Fish habitat and accessing information about your lake Joe Nohner Inland Lake Habitat Analyst - Michigan Department of Natural Resources Coordinator Midwest Glacial Lakes Partnership
What is habitat? The places where fish live Chemical, physical and biological Required to survive, grow and reproduce 2
Local effects 3
Watershed effects 4
Global effects 5
Changing shoreline land cover Decreased woody debris, emergent vegetation, and floating vegetation (Christensen et al. 1996; Radomski and Goeman 2001; Jennings et al. 2003) Removal of shoreline vegetation on 60% of properties in Michigan (Nohner, unpublished) Negative association between developed shorelines and: Muskellunge spawning habitat (Nohner and Diana 2015) Largemouth Bass and Yellow Perch (Sass et al. 2006) Lake Trout, Lake Whitefish, Cisco (Clingerman et al. 2012) Pike, Bluegill, Pumpkinseed (Radomski and Goeman 2001) Fish diversity (Jennings et al. 1999) weedroller.com 6
Local effects Shoreline development 7
Local effects Boat docks 8
Local effects Woody debris 9
Local effects Shoreline armoring 10
Watershed effects Nutrients Sedimentation Connectivity 11
Land use and land cover change Watershed land cover change increases nutrient loading and eutrophication Greatest stressors in the 2010 Midwest Glacial Lakes Partnership Fish Habitat Assessment: Land stewardship Wetland cover Pasture land cover Grassland land cover Cross and Jacobson 2013 Cross and Jacobson 2013 12
Watershed effects 13
Watershed effects 14
Watershed effects 15
Watershed effects National Inventory of Dams 16
Climate change Houghton Lake 2.50 PRISM modeled surface air temperatures 17
Climate change Warming water temperatures Longer growing seasons Shorter ice coverage Changes in water levels and precipitation Changes in dissolved oxygen Winslow et al. 2015 18
Climate change Warming water temperatures Longer growing seasons Shorter ice coverage Changes in water levels and precipitation Changes in dissolved oxygen Winslow et al. 2015 Paul Vecsei 19
Global effects Hansen et al. 2016 20
Invasive Global effects species invasive species Non-native and whose introduction causes harm Modify ecosystem function Simon van Mechelen, University of Amsterdam, 1990 http://clarklakespirit.com/eurasian-milfoil-vs-lake-receration-natural-habitat/ 21
Zebra Mussel Invasion Anthropogenic vectors Boat hulls, trailers, bilge water Bait and bait buckets Equipment used on the water Natural vectors Rivers Flooding Waterfowl USGS 2015 U.S. Geological Survey 2015 22
Zebra Mussel Invasion Anthropogenic vectors Boat hulls, trailers, bilge water Bait and bait buckets Equipment used on the water Natural vectors Rivers Flooding Waterfowl USGS 2015 U.S. Geological Survey 2015 22
Zebra Mussel Invasion Anthropogenic vectors Boat hulls, trailers, bilge water Bait and bait buckets Equipment used on the water Natural vectors Rivers Flooding Waterfowl USGS 2015 U.S. Geological Survey 2015 22
Zebra Mussel Invasion Anthropogenic vectors Boat hulls, trailers, bilge water Bait and bait buckets Equipment used on the water Natural vectors Rivers Flooding Waterfowl USGS 2015 U.S. Geological Survey 2015 22
Zebra Mussel Invasion Anthropogenic vectors Boat hulls, trailers, bilge water Bait and bait buckets Equipment used on the water Natural vectors Rivers Flooding Waterfowl USGS 2015 U.S. Geological Survey 2015 22
Zebra Mussel Invasion Anthropogenic vectors Boat hulls, trailers, bilge water Bait and bait buckets Equipment used on the water Natural vectors Rivers Flooding Waterfowl USGS 2015 U.S. Geological Survey 2015 22
Zebra Mussel Invasion Anthropogenic vectors Boat hulls, trailers, bilge water Bait and bait buckets Equipment used on the water Natural vectors Rivers Flooding Waterfowl USGS 2015 U.S. Geological Survey 2015 22
Invasive Zebra Mussels Decrease chlorophyll α, phytoplankton, and zooplankton by 50% (Higgins and Vander Zanden 2010) Decrease condition and growth of age-0 fishes (Nienhuis et al. 2014) Changes fish assemblages (Nienhuis et al. 2014) Simon van Mechelen, University of Amsterdam, 1990 23
Invasive aquatic plants Limit fish abundance and growth Increased hypoxia Inferior food quality Decreased habitat availability Simon van Mechelen, University of Amsterdam, 1990 http://clarklakespirit.com/eurasian-milfoil-vs-lake-receration-natural-habitat/ Costly mitigation Harvesting Herbicides Biological controls http://clarklakespirit.com/eurasian-milfoil-vs-lake-receration-natural-habitat/ 24
Threats Mitigating, adapting, and improving Local Watershed Global 25
Threats Mitigating, adapting, and improving Adaptation and Mitigation Scale Local Watershed Global Local Watershed Global 25
Lake information sources Michigan Lake Water Clarity Viewer MiCorps MISIN DNR Status and Trends Lake Habitat Viewer Midwest Glacial Lakes Partnership 26
Michigan Lake Water Clarity Viewer https://mi.water.usgs.gov/projects/remotesensing/ 27
MiCorps DNR S/T MiCorps Satellite MGLP MISIN micorps.net 28
MISIN misin.msu.edu 29
Status and Trends of Michigan Inland Lake Resources Collect chemical, physical, and biological indicator data Partnership between DNR / DEQ ~430 lakes complete from 2002 Present ~30 lakes per year 2002 2007 Report 30
Status and Trends Lake Habitat Viewer 31
Midwest Glacial Lakes Partnership midwestglaciallakes.org 32
MGLP assessment data Fish 3,050 Bluegill lakes 2,449 Walleye lakes 3,092 Northern Pike lakes 561 Coldwater fish lakes Lake Trout Cisco Lake Whitefish Burbot Predictor variables: Degree Days Log Lake Area Average Surface Temperature Base-flow Index Runnoff Elevation of Catchment Log Catchment Area midwestglaciallakes.org 33
MGLP assessment approach Species Data Distribution Models GIS Data Habitat Suitability Vulnerability Land Cover change Climate change Conservation Planning midwestglaciallakes.org 34
MGLP assessment application Fish models to determine species present Watershed and shoreline land cover development Metrics of climate change resilience midwestglaciallakes.org 35
Summary Aquatic habitat affected by processes at multiple scales Context, then action! Public data sources available Michigan Lake Water Clarity Viewer MiCorps MISIN DNR Status and Trends Lake Habitat Viewer Midwest Glacial Lakes Partnership midwestglaciallakes.org 36
Summary Michigan Lake Water Clarity Interactive Map Viewer Status and Trends Inland Lake Habitat Viewer Conservation Guidelines for Michigan Lakes and Associated Natural Resources Michigan Natural Shoreline Partnership Michigan Inland Lakes Partnership Michigan Shoreland Stewards Program Midwest Glacial Lakes Partnership Michigan State University Extension Contact: Joe Nohner NohnerJ@michigan.gov 517-284-6236 midwestglaciallakes.org 37
References Carpenter, S. R., B. B. Benson, R. Biggs, J. W. Chipman, and 17 others. 2007. Understanding regional change: A comparison of two lake districts. Bioscience 57:323-335. Christensen, D. L., B. R. Herwig, D. E. Schindler, and S. R. Carpenter. 1996. Impacts of Lakeshore Residential Development on Coarse Woody Debris in North Temperate Lakes. Ecological Applications 6:1143-1149. Clingerman, J., T. Petty, F. Boettner, S. Letsinger, J. Strager, A. Hereford, E. Hansen. 2012. Midwest Fish Habitat Partnership Fish Habitat Modeling Results: Midwest Glacial Lakes Partnership. Downstream Strategies, Morgantown, West Virginia. Sass, G. G., J. F. Kitchell, S. R. Carpenter, T. R. Hrabik, A. E. Marburg and M. G. Turner. 2006. Fish community and food web responses to a whole-lake removal of coarse woody habitat. Fisheries 31:321-330. Gaeta, J. W., G. G. Sass, S. R. Carpenter. 2014. Drought-driven lake level decline: effects on coarse woody habitat and fishes. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 71:315-325. Higgins, S. N. and M. J. Vander Zanden. 2010. What a difference a species makes: a meta analysis of dreissenid mussel impacts on freshwater ecosystems. Ecological Monographs 80:179-196. Hudson, P. L., Griffiths, R. W., & Wheaton, T. J. (1992). Review of habitat classification schemes appropriate to streams, rivers, and connecting channels in the Great Lakes drainage system. Jennings, M. J., M. A. Bozek, G. R. Hatzenbeler, E. E. Emmons and M. D. Staggs. 1999. Cumulative effects of incremental shoreline habitat modification on fish assemblages in north temperate lakes. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 19:18-27. Jennings, M. J., E. E. Emmons, G. R. Hatzenbeler, C. Edwards and M. A. Bozek. 2003. Is littoral habitat affected by residential development and landuse in watersheds of Wisconsin lakes? Lake and Reservoir Management 19:272-279. Hansen, G. J. A., Read, J. S., Hansen, J. F. and Winslow, L. A. 2016. Projected shifts in fish species dominance in Wisconsin lakes under climate change. Global Change Biology. Middaugh, C. R., C. J. Foley, and T. O. Höök. 2013. Local and lake-scale habitat effects on abundance, lengths, and diets of age-0 Largemouth Bass and Bluegill in Indiana Temperate Lakes. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 142:1576-1589. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. 2013. Fish habitat plan: A strategic guidance document. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Section of Fisheries. St. Paul, Minnesota. Nohner, J. K. Unpublished data. Michigan Lakefront Property Owner Survey. Scheffer, M., S. H. Hosper, M-L. Meijer, B. Moss and E. Jeppesen. 1993. Alternative equilibria in shallow lakes. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 8: 275-279. Schultz, R. and E. Dibble. Effects of invasive macrophytes on freshwater fish and macroinvertebrate communities: the role of invasive plant traits. Hydrobiologia 684:1-14. Radomski, P., L. A. Bergquist, M. Duval, A. Williquett. 2010. Potential impacts of docks on littoral habitats in Minnesota lakes. Fisheries 35:489-495. Radomski, P. and T. J. Goeman. 2001. Consequences of human lakeshore development on emergent and floating-leaf vegetation abundance. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 21:46-61. U.S. Geological Survey. 2015. Zebra Mussel Dreissena polymorpha. Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Program, Gainesville, FL. Accessed at: http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/speciesanimatedmap.aspx?speciesid=5, January 5, 2015. Whelan, G. To Infinity and Beyond: The National Fish Habitat Assessment Strategy. Oral Presentation at the National Fish Habitat Board Meeting, October 19, 2011, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Winslow, L. A., J. S. Read, G. J. A. Hansen, and P. C. Hanson. 2015. Small lakes show muted climate change signal in deepwater temperatures, Geophysical Research Letters 42:355 361. 38