Geology topics

Erin Dunlop

Publications and source records attributed to Erin Dunlop.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2021

Before the first meal: The elusive pre-feeding juvenile stage of the sea lamprey

Although sea lamprey ( Petromyzon marinus ) in the Laurentian Great Lakes have been studied intensively for more than 70 years, many questions remain about their complex life cycle. One of the least understood portions is the post-metamorphic stage (hereafter pre-feeding juvenile, PFJ) that occurs prior to parasitic feeding. PFJ must emerge from stream sediments and migrate downstream into nearshore feeding areas. Key uncertainties include the internal and exogenous triggers that regulate the timing and duration of the migration, and the mechanisms the animal uses to navigate, avoid predators, and locate their first host. However, many of these factors may vary predictably among natal streams in response to stable geomorphological and hydraulic characteristics that regulate the timing of movements (e.g., flood phenology), energetic costs (e.g., stream length), and risk (e.g., predator density). An improved understanding of the PFJ stage presents two opportunities to improve the success of sea lamprey control: (1) identification of streams where natural mortality during the PFJ stage is high, allowing for the reallocation of larval control to streams more likely to produce successful parasites, and (2) removal or killing of PFJs in streams where natural mortality is low. Either approach represents an opportunity to limit parasitic damage to valuable fish stocks. Here, we review the state of knowledge of the PFJ stage and identify critical knowledge gaps that, if addressed, could facilitate sea lamprey assessment and control by exploiting the behavior of PFJ as they outmigrate from streams in search of their first meal.

Journal of Great Lakes Research↗

USGS2017

Sub-indicator: Prey fish

Prey fish communities across the Great Lakes continue to change, although the direction and magnitude of those changes are not consistent across the lakes. The metrics used to categorize prey fish status in this and previous periods are based on elements that are common among each of the lake’s Fish Community Objectives and include diversity and the relative role of native species in the prey fish communities. The diversity index categorized three of lakes as ‘fair’, while Superior and Erie were ‘good’ (Table 1). The short term trend, from the previous period (2008-2010) to the current period (2011-2014) found diversity in Erie and Superior to be unchanging, but the other three lakes to be ‘deteriorating’, resulting in an overall trend categorization of ‘undetermined’ (Table 1). The long term diversity trend suggested Lakes Superior and Erie have the most diverse prey communities although the index for those prey fish have been quite variable over time (Figure 1). In Lake Huron, where non-native alewife have substantially declined, the diversity index has also declined. The continued dominance of alewife in Lake Ontario (96% of the prey fish biomass) resulted in the lowest diversity index value (Figure 1). The proportion of native species within the community was judged as ‘good’ in Lakes Superior and Huron, ‘fair’ in Michigan and Erie and ‘poor’ in Ontario (Table 2). The short term trend was improving in in all lakes except Michigan (‘deteriorating’) and Ontario (‘unchanging’), resulting in an overall short term trend of ‘undetermined’ (Table 2). Over the current period, Lake Superior consistently had the highest proportion native prey fish (87%) while Lake Ontario had the lowest (1%) (Figure 2). Lake Michigan’s percent native has declined as round goby increase and comprises a greater proportion of the community. Native prey fish make up 51% of Lake Erie, although basin-specific values differed (Figure 2). Most notably, native species in Lake Huron comprised less than 10% of the community in 1970, but since alewife have declined, now represent nearly 80% of the community (Figure 2). Prey fish data are most consistent for in-lake populations, which are reported here; data from connecting channels was not consistently available across the basin. Abundance was not used to judge prey fish status since successful, basin-wide management actions, including mineral nutrient input reductions and piscivore restoration, both inherently reduce prey fish abundance. However, recent abundance trends as they relate to predator prey balance are referenced, such as in Lakes Michigan and Huron where piscivore stocking is being reduced to lower predation demand on prey fish populations and maintain sport fisheries.

Great Lakes↗

USGS2013

The contribution of cold winter temperatures to the 2003 alewife population collapse in Lake Huron

The Lake Huron ecosystem has recently undergone dramatic changes. As part of those changes, the once highly abundant non-native alewife Alosa pseudoharengus population crashed in 2003 and has yet to recover. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether temperature played a role in the population crash, because historically alewife have been subject to die-off events in response to cold temperatures in other lakes. Long-term climate data (1973–2009) showed that the winter of 2002–2003 exhibited the largest drop in degree days relative to the previous year, had the most extensive average March ice coverage, and was among the coldest years on record. However, since 2003, winter temperatures have not been overly cold, and air temperature has shown an increasing trend. Also, the relationship between temperature and alewife abundance between 1975 and 2006 was non-significant. Therefore, although we found evidence that cold winter temperatures contributed to the abrupt decline of alewife in 2003, they could not explain why the population failed to recover as it had after previous cold winters. Historically, Chinook salmon abundance contributed to long-term trends in alewife abundance, however, we found predation by Chinook to play a lesser role on the 2003 alewife collapse. In the absence of direct estimates of food availability, analyses of alewife length data suggest that a declining prey base altered the ecosystem conditions for alewife, possibly contributing to their collapse and lack of recovery.

Journal of Great Lakes Research↗