I have over 25 years of experience and knowledge in aquatic ecology and fish ecology in particular. I specialize in hydroacoustic surveys of fish and have carried out lake wide hydroacoustic fishery surveys in one of the largest lakes in the world for 20 years. There are no other freshwater fishery surveys of this magnitude in the world.
I am trained as an aquatic ecologist with an emphasis on fish populations and interactions of fish and other members of aquatic food webs. I have conducted research in lakes ranging in size from New York FInger Lakes to the Great Lakes. I have 17 years of experience conducting hydroacoustic research and am interested in using satellite-borne remote sensing tools as well. Current research interests incluide fish population dynamics, ecology of Mysis diluviana, and evaluation of hydroacoustic methodology.
Professional Experience
2003 - Present, Research Fishery Biologist. US Geological Survey, Great Lakes Science Center.
Education and Certifications
Ph.D, Aquatic ecology, Cornell University, 2004
M.S., Biology, S.U.N.Y. Oneonta, 1999
B.T., Fisheries and aquaculture, S.U.N.Y. Cobleskill, 1993
Science and Products
Data releases by this scientist
Lakebed features extracted 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
Hydroacoustic data from uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) overtakes in Lakes Huron and Michigan, 2021
These data were derived from hydroacoustic data collected by uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs) and powered research vessels. The powered vessels overtook the USVs in Lakes Huron and Michigan to study fish avoidance of survey vessels during traditional acoustic surveys. The water column was divided into three depth groups (epilimnion, metalimnion, hypolimnion) for analysis. Each drone transect was b
Lake Michigan Fish Acoustic Data from 2011 to 2016
Area backscattering (ABC), mean acoustic size (sigma), and fish density in the intervals and layers of acoustic survey transects of Lake Michigan in the years 2011-2016. The data were collected to provide information on the temporal and spatial dynamics of the pelagic fish community of Lake Michigan. This information is used to provide an understanding of community and population drivers and in a
Publications by this scientist
Filter Total Items: 46
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
Authors
Samuel Pecoraro, Peter C. Esselman, Timothy P. O'Brien, Steve A. Farha, David Warner
Seasonal variability of invertebrate prey diet and selectivity of the dominant forage fishes in Lake Huron
Predators can shift their diets and even selectivity in response to changing environmental conditions. Since the early 2000s, Lake Huron experienced major food-web shifts that have caused changes in the prey availability and quality for consumers at multiple trophic levels. Previous studies have reported declining energetic condition for key planktivorous fishes, such as bloater (Coregonus hoyi) a
Authors
Patricia M Dieter, David Bunnell, David M. Warner
Status and trends of pelagic and benthic prey fish populations in Lake Michigan, 2020
Lakewide acoustic (AC) and bottom trawl (BT) surveys are conducted annually to generate indices of pelagic and benthic prey fish densities in Lake Michigan. The BT survey had been conducted each fall from 1973 through 2019 using 12-m trawls at depths ranging from 9 to 110 m and included 70 fixed locations distributed across seven transects; this survey estimates densities of seven prey fish speci
Authors
Ralph William Tingley, David Bunnell, David Warner, Charles P. Madenjian, Patricia Dieter
Lake-wide annual status of Mysis diluviana population in Lake Michigan in 2015
Mysis diluviana is one of the most abundant zooplankton by biomass in the Laurentian Great Lakes of North America, a predator of other zooplankton and an important prey for fishes. Studies of long-term trends in Lake Michigan have shown 2005–2016 densities to be 50–80% lower than 1990s densities, but these observations have been based on annual monitoring that is either spatially or seasonally lim
Authors
Toby J. Holda, Lars G. Rudstam, Steven A. Pothoven, David Warner, Dmytro S. Krystenko, James M. Watkins
Status and trends of pelagic prey fish in Lake Huron, 2018
Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey’s Great Lakes Science Center conducted integrated acoustic and mid-water trawl surveys of Lake Huron annually from 2004-2018. The 2018 survey was conducted during September and included transects in Lake Huron’s main basin, Georgian Bay, and North Channel. Mean lake-wide pelagic fish density was 1532 fish/ha and mean pelagic fish biomass was 4151 g/ha in
Authors
Timothy P. O'Brien, Steve A. Farha, David Warner, Peter Esselman, Kristy Phillips, Steven Lenart, Chris Olds
Growth of hatchery‐reared chinook salmon in Lakes Michigan and Huron exhibits limited spatial variation but Is temporally linked to alewife abundance
Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha were introduced into Lakes Michigan and Huron in the 1960s to diversify recreational fisheries and reduce overabundant, nonnative Alewife Alosa pseudoharengus. Alewife remain the primary prey of Chinook Salmon but have experienced substantial declines in abundance due to reduced food resources and salmonine predation pressure. The movements of Chinook Salmon
Authors
M.S Kornis, D.G. Simpkins, A.A. Lane, David M. Warner, C.B. Bronte
Spatiotemporal variability in energetic condition of alewife and round goby in Lake Michigan
Pelagic-oriented alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) and benthic-oriented round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) are two important prey fishes in the Laurentian Great Lakes. In 2015, we evaluated their seasonal total energy (TE) across nine Lake Michigan transects. Round goby contained at least 48% more kilojoules of TE than alewife of equal length during spring and summer. TE varied spatially for both sp
Authors
David Bunnell, Steven A. Pothoven, Patricia Dieter, Lauren A. Eaton, David Warner, Ashley K. Elgin, Lyuba E. Burlakova, Alexander Y. Karatayev
Densities, diets, and growth rates of larval Alewife and Bloater in a changing Lake Michigan ecosystem.
Variability in abiotic and biotic factors during larval stages has profound impacts on fish recruitment. In Lake Michigan, where the composition of lower trophic levels has undergone considerable changes in the past decade, managers are concerned that fish recruitment could be negatively affected. We hypothesized that spatial variation in Lake Michigan larval fish density and growth can be explain
Authors
Drew E Eppehimer, David Bunnell, Patricia Dieter, David Warner, Lauren A. Eaton, David J Wells, Edward S. Rutherford
A comparison of chlorophyll a values obtained from an autonomous underwater vehicle to satellite-based measures for Lake Michigan
Accurate methods to track changes in lake productivity through time and space are critical to fisheries management. Chlorophyll a is the most widely studied proxy for ecosystem primary production, and has been the topic of many studies. The main sources of chlorophyll a measurements are ship-based measures or multi-spectral satellite data. Autonomous underwater vehicles can survey large spatial ex
Authors
David Bennion, David Warner, Peter Esselman, Brett Hobson, Brian Kieft
Status of pelagic prey fishes in Lake Michigan, 2018
Acoustic surveys were conducted in late summer/early fall during the years 2004-2018 to estimate pelagic prey fish biomass in Lake Michigan. Midwater trawling during the surveys as well as acoustic target strength provided a measure of species and size composition of the fish community for use in scaling acoustic data and providing species-specific abundance estimates. The 2018 survey consisted of
Authors
David Warner, Kristy Phillips, Ben Turschak, Dale Hanson, Jason Smith
Status and trends of pelagic prey fish in Lake Huron, 2017
Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey’s Great Lakes Science Center conducted integrated acoustic and mid-water trawl surveys of Lake Huron in 1997 and annually from 2004-2017. The 2017 survey was conducted during September and included transects in Lake Huron’s main basin, Georgian Bay, and North Channel. Mean lake-wide pelagic fish density was 1582 fish/ha and mean pelagic fish biomass was 1
Authors
Timothy P. O'Brien, David M. Warner, Peter Esselman, Steve A. Farha, Steve Lenart, Chris Olds, Kristy Phillips
Describing the distribution and productivity of biota along a nearshore to offshore gradient
The Lake Michigan Lakewide Action and Management Plan (LAMP) proposed adding nutrients (phosphorus) to its “pollutant of concern” list in 2002, given that excessive nutrients were causing impairments in nearshore waters. Since that time, scientists have highlighted the “shunting” of nutrients to the nearshore (Hecky et al. 2004), owing to the ability of invasive dreissenid mussels to capture some
Authors
David B. Bunnell, Patricia M. Dieter, David M. Warner, Lauren A. Eaton, Drew Eppehimer
Non-USGS Publications**
Warner, D.M., Rudstam, L.G., and Klumb, R.A. 2002. In situ target strength of alewives in freshwater. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc. 131:212-223.
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Science and Products
- Data
Data releases by this scientist
Lakebed features extracted 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 assessmHydroacoustic data from uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) overtakes in Lakes Huron and Michigan, 2021
These data were derived from hydroacoustic data collected by uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs) and powered research vessels. The powered vessels overtook the USVs in Lakes Huron and Michigan to study fish avoidance of survey vessels during traditional acoustic surveys. The water column was divided into three depth groups (epilimnion, metalimnion, hypolimnion) for analysis. Each drone transect was bLake Michigan Fish Acoustic Data from 2011 to 2016
Area backscattering (ABC), mean acoustic size (sigma), and fish density in the intervals and layers of acoustic survey transects of Lake Michigan in the years 2011-2016. The data were collected to provide information on the temporal and spatial dynamics of the pelagic fish community of Lake Michigan. This information is used to provide an understanding of community and population drivers and in a - Multimedia
- Publications
Publications by this scientist
Filter Total Items: 46Large-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 assessmAuthorsSamuel Pecoraro, Peter C. Esselman, Timothy P. O'Brien, Steve A. Farha, David WarnerSeasonal variability of invertebrate prey diet and selectivity of the dominant forage fishes in Lake Huron
Predators can shift their diets and even selectivity in response to changing environmental conditions. Since the early 2000s, Lake Huron experienced major food-web shifts that have caused changes in the prey availability and quality for consumers at multiple trophic levels. Previous studies have reported declining energetic condition for key planktivorous fishes, such as bloater (Coregonus hoyi) aAuthorsPatricia M Dieter, David Bunnell, David M. WarnerStatus and trends of pelagic and benthic prey fish populations in Lake Michigan, 2020
Lakewide acoustic (AC) and bottom trawl (BT) surveys are conducted annually to generate indices of pelagic and benthic prey fish densities in Lake Michigan. The BT survey had been conducted each fall from 1973 through 2019 using 12-m trawls at depths ranging from 9 to 110 m and included 70 fixed locations distributed across seven transects; this survey estimates densities of seven prey fish speciAuthorsRalph William Tingley, David Bunnell, David Warner, Charles P. Madenjian, Patricia DieterLake-wide annual status of Mysis diluviana population in Lake Michigan in 2015
Mysis diluviana is one of the most abundant zooplankton by biomass in the Laurentian Great Lakes of North America, a predator of other zooplankton and an important prey for fishes. Studies of long-term trends in Lake Michigan have shown 2005–2016 densities to be 50–80% lower than 1990s densities, but these observations have been based on annual monitoring that is either spatially or seasonally limAuthorsToby J. Holda, Lars G. Rudstam, Steven A. Pothoven, David Warner, Dmytro S. Krystenko, James M. WatkinsStatus and trends of pelagic prey fish in Lake Huron, 2018
Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey’s Great Lakes Science Center conducted integrated acoustic and mid-water trawl surveys of Lake Huron annually from 2004-2018. The 2018 survey was conducted during September and included transects in Lake Huron’s main basin, Georgian Bay, and North Channel. Mean lake-wide pelagic fish density was 1532 fish/ha and mean pelagic fish biomass was 4151 g/ha inAuthorsTimothy P. O'Brien, Steve A. Farha, David Warner, Peter Esselman, Kristy Phillips, Steven Lenart, Chris OldsGrowth of hatchery‐reared chinook salmon in Lakes Michigan and Huron exhibits limited spatial variation but Is temporally linked to alewife abundance
Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha were introduced into Lakes Michigan and Huron in the 1960s to diversify recreational fisheries and reduce overabundant, nonnative Alewife Alosa pseudoharengus. Alewife remain the primary prey of Chinook Salmon but have experienced substantial declines in abundance due to reduced food resources and salmonine predation pressure. The movements of Chinook SalmonAuthorsM.S Kornis, D.G. Simpkins, A.A. Lane, David M. Warner, C.B. BronteSpatiotemporal variability in energetic condition of alewife and round goby in Lake Michigan
Pelagic-oriented alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) and benthic-oriented round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) are two important prey fishes in the Laurentian Great Lakes. In 2015, we evaluated their seasonal total energy (TE) across nine Lake Michigan transects. Round goby contained at least 48% more kilojoules of TE than alewife of equal length during spring and summer. TE varied spatially for both spAuthorsDavid Bunnell, Steven A. Pothoven, Patricia Dieter, Lauren A. Eaton, David Warner, Ashley K. Elgin, Lyuba E. Burlakova, Alexander Y. KaratayevDensities, diets, and growth rates of larval Alewife and Bloater in a changing Lake Michigan ecosystem.
Variability in abiotic and biotic factors during larval stages has profound impacts on fish recruitment. In Lake Michigan, where the composition of lower trophic levels has undergone considerable changes in the past decade, managers are concerned that fish recruitment could be negatively affected. We hypothesized that spatial variation in Lake Michigan larval fish density and growth can be explainAuthorsDrew E Eppehimer, David Bunnell, Patricia Dieter, David Warner, Lauren A. Eaton, David J Wells, Edward S. RutherfordA comparison of chlorophyll a values obtained from an autonomous underwater vehicle to satellite-based measures for Lake Michigan
Accurate methods to track changes in lake productivity through time and space are critical to fisheries management. Chlorophyll a is the most widely studied proxy for ecosystem primary production, and has been the topic of many studies. The main sources of chlorophyll a measurements are ship-based measures or multi-spectral satellite data. Autonomous underwater vehicles can survey large spatial exAuthorsDavid Bennion, David Warner, Peter Esselman, Brett Hobson, Brian KieftStatus of pelagic prey fishes in Lake Michigan, 2018
Acoustic surveys were conducted in late summer/early fall during the years 2004-2018 to estimate pelagic prey fish biomass in Lake Michigan. Midwater trawling during the surveys as well as acoustic target strength provided a measure of species and size composition of the fish community for use in scaling acoustic data and providing species-specific abundance estimates. The 2018 survey consisted ofAuthorsDavid Warner, Kristy Phillips, Ben Turschak, Dale Hanson, Jason SmithStatus and trends of pelagic prey fish in Lake Huron, 2017
Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey’s Great Lakes Science Center conducted integrated acoustic and mid-water trawl surveys of Lake Huron in 1997 and annually from 2004-2017. The 2017 survey was conducted during September and included transects in Lake Huron’s main basin, Georgian Bay, and North Channel. Mean lake-wide pelagic fish density was 1582 fish/ha and mean pelagic fish biomass was 1AuthorsTimothy P. O'Brien, David M. Warner, Peter Esselman, Steve A. Farha, Steve Lenart, Chris Olds, Kristy PhillipsDescribing the distribution and productivity of biota along a nearshore to offshore gradient
The Lake Michigan Lakewide Action and Management Plan (LAMP) proposed adding nutrients (phosphorus) to its “pollutant of concern” list in 2002, given that excessive nutrients were causing impairments in nearshore waters. Since that time, scientists have highlighted the “shunting” of nutrients to the nearshore (Hecky et al. 2004), owing to the ability of invasive dreissenid mussels to capture someAuthorsDavid B. Bunnell, Patricia M. Dieter, David M. Warner, Lauren A. Eaton, Drew EppehimerNon-USGS Publications**
Warner, D.M., Rudstam, L.G., and Klumb, R.A. 2002. In situ target strength of alewives in freshwater. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc. 131:212-223.**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.