Habitat Suitability Modeling of Coregonines in Lake Erie and Lake Ontario

Session: 34. - Aquatic Habitat Evaluation and Assessment

Hannah Schaefer, University of Michigan, [email protected]
Edward Roseman, USGS-Great Lakes Science Center, [email protected]
Robin DeBruyne, Univ. of Toledo / USGS Great Lakes Sci. Ctr, [email protected]
Christopher Vandergoot, USGS - Great Lakes Science Center, [email protected]
James Diana, Michigan Sea Grant College Program, Samuel T. Dana Bldg., [email protected]

Abstract

Historically, coregonine fishes (Coregonus spp.) played an important role both for fisheries production and ecosystem health throughout the Great Lakes basin. Presently, the populations of lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) and cisco (Coregonus artedi) are largely reduced compared to previous decades. In Lake Erie, factors such as overfishing, loss of habitat, and predation by exotic species have caused a decline in lake whitefish numbers and a near extirpation of cisco. For the first part of this study, historical references were used as a guide to identify six key locations for larval sampling along the southern shore of Lake Erie. Larval coregonine (37 visually identified as lake whitefish; 7 classified as coregonines) densities were highest at the Huron River, OH, port (7.65/1,000 m³), followed by Sandusky, OH (2.21/1,000 m³), Dunkirk, NY (0.972/1,000 m³), Fairport, OH (0.820/1,000m³), Erie, PA (0.506/1000m³), and Conneaut, OH (0.500/1000m³). Following this, a habitat suitability model for both Lake Erie and Lake Ontario was developed using historical accounts of presence and absence data for lake whitefish and cisco. The suitability model developed in this study helps to identify locations where habitat restoration or stocking of coregonines could be conducted in the lower lakes.

1. Keyword
Spatial analysis

2. Keyword
habitats

3. Keyword
Lake Erie

4. Additional Keyword
Coregonines

5. Additional Keyword
Spawning

6. Additional Keyword
Mapping