GLERL Electronic Newsletter Updates: 2001 Archive

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• September 13, 2001
• September 24, 2001
• October 1, 2001
• October 8, 2001
• October 16, 2001
• October 23, 2001
• October 28, 2001
• November 5, 2001

September 13, 2001

SG-Folks!

In this inaugural newletter are the following items:

1. New Reprints (http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/seagrant/reprints.htm)
See also http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/pubs/sixmo/sixmo.html for a longer
listing of past publications
2. Seminar Schedule (http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/news/seminars/)
3. GLERL Hot Items - Hot Items articles are produced by Mike Quigley for
GLERL headquarters and posted on their site (http://hotitems.oar.noaa.gov/) which
offers limited access
4. Request for feedback on the materials handed out at the GL Network Meeting

Newsletters will be archived at www.glerl.noaa.gov/seagrant

1. New reprint
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Silliman, J.E., P.A. Meyers, B.J. EADIE, and J.Val Klump. A hypothesis for the origin of perylene based on its low abundance in sediments of Green Bay, WI. Chemical Geology 177:309-322 (2001).
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Lee, JH, Landrum, PF, Field, LJ, Koh, CH. Application of a Sigma polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon model and a logistic regression model to sediment toxicity data based on a species-specific, water-only LC50 toxic unit for Hyalella azteca. ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY, 20 (9): 2102-2113 SEP 2001.
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2. Seminar Schedule - No seminars are currently scheduled. In anticipation of an effort to inject Sea Grant researchers into the seminar series, I would like to solicit from each program a list of potential speakers.
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3. Hot Item
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GLERL Scientists Part of U.S - Russian Invasive Species Workshop - 14 September, 2001
GLERL scientists Dave Reid, Tom Nalepa, and Hank Vanderploeg traveled to the Institute for Biology of Inland Waters in Borok, Russia for an August 27-30, 2001 workshop on invasive species. The researchers joined 29 U.S. and 40 Russian scientists for the event. The workshop was co-sponsored by the U.S. Geological Survey's Biological Resources Divison and the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute for Biology of Inland Waters. The first part of the event was a symposium designed to help both countries understand the larger picture - What are the pressing issues? What species are involved? What species may likely move from one country to the other? etc... The workshop portion of the meeting focused on planning joint research. The goal was to get scientists from both countries familiar with one another and identify mutual research interests, with at least some plans for pursuing joint research proposals. David Reid co-authored a presentation during the opening symposium plenary session with Hugh MacIsaac of the Great Lakes Institute (Canada). The title of the talk was: "Vectors, patterns, and processes for introducing aquatic invaders: the Ponto-Caspian connection" Workshop Presentations by GLERL scientists included: "Assessment of transoceanic vessels as vectors for non-indigenous species introductions to the Great Lakes" by David Reid and Hugh MacIsaac, Great Lakes Institute. "Ecosystem impacts of Ponto-Caspian invaders in the Great Lakes" by Hank Vanderploeg. "Defining complex interactions between Dreissena and amphipods in nearshore and offshore regions of the Great Lakes" by Tom Nalepa. The I.D. Papanin Institute for the Biology of Inland Waters of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IBIW RAS) is located on the shore of the Rybinsk Reservoir, in Borok. Nekouz Region. Yaroslavl Oblas, approximately 150 miles north of Moscow. The Institute consists of 13 laboratories , research support divisions, and a maintenance department. The staff includes about 160 scientists, 80 technicians, and about 280 other support staff. More Information about the Institute can be found at: www.ibiw.yaroslavl.ru Contact information: Dave Reid (734) 741-2019 reid@glerl.noaa.gov

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4. Request for feedback on the materials handed out at the GL Network Meeting
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During my presentation Monday, I handed out dark blue folders with the NOAA logo on front. If you did not get one, drop me a line and I will mail you a copy. The first page on the right side titled 'Discussion Session' outlines several questions on which I really need feedback from Sea Grant agents and communicators. Unfortunately, we did not get very far in the discussion session - take a look at the materials and call me or drop me a line at your earliest convenience.

***************************************
Rochelle Sturtevant
Sea Grant Extension Agent
Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab
2205 Commonwealth Blvd.
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
734-741-2287
Sturtevant@glerl.noaa.gov

Contents:
----------------------
1) New GLERL Research Projects - Fisheries
2) GLERL in the News - Shipwrecks
3) Seminars - ANS, Climate Change, Fisheries, GL Food Webs, Hazard Mitigation
4) Seminars - Speaker suggestions needed
5) Feedback Requested on GLERL Fact Sheets (help needed from agents and communicators!)
----------------------

----------------------
1) New GLERL Research Projects (external funding)

Modeling the influence of lake circulation patterns, upwelling events and turbulence on fish recruitment variability in Lake Michigan. Great Lakes Fishery Trust. $350,419 3yrs. Dmitry Beletsky, David Schwab and Doran Mason, Edward Rutherford, and John Janssen.

Bioenergetic response of gag grouper to reef habitat configuration. $174,000 2 yrs. University of Florida Sea Grant. Doran M. Mason, William .J. Lindberg, Debra J. Murie.

An evaluation of bioenergetics modeling for lake whitefish in Lake Michigan S. Pothoven, C. Madenjian, D. O'Conner, P. Schneeber, S. Brandt (project manager) Great Lakes Fishery Trust Fund, 3 years, $201,114

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2) GLERL in the News
See http://detnews.com/2001/metro/0109/22/metro-300192.htm for the full article (AP).

Shipwreck found in Lake Michigan may be 106 years old - Some local shipwreck hunters have come across a ship sitting upright 300 feet below the surface of Lake Michigan, and it may be the remains of a ship lost for 106 years. Some local shipwreck hunters have come across a ship sitting upright 300 feet below the surface of Lake Michigan, and it may be the remains of a ship lost for 106 years. The steamer Chicora was lost in Lake Michigan during a violent storm in January 1895 as it sailed from Milwaukee to St. Joseph, Mich., with 23 men on board. Valerie van Heest of Holland, one of the leaders of the search expedition, said a ship matching the Chicora's description was found in the lake between Holland and Saugatuck. The wreck was first located in May, van Heest said, through sonar operated by shipwreck hunter David Trotter of Canton. The local team had conducted its "Quest for the Chicora" without success for three years, initially concentrating on the waters off South Haven. Search team member Jan Miller of Holland worked with David Schwab of the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor, who has developed computer simulations of wind, waves and currents in Lake Michigan.

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3) Seminars

No New GLERL Seminars have been scheduled. No seminars scheduled at GLERL this week. The GLERL seminar schedule is available at http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/news/seminars/

The announcement below is for the University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources and Environment's seminar series. I do not have access to broadcast this series, but I plan to attend and would be happy to provide summaries if anyone is interested.

University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE), the Institute for Fisheries Research, and SNRE's Ecosystem Management Initiative are sponsoring an aquatic ecosystem seminar series for the Fall 2001 term. If you have any questions regarding this seminar series, please contact Tomas Hook (thook@umich.edu). All presentations are Monday at 4:00 PM in 1200 Chemistry Building, unless otherwise noted.

Fall 2001 Aquatic Ecosystem Seminar Series
8-Oct. Dr. Lynda Corkum (Windsor University)
Title: Reproductive Behaviour in the Round Goby

15-Oct. Dr. John Magnuson (University of Wisconsin)
Title: Fish and Fisheries in a Changing Climate; A Future of Adapting to Climate Change and Variability

29-Oct. Dr. Ransom Myers (Dalhousie University)
Topic: The Global Collapse of Fish Stocks

5-Nov. Dr. Kim Scribner (Michigan State University)
Title: Molecular Ecology: Applications for Fisheries Population Ecology and Management

12-Nov. Margaret Bowman (American Rivers)
Topic: Issues Relating to Dam Removal (*Note- This presentation will be at 12 noon.)

19-Nov. Dr. Charles Madenjian (USGS-BRD)
Title: Dynamics of the Lake Michigan Food Web, 1970-2000

26-Nov. Dr. George Kling (University of Michigan)
Title: Hazard Mitigation and the case of Cameroon's Killer Lakes

3-Dec. Dr. Eugene Turner (Louisiana State University)
Topic: Cause and Consequences of Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico

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4) Seminars - Speaker suggestions needed

All lights are green for the effort to markedly increase the participation of Sea Grant researchers in the GLERL seminar series. I will be targeting to have 2 Sea Grant researchers per month come to Ann Arbor to present as part of the series during October through April. Consider this message to be the 'first call' for suggestions for speakers. If each program could send me contact information for 2-3 researchers associated with your program who would be interested/willing to speak that would be a great start. Still working on the details, but if needed some funds should be available to help defray travel expenses.

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5) Feedback Requested on GLERL Fact Sheets

Fact sheets produced by GLERL Information Services are available (print on demand) at
http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/pubs/brochures/broch.html. I also put copies of nearly all the currently available fact sheets in the folders which I handed out at the Network meeting in Erie.

A few questions that I did not get around to at the Network meeting...
1) Can the GLERL fact sheets be used directly by the Sea Grant programs? (are there logo issues?)
2) If not, how do they need to differ? (My preference is for creating a fact sheet format that can be used by both GLERL and all the GL Sea Grant programs)
3) Which types of fact sheets (see suite of currently available) are most useful?
4) What elements of the current fact sheets do you like/dislike?
5) Many agents indicated that fact sheets would be a good 'product' for me to develop for general use. I could use suggestions as to priority topics for first efforts.
6) Does "print on demand" via the web (coupled with an announcement of availability in this e-letter) work as a method of dissemination?

For those (communicators) who asked...the fact sheets are printed using a Tektronix 850 Color Wax Printer. Details according to Kathy Darnell (GLERL publications) - the wax is the key to the quality printing (embossed feel so many commented on), the system prints 2 sided - but is limited to 8 and a half by 11 paper, the system cost about $3000 (including software) with consumables averaging about 8 cents per printed page.

7) Mike Quigley has requested Sea Grant involvement in 'peer review' of GLERL fact sheets. We would like to begin this process with a review of the newest GLERL Fact Sheet - "Great Lakes Ice Cover". I'd like to see that peer review include both communicators and extension agents as reviewers in order to best ensure that the fact sheets are good tools for public communication. Mike and I will put together a brief guide for reviewers. Volunteers (to act as reviewers) please drop me a line asap.

For more information on any of the above, contact:
***************************************
Rochelle Sturtevant
Sea Grant Extension Agent
Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab
2205 Commonwealth Blvd.
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
734-741-2287
Sturtevant@glerl.noaa.gov

October 1, 2001

1) Seminar - GLERL Project - Fisheries/Reefs
2) Publications - Physical Models
3) Correction - New GLERL Research Projects
4) Lake Levels Photo Gallery Needs

______________________________________
1) Seminar - GLERL Project - Fisheries/Reefs

Internal GLERL Seminar - Interactions of Grouper and Baitfish on reefs in the Gulf of Mexico. Doran Mason, GLERL. 11 am October 5, 2001 - GLERL main conference room.

The internal GLERL seminar series is designed to enhance internal collaboration and cross-fertilization of ideas. Presentations run about 15 minutes with a 45 minute Q&A period following. Sea Grant staff are invited. Remote viewing options (by request) include:
- Broadcast via Windows Media Player (viewer available free)
- Participation in Q&A via dedicated e-mail account
- Web archived recording of seminar
- Web archived presentation media (usually PowerPoint)
- Written summary posted to next week's 'GLERL Update'

Please respond by October 3 with requests for any of the viewing options other than a written summary.

_______________________________________
2) Publications - Physical Models

LIU, P.C., D.J. Schwab, and R.E. Jensen. Has wind-wave modeling reached its limit? Ocean Engineering 29:81-98 (2002).

Beletsky, D;Schwab, DJ. Modeling circulation and thermal structure in Lake Michigan: Annual cycle and interannual variability. JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-OCEANS, 106 (C9): 19745-19771 SEP 15 2001. ABSTRACT: A three-dimensional primitive equation numerical model was applied to Lake Michigan for the periods1982-1983 and 1994-1995 to study seasonal and interannual variability of lake-wide circulation and thermal structure in the lake. The model was able to reproduce all of the basic features of the thermal structure in Lake Michigan: spring thermal bar, full stratification, deepening of the thermocline during the fall cooling, and finally, an overturn in the late fall. Large-scale circulation patterns tend to be cyclonic (counterclockwise), with cyclonic circulation within each subbasin. The largest currents and maximum cyclonic vorticity occur in the fall and winter when temperature gradients are low but wind stresses are strongest. The smallest currents and minimum cyclonic vorticity occur in spring and summer when temperature gradients are strong but wind stresses are weakest. All these facts are in agreement with observations. The main shortcoming of the model was that it tended to predict a more diffuse thermocline than was indicated by observations and explained only up to half of the variance observed in horizontal currents at timescales shorter than a day.

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3) Correction - New GLERL Research Projects

Modeling the influence of lake circulation patterns, upwelling events and turbulence on fish recruitment variability in Lake Michigan. Great Lakes Fishery Trust. $350,419 3yrs. Dmitry Beletsky, David Schwab, Mike McCormick, Doran Mason, Edward Rutherford, and John Janssen.

_______________________________________
4) Lake Levels Photo Gallery Needs

The Great Lakes Water Levels Photo Gallery is shaping up nicely. If you haven't visited the site yet, please do so. http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/seagrant/glwlphotos/GLWLPhotoSite.htm Any and all feedback welcome.

Photos needed to enhance the gallery...

1) Lake Superior shorelines (need date and location on each photo)
2) Lake Huron shorelines (need date and location on each photo)
3) Western shore of Lake Michigan (need date and location on each photo)
4) Photo Series Demonstrating a Seiche
5) Paired photos (or series) showing the same site at high and low water levels
6) Photo series demonstrating typical (or atypical) daily variations
7) Photo series demonstrating typical (or atypical) seasonal variations
8) Photos at the 'artificial control points' of the system
9) Photos in the vicinity of diversion projects (Chicago)

***************************************
Rochelle Sturtevant
Sea Grant Extension Agent
Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab
2205 Commonwealth Blvd.
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
734-741-2287
Sturtevant@glerl.noaa.gov

October 8, 2001

Contents:
___________________________________
1) GLERL Seminar Postponed - Fisheries/Artificial Reefs
2) NOAA Hot Item - Shipwrecks
3) GLERL in the News - Chicago Webcam/Met Station
4) Web News - Seiches - Feedback Requested
___________________________________
GLERL Updates are archived at http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/seagrant/GLERLUpdates.htm
NOAA Hot Items are also available at http://hotitems.oar.noaa.gov/ (access limited)
___________________________________
GLERL Seminar Postponed

Doran Mason's seminar titled "Interactions of Grouper and Baitfish on reefs in the Gulf of Mexico" has been postponed to October 11 (this Thursday). I unfortunately have a schedule conflict, so will not be able to broadcast, but I will try to get a summary from Doran to send in next week's update.
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NOAA Hot Item - GLERL Science Aids Location of Lake Michigan Shipwreck

Thanks in part to GLERL science, the possible location of a 106-year-old shipwreck in Lake Michigan promises new insight into how the vessel disappeared under Lake Michigan's waters during an intense January 21, 1895 storm. On that day, the 200-foot-long wooden steamer Chicora left Milwaukee with a crew of 25, bound for her home port of St. Joseph, Michigan after a late-season delivery of a shipment of flour. Information gathered from eyewitness accounts and debris frozen on ice 2-4 miles off the Michigan shore suggest that the ship eventually sank, battered by high winds and waves of an unusually violent winter storm.

The Chicora search expedition, based in Michigan, had been trying to locate the wreck for three years. This past summer, the expedition consulted GLERL scientist Dave Schwab who incorporated historical wind and meteorological conditions into lake forecasting models that predicted wave and currents the ship may have
encountered during the storm, and related forces that carried her to the lake bottom. In collaboration with Art Allen of the U.S. Coast Guard Research and Development Center, Schwab helped construct possible drift scenarios which allowed the expedition to focus its sonar survey more effectively and finally succeed in
locating the shipwreck. While sonar images at the site indicate that the vessel's size and deck configuration match that of the Chicora,the expedition expects to confirm vessel identity in a few weeks when a remotely operated vehicle makes a dive at the site.

For more information contact: David J Schwab (734) 741-2120 schwab@glerl.noaa.gov
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GLERL in the News - Chicago Webcam/Met Station

Chicago Tribune feature on GLERL webcam / met station - Wed, 03 Oct 2001

The weather page of the hardcopy October 2nd Chicago Tribune did a feature on lake temperatures, including the listing of the URL of GLERL's Chicago webcam/ met station.

The article has prompted increased interest in the site (Greg Lang reports that number of hits has doubled).

___________________________________
Web News - Seiches - Feedback Requested

I've begun construction of a spin-off of the Water Levels PhotoGallery dealing with short-term fluctuations in local water levels (seiches, storm surges, edge waves). Very much under construction at the moment, but check it out at: http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/seagrant/glwlphotos/SeicheHome.htm

Feedback appreciated on content, format, links to add, etc...

I have provided a link to a WI Sea Grant site which provides, fact sheet style, a great description of these types of events. Anyone know of others? Would it be useful to create a new fact sheet on this topic (for use on the web or as a handout in your individual programs)?

So far, the graphics run to model simulations and charts rather than photos. I would appreciate photos/photo series demonstrating such short-term water level fluctuations. Anyone know of a webcam operating in Toledo or Buffalo that might have captured (or be able to capture) a good series?

***************************************
Rochelle Sturtevant
Sea Grant Extension Agent
Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab
2205 Commonwealth Blvd.
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
734-741-2287
Sturtevant@glerl.noaa.gov

October 16, 2001

Contents:
_______________________________________________
1) NOSB - Looking for Teams to Participate
2) Looking for Video Footage - Communicators?
3) GLERL Internal Seminar - Artificial Reefs/Fisheries
4) Introduction to GLERL Seminar
5) Seminar Series Shaping Up
6)GLERL's Marine Instrumentation Lab develops new profiler
7) GLERL Publications
_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________
1) NOSB - Looking for Teams to Participate
Along with the University of Michigan and Michigan Sea Grant, GLERL will be co-hosting the Midwest Regional Competion of the National Ocean Sciences Bowl on February 23rd, 2002. 9 schools from Michigan and 2 from Ohio competed in last year's Regional Bowl. This year's organizers hope to boost participation to 16 teams and are especially interested in drawing teams from a broader geographic area. A great role for the individual Sea Grant programs, agents, and educators would be helping to identify high schools in your area that would be interested in organizing a team and participating. Teams generally consist of 4 students (and an alternate) and a coach (who may be a teacher or parent). Local co-sponsors have traditionally partnered with NOAA in providing accomodations for participants in Ann Arbor (not to mention prizes, t-shirts, food, etc), but have not reimbursed travel costs - probably one factor in our failure to attract teams outside the MI-OH area. Perhaps a useful role for individual Great Lakes Sea Grant programs wishing to participate would be to sponsor travel costs for one or more local teams. Other ideas welcome.

For more information contact: Mike Quigley (quigley@glerl.noaa.gov). Website for 2002 registration will be coming soon.

_______________________________________________
2) Looking for Video Footage

A PR firm in Falls Church, VA working on a video project for the Third World Water Forum Conference in Japan contacted GLERL looking for broadcast quality video footage showing environmental dangers in large lakes around the world, including the Great Lakes. GLERL doesn't have anything that fits this bill and Mike Quigley asked that I forward this request to the Sea Grant Network.

Please contact me asap if you have anything that might suit. Contact: sturtevant@glerl.noaa.gov

_______________________________________________
3) GLERL Internal Seminar - Artificial Reefs/Fisheries
GLERL hosts an internal seminar series on an irregular basis to increase familiarity of GLERL researchers with one another's work and promote cross-disciplinary cooperation. On October 11th, Doran Mason gave a presentation titled "Interactions of Grouper and Baitfish on reefs in the Gulf of Mexico." This research is supported in part by Florida Sea Grant.

Juvenile gag grouper heavily utilize artificial reefs in the Gulf of Mexico. Previous research has shown that grouper prefer larger reef structures (higher grouper densities) but grouper on smaller reefs grow faster and are in better condition. This project examines the densities of planktivorous baitfishes in the vicinity of the reefs using hydroacoustics as well as looking at consumption rates to determine the causes of the observed relationship between reef structure and condition. Preliminary results do not show a relationship between consumption rates and reef size, though geographic patterns are apparent in baitfish distributions among the reefs. The next phase of the project will take a closer look at grouper metabolism in relation to reef size and spacing. The ultimate goal of the project is to understand factors influencing gag grouper condition so that reefs can be re-designed to maximize fish production (density, growth rate, and condition).

For more information: the project proposal is available at http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/res/Task_rpts/edymason09-3.html or contact Doran Mason at mason@glerl.noaa.gov

_______________________________________________
4) Introduction to GLERL Seminar
For those who may have missed my presentation at the Network meeting in Erie, or who just want a refresher, my PowerPoint presentation, "An Introduction to GLERL" is now available at www.glerl.noaa.gov/seagrant.

_______________________________________________
5) Seminar Series Shaping Up
We've titled this year's seminar series at GLERL the "NOAA Great Lakes Seminar Series." CILER and the Great Lakes Sea Grant Network are official co-sponsors of the series with a goal of enhancing collaboration between GLERL and University-based NOAA partners, particularly highlighting Sea Grant research around the Great Lakes basin. The seminar schedule is posted at http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/news/seminars/ and will be updated as dates are confirmed with speakers. I will post a reminder here one week in advance of each seminar. I appreciate as much lead time as possible if anyone is interested in remote viewing opportunities.

I still have a seminar slot open for October 23rd if you know any Sea Grant researchers willing to give a seminar on very short notice.

In the interest of furthering the goals of increased collaboration, I encourage all of you to contact me if opportunities are available to insert GLERL researchers into seminar series hosted by your home Universities/Departments or other local events.
_______________________________________________
6) GLERL's Marine Instrumentation Lab develops new profiler

GLERL/MIL successfully finished developing an Autonomous CTD Profiler which was successfully tested in Lake Michigan during the 2001 field season. The profiler allows unattended, continuous CTD profiles at a single location. This could be useful to monitor storm events and/or to take winter measurements. The profiler's description and color plots of data from Lake Michigan are available at: http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/mil/profiler.html.

For more information contact: Ron Muzzi, muzzi@glerl.noaa.gov

_______________________________________________
7) GLERL Publications

J. Luo, K. L. Hartman, S. B. BRANDT, C. Cerco, and T.H. Rippetoe. 2001. A Spatially-explicit Approach for Estimating Carrying Capacity: An Application for the Atlantic Menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus) in Chesapeake Bay. Estuaries 24(4):545-556.

Swihart, R.K., Z. Feng, N.A. Slade, D.M. MASON, and T.H. Gehring. Effects of habitat destruction and resource supplementation in a predatory-prey metapopulation model. Journal of Theoretical Biology 210:287-303 (2001).

CROLEY, T. E., II. Climate-Biased Decisions Via Partial Historical Sampling. Proceedings, World Water & Environmental Resources Congress, Bridging the Gap: Meeting the World's Water and Environmental Resources Challenges May 20-24, 2001, Orlando, Florida. D. Phelps and G. Sehlke (eds.). Environmental Water Resources Institute, American Society of Civil Engineers, Washington, DC, Compact Disc (2001).

NALEPA, T.F., D.W. Schloesser, S.A. POTHOVEN, D. Hondorp, D. FANSLOW,
M. Tuchman, and G. Fleischer. Echinogammarus ischnus and the mussel Dreissena bugensis in Lake Michigan.

EADIE, B.J., and D.J. Schwab. Episodic Events: Great Lakes Experiment (EEGLE). In Newsletter of Coastal Ocean Processes. Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, Savannah, GA, 2 pp. (2000).

NALEPA, T. F., G.A. LANG, and D.L. FANSLOW. Trends in benthic macroinvertebrate populations in southern Lake Michigan. Verh. Internat. Verein. Limnol. 27:2540-2545 (2000).

EADIE, B.J., G.S. MILLER, M.B. LANSING, and A.G. WINKELMAN. Chapter 2. Settling particle fluxes and current and temperature profiles in Grand Traverse Bay, Lake Michigan. In Final Report, Trophic Transfer of Atmospheric and Sedimentary Contaminants into Great Lakes Fish: Controls on Ecosystem-Scale Response Times. Technical Report Series No. TS-301-01-CBL, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, 25 pp. (2001).

BELESTKY, D., and D.J. SCHWAB. Modeling circulation and thermal structure in Lake Michigan: Annual cycle and interannual variability. Journal of Geophysical Research 106(C9):19745-19771 (2001).

***************************************
Rochelle Sturtevant
Sea Grant Extension Agent
Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab
2205 Commonwealth Blvd.
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
734-741-2287
Sturtevant@glerl.noaa.gov

October 23, 2001

Contents:
____________________________
1) Great Lakes ANS Poster Project - Feedback Requested
2) Water Level Photos Needed
3) Web Stats Packages - Feedback requested
4) GLERL Research Milestone Reports
5) GLERL in the NEWS - Diporeia and Shipwrecks
6) GLERL Hot Items - Grand Traverse Bay Symposium
7) GLERL Seminars
8) Reprints - ANS
____________________________

____________________________
1) Great Lakes ANS Poster Project - Feedback Requested

Some weeks ago, GLERL's Mike Quigley was approached by staff of the House Science Committee about whether NOAA had any Great Lakes specific posters on aquatic nuisance species which they could use to decorate the Committee Office and Congressman Ehlers' office. We believe they had recently seen the new
National Sea Grant poster, and were looking for a Great Lakes specific equivalent. I contacted most of the Great Lakes Sea Grant Network Communicators and it appears that no such poster exists.

Several conversations later, Mike and I have been considering whether there is a need for such a poster, whether this might be a good time to get some matching funds from OAR for such a project, and whether this might be an appropriate project for a GLERL/Sea Grant partnership. Neither of us has ever been involved in producing a poster for general distribution - our idea at this point is quite vague.

So, I need someone out there in the Great Lakes Sea Grant Network who has worked on a poster in the past and/or who might be interested in partnering on a proposal to develop a poster (on this or other subjects) to provide advice on where we go from here.

____________________________
2) Water Level Photos Needed

Rich Armstrong, associate editor at Soundings magazine, has requested photos of low water levels on the Great Lakes, particularly photos showing boats and docks. I have only a few shots in my growing library fitting this request - none of them great. Has anyone got good photos of stranded boats, boats tied to docks
clearly built for much higher 'normal' water levels or other subjects in a similar vein? If so, I would appreciate copies to forward to Rich Armstrong and to include in the photo gallery.

____________________________
3) Web Stats Packages - Feedback requested

Janet Szeceny just joined the GLERL staff as an 80% time web designer. Over the next several months, GLERL plans to overhaul its website with goals of improving navigation and making the site more 'friendly' to the general public as well as research scientists. The "web committee" (in which I have been invited to participate) is meeting on a regular basis to guide this development. One of our first needs is to identify a good web stats package for use in taking a serious look at how the GLERL site is currently used (and by whom) to guide development and obtain a baseline for evaluating the success of the effort to improve the site. It would be very helpful if each of the Sea Grant programs could let us know what stats packages they use and provide insight into likes/dislikes about the software (or others you have tried) as well as provide basic information on pricing, use, time/hardware requirements to run, etc. I know several of the programs have recently overhauled their sites as well - any insights you can provide (e.g., what not to do) would be appreciated as would before and after website makeover stats (for use in trying to prove the value of this in shaking loose internal funding) or anything else they think would be useful to think about.

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4) GLERL Research Milestone Reports

GLERL recently posted it's FY 2001 Milestone Reports to its website. These are the milestones which GLERL submits quarterly to the OAR Operating Plan. The reports make a good overview of recent scientific accomplishments. See: http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/res/Milestone/Operatpln.html

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5) GLERL in the NEWS

Excerpt from - Zebra mussels kill tiny animal - Key link in food chain wiped out, study says October 19, 2001 BY JEFF GIBBS FREE PRESS SPECIAL WRITER. Full article at http://www.freep.com/news/mich/zebra19_20011019.htm

The spread of zebra mussels, including to some surprising new places, is linked to a virtual collapse in a crucial link in the food chain of Lakes Michigan and Huron, according to a prominent Michigan researcher. Results of research conducted this summer at 166 sites in Lake Michigan and 70 in Lake Huron show that a
half-inch-long, shrimp-like crustacean called diporeia has been virtually wiped out in large areas of the lakes.

"We're not just talking about a decrease in numbers" of diporeia, said Thomas Nalepa, a biologist with the federal government's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor. "We're talking about a wipe-out of the population."

Diporeia, which have been in the lakes for thousands of years, are a crucial food for whitefish, a popular commercial fish, and for smaller forage fish such as smelt, alewives and chubs that trout and salmon eat. Before zebra mussels began proliferating in the 1990s, diporeia made up 60 to 80 percent of the living matter near the bottom of Michigan and Huron.

Another concern seen widely for the first time this summer, Nalepa said, is the appearance of huge mats of zebra mussels attached to each other over sandy bottom areas of the lakes in both shallow water and as deep as 100 feet. Previously, zebra mussels have been observed mainly in areas with rocks, docks or other hard structures. "You're used to seeing zebra mussels attach to things, but now they just attach to themselves, forming huge reefs right on the sand," Nalepa said. These zebra mussel mats or reefs might eventually cover 75 percent of the sandy bottoms of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, he said.

Nalepa said he thinks the zebra mussels are starving the diporeia by filtering the nutrients -- tiny plants -- from the water before they can reach the mud-dwelling diporeia. Researchers have all but ruled out a theory that diporeia were being poisoned, perhaps by excrement from zebra mussels, Nalepa said. "The exact link is unclear, but wherever zebra mussels are present, diporeia are not," Nalepa said.

Though small pockets of zebra mussels have been found near Duluth, they are not expected to dramatically affect Lake Superior, where colder water and a lack of essential nutrients such as calcium limit their numbers.

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More on the Chicora Shipwreck

Excerpt from... Diving rover recruited to tour 1895 shipwreck - Monday, October 15, 2001 - By John Tunison, The Grand Rapids Press

Shipwreck hunters have seen only glimpses of what they believe to be the steamship Chicora, one of the most anticipated deep-water finds among West Michigan maritime buffs. But the mystery surrounding the 200-foot merchant vessel likely will become less murky later this month when a high-tech, remote-controlled
research vehicle is lowered to videotape the wreckage. Evidence collected by the M-Rover, owned by the University of Michigan, will be used to document artifacts at the shipwreck site.

Dennis Donahue, a marine superintendent with the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Muskegon, said all of the rover's capabilities may be needed to handle the sometimes rough fall weather on Lake Michigan. Donahue, who helped organize the expedition, arranged to get a 49-foot U.S. Coast Guard buoy tender out of the Muskegon station to haul and deploy the rover.

The expedition -- a cooperative effort by the Coast Guard, Michigan State Police and the state Department of Environmental Quality -- is scheduled Oct. 29 through Nov. 2. Any launch will be heavily dependent on the weather. Preserve organizers will hold a presentation on the Chicora search and findings Nov. 8 at the
Fort Miami Heritage Center in St. Joseph.

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6) GLERL Hot Items - Grand Traverse Bay Symposium

The initial invitations for GLERL participation in this event came from Michigan Sea Grant's John McKinney. Thanks for the opportunity...

GLERL scientists Ray Assel and Tom Nalepa were guest speakers at the October 17 Grand Traverse Bay Symposium 2001 in Traverse City, Michigan. Ray Assel 's presentation "The Great Lakes and Grand Traverse Bay Ice Cover" outlined his research findings and models of recent and long-term changes in Great
Lakes ice distribution. Tom Nalepa's talk "Disappearance of Diporeia", summarized the widespread decline of the Great Lakes amphipod in Lakes Michigan and Huron where Diporeia previously served as an important food item for commercial and sportfishes. Diporeia's decline has been closely linked with the spread of zebra mussels in shallower lake regions. Grand Traverse Bay is located in the northeastern portion of Lake Michigan. The bay's surrounding 973-square mile watershed includes more than 50 different federal, state, local and tribal jurisdictions with responsibilities for natural resources protection. The Symposium 2001 host, The Watershed Center, seeks and obtains program grants to efficiently and effectively support scientific research, education programs, publications and an ongoing public awareness of the need to be vigilant in the stewardship of extraordinary resources. Partners assist in the overall mission through protective ordinances, recycling programs, waste reduction efforts and beach clean-ups, among many other measures.

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7) GLERL Seminars

A last minute addition to the GLERL seminar series. I'll post a summary in the next update...

Chansheng He. "Development of distributed large basin runoff model: advances and challenges" Date: Tuesday October 23, 2001 10:30 A.M.-11:30 A.M. GLERL/ MAIN CONFERENCE ROOM 105

Schedule for the main seminar series is posted at http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/news/seminars/
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8) Reprints - ANS

Nalepa, TF; Schloesser, DW; Pothoven, SA; Hondorp, DW; Fanslow, DL; Tuchman, ML; Fleischer, GW. 2001. First finding of the amphipod Echinogammarus ischnus and the mussel Dreissena bugensis in Lake Michigan. JOURNAL OF GREAT LAKES RESEARCH, 27 (3): 384-391 2001.

ABSTRACT:
The first finding of the amphipod Echinogammarus ischnus and the mussel Dreissena bugensis in Lake Michigan is documented. These two species are widespread and abundant in the lower lakes, but had not yet been reported from Lake Michigan. E. ischnus is generally considered a warm-water form that is typically associated with hard substrates and Dreissena clusters in the nearshore zone. Along the eastern shoreline of Lake Michigan, this species was present at rocky, breakwall habitats along the entire north-south axis of the lake. Although not abundant, this species was also found at soft-bottomed sites as deep as 94 m in the southern basin. The finding of this species in deep offshore waters apparently extends the known habitat range for this species in the Great Lakes, but it is found in deep water areas within its native range (Caspian Sea). D. bugensis was not abundant, but was present in both the southern and northern portions of the lake. Individuals of up to 36 mm in length were collected, indicating that it had probably been present in the lake for 2 or more years. Also presented are depth-defined densities of D. polymorpha at 37 sites in the Straits of Mackinac in 1997, and densities at up to 55 sites in the southern basin in 1992/93 and
1998/99. Mean densities decreased with increased water depth in both regions. Maximum mean density in the Straits in 1997 was 13,700/m(2) (less than or equal to 10 m), and maximum density in the southern basin in 1999 was 2, 100/m(2) (less than or equal to 30 m). Mean densities at the less than or equal to 30-m interval in the southern basin remained relatively unchanged between 1993 and 1999, but increased from 25/m(2) to 1,100/m(2) at the 31 to 50 m interval over the same time period. D. polymorpha was rare at sites > 50 m. The presence of E. ischnus and the expected population expansion of D. bugensis will likely contribute to further food-web changes in the lake.

***************************************
Rochelle Sturtevant
Sea Grant Extension Agent
Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab
2205 Commonwealth Blvd.
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
734-741-2287
Sturtevant@glerl.noaa.gov

I will be in Minnesota from 10/29-11/2. I will be in Muskegon 11/6-7. I will be in Washington, DC 11/14-15. I'll try to get out GLERL Updates in between, but there may not be much news... -- Rochelle

Contents:
________________________________
1. Storm Surge Web Page
2. National Ocean Science Bowl URL
3. GLERL Media Training
4. Seminar -Development of distributed large basin runoff model: advances and challenges
5. New Reprint - Storm frequencies
________________________________
1. Storm Surge Web Page

With the impetus of a great photo series from Ohio Sea Grant making a timely debut in my inbox, on Friday I created a web page pulling together lots of interesting photos, animations and science on the storm/seiche as it was happening. This is information which I was gathering as an archive for a planned educational site on the local/short term variations in Great Lakes water levels associated with seiches and storm surges. Basically, I was having such fun looking at all the imagery that I realized it was too great of a "teachable moment" to miss. I don't yet have any idea how to count hits on my web pages (hopefully I can talk our computer group into teasing it out of the general stats) - but to judge by the feedback flooding my inbox c/o my GLIN-announce announcement, I wasn't wrong in thinking it would be popular. If you haven't had the opportunity, check it out at: http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/seagrant/glwlphotos/Seiche/25October2001.htm. This is a link off the larger Great Lakes Water Level Photo Gallery, for which many of you have been instrumental in providing images. This is probably the first outside advertising the photo gallery has received...though at least a few media folks have stumbled across it or have been directed there by Sea Grant staff.

http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/seagrant/glwlphotos/Seiche/25October2001.htm

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2. National Ocean Science Bowl URL

GLERL's website for the Midwest Regional Competition of the National Ocean Sciences Bowl has been updated to include registration information for the 2002 competition. Please advertise it to your local high schools. www.glerl.noaa.gov/pr/nosb/2002/

________________________________
3. GLERL Media Training

Jana Goldman (NOAA/OAR Public Affairs Officer) and Susan Weaver (NOAA/NWS Public Affairs Officer) conducted a media training at GLERL on October 24th and 25th. We had a great turnout for both Principal Investigators and Support staff. I think everyone who participated learned a lot and will be much more prepared to give interviews to the press, as well as to speak to a general audience. I know I learned a lot. I especially learned a lot watching the mock interviews and am a little more prepared (especially as regards the support staff) to help Sea Grant staff identify the best GLERL speakers for particular topics!

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4. Development of distributed large basin runoff model: advances and challenges

Dr. Chansheng He, a senior post-doc working with GLERL's Dr. Tom Croley, gave a seminar at GLERL on October 23rd on the project which he is proposing to work on while he is here for a year. Dr. He will be working on enhancements to GLERL's Large Basin Runoff Model (LBRM) which drives the water level
predictions. He will work with 2-3 of the watershed submodels (the LBRM includes 121 watershed sub-models). For these watersheds, he will incorporate digital elevation databases, integrate enhanced evapotranspiration algorithms, develop spatial distribution algorithms for better representation of hydrologic processes such as soil moisture, and generate estimates of solar radiation from daily precipitation and min/max temperature data. This work should provide a conceptual framework for development of a spatially distributed LBRM, allow analysis of the impacts of soil moisture on the LBRM (that is, determine whether incorporation of the enhanced soil moisture, evapotranspiration and spatial distribution results in better prediction of lake water levels), and allow theoretical analysis of the relative impacts of lumped versus distributed modelling.

For a schedule of upcoming seminars see: www.glerl.noaa.gov/news/seminars/

__________________________
5. New Reprint - Storm frequencies

Croley, TE. 2001. Climate-biased storm-frequency estimation. Journal of Hydrologic Engineering 6 (4): 275-283 JUL-AUG 2001.

ABSTRACT:
Storm frequencies for the future are often estimated directly from past historical records of sufficient length. The estimation requires no detailed knowledge of the area's meteorology, but presumes it is unchanged in the future. However, the climate seldom remains static. Numerous climate forecasts of meteorological probabilities over extended periods are now available. It is possible to use these meteorological forecasts directly in the estimation of storm frequencies from the historical record. A heuristic approach is defined here to estimate storm frequencies that recognize forecasts of extended weather probabilities. Basically, those groups of historical meteorological record segments matching forecast meteorological probabilities are weighted more than others, during the estimation of storm frequencies. (Affiliated groups of hydrologic record segments may be similarly weighted for hydrological estimation; e.g., flood frequency estimation.) An example of frequency estimation is made for maximum annual daily flow, using currently available agency meteorological forecasts in the United States and Canada.

For a complete listing of GLERL Reprints See:

http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/seagrant/reprints.htm
and
http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/pubs

November 5, 2001

NOAA Great Lakes Seminar Series

Tuesday, November 13th 2001, 10:00am in the GLERL Main Conference Room.

Currently we plan to record this seminar for viewing with Windows Media Player via Internet. If you prefer a live broadcast, please contact me as soon as possible.

GLOBAL REDISTRIBUTION OF BACTERIOPLANKTON AND VIRIOPLANKTON VIA SHIPS' BALLAST WATER. Dr. Fred C. Dobbs, Sea Grant scientist, currently a Visiting Scientist at GLERL, Associate Professor, Department of Ocean, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Old Dominion University.

As ships take on ballast water in one port and discharge it at another, their ballast tanks can grow to contain a diverse mix of plankton, benthos - and even nekton! As a result, discharged ballast water is a primary vector for global transport of nonindigenous species. Research on ballast-water introductions has focused largely on metazoans, yet microorganisms are indisputably the most abundant of aquatic organisms. Given theirhigh densities, high reproductive rates, broad tolerances to physical conditions, and the capability to form resting stages, microorganisms likely are frequent invaders of coastal ecosystems. I will present microbiological results obtained from a) ballast water of ships arriving in the Chesapeake Bay; b) an experiment testing the efficacy of at-sea ballast-water exchange; and c) ships declaring "no ballast on board" as they enter the Great Lakes.

For introductions to the seminar, see:
http://www.epa.gov/owow/estuaries/coastlines/apr01/microstowaways.html and
http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/pubs/brochures/nobob/nobob.pdf

For a full seminar schedule see: http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/news/seminars/

CONTACT: Dr. Rochelle Sturtevant, NOAA/GLERL, 734-741-2287 or sturtevant@glerl.noaa.gov

November 12, 2001

Contents:
1) NOAA Great Lakes Seminar Series
- Ballast Water
- Mayfly Emergence
2) State of Lake Michigan Conference
- Recruitment of Chinook Salmon
- Current Status of Diporeia
- Sediment-Water Exchange and Sediment Transport
- CoastWatch
- Alewife Production
- NOBOB Vessels
3) GLERL Sea Grant Website

_________________________
1) NOAA Great Lakes Seminar Series

Tuesday, November 13, 2001, 10:00am. GLERL Main Conference Room, Ann Arbor, MI. "GLOBAL REDISTRIBUTION OF BACTERIOPLANKTON AND VIRIOPLANKTON VIA SHIPS' BALLAST WATER" Dr. Fred C. Dobbs (VA Sea Grant) Associate Professor, Department of Ocean, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Old Dominion University (currently a Visiting Scientist at GLERL). As ships take on ballast water in one port and discharge it at another, their ballast tanks can grow to contain a diverse mix of plankton, benthos - and even nekton! As a result, discharged ballast water is a primary vector for global transport of nonindigenous species. Research on ballast-water introductions has focused largely on metazoans, yet microorganisms are indisputably the most abundant of aquatic organisms. Given their high densities, high reproductive rates, broad tolerances to physical conditions, and the capability to form resting stages, microorganisms likely are frequent invaders of coastal ecosystems. I will present microbiological results obtained from a) ballast water of ships arriving in the Chesapeake Bay; b) an experiment testing the efficacy of at-sea ballast-water exchange; and c) ships declaring "no ballast on board" as they enter the Great Lakes. For introductions to the seminar, see: http://www.epa.gov/owow/estuaries/coastlines/apr01/microstowaways.html and http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/pubs/brochures/nobob/nobob.pdf

Tuesday, November 20, 2001, 10:30am, GLERL Main Conference Room, Ann Arbor, MI. "MONITORING HEXAGENIA MAYFLY EMERGENCE FROM LAKE ERIE USING DOPPLER RADAR IN ERIE, PA" Dr. Ed Masteller (PA Sea Grant). Emeritus Professor of Biology, Penn State Erie, The Behrend College.

The current plan is to record both seminars for later viewing via the web. If you would like a live broadcast of the November 20th seminar, with opportunity to ask questions via an email link, please contact me by 3:30pm November 13th. The schedule for the series is available at http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/news/seminars/. Advance notice of requests for live broadcasts greatly appreciated.

CONTACT: Dr. Rochelle Sturtevant, NOAA/GLERL, 734-741-2287

_________________________
2) State of Lake Michigan Conference

GLERL scientists presented latest findings on aspects of the environmental status of Lake Michigan as part of a November 6-7 State of the Lake 2001 Conference. Presentations authored/co-authored by GLERL researchers included:

Evaluation of Techniques Used to Measure the Spatial and Temporal Variability in Natural Recruitment of Chinook Salmon to Lake Michigan. Jeremy Price, Michigan State University, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife; Edward S. Rutherford, University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment, Institute for Fisheries Research; Doran Mason, NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. A perceived imbalance between salmonine predator demand and forage prey supply in Lake Michigan has prompted cuts in stocking of hatchery-produced chinook salmon Oncorhyncus tshawytscha and increased reliance on naturally-produced recruits. Chinook salmon have reproduced naturally since their introduction in 1967 and now contribute 2-3 million recruits annually to the fishery. However, differences among methods used to quantify natural recruitment have limited our understanding of causative factors affecting chinook recruitment. To resolve discrepancies among methodologies for understanding factors influencing recruitment variability, we compared techniques traditionally used to estimate salmon recruitment with the potential of fixed-hydroacoustics technology. Previous studies indicated most wild chinook recruits were produced in four tributaries: the Muskegon, Manistee, Little Manistee and Pere Marquette Rivers. Time-series data indicated annual recruitments varied from 5 to 10-fold in each river. Primary factors affecting spatial and temporal variability in recruitment may have included variation in instream habitat, spawner biomass, temperature and river discharges during egg and fry stages, and instream predation mortality. Comparative estimates of salmon recruitment in the Muskegon River using historic techniques suggest pass-depletion techniques may enderestimate, and mark-recapture techniques may overestimate smolt abundance. Traps and hydroacoustics show the greatest potential for obtaining accurate estimates of recruitment.

Current Status of the Amphipod Diporeia in Lake Michigan. Tom Nalepa and David Fanslow, NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. We continue to document the spatial extent of the decline in the amphipod Diporeia in Lake Michigan. In July/August 2000, we sampled at 158 sites located throughout the lake and compared abundances to abundances found in 1994/95. Over the whole lake, Diporeia abundances declined by 68% between 1994/95 and 2000. Greatest declines occured in the northern portion of the lake where densities now are near zero at depths shallower than 60m. The area with
few of no Diporeia includes northern Green Bay and Grand Traverse Bay. In addition to taking lakewide samples to examine the spatial extent of the decline, we also have been sampling intensively at several 45m sites along the eastern shoreline extending from St. Joseph north to Muskegon. The rate of decline in Diporeia was quite different at each of the sites. At the site off St. Joseph, Diporeia declined from 10,000 per square meter to 0 per square meter in just a six-month period in 1992. At a site of Grand Haven, Diporeia declined to 0 per square meter gradually between 1994 and 1998. At the Muskegon site, abundances began to decrease in 1997, stabilized in 1998, and then increased throughout 1999 and into early spring 2000. However, abundances began to decrease again in late spring 2000, and by fall abundances were near zero. Thus, the pattern of decline was different at each site. The decline at Grand Haven and Muskegon coincided with an increase in abundances of zebra mussels, but zebra mussels were never collected at the St. Joseph site. We examine various hyportheses for the decline, including competition for settling food between Diporeia and zebra mussels, and potential pathogens such as disease, fungi, or bacteria.

Advances in Our Understanding of Sediment-Water Exchange and Sediment Transport from the Lake Michigan Mass Balance and Episodic Events Programs. Brian J. Eadie, J.A. Robbins, D.J. Schwab, and P. Van Hoof, NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, K. Hornbuckle, University of Iowa, T.H. Johengen, Cooperative Institute for Limnology and Ecosystem Research. In the Lake Michigan Mass Balance program we were able to sample and analyze the most detailed set of sediments ever collected from Lake Michigan. These data provide us with detailed spatial distributions, current accumulation rates, and inventories of numerous contituents. In the episodic events (EEGLE) program we are exploring the impact of winter and early spring storms that massively resuspend materials with characteristics of sediment depositional regions and transport these materials throughout the lake. We have calculated that large events can resuspend over 1 million MT of particulate matter, similar to the estimated external input to the lake. Several years of sediment trap collections at offshore sites show a range in mass and nutrients fluxes that span a factor of 10. The internal recycling of sediment-associated constituents is very important in the long-term behavior of these materials and the exposure of the biota.

Environmental Monitoring of Lake Michigan Using CoastWatch Data and Java GIS. George Leshkevich and Songzhi Liu, NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory and CILER/University of Michigan. CoastWatch is a nationwide National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) program within which the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) functions as the Great Lakes node. In this capacity, GLERL obtains, produces, and delivers environmental data and products for near real-time observation of the Great Lakes to support environmental science, decision-making, and supporting research. This is achieved by providing Internet access to near real-time and retrospective satellite observations, in-situ Great Lakes data, and derived products to federal, state, and local agencies, academic institutions, and the public via the Great Lakes CoastWatch web site (http://coastwatch.glerl.noaa.gov). The goals and objectives of the CoastWatch Great Lakes Program directly support NOAA's statutory responsibilities in estuarine and marine science, living marine resource protection, and ecosystem monitoring and management. Great Lakes CoastWatch data are used in a variety of ways including monitoring of algal blooms, plumes, ice cover, and water temperatures, two and three dimensional modeling of Great Lakes physical parameters such as wave height and currents, damage assessment modeling, research, and for educational and recreational activities. New utilities such as JAVA based interactive retrieval of physical parameters such as surface temperature, ice cover, winds, and bottom depth at a given location enhance the present product suite with image products from new satellite sensors such as Synthetic Aperature Radar (SAR) and ocean color sensors.

Dynamics of Alewife Production and Potential Recruitment in Lake Michigan Habitats (Poster). Tomas O. Hook and Edward S. Rutherford, University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment Institute for Fisheries Research. Doran M. Mason and Glenn Carter, NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Resarch Laboratory. Essential fish habitat may be defined as areas where fish densities, growth, survival, and/or production rates are relatively high. In Lake Michigan, coastal embayments and drowned rivermouth habitats are warm and highly productive relative to open lake habitats, and may contribute disproportionately to recruitment success of key species like alewife Alosa pseudoharengus. To test this hypothesis, we began a major field and modeling program to estimate young-of-year (YOY) alewife production and potential recruitment in drowned river-mouth environments and in nearshore regions of Lake Michigan. Alewives, their prey, and predators were sampled using plankton nets, hydroacoustics and trawls. Here, we present preliminary results of spatially referenced information on prey and predators of YOY alewife, and alewife abundance, growth and survival. This information is then used in a spatially explicit bioenergetics model to estimate spatial dependence of production and visualized using Geographic Information Systems software.

Assessment of Transoceanic NOBOB Vessels and Low-Salinity Ballast Water as Vectors for Nonindigenous Species Introductions to the Great Lakes (Poster). Tom Johengen, University of Michigan, Cooperative Institute for Limnology and Ecosystems Research, D. Reid and G. Fahnenstiel, NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, F. Dobbs and M. Doblin, Old Dominion University, Dept. Ocean, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, H. MacIsaac, University of Windsor, Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, G. Ruiz, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, P. Jenkins, Philip T. Jenkins and Associates Ltd., Ontario, Canada. Over the last decade, much attention has been focused on ballast water as a vector for nonindigenous species introductions, and on effectiveness of open-ocean ballast exchange as a defense mechanism. Many aquatic organisms are euryhaline and can survive exposure to high salinity or form resting stages that accumulate in bottom sediments and are difficult to remove with exchange. Furthermore, approximately 90% of ocean vessels entering he Great Lakes are declared NOBOB (no-ballast-on-board) and are not subject to regulations under existing U.S. and Canada laws. However, NOBOB ballast tanks contain significant volumes of residual material (water and sediment) representing numerous previous ballasting operations from foreign ports. While operating in the Great Lakes, NOBOB vessels take-on water as ballast that mixes with the residual material and can subsequently be discharged at various ports along their routes. This material potentially contains a wide assortment of viable plants, animals, and microorganisms, including so-called "resting stages". This presentation will describe the preliminary results from a recently funded, multi-disciplinary, science-based study that will evaluate the risk of invasions associated with ocean-going vessels entering the Great Lakes. Our three interrelated research tasks are: (1) Characterization of biological communities and ballast residuals in NOBOB tanks; (2) Ballast tank mesocosm experiments to determine whether resident biota in NOBOB tanks are discharged to the Great Lakes under actual ship operating conditions; and (3) Transoceanic experiments to test the effctiveness of open-ocean exchange. The study is unique in its attempt to directly sample within the ballst tanks an for its comprehensive biological assessment of all organisms, including resting stages an microorganisms.

Lake Michigan: State of the Lake 2001 brought together a diverse group of Lake Michigan basin stakeholders to provide input into the Lakewide Management Plan (LaMP) for Lake Michigan. Conference participants were given opportunities to respond to draft targets and suggested indicators of the environmental status of the Lake Michigan basin. Conference sponsors included the U.S. EPA, Grand Valley State University, and the National Science Foundation, with assistance provided by the Community Foundation for Muskegon and Muskegon County.

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3) GLERL/Sea Grant Website

Thanks to rabid curiousity as to traffic on the page I created for the October 25-26 storm, I asked and received some detailed information on the total hits on the Sea Grant segments of the GLERL website for the month of October. Here are the stats for the two project sections:

Great Lakes Water Level Photo Gallery
- Home - 99
- Seiche Home - 85
- Lake Michigan Home - 34
- Lake Michigan Geographic - 24
- Lake Michigan by Water Levels - 15
- Lake Ontario Home - 15
- Lake Ontario Geographic - 8
- Ontario Dunes - 8
- Help Page - 8
- Seiche 1 - 12
- Seiche 2 - 7
- October 25, 2001 - 1145 (in just 6 days!)

Note that only the October 25th page has been advertised outside GLERL/SeaGrant (as a direct link).

Exotic Waterfleas:
- Home - 170
- ID - 34
- Reports - 45
- Reporting - 23
- Research - 37
- Goals - 19

This is far more than I was expecting for this time of year (the last reports of problem densities were in early September). I unfortunately don't know who is accessing the site - anglers, charter captains, researchers, Sea Grant, or general public.

September 14, 2001

The GLERL/Sea-Grant seminar by Dr. Fred C. Dobbs held at GLERL on November 13, 2001 titled "Global Redistribution and Virioplankton Via Ships' Ballast Water" was video recorded and is available for viewing online. The presentation slides are also available.

To view, "copy-and-paste" the following URL's into the supported applications.

NOTE: Only Microsoft IE and Media Player can be used for viewing. Start up each application, in side-by-side windows, then copy and paste the below URL's into the appropriate application.

Seminar Video - Use MS Windows Media Player only --
ftp://ftp.glerl.noaa.gov/webcast/2001/dobbs/20011113.wmv

Presentation Slides - Use MS-Internet Explorer only --
ftp://ftp.glerl.noaa.gov/webcast/2001/dobbs/dobbs-1113.htm

Please be aware this video is a first time experiment and we are fine tuning the details. Also it is not recommended for low-band width internet connections and is highly recommended for viewing during
non-peak times on the Internet.

If you have any comments and/or feedback on whether this has been useful or not, please send an email reply.

November 19, 2001

Contents:
_______________________
1) Seminar Tomorrow - PA Sea Grant, Mayfly Emergence
2) Seminar Broadcast Available - Ballast Water Research
3) Great Lakes Sea Grant Directors invited to participate in GLERL's internal proposal review
4) State-by-State summaries of GLERL activities
5) New Reprint - Zebra Mussels

_______________________
1) Seminar Tomorrow - PA Sea Grant, Mayfly Emergence

NOAA Great Lakes Seminar Series 2001-2002 at GLERL

Tuesday, November 20, 2001 at 10:30am. Dr. Ed Masteller (PA Sea Grant) Emeritus Professor of Biology, Penn State Erie, The Behrend College."Monitoring Hexagenia Mayfly Emergence from Lake Erie Using Doppler Radar in Erie, PA "

ABSTRACT: Mayflies are again an integral part of the Lake Erie ecosystem. Hexagenia, the largest mayfly of North America, has resurfaced. The appearance of these mayflies along the shores of Lake Erie indicates that Lake Erie is again hospitable for these creatures. Since 1999 we have been monitoring the mayfly emergence with the WJET-TV24's Doppler Radar and recording these events on video and time sequence images.

Hearing no requests for a live broadcast, we will be recording this seminar for viewing via the internet. Instructions for download and links will appear at http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/seagrant/seminar.htm on Tuesday afternoon.
_______________________
2) Seminar Broadcast Available - Ballast Water Research

NOAA Great Lakes Seminar Series 2001-2002 at www.glerl.noaa.gov/seagrant/seminar

Our first attempt to make the NOAA Great Lakes Seminar Series at GLERL available via the internet has come off successfully, though not without a few technical difficulties along the way. Our counters indicate that there have been several successful downloads of the file. If you are one of those viewing the seminar via this new media - please send me feedback on your experience (good and bad) and suggestions on how to improve. If you do nothing else, at least let me know who you are - hit counters are woefully inadequate in this respect.

"Global Redistribution of Bacterioplankton and Virioplankton via Ships' Ballast Water" Dr. Fred C. Dobbs, Associate Professor, Department of Ocean, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Old Dominion University (currently a Visiting Scientist at GLERL).

ABSTRACT: As ships take on ballast water in one port and discharge it at another, their ballast tanks can grow to contain a diverse mix of plankton, benthos - and even nekton! As a result, discharged ballast water is a primary vector for global transport of nonindigenous species. Research on ballast-water introductions has focused largely on metazoans, yet microorganisms are indisputably the most abundant of aquatic organisms. Given their high densities, high reproductive rates, broad tolerances to physical conditions, and the capability to form resting stages, microorganisms likely are frequent invaders of coastal ecosystems. I will present microbiological results obtained from a) ballast water of ships arriving in the Chesapeake Bay; b) an experiment testing the efficacy of at-sea ballast-water exchange; and c) ships declaring "no ballast on board" as they enter the Great Lakes.

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3) Great Lakes Sea Grant Directors invited to participate in GLERL's internal proposal review

Dr. Steve Brandt, GLERL Director, has invited each of the Great Lakes Sea Grant Directors to participate in GLERL's annual internal proposal review taking place on November 27-28. I encourage the participation of all the Great Lakes Sea Grant programs in this review as a great way to learn more about GLERL's research and processes as well as a unique opportunity to begin to influence GLERL's research agenda. If other obligations prohibit your attending, please consider sending someone else from your program as an alternate. Dr. Brandt did not request an RSVP, but I would appreciate a heads-up as to who is coming. I'd be happy to assist in arranging an evening meeting for the Sea Grant participants if anyone is interested.

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4) State-by-State summaries of GLERL activities

Each year, NOAA Research updates its web pages containing state-by-state summaries of recent and ongoing research activities, including GLERL activities.

This information is posted on a U.S. map with individual clickable states for access to research descriptions. The site is designed primarily to help Members of Congress and staff track our research activities within their particular states - I thought it might also be of interest to Sea Grant staff. The material is also linked to a larger NOAA-wide database maintained by NOAA's Office of Legislative Affairs.

The NOAA Research map for 2001 is posted at: http://www.oarhq.noaa.gov/congress/state_funding/state_map.htm

For FY 2002, GLERL plans to make a special effort to not only update, but expand, descriptions of GLERL research activities on the state-by-state page. If you look at the 2001 listings, you will find that some Great Lakes state pages (e.g. Minnesota) have no reference to GLERL research at all. In cases such as these, we plan to add a description of GLERL's mission and the unique regionally-focused products, services and expertise that the lab provides (e.g. CoastWatch, GLCFS, water level / resources, invasives, etc.). A good example would be the addition of new information on the Chicago met station/web cam to the Illinois page and similar additions for other met observation stations in other states.

I'll be sure to let you know when the State-by-State research summaries become available. Eventually, we hope to develop a full clickable state-by-state database on GLERL's website.

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5) New Reprint - Zebra Mussels

NALEPA, T.F., D.J. Hartson, D.L. FANSLOW, and G.A. LANG. Recent population changes in freshwater mussels (Bivalvia:Unionidae) and zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) in Lake St. Clair, USA. American Malacological Bulletin 16(1/2):141-145 (2001).

November 20, 2001

Today's seminar webcast

NOAA Great Lakes Seminar Series at GLERL - Web Archive

Dr. Ed Masteller (PA Sea Grant) MONITORING HEXAGENIA MAYFLY EMERGENCE FROM LAKE ERIE USING DOPPLER RADAR IN ERIE, PA

Streaming video and a higher resolution copy of the slides are now available via FTP. See: http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/seagrant/seminar.htm for instructions. You may need to turn up the volume during the segments played on VHS - the backup collar mic we used unfortunately did not pick up the sound from the VHS very well.

ABSTRACT: Mayflies are again an integral part of the Lake Erie ecosystem. Hexagenia, the largest mayfly of North America, has resurfaced. The appearance of these mayflies along the shores of Lake Erie indicates that Lake Erie is again hospitable for these creatures. Since 1999 we have been monitoring the mayfly emergence with the WJET-TV24's Doppler Radar and recording these events on video and time
sequence images.

November 27, 2001

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving holiday!

Contents:

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1. GLERL Internal Proposal Review
2. Seminars Next Week - Ecosystem Restoration and NIS Genetics
3. Laurentian acquisition
4. GLERL Completes Autonomous Vertical Profiler (AVP) Development

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1. GLERL Internal Proposal Review

GLERL is conducting its annual internal proposal review on November 27 and 28th. Dr. George Carignan, Interim Director of MI Sea Grant, is attending both days and Joe Lucente, Coastal Community Development Agent - Toledo is attending today's sessions on behalf of Dr. Jeff Reutter, Director of Ohio Sea Grant. Dr. Steve Brandt, GLERL Director, invited each of the Great Lakes Sea Grant Directors to participate in this traditionally closed review of GLERL research proposals in an effort to begin to strengthen ties between our organizations. Each GLERL Principal Investigator delivers a 30 minute presentation on their proposed research for the coming year, including an update on continuing projects - followed by opportunity for questions, comments, and/or suggestions for improvements by all participants (traditionally, the full GLERL staff).

Project proposals for Calendar Year 2002 include the following:

• Bioavailability of Sediment-Associated Toxic Organic Contaminants
• Contaminant Effects
• Disinfection of Ballast Water and Chemical Disinfectants
• Lake Michigan Mass Balance - Fluxes of Carbon and Nutrients
• The Impact of Episodic Events on Great Lakes Ecosystems
• Environmental Radiotracers
• Autonomous Vertical Profiler
• Origin and Maintenance of the Benthic Nepheloid Layer
• Sediment resuspension and Transport in Lake Michigan
• Measurement and Time-frequency study of nearshore wind, wave and sediment resuspension processes
• Rogue waves and explorations of coastal wave characteristics
• Thermal structure monitoring and related studies
• EEGLE Larve drifters
• EEGLE, Grand Traverse Bay, Lake Champlain
• EEGLE and Lake Champlain
• Great Lakes Coastal Forecast System
• Real-Time Meteorological Observation Network
• EEGLE hydrodynamics
• Testing ADCP wave capability
• CoastWatch
• Great Lakes Ice Cover
• Lake Color
• Climate and Land Use Change Processes in East Africa
• Dynamical Modelling of Great Lakes Regional Climate
• Statistical Modeling of Meteorological Variables at Seasonal Timescales
• Ecology of Mysis relicta in the Great Lakes
• Florida ECOHAB
• EEGLE
• NOBOB
• Changes in the pelagic food web of southern Lake Michigan: A food web under stress from nonindigenous species?
• Implication of Cercopagis and Bythotrephes to alewife recruitment
• Lake Michigan pelagic food web
• The role of zebra mussels in promoting Microcystis blooms and other ecosystem changes in Saginaw Bay and in Lake Erie
• EEGLE
• Tumor-like anomalies (TLA) in zooplankton of Lake Michigan: an example of a global problem
• Assessments of benthic macroinvertebrate communities in the Great Lakes region
  
• Ecology of Lake Whitefish and response to changes in benthic communities in Lake Huron
• Long-term trends in benthic populations in Lake Michigan
• Pelagic-benthic coupling in nearshore Lake Michigan: linking pelagic inputs to benthic products
• Temporal and spatial variation in lipid content of the mayfly hexagenia
• Distribution and biomass of dreissenids in Lake Michigan
• Long-term research and monitoring in the Great Lakes
• Bioenergetic response of gag grouper to reef habitat configuration
• Lipids as an indicator of health for Great Lakes salmonids
• Quantifying the impact of exotic invertebrate invaders on food structure
• Alewife recruitment
• Yellow perch recruitment
• Natural production of Chinook smolts in the Muskegon River
• Development of a fisheries acoustics program in Lake Superior
• Chesapeake Bay, Adriatic Sea, Great Lakes
• Development of virtual ecosystem of populations of digital organisms to examine
  problems concerning invasive species
• Effects of asynchronous physical and biological processes in different habitat types in fish
  population density and dynamics
• Assessment of Transoceanic NOBOB Vessels and Low-salinity ballast water as vectors
  for nonindigenous species introductions to the Great Lakes
• New Bathymetry of the Great Lakes - Lake Superior
• Great Lakes Ice Cycles
• Ice Thickness Data Rescue
• Improved Great Lakes Ice Cover Climatology
• Recent Lake Levels and Precipitation in Historical Perspective
• Improving ice cover and evaporation estimates
• Next generation large basin runoff model
• Water Resources Decision Support

For more information on particular projects, contact Rochelle Sturtevant.

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2. Seminars Next Week - Ecosystem Restoration and NIS Genetics

Please contact me as soon as possible if you would like to arrange for a live web broadcast of either seminar. Full seminar schedule is available at http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/news/seminars/

Tuesday, December 4 - 1pm - GLERL Main Conference Room ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION OF LAKE OKEECHOBEE, FLORIDA. Dr. Alan Steinman, Director, Annis Water Resources Institute, Lake Michigan Center, Grand Valley State University.
ABSTRACT: Lake Okeechobee (Florida) is the second largest freshwater lake in the coterminous United States (after Lake Michigan). It is impacted primarily by three environmental problems: cultural eutrophication, altered hydrology, and invasive species. A major restoration program, consisting of experimental research, modeling, planning, construction, and regulatory activities, was initiated in the late 1990s and is expected to last for several decades. This talk provides an overview of these problems and the proposed restoration activities, highlights a case study revealing the political difficulties of integrating science and environmental management, and shows an example of how an episodic event (Hurricane Irene) strongly influences the dynamics of this large, shallow subtropical lake.

Wednesday, December 5 - 2pm - GLERL Main Conference Room
GENETIC INVESTIGATIONS OF NONINDIGENOUS SPECIES INVASIONS IN THE GREAT LAKES: ORIGINS, GENETIC DIVERSITY, AND SPREAD PATTERNS OF DREISSENID MUSSELS, GOBIES, AND THE RUFFE. Dr. Carol Stepien (OH Sea Grant), Director, Great Lakes Environmental Genetics Laboratory, Center for Environmental Science, Technology and Policy, Cleveland State University.
ABSTRACT: Population genetic relationships for three nonindigenous species invasions in the Great Lakes are analyzed from nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequence data for zebra and quagga mussels, round and tubenose gobies, and the Eurasian ruffe. Comparisons are made across their respective native and introduced ranges. Results indicate that zebra mussels appear to have been introduced from multiple sites in central and western Europe, but not eastern Europe; quagga mussels in North America are divergent from samples in their native Ukraine; introduced populations of round gobies in North America and Gulf of Gdansk had different founding sources and neither are related to the northern Black Sea; and the ruffe invasion in North America originated from a single source that matches the Elbe River.

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3. Laurentian acquisition

Laurentian acquisition: The Department of Commerce General Counsel rejected the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the basis that it is not really an MOU but a procurement action (a lease). Now the Laurentian acquisition must proceed as procurement. A purchase over $25,000 must be advertised. Possibly, a sole source purchase could be justified in this case.

4. GLERL Completes Autonomous Vertical Profiler (AVP) Development

From NOAA Hot Items - 27 November, 2001

GLERL's Marine Instrumentation Laboratory recently finished development of an Autonomous Vertical Profiler (AVP). The electric-motor-powered device moved up and down a cable extended in the water column from an anchor on the lake bottom to a buoy near the surface at a Lake Michigan location with a water depth of 55 meters. While on its up/down route, the AVP carried an instrument package that recorded water clarity (transmittance), temperature and depth providing vertical profiles of these variables through time at the test site. Because such variables often change relative to physical forces associated with storm events or season, the unattended, continuous AVP profiles will provide a more complete picture of how such variables interact and change through time. In test runs, the AVP was programmed to carry the instrument package over a 40-m up/down circuit each hour, with instruments recording measurements at sub-meter intervals. It ran successfully for over three weeks (573 circuits) before battery depletion prevented additional collection and storage of data. In future tests, GLERL scientists and engineers hope to extend operational capabilities to two months via reconfigured battery power supplies and slower ascent/descent rates. The AVP uses an electric motor to drive the instrument package up and down a wire rope cable. Rubber end stops attached to the cable determine the limits of travel and can be adjusted to meet the specific requirements of the experiment. The highest measurement in the prototype test was 15 meters below the surface. It is possible, however, to operate the unit closer to the surface. The lowest measurement was about 1 meter from the bottom. The operation of the AVP is controlled by an embedded microprocessor and data is stored on a 30 Mbyte compact flash disk using an Onset TattleTale™ model 8 data logger. The flexibility of the programmable data logger allows specifying the interval of the ascent/descent cycles as well as the sample rate. The unit can sample and record data from the sensors at intervals as small as 10 cm. Most of the AVP was assembled using off-the-shelf components. The housing requires fabrication by a machine shop, and the wiring and some of the electronics required assembly. Duplicating the prototype unit would cost about $5,000 plus the cost of the sensors.

Profiles from the AVP prototype deployment are posted at the URL below. More information:
http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/mil/profiler.html
Contact: Ronald W Muzzi (734) 741-2007 muzzi@glerl.noaa.gov

December 5, 2001

Contents:
1. Seminar Web Archive - Lake Okeechobee and Invasive Species Genetics
2. GLERL in the News - Great Lakes Water Levels
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1. Seminar Web Archive - Lake Okeechobee and Invasive Species Genetics

Dr. Alan Steinman's seminar entitled "Ecosystem Restoration of Lake Okeechobee, Florida" has just been add to the web seminar video archive. See http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/seagrant/seminar.htm for downloading instructions.

Dr. Carol Stepien will be presenting a seminar at GLERL today entitled "Genetic Investigations of Nonindigenous Species Invasions In The Great Lakes: Origins, Genetic Diversity, and Spread Patterns of Dreissenid Mussels, Gobies, and the Ruffe". This seminar should be available by tomorrow morning at the latest.

These two seminars join presentations by Dr. Fred Dobbs on ballast transport of bacteria and viruses and Dr. Ed Masteller on mayfly emergence. The NOAA Seminar Series at GLERL is targeted to scientific audiences. Please advertise the availability of the seminars to appropriate individuals associated with your programs.

Our records indicate that people are downloading the seminars from the FTP site, but I haven't gotten any feedback yet. I could really use some feedback as to how well the system is working, both in terms of access and quality of the recording in order to determine what, if any, changes need to be made to the system.

Live broadcasts can be made available with the opportunity to ask questions of the speaker via email. A full seminar schedule (scheduled to-date) is available at http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/news/seminars/ - please request live broadcast at least 1 week in advance.
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2. GLERL in the News - Great Lakes Water Levels

Recent articles on Great Lakes water levels by Earthwatch Radio (http://www.glrc.org/story.php3?story_id=1351) and the Toledo Blade (http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/search?Kategori=ARCHIVES) cite GLERL work
predicting water level changes based on expectations of winter climate (cold and a good ice cover = holding or increasing water levels).

December 13, 2001

1) GAO Meetings at GLERL
2) Update on Laurentian
3) Reprint Available - Waterfleas
4) Great Lakes Science Vessel Workshop

1) GAO Meetings at GLERL
There will be two GAO meetings this week. These meeting are Congressional inquires. One meeting is to discuss the strategies on cleaning up the Great Lakes and the other on Exotic Species-Ballast Water.

2) Update on Laurentian
The l5 year lease purchase option has gone forward and principals hope to have it finalized before Christmas. The Laurentian is scheduled for inspection on Thursday, 13 December.

3) Reprint Available - Waterfleas
Pothoven, SA; Fahnenstiel, GL;Vanderploeg, HA. 2001. Population dynamics of Bythotrephes cederstroemii in south-east Lake Michigan 1995-1998 Freshwater Biology 46 (11): 1491-1501 NOV 2001.

ABSTRACT: Population characteristics (density, size, reproductive patterns) of the predatory cladoceran Bythotrephes cederstroemii in south-east Lake Michigan were monitored at an offshore station (110 m) in 1995-98 and at a nearshore station (45 m) in 1997-98. The mean density of B. cederstroemii at the offshore station was generally highest in July-September (145-914 m(-2)) and at the nearshore station in October-November (168-1625 m(-2)). In 1995 and 1998, density was also high at the offshore station in November (211-284 m(-2)). Fish predation may limit B. cederstroemii in nearshore regions in the summer. The maximum annual densities of B. cederstroemii for 1995-98 were generally similar to those reported from the late 1980s, when the species arrived in Lake Michigan. Body size increased rapidly each year to a maximum in August. Thereafter, body size declined and converged for stage-2 and 3 individuals, suggesting food scarcity or size-selective fish predation was affecting large individuals. Most reproduction occurred asexually (90%), and by stage 2 or 3 females (99%). Asexual brood size was highest when B. cederstroemii first appeared each year, and decreased in August, when larger neonates were produced. There appeared to be differences in reproductive mode for stage 2 and 3 females, with a higher percentage of stage 2 females reproducing sexually.

4) Great Lakes Science Vessel Workshop
The 6th Annual Great Lakes Science Vessel Workshop is scheduled for January 31-February 1, 2002 in Cleveland, OH. This workshop will immediately follow the U.S. Coast Guard sponsored Great Lakes Marine Community Day activities which are scheduled for January 30-31. Originally conceived as a forum for maximizing efficiency of the Great Lakes research vessel fleet, the Science Vessel workshop has been expanded to include science vessels operating with an educational mission. GLERL participants hope that increased participation of the educational sector may lead to increased opportunities for integration of research and education.

December 20, 2001

Happy Holidays!

There will be no GLERL Update next week due to the Holidays.
GLERL Updates are archived to the web at http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/seagrant/GLERLUpdates.htm

Contents:
1) GLERL Speakers Available
2) Current Lake Conditions Web Page
3) NOAA Great Lakes Seminar Series at GLERL - CD access
4) IAGLR Experts Directory

1) GLERL Speakers Available

As you schedule your winter and spring events, keep in mind the possibility of inviting GLERL scientists to speak. As a reciprocal of the NOAA Great Lakes Seminar Series at GLERL, Steve Brandt has made the offer of inclusion of GLERL speakers in SeaGrant/University seminar series (GLERL can cover travel costs for up to 2 speakers per state). If you are looking at a scientific/technical audience, virtually any of the scientists here are available - see http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/pers/contacts.html for a listing by areas of expertise. For the non-technical audience, I would particularly recommend Cynthia Sellinger - Great Lakes Water Levels, Ray Assel - Great Lakes Ice, Thom Nalepa - Diporeia Declines. If you have specific topics in mind, just call me and I will try to set you up with someone.

2) Current Lake Conditions Web Page

Following on the success of the Storm Surge Web Page, I have developed a page linking to web resources for current lake conditions. http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/seagrant/glwlphotos/CurrentConditions.htm Please review and send suggestions for additions! On a related note, I've spent considerable time over the last few weeks making the Water Levels Photo Gallery more friendly to access by modem (lower resolution images, splitting pages, etc). Feedback appreciated. I'm still looking for good historical photos (must have location