Journal of Great Lakes Research

On the Cover

The shores of the shallow Titicaca Lago Menor, in particular Cohana Bay, are the sites of the exuberant development of Totora (Schoenoplectus californicus), an emergent macrophyte native to the Andes. This resource has enabled the development of ancestral civilizations (Tiwanakotas, Incas, Aymaras, Uros, ...) thanks to its uses in the construction of thatch roof and traditional boats (balsas), handicrafts, and also as fodder for cattle and camelid breeding (llamas, alpacas). Ancestral tradition as well dictates that at the end of the dry season, when water levels are at their lowest, indigenous communities replant totoras. In addition, Totoras act as a natural biological filter for contaminants and nutrients, via their uptake by benthic microalgae in the biofilm covering the submerged part of the stems. It is this capacity that we have tested in our article entitled “Responses of phytoplankton and periphyton community structure to an anthropic eutrophication gradient in tropical high-altitude Lake Titicaca” (Lanza et al. this issue) by analyzing the gradient of decreasing eutrophication observed in the waters of Cohana Bay, between the Katari River mouth and the outlet into Lago Menor. Here, the photo shows the traditional harvesting of totoras for fodder, by a farmer onboard his boat.

Credits: Xavier Lazzaro, Ph.D., IRD.

On the Cover

Henry Thompson and Steve Farha on Horseshoe Reef near Drummond Island, Lake Huron photographing lake trout spawning substrate for later size characterization. Farha et al., “Habitat selection by lake trout at reefs near Drummond Island, Lake Huron: an evaluation of physical characteristics used for spawning” describes a novel sampling design based on acoustic-telemetry detections to evaluate relative importance of cobble-contour habitat characteristics (substrate size, homogeneity, interstitial depth, and slope) for predicting egg presence on two spawning reefs in northern Lake Huron.

Credits: Photo by C.C. Krueger.

On the Cover

The community of large lakes researchers, especially those who are familiar with the Journal of Great Lakes Research, know the iconic satellite image of the North American Great Lakes. The image (turned into bumper stickers, among other things) represents a larger “Great Lakes Pride” that celebrates these resources. The same type of image does not exist for the seven African Great Lakes (AGL), which hold over 25% of the world’s fresh water and support millions of people. In short, the AGL (Lakes Albert, Edward, Kivu, Malawi/Niassa/Nyasa, Tanganyika, Turkana, and Victoria) are not as well known and it is the purpose of this special section and the cover image on this issue, to highlight these resources, their challenges, and some of the approaches we, as freshwater scientists, need to take to protect them. The lakes on this image are scaled much larger than they truly are to demonstrate their importance on the continent. These lakes allow the citizens in the AGL riparian countries (flags on the left side of the map from top to bottom: Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, flags on the right of the map from top to bottom: Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia) to be self-reliant societies, realizing their own visions of livelihoods, justice, equity, democracy, and peace.

Credits: The image was created by Ted Lawrence, Executive Director of the African Center for Aquatic Research and Education.

On the Cover

This model-based image of Lake Erie hypolimnetic dissolved oxygen concentrations (Stow et al., this issue “Introduction to the special section: Status and approaches to assess Lake Erie Central Basin hypoxia”) depicts the tendency of low-dissolved oxygen conditions to develop first in shallow areas around the central basin perimeter, forming a “bathtub ring”, before expanding into the deeper areas of the central basin. Credit: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory.This model-based image of Lake Erie hypolimnetic dissolved oxygen concentrations (Stow et al., this issue “Introduction to the special section: Status and approaches to assess Lake Erie Central Basin hypoxia”) depicts the tendency of low-dissolved oxygen conditions to develop first in shallow areas around the central basin perimeter, forming a “bathtub ring”, before expanding into the deeper areas of the central basin.

Credits: Credit: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory.

On the Cover

Spotted Gar (Lepisosteus oculatus) [top] and Spotted Sucker (Minytrema melanops) [bottom] captured in the eastern Lake Erie basin of New York (fish are not to scale). MacGuigan et al. (this issue) document that both species appear to have recently expanded their native ranges in these waters. They hypothesize that recent habitat remediation efforts have provided suitable habitat for both species to recolonize shallow waters with densely vegetated habitat (>90% substrate coverage). 

Credits: Photo credit Isabel Porto-Hannes.

On the Cover

Learning to See as Another Sees was created by artist-scientist, Nicole Jung*, as a physical materialization of iterative reflections on Dr. Henry Lickers’ opening words, Ohenton Karithwatehkwen. The process of creating this art, in itself, included an engaged interaction between speaker (Lickers) and listener (Jung). Therefore, the art produced neither solely depicts what was spoken or heard in isolation. Rather, this piece draws attention to the space in which speaker and listener meet one another, emphasizing the moment when the listener’s and speaker’s lived experiences touch to co-create shared meaning. In these kinds of moments, the act of bridging knowledge systems becomes possible: It is when we agree to meet one another – to listen, to acknowledge our relatedness, and to respect one another's ways of being and knowing – that we open up the potential to celebrate the strengths of multiple ways of knowing. *Nicole Jung is a settler-descendent of Chinese immigrants who lives in W̱ SÁNEĆ territory on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada. Nicole’s academic background is in Marine Biology and Indigenous 6 Studies, and she currently works at the intersections of these disciplines through the Centre for Indigenous Fisheries at the University of British Columbia.