Instructions for Tool Use

Data Dictionary

List Generator and Fact Sheet Access

Launch Tool

Use this search tool to generate species lists queried by basin, taxa, status, or vector. This tool also allows users to quickly access introduction timelines and fact sheets that contain ecological information, risk assessment scores, management information, and more.

To obtain a list of all established species presently included in GLANSIS, use the following search criteria defaults:

  • Category: Nonindigenous + Range Expanders
  • Group: All
  • Lake (HUC): All Great Lakes Drainages
  • Genus, Species, Common Name: Leave blank
  • Status: All
  • Pathway: All

Important Notes:

  • All results must be interpreted as a minimum, and no query will return a list of all nonindigenous species in the Great Lakes.
  • If you prefer that your list not include species that are native to part of the Great Lakes basin (or the geographic area you have selected), switch the category to Nonindigenous.
  • The geographic selector allows selection of a single lake, lake basin, or specific HUC8s in addition to the full basin search. The map indicates the portion of the database searched (except for custom HUC8 searches). This selector is interactive with the category selector.
  • To access the full watchlist, simply switch the category selector to Watchlist along with the default settings listed above.
  • The search form will search for any part of a word. For example, common name = 'flea' will return all species with the word 'flea' in the common name — such as waterflea. The search engine does not support wildcards.

Database Search Criteria Definitions

Category
This feature searches based on whether or not the species is native to any portion of the selected geographic area. 'Nonindigenous' returns records for any species which is not native to any part of the selected geographic area. 'Range expander' returns records for any species which is present and native or cryptogenic to a portion of the selected geographic area. 'Watchlist' returns species from the separate list which have been identified as not native and not currently established anywhere in the Great Lakes basin.
Group
'Group' is a taxonomic selector. GLANSIS does not currently include mammals, waterfowl, reptiles or amphibians.
Lake (HUC)
All GLANSIS records are point data, but each point is assigned the corresponding Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC). This selector searches for individual records based on HUCs.
Genus / Species
Scientific names. The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) is the primary authority consulted to resolve conflicting scientific names.
Common Name
The GLANSIS common name field includes all common alternative spelling of species names, but is not exhaustive. If your common name search fails, please try alternative spellings.
Status
This selector limits the search to one of three types of status indicators: established, reported, or both.
Pathway
Nine categories of pathway can be selected individually. Each category includes one or more distinct pathways that are assigned to the record: for example, 'shipping' includes ballast water, solid ballast, and hull fouling.

Map Explorer

Launch Tool

Use this search tool to view and compare the distributions of species across space and time, and/or to overlay distributions on top of Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat Framework (GLAHF) GIS layers. The distributions of up to three species can be mapped at one time. This tool also allows downloading of the GIS coordinate data.

How to Search

Species to search
If you know the genus and species name you may search for that species directly. Otherwise, fill out the taxonomic group and wait for the "Family" field to load, and then select the family you are interested in. Repeat for "Genus" and "Species".
Search by HUC(s)
If you know the 8-digit hydrological unit code(s) (HUC) that you are interested in querying, type in the 8-digit code in the corresponding field. Separate HUC codes by comma for searches within multiple HUCs.
Search by state(s)
If you would like search for ANS distributions within a specific Great Lake state, enter the two-letter state abbreviation in the corresponding field (e.g. IL for Illinois or WI, MI for Wisconsin and Michigan).
Search by year(s)
If you are interested in looking at a species' records at one year enter that year in the field. If you are interested in looking at records within a range of years, enter the beginning year and the end year separated by a dash ('-'). For example, "1997-2008" will display specimen records on the map from that time frame.

Downloading Specimen Report Data

After completing your species-specific query, you may download the report data in comma-delimited format. To do so, copy the data in the 'Georeferenced Report Data' field and paste it into a text editor. Save the file as a CSV (`.csv`) and open it in your favorite spreadsheet program.