestation level, application methods, environmental conditions, or other factors. With the goal to reduce uncertainty in...
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Phragmites Adaptive Management Framework – Active Adaptive Management

Non-native Phragmites australis (Common Reed) has become established across the Great Lakes basin, outcompeting native plants and degrading natural habitats. Phragmites is managed using a variety of resource-intensive techniques, yet effectiveness of treatment may vary due to infestation level, application methods, environmental conditions, or other factors. With the goal to reduce uncertainty in...
Learn More

Innovative Approaches for Wetland Restoration and Invasive Species Management

Coastal and wetland ecosystems provide critical habitat to birds, fish, wildlife, and a suite of other organisms, clean our water and mitigate flooding events, and offer tremendous recreational opportunities to visitors. However, the majority of coastal and wetland ecosystems in the Great Lakes basin have been significantly degraded or destroyed by ditching, draining, development, invasive species...
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Innovative Approaches for Wetland Restoration and Invasive Species Management

Coastal and wetland ecosystems provide critical habitat to birds, fish, wildlife, and a suite of other organisms, clean our water and mitigate flooding events, and offer tremendous recreational opportunities to visitors. However, the majority of coastal and wetland ecosystems in the Great Lakes basin have been significantly degraded or destroyed by ditching, draining, development, invasive species...
Learn More