Tumor Frequencies in Walleye (Stizostedion vitreum) and Brown Bullhead (Ictalurus nebulosus) and Sediment Contaminants in Tributaries of the Laurentian Great Lakes

1991 ◽  
Vol 48 (9) ◽  
pp. 1804-1810 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul C. Baumann ◽  
Michael J. Mac ◽  
Stephen B. Smith ◽  
John C. Harshbarger

To better characterize neoplasm epizootics in the Great Lakes basin and their association with families of contaminants, we sampled five locations: the Fox and Menominee rivers, Lake Michigan; Munuscong Lake, St. Mary's River; and the Black and Cuyahoga rivers, Lake Erie. Frequencies of external and liver tumors were determined for brown bullhead (Ictalurus nebulosus) from all locations except the Black River and for walleye (Stizostedion vitreum) from the Lake Michigan and St. Mary's River sites. Sediment samples were analyzed for metals, polychlorinated aromatics, and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). Liver neoplasms occurred in brown bullhead from the Cuyahoga River and Munuscong Lake; brown bullhead captured from Munuscong Lake were older than those collected from the other locations. Brown bullhead from these same two rivers had elevated hepatosomatic indexes. No liver neoplasms were found in brown bullhead from the Fox and Menominee rivers, although polychlorinated aromatics were highest in both Fox River sediment and Fox and Menominee brown bullhead, and arsenic was highest in Menominee River sediment and fish. Liver neoplasms in brown bullhead from the Cuyahoga River fit the prevailing hypothesis that elevated PAH in sediment can induce cancer in wild fish. The cause of the liver neoplasms in Munuscong Lake brown bullhead is undetermined.

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald S. Zalesny ◽  
Andrej Pilipović ◽  
Elizabeth R. Rogers ◽  
Joel G. Burken ◽  
Richard A. Hallett ◽  
...  

Poplar remediation systems are ideal for reducing runoff, cleaning groundwater, and delivering ecosystem services to the North American Great Lakes and globally. We used phyto-recurrent selection (PRS) to establish sixteen phytoremediation buffer systems (phyto buffers) (buffer groups: 2017 × 6; 2018 × 5; 2019 × 5) throughout the Lake Superior and Lake Michigan watersheds comprised of twelve PRS-selected clones each year. We tested for differences in genotypes, environments, and their interactions for health, height, diameter, and volume from ages one to four years. All trees had optimal health. Mean first-, second-, and third-year volume ranged from 71 ± 26 to 132 ± 39 cm3; 1440 ± 575 to 5765 ± 1132 cm3; and 8826 ± 2646 to 10,530 ± 2110 cm3, respectively. Fourth-year mean annual increment of 2017 buffer group trees ranged from 1.1 ± 0.7 to 7.8 ± 0.5 Mg ha−1 yr−1. We identified generalist varieties with superior establishment across a broad range of buffers (‘DM114’, ‘NC14106’, ‘99038022’, ‘99059016’) and specialist clones uniquely adapted to local soil and climate conditions (‘7300502’, ‘DN5’, ‘DN34’, ‘DN177’, ‘NM2’, ‘NM5’, ‘NM6’). Using generalists and specialists enhances the potential for phytoremediation best management practices that are geographically robust, being regionally designed yet globally relevant.


2009 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
pp. 397-408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andy Breckenridge ◽  
Thomas C. Johnson

AbstractBetween 10,500 and 9000 cal yr BP, δ18O values of benthic ostracodes within glaciolacustrine varves from Lake Superior range from − 18 to − 22‰ PDB. In contrast, coeval ostracode and bivalve records from the Lake Huron and Lake Michigan basins are characterized by extreme δ18O variations, ranging from values that reflect a source that is primarily glacial (∼ − 20‰ PDB) to much higher values characteristic of a regional meteoric source (∼ − 5‰ PDB). Re-evaluated age models for the Huron and Michigan records yield a more consistent δ18O stratigraphy. The striking feature of these records is a sharp drop in δ18O values between 9400 and 9000 cal yr BP. In the Huron basin, this low δ18O excursion was ascribed to the late Stanley lowstand, and in the Lake Michigan basin to Lake Agassiz flooding. Catastrophic flooding from Lake Agassiz is likely, but a second possibility is that the low δ18O excursion records the switching of overflow from the Lake Superior basin from an undocumented northern outlet back into the Great Lakes basin. Quantifying freshwater fluxes for this system remains difficult because the benthic ostracodes in the glaciolacustrine varves of Lake Superior and Lake Agassiz may not record the average δ18O value of surface water.


2007 ◽  
Vol 59 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 187-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.F. Michael Lewis ◽  
Steve M. Blasco ◽  
Pierre L. Gareau

Abstract In the Great Lakes region, the vertical motion of crustal rebound since the last glaciation has decelerated with time, and is described by exponential decay constrained by observed warping of strandlines of former lakes. A composite isostatic response surface relative to an area southwest of Lake Michigan beyond the limit of the last glacial maximum was prepared for the complete Great Lakes watershed at 10.6 ka BP (12.6 cal ka BP). Uplift of sites computed using values from the response surface facilitated the transformation of a digital elevation model of the present Great Lakes basins to represent the paleogeography of the watershed at selected times. Similarly, the original elevations of radiocarbon-dated geomorphic and stratigraphic indicators of former lake levels were reconstructed and plotted against age to define lake level history. A comparison with the independently computed basin outlet paleo-elevations reveals a phase of severely reduced water levels and hydrologically-closed lakes below overflow outlets between 7.9 and 7.0 ka BP (8.7 and 7.8 cal ka BP) in the Huron-Michigan basin. Severe evaporative draw-down is postulated to result from the early Holocene dry climate when inflows of meltwater from the upstream Agassiz basin began to bypass the upper Great Lakes basin.


1981 ◽  
Vol 38 (12) ◽  
pp. 1539-1561 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reeve M. Bailey ◽  
Gerald R. Smith

The native fishes of the Great Lakes basin consist of 153 species, 64 genera, and 25 families. The total ichthyofaunal lists for the several lakes and (in parentheses) their tributary basins are as follows: Nipigon (and tributaries), 40; Superior, 53 (82); Michigan, 91 (135); Huron, 90 (112); St. Clair and Detroit River 108; Erie, 106 (125); Ontario, 95 (125). (These totals include 21 introduced species, most named species of ciscoes and chubs, and the blue pike (Stizostedion vitreum glaucum).)Several areas show notable within-species differentiation. Tributaries to Lake Ontario are part of a zone of secondary contact of a few small, nonmanaged, subspecies that entered the basin from both eastern and western glacial refugia. In the Great Lakes themselves, stocks of lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush), ciscoes, walleyes (Stizostedion vitreum vitreum), and a few nonmanaged species stem from differentiation within the basin or reflect interglacial events that occurred in Mississippi refugia.Species distribution patterns suggest colonization of the Great Lakes by 122 kinds solely from Mississippi basin refugia, 14 kinds only from Atlantic drainage refugia, and dual refugia for at least 18 kinds. Geological evidence provides some support for this interpretation. It is unlikely that any species colonized the Great Lakes from an Alaskan refuge in the past 14 000 yr.The ciscoes and chubs of the genus Coregonus include numerous genetically differentiated stocks, some of which may predate the opening of the Great Lakes in the past 14 000 yr. This conclusion is based on the occurrence in Lake Nipigon and Lake Superior of several forms that must have colonized prior to 9000 yr ago when the last access existed from Lake Superior to Lake Nipigon. At least four and perhaps up to eight forms of Great Lakes coregonines probably survived (or differentiated during) the last glaciation south of the ice in proglacial waters at the heads of major river systems. There is no evidence to support the hypothesized post-Wisconsinan dispersal of any of these forms from a northwestern refugium or their Pleistocene derivation by introgression with a Eurasian species.Despite the evidence for some long-standing genetic differentiation within Coregonus, morphological and biochemical characters fail to support the unequivocal recognition within the Great Lakes of more than one to four current biological species (apart from clupeaformis). The presently recognized species are groups of stocks whose position in the classification system is problematical. The named groups (two of which are extinct) included numerous stocks that were (or are) isolated by homing behavior specific to time and place. The lack of intrinsic reproductive isolation among forms increases their vulnerability to extinction because rare forms apparently hybridize with common forms spawning at adjacent times or places.Key words: biogeography, Coregonus, fish, Great Lakes, introduced fishes, Pleistocene, species, subspecies


1988 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 643-654 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil Billington ◽  
Paul D. N. Hebert

Mitochondrial DNA variation was examined in 141 walleye (Stizostedion vitreum) from 10 populations in the Great Lakes basin. Twenty-two hexanucleotide sequence recognition endonucleases were used, of which six (Ava I, Bst EII, Cla I, Dra I, Nco I, and Sca I) revealed polymorphisms between fish. Nine mitochondrial clones were resolved which fell into two major groups that differed in their Nco I and Sca I fragment patterns. The "A" group predominates in the eastern Great Lakes, while the "B" group predominates in the west. The geographical distribution of these two groups suggests that Great Lakes walleye persisted in at least two refugia during the last glaciation. The study revealed several rare mitochondrial genotypes which may prove useful in creating genetically marked brood stocks. Since mtDNA is maternally inherited, such markers would provide information on both the survival and long-term reproductive success of stocked fish.


2014 ◽  
Vol 71 (7) ◽  
pp. 992-999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion E. Wittmann ◽  
Christopher L. Jerde ◽  
Jennifer G. Howeth ◽  
Sean P. Maher ◽  
Andrew M. Deines ◽  
...  

Intentional introductions of nonindigenous fishes are increasing globally. While benefits of these introductions are easily quantified, assessments to understand the negative impacts to ecosystems are often difficult, incomplete, or absent. Grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) was originally introduced to the United States as a biocontrol agent, and recent observations of wild, diploid individuals in the Great Lakes basin have spurred interest in re-evaluating its ecological risk. Here, we evaluate the ecological impact of grass carp using expert opinion and a suite of the most up-to-date analytical tools and data (ploidy assessment, eDNA surveillance, species distribution models (SDMs), and meta-analysis). The perceived ecological impact of grass carp by fisheries experts was variable, ranging from unknown to very high. Wild-caught triploid and diploid individuals occurred in multiple Great Lakes waterways, and eDNA surveillance suggests that grass carp are abundant in a major tributary of Lake Michigan. SDMs predicted suitable grass carp climate occurs in all Great Lakes. Meta-analysis showed that grass carp introductions impact both water quality and biota. Novel findings based on updated ecological impact assessment tools indicate that iterative risk assessment of introduced fishes may be warranted.


2013 ◽  
Vol 70 (4) ◽  
pp. 522-526 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher L. Jerde ◽  
W. Lindsay Chadderton ◽  
Andrew R. Mahon ◽  
Mark A. Renshaw ◽  
Joel Corush ◽  
...  

Environmental DNA (eDNA) is a sensitive technique for early detection of rare species, including bighead (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis) and silver (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) carp, which are incipient invaders of the Great Lakes. Since 2009, 2822 samples have been collected from the Great Lakes basin to delimit the extent of Asian carp incursions. Samples collected in the Chicago Area Waterway System and in the western basin of Lake Erie indicate the presence of Asian carp DNA in the Great Lakes. These positive eDNA detections are within 6 and 4 km from where bighead carps were recovered in Lake Calumet, near Lake Michigan (2010), and from Sandusky Bay, Lake Erie (2000), respectively. To implement a Great Lakes surveillance plan for protecting imperiled species and reducing damages from invasive species, federal, state, and provincial agencies will need to cooperatively plan and implement a surveillance program that employs the unique strengths of multiple sampling tools, including eDNA methods.


2015 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew D. Winters ◽  
Terence L. Marsh ◽  
Travis O. Brenden ◽  
Mohamed Faisal

Bacterial communities play important roles in the biological functioning of crustaceans, yet little is known about their diversity, structure, and dynamics. This study was conducted to investigate the bacterial communities associated with the benthic amphipod Diporeia, an important component in the Great Lakes foodweb that has been declining over the past 3 decades. In this study, the combination of 16S rRNA gene sequencing and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism revealed a total of 175 and 138 terminal restriction fragments (T-RFs) in Diporeia samples following treatment with the endonucleases HhaI and MspI, respectively. Relatively abundant and prevalent T-RFs were affiliated with the genera Flavobacterium and Pseudomonas and the class Betaproteobacteria. T-RFs affiliated with the order Rickettsiales were also detected. A significant difference in T-RF presence and abundance (P = 0.035) was detected among profiles generated for Diporeia collected from 4 sites in Lake Michigan. Comparison of profiles generated for Diporeia samples collected in 2 years from lakes Superior and Michigan showed a significant change in diversity for Lake Superior Diporeia but not Lake Michigan Diporeia. Profiles from one Lake Michigan site contained multiple unique T-RFs compared with other Lake Michigan Diporeia profiles, most notably one that represents the genus Methylotenera. This study generated the most extensive list of bacteria associated with Diporeia and sheds useful insights on the microbiome of Great Lakes Diporeia that may help to reveal potential causes of the decline of Diporeia populations.


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