Yu-Chun Kao is a Biologist based out of Ann Arbor, MI.
I am a biologist at the Great Lakes Science Center. My research focuses on using quantitative methods to better understand the causal links between anthropogenic stressors and ecosystem changes. When I say "anthropogenic stressors", it usually means nutrients, invasive species, and climate change. When I say "ecosystems", it usually means lakes. When I say "changes", it usually means changes in fisheries resources. In general, I strive to provide useful information to support decision-making for ecosystem-based management.
Professional Experience
09/2020–Now Biologist, USGS Great Lakes Science Center
03/2020–08/2020 Research Aquatic Ecologist, Eureka Aquatic Research, LLC, Ann Arbor, Michigan
04/2015–02/2020 CESU Research Associate, Michigan State University
01/2010–12/2014 Graduate Student Research Assistant, UM
05/2013–08/2013 Computing Consultant, ICPSR Summer Program in Quantitative Methods, UM
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. 2014 School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan (UM)
M.S. 2002 Bioenvironmental Systems Engineering (BSE), National Taiwan University (NTU)
B.S. 2000 Agricultural Engineering (Minor: Earth System Science Program), NTU
Honors and Awards
2018 GLSC Moffett Award for the best scientific publication in 2017
2013 UM Rackham Graduate School Ph.D. Dissertation Grant
2001 NTU BSE Engineering Research Scholarship endorsed by Sinotech Engineering Consultants
1998 NTU Presidential Award
Science and Products
Bottom-trawl and gill-net data from the Upper Great Lakes, collected by R/V Cisco, 1952?1962
The data release includes part of the bottom-trawl and gill-net survey data collected between 1952 and 1962 from the research vessel R/V Cisco. The bottom-trawl dataset includes tables for fishing operations and effort (BT_OP.csv), fish catch (BT_Catch.csv), and individual length-weight-sex-maturity (LWSM) records (BT_Fish.csv) for only a subset of species (details below). The gill-net dataset inc
Morphology data for Ciscoes (Coregonus, subgenus Leucichthys) collected in the Great Lakes Cisco Project
This dataset contains morphological information for Ciscoes (Coregonus, subgenus Leucichthys) collected from the Great Lakes as part of the "Great Lakes Cisco Project". The project was initiated in 1950 by Stanford H. Smith, who was a Fishery Research Biologist in the then U.S. Bureau of Commercial Fisheries. The dataset includes 16 morphometrics (linear measurements) and one meristic (c
1930-1932 Gill net data from Lake Michigan
These data describe the catch and biological data from 363 bottom-set gill-net lifts distributed throughout Lake Michigan (including main basin and Green Bay) between April and November in 1930?1932. Data collected from the R/V Fulmar were recorded in notebooks and are now archived at the U.S. Geological Survey's Great Lakes Science Center. Each lift included 1?7 gangs of linen gill nets. Each gan
Replacement of the typical artedi form of Coregonus artedi in Lake Huron by endemic shallow-water Ciscoes, including putative hybrids
Various ecomorphs of shallow-water Cisco Coregonus artedi were the dominant fish planktivores in each of the Great Lakes until invasive species and over fishing resulted in extirpations and extinctions. In this paper we describe the present morphological diversity and distribution of shallow-water Ciscoes in each of Lake Huron’s three basins: the main basin, Georgian Bay, and North Channel. Typica
Assessing the global distribution of river fisheries harvest: A systematic map protocol
BackgroundAlthough surface freshwater comprises
Inland fisheries – Invisible but integral to the UN Sustainable Development Agenda for ending poverty by 2030
The United Nations’ (UN) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development defines the formidable challenge of integrating historically separate economic, social, and environmental goals into a unified ‘plan of action for people, planet, and prosperity.’ We highlight the substantial contribution inland fisheries can make towards preventing increased poverty and, in some cases, alleviating poverty (i.e. addr
Evaluating stocking efficacy in an ecosystem undergoing oligotrophication
Oligotrophication has negatively affected fisheries production in many freshwater ecosystems and could conceivably reduce the efficacy of stockings used to enhance fisheries. In Lake Michigan, offshore oligotrophication has occurred since the 1970s, owing to reductions in total phosphorus (TP) inputs and nearshore sequestration of TP by nonindigenous dreissenid mussels. We evaluated simultaneous e
Climate change as a long-term stressor for the fisheries of the Laurentian Great Lakes of North America
The Laurentian Great Lakes of North America provide valuable ecosystem services, including fisheries, to the surrounding population. Given the prevalence of other anthropogenic stressors that have historically affected the fisheries of the Great Lakes (e.g., eutrophication, invasive species, overfishing), climate change is often viewed as a long-term stressor and, subsequently, may not always be p
Non-USGS Publications**
Kao, Y.-C., Rogers, M.W., Bunnell, D.B., Cowx, I.G., Qian, S.S., Anneville, O., Beard, T.D., Brinker, A., Britton, J.R., Chura-Cruz, R., Gownaris, N.J., Jackson, J.R., Kangur, K., Kolding, J., Lukin, A.A., Lynch, A.J., Mercado-Silva, N., Moncayo-Estrada, R., Njaya, F.J., Ostrovsky, I., Rudstam, L.G., Sandström, A.L.E., Sato, Y., Siguayro-Mamani, H., Thorpe, A., van Zwieten, P.A.M., Volta, P., Wang, Y., Weiperth, A., Weyl, O.L.F., Young, J.D., 2020. Effects of climate and land-use changes on fish catches across lakes at a global scale. Nature Communications 11, 2526.
Kao, Y.-C., Bunnell, D.B., Eshenroder, R.L., Murray, D.N., 2020. Describing historical habitat use of a native fish—Cisco (Coregonus artedi)—in Lake Michigan between 1930 and 1932. PLOS ONE 15, e0231420.
Kao, Y.-C., Rogers, M.W., Bunnell, D.B., 2018. Evaluating stocking efficacy in an ecosystem undergoing oligotrophication. Ecosystems 21, 600–618.
Kao, Y.-C., Adlerstein, S.A., Rutherford, E.S., 2016. Assessment of top-down and bottom-up controls on the collapse of alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus) in Lake Huron. Ecosystems 19, 803-831.
Science and Products
- Data
Bottom-trawl and gill-net data from the Upper Great Lakes, collected by R/V Cisco, 1952?1962
The data release includes part of the bottom-trawl and gill-net survey data collected between 1952 and 1962 from the research vessel R/V Cisco. The bottom-trawl dataset includes tables for fishing operations and effort (BT_OP.csv), fish catch (BT_Catch.csv), and individual length-weight-sex-maturity (LWSM) records (BT_Fish.csv) for only a subset of species (details below). The gill-net dataset incMorphology data for Ciscoes (Coregonus, subgenus Leucichthys) collected in the Great Lakes Cisco Project
This dataset contains morphological information for Ciscoes (Coregonus, subgenus Leucichthys) collected from the Great Lakes as part of the "Great Lakes Cisco Project". The project was initiated in 1950 by Stanford H. Smith, who was a Fishery Research Biologist in the then U.S. Bureau of Commercial Fisheries. The dataset includes 16 morphometrics (linear measurements) and one meristic (c1930-1932 Gill net data from Lake Michigan
These data describe the catch and biological data from 363 bottom-set gill-net lifts distributed throughout Lake Michigan (including main basin and Green Bay) between April and November in 1930?1932. Data collected from the R/V Fulmar were recorded in notebooks and are now archived at the U.S. Geological Survey's Great Lakes Science Center. Each lift included 1?7 gangs of linen gill nets. Each gan - Publications
Replacement of the typical artedi form of Coregonus artedi in Lake Huron by endemic shallow-water Ciscoes, including putative hybrids
Various ecomorphs of shallow-water Cisco Coregonus artedi were the dominant fish planktivores in each of the Great Lakes until invasive species and over fishing resulted in extirpations and extinctions. In this paper we describe the present morphological diversity and distribution of shallow-water Ciscoes in each of Lake Huron’s three basins: the main basin, Georgian Bay, and North Channel. TypicaAssessing the global distribution of river fisheries harvest: A systematic map protocol
BackgroundAlthough surface freshwater comprisesInland fisheries – Invisible but integral to the UN Sustainable Development Agenda for ending poverty by 2030
The United Nations’ (UN) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development defines the formidable challenge of integrating historically separate economic, social, and environmental goals into a unified ‘plan of action for people, planet, and prosperity.’ We highlight the substantial contribution inland fisheries can make towards preventing increased poverty and, in some cases, alleviating poverty (i.e. addrEvaluating stocking efficacy in an ecosystem undergoing oligotrophication
Oligotrophication has negatively affected fisheries production in many freshwater ecosystems and could conceivably reduce the efficacy of stockings used to enhance fisheries. In Lake Michigan, offshore oligotrophication has occurred since the 1970s, owing to reductions in total phosphorus (TP) inputs and nearshore sequestration of TP by nonindigenous dreissenid mussels. We evaluated simultaneous eClimate change as a long-term stressor for the fisheries of the Laurentian Great Lakes of North America
The Laurentian Great Lakes of North America provide valuable ecosystem services, including fisheries, to the surrounding population. Given the prevalence of other anthropogenic stressors that have historically affected the fisheries of the Great Lakes (e.g., eutrophication, invasive species, overfishing), climate change is often viewed as a long-term stressor and, subsequently, may not always be pNon-USGS Publications**
Kao, Y.-C., Rogers, M.W., Bunnell, D.B., Cowx, I.G., Qian, S.S., Anneville, O., Beard, T.D., Brinker, A., Britton, J.R., Chura-Cruz, R., Gownaris, N.J., Jackson, J.R., Kangur, K., Kolding, J., Lukin, A.A., Lynch, A.J., Mercado-Silva, N., Moncayo-Estrada, R., Njaya, F.J., Ostrovsky, I., Rudstam, L.G., Sandström, A.L.E., Sato, Y., Siguayro-Mamani, H., Thorpe, A., van Zwieten, P.A.M., Volta, P., Wang, Y., Weiperth, A., Weyl, O.L.F., Young, J.D., 2020. Effects of climate and land-use changes on fish catches across lakes at a global scale. Nature Communications 11, 2526.Kao, Y.-C., Bunnell, D.B., Eshenroder, R.L., Murray, D.N., 2020. Describing historical habitat use of a native fish—Cisco (Coregonus artedi)—in Lake Michigan between 1930 and 1932. PLOS ONE 15, e0231420.Kao, Y.-C., Rogers, M.W., Bunnell, D.B., 2018. Evaluating stocking efficacy in an ecosystem undergoing oligotrophication. Ecosystems 21, 600–618.Kao, Y.-C., Adlerstein, S.A., Rutherford, E.S., 2016. Assessment of top-down and bottom-up controls on the collapse of alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus) in Lake Huron. Ecosystems 19, 803-831. - News
**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.