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Thomas A. Edsall

Publications and source records attributed to Thomas A. Edsall.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2004

Burrowing mayflies as indicators of ecosystem health: Status of populations in two western Lake Superior embayments

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Environment Canada are supporting the development of indicators of ecosystem health that can be used to report on progress in restoring and maintaining the Great Lakes ecosystem, as called for in the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement between the United States and Canada. One indicator under development for Great Lakes mesotrophic environments is based on burrowing mayflies ( Hexagenia : Ephemeroptera: Ephemeridae). In this paper, we report the results of a benthic survey in spring 2002 to determine the status of nymphal populations of Hexagenia in two western Lake Superior embayments, the St. Louis River estuary, an area with significant water-use impairments, and Chequamegon Bay, an area with no known water-use impairments. Ponar grab samples collected throughout these embayments showed nymphs were generally abundant in finely particulate, cohesive substrate (clay or mixtures of clay and sand) in both embayments. However, in the St. Louis River estuary nymphs were absent in those preferred substrates at 11 stations in the eastern portion of St. Louis Bay and the adjoining northwestern portion of the Duluth-Superior Harbor, where the sediments were variously contaminated with visible amounts of taconite pellets, paint chips, oil, or combusted coal waste (clinkers). Our results suggest that human activities have rendered those portions of the St. Louis River estuary unsuitable for habitation by Hexagenia nymphs and we recommend that trend monitoring of the nymphal population there be conducted to permit reporting on progress in restoring and maintaining the health and integrity of this Great Lakes ecosystem embayment, consistent with the intent of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.

Minnesota, Wisconsin↗
USGS2003

Starvation resistance in lake trout fry

Newly hatched fry were acclimated to 7 or 12°C and either fed daily (controls) or denied food for varying lengths of time and then fed daily until the end of the study (day 91 at 7°C and day 43 at 12°C). Growth was reduced by delays in the onset of feeding of 27 or more days at 7°C and 7 or more days at 12°C. Mortality of fry unfed for more than 34 days at 7°C, or more than 21 days at 12°C, was higher than among controls. Daily mortality increased with the length of the food deprivation period and did not cease immediately when food was made available, but reached zero by the end of the study. Mortality among unfed fry reached 50% in about 59 days at 7°C and 32 days at 12°C. Study results permitted calculation of the "point-of-no-return" (PNR) mortality, which included the mortality that occurred during the period of food deprivation, and also the delayed component of mortality that was directly attributable to starvation and that occurred after food was made available. The PNR for 50% mortality for food-deprived fry occurred after 52 days at 7°C and 24 days at 12°C. Thus, both measures of mortality indicate that lake trout fry would be highly resistant to death by starvation in the thermal habitat they would be expected to occupy in the Great Lakes. We conclude that a more likely adverse effect of reduced food availability would result from a reduction in growth rate that extends the length of time fry remain small and vulnerable to predation by adult alewives and other non-native fishes with which they associate.

Journal of Great Lakes Research↗
USGS2003

Ecological monitoring for assessing the state of the nearshore and open waters of the Great Lakes

The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement stipulates that the Governments of Canada and the United States are responsible for restoring and maintaining the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the waters of the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem. Due to varying mandates and areas of expertise, monitoring to assess progress towards this objective is conducted by a multitude of Canadian and U.S. federal and provincial/state agencies, in cooperation with academia and regional authorities. This paper highlights selected long-term monitoring programs and discusses a number of documented ecological changes that indicate the present state of the open and nearshore waters of the Great Lakes.

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment↗
USGS2001

Annual production of burrowing mayfly nymphs ( Hexagenia spp.) in U.S. waters of Lake St. Clair

Burrowing mayfly nymphs ( Hexagenia spp.) were sampled monthly, September through October 1995 and April through August 1996, with a standard Ponar grab (538 cm 2 jaw opening) at 16 stations in U.S. waters of Lake St. Clair. Annual production (production, P) was 0 to 477 mg dry weight/m 2 at three stations where pollution and sediment grain-size distribution limited the population, and was 738 to 5,255 mg dry weight/m 2 at the other 13 stations. The highest production value measured for Hexagenia in Lake St. Clair was about three times higher than the highest value reported for other areas in the northern United States and Canada (39° to 53° North latitude). The production-mean annual biomass (biomass, B) ratio (P/B) for Hexagenia in Lake St. Clair in 1995–96 was described by the straight line P = 2.4 B (R 2 = 0.94). Adding published P/B data for other North American populations changed the relation only slightly to P = 2.5B (R 2 = 0.96). A P/B ratio of 2.5 is consistent with the expected value for an aquatic insect with a 2-year life cycle and overlapping cohorts, and these data suggest this relation has general applicability for estimating production of Hexagenia in the northern United States and Canada. Size-class and seasonal partitioning of Hexagenia biomass and production were evident in the data. Both biomass and production were highest among nymphs 16.0 mm and larger, and biomass was highest in October and again in June, immediately before the annual emergence of subimagos. The large size of the mature nymphs and the concentration of biomass and production among the larger nymphs in the population is consistent with their importance in the diets of many fishes in the northern United States and Canada.

Lake St. Clair↗
USGS2000

Optimum temperature for growth and preferred temperatures of age-0 lake trout

This study was performed to determine the thermal preferences and optimum temperature for growth of age-0 lake trout Salvelinus namaycush to help predict the thermal habitat they select when they leave the spawning grounds and to assess the risk posed to them in the Great Lakes by piscivorus, nonnative fishes whose thermal habitat preferences are known. The test fish were hatched in the laboratory from eggs taken from wild fish, acclimated to 5, 10, 15, and 18°C, and fed to excess with commercial trout food for 47 d. The test fish grew at all of the temperatures, and the specific growth rate was highest at about 12.5°C (3.8% wet body weight/d). Fish used in the growth study were also tested in a vertical thermal gradient tank and had a final thermal preferendum between 10.1°C and 10.2°C. These results, which generally agreed with those of an earlier laboratory study of the temperature preference of age-1 lake trout and the limited information on thermal habitat use by age-0 lake trout in the Great Lakes, indicated age-0 lake trout would tend to seek temperatures near 10°C, or as high as 12.5°C, during summer if food was abundant. Published information on thermal habitat use of age-1 and adult alewives Alosa pseudoharengus and rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax indicated they would be expected to co-occur with age-0 lake trout during much of the time when the lake trout were small enough to be eaten by these two introduced piscivores.

North American Journal of Fisheries Management↗
USGS1999

Preferred temperatures of juvenile lake whitefish

Lake whitefish ( Coregonus clupeaformis ) supported valuable commercial fisheries in all of the Great Lakes until the 1950s to 1960s when their populations collapsed due to overfishing, pollution, and predation by the exotic sea lamprey ( Petromyzon marinus ). Reduction of these population stresses has permitted significant recovery of the lake whitefish in the upper three Great Lakes since the 1980s, and limited but encouraging recovery is now apparent in Lakes Erie and Ontario. In the present study the thermal preferences of age-0 and age-1 lake whitefish were measured in the laboratory to provide a basis for determining thermal habitat use by juvenile lake whitefish and thermal niche overlap with exotic fishes that might prey on them. Final thermal preferenda of young lake whitefish varied inversely with fish size ranging from 16.8°C for fish averaging 1.9 g to 15.6°C for age-1 fish averaging 3.9 g. Final thermal preferenda were in agreement with the limited published information on temperature selection of juvenile lake whitefish in the laboratory and on thermal habitat use by wild, free-ranging populations in the Great Lakes.

Journal of Great Lakes Research↗
USGS1999

The growth-temperature relation of juvenile lake whitefish

The lake whitefish Coregonus clupeaformis supports major commercial fisheries in Lakes Superior, Huron, and Michigan, where it is managed on a sustained-yield basis; it also supports a recreational hook-and-line fishery in some Great Lakes embayments and nearshore areas. To better understand habitat use by juvenile lake whitefish in the Great Lakes, we acclimated groups of test fish in the laboratory to 5, 10, 15, 18, 21, and 24°C and fed them to excess twice daily for 55 d. The test fish increased in length and weight at all of the test temperatures and at the end of the study were heaviest and longest at 18.1°C. A curve fitted to the specific growth rate data indicated that the optimum temperature for growth was 18.5°C and, thus, that the fundamental thermal niche for juvenile lake whitefish is 15.5–19.5°C. Our results support the limited, published information on thermal ecology of wild, free-ranging juvenile lake whitefish in the Great Lakes.

Transactions of the American Fisheries Society↗
USGS1999

Burrowing mayflies in Lake Erie - a review

This paper describes the life history, distribution, and abundance of Hexagenia in Lake Erie, as shown by sediment core samples containing preserved Hexagenia remains dating back to about 1740, periodic sampling of living nymphal populations since about 1930, observations of emergences and mating swarms of adults, and the incidence of Hexagenia in fish stomachs. The roles of eutrophication and anoxia, and of oil and heavy metal pollution in the decline, near extinction, and delayed recovery of Hexagenia in the western basin are also discussed.

Book chapter↗
USGS1998

Great Lakes

The Great Lakes region, as defined here, includes the Great Lakes and their drainage basins in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. The region also includes the portions of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the 21 northernmost counties of Illinois that lie in the Mississippi River drainage basin, outside the floodplain of the river. The region spans about 9º of latitude and 20º of longitude and lies roughly halfway between the equator and the North Pole in a lowland corridor that extends from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic Ocean. The Great Lakes are the most prominent natural feature of the region (Fig. 1). They have a combined surface area of about 245,000 square kilometers and are among the largest, deepest lakes in the world. They are the largest single aggregation of fresh water on the planet (excluding the polar ice caps) and are the only glacial feature on Earth visible from the surface of the moon (The Nature Conservancy 1994a). The Great Lakes moderate the region’s climate, which presently ranges from subarctic in the north to humid continental warm in the south (Fig. 2), reflecting the movement of major weather masses from the north and south (U.S. Department of the Interior 1970; Eichenlaub 1979). The lakes act as heat sinks in summer and heat sources in winter and are major reservoirs that help humidify much of the region. They also create local precipitation belts in areas where air masses are pushed across the lakes by prevailing winds, pick up moisture from the lake surface, and then drop that moisture over land on the other side of the lake. The mean annual frost-free period—a general measure of the growing-season length for plants and some cold-blooded animals—varies from 60 days at higher elevations in the north to 160 days in lakeshore areas in the south. The climate influences the general distribution of wild plants and animals in the region and also influences the activities and distribution of the human population. The wild plants and animals and the natural systems that support them in the Great Lakes region are valuable resources of considerable local, regional, and national interest. They are also, in part, transboundary resources that we share with our Canadian neighbors to the north. The way these resources are changing over time is inadequately known and is a cause for concern for resource users and for those charged with managing and protecting these unique and valuable resources. This chapter describes the wild plants and animals and the systems that support them in the Great Lakes region; addresses their condition; and points out the gaps in our knowledge about them that, if filled, would aid in their conservation and appropriate use.

Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Penn↗
USGS1997

The effect of temperature on growth of juvenile bloater

The bloater ( Coregonus hoyi ), which feeds mainly on invertebrates and in turn is eaten by lake trout ( Salvelinus namaycush ) and burbot ( Lota lota ), is a major trophic integrator in coldwater ecosystems in the upper Great Lakes. To better understand their thermal niche and habitat distribution, we acclimated groups of yearling bloater to 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, or 25°C and then fed them ad libitum for 35 days. Bloater increased in length and weight at all of the test temperatures and at the end of the study were heaviest and longest at 15–20°C. The specific growth rate was highest at 20°C and progressively lower at 15, 25, 10, 5, and 3°C. A curve fitted to the specific growth rate data indicated that the optimum temperature for growth was 18.6°C. Our results are in agreement with other published information on the thermal ecology of juvenile bloater.

Journal of Great Lakes Research↗
USGS1997

Use of remote-sensing techniques to survey the physical habitat of large rivers

Remote-sensing techniques that can be used to quantitatively characterize the physical habitat in large rivers in the United States where traditional survey approaches typically used in small- and medium-sized streams and rivers would be ineffective or impossible to apply. The state-of-the-art remote-sensing technologies that we discuss here include side-scan sonar, RoxAnn, acoustic Doppler current profiler, remotely operated vehicles and camera systems, global positioning systems, and laser level survey systems. The use of these technologies will permit the collection of information needed to create computer visualizations and hard copy maps and generate quantitative databases that can be used in real-time mode in the field to characterize the physical habitat at a study location of interest and to guide the distribution of sampling effort needed to address other habitat-related study objectives. This report augments habitat sampling and characterization guidance provided by Meador et al. (1993) and is intended for use primarily by U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Assessment program managers and scientists who are documenting water quality in streams and rivers of the United States.

Report↗
USGS1996

The effect of light on lake herring ( Coregonus artedi ) reactive volume

The lake herring ( Coregonus artedi ) is an important coldwater planktivore in the Laurentian Great Lakes and in smaller inland lakes in portions of Canada and the northern United States. Lake herring cruise the pelagia and feed selectively in both gulping and particulate modes. They are visual predators in environments with adequate illumination. Visual predation by fish consists of a series of discrete steps. We studied the first step in the predation sequence, reaction to prey, at light intensities of 2–1500 Lx in a simulated pelagic environment at 10–13°C. We measured lake herring reactive distances, the distance at which a prey item will be detected and attacked, to live Limnocalanus macrurus , a natural prey of lake herring in Lake Superior. We used the reactive distances and associated angles of bearing and elevation, which described the location of the prey relative to the lake herring, to calculate reactive volume. This reactive volume can be envisioned as an irregular sphere surrounding the fish, within which prey are detected and attacked. All of the attacks on prey occurred in the anterior portions of the sagittal and lateral planes of the lake herring, as would be expected for a pelagic, cruising fish. The reactive volume surrounding the lake herring was generally spherical, but was more irregular than the simple spheres, hemispheres, cylinders, cones or other geometries assumed in previous studies. The reactive distances and the reactive volume changed with light intensity and were significantly smaller at 2–10 Lx than at 40–1500 Lx. At 40–1500 Lx, the reactive volume was expanded over that observed at 2–10 Lx laterally and caudally. Collectively our results indicate that lake herring can visually forage most effectively in environments with light levels >10 Lx.

Hydrobiologia↗
USGS1996

Potential spawning habitat for lake trout on Julian's Reef, Lake Michigan

Julian's Reef is an historical spawning ground for lake trout ( Salvelinus namaycush ) in southwestern Lake Michigan. It is a designated lake trout refuge and is the focus of lake trout restoration efforts in Illinois waters of the lake. We studied the reef to determine its potential as spawning habitat for stocked lake trout. We used side-scan sonar and a remotely operated vehicle equipped with a video camera to survey and map 156 ha of lake bed on the southeast portion of the reef, where an earlier study revealed the presence of loose-rock substrate potentially suitable for use by spawning lake trout. Our survey showed that the substrate on the reef that most closely resembled that described in the literature as suitable for spawning by stocked lake trout in the Great Lakes was rubble patches with interstitial depths greater than 20 cm. These rubble patches occupied about 2 ha of the 13-ha expanse of bedrock and rubble substrate near the reef crest in the surveyed area. We estimated that these rubble patches, if fully used by spawning lake trout, could accommodate egg deposition by at least 1,300–3,300 2.7-kg females.

Journal of Great Lakes Research↗
USGS1995

Availability of lake trout reproductive habitat in the Great Lakes

A decades-long program to reestablish self-sustaining stocks of lake trout ( Salvelinus namaycush ) in the four lower Great Lakes produced excellent fisheries supported by stocked fish. These fish spawned widely and small numbers of their offspring were collected intermittently from Lakes Michigan, Huron, and Ontario, but no self-sustaining stocks were established. Irt this paper we address habitat sufficiency as a factor in the failure of stocked lake trout to established self-sustaining populations in the four lower Great Lakes. We present the previously unpublished results of lake trout spawning habitat surveys conducted at seven sites in the Great Lakes since 1987 and we compare them with the published results of similar surveys conducted at 24 other sites in the four lower lakes since 1981. Our evaluation indicates all but two of these sites can support the production of viable fry from spawnings by the shallow-water strains of lake trout that are stocked in the Great Lakes. However, some of the best spawning, egg, and fry habitat in the lower Great Lakes seems to be at deeper offshore sites that may be unattractive to these shallow-water strains. Thus, we suggest also stocking the lower four lakes with strains from Lake Superior that might more fully exploit the best spawning habitat at these deeper, offshore sites.

Journal of Great Lakes Research↗
USGS1995

Survival of lake trout eggs on reputed spawning grounds in Lakes Huron and Superior: In situ incubation, 1987-1988

Lake trout reproduce widely in Lake Superior but little in Lake Huron. We examined whether survival of lake trout eggs and fry in either lake was reduced by physical disturbances and swim-up mortality. Eggs were collected from feral lake trout in Lake Superior and placed in 108 plastic incubators. A total of 48 incubators was set at Partridge Island Reef in southern Lake Superior, 48 were set at Port Austin Reef in southern Lake Huron, and 12 were held as controls inflowing well water at a laboratory. Survival-to-hatching of these eggs at Partridge Island Reef (18%) was significantly different from that at Port Austin Reef (43%) and significantly different in the laboratory (88%) from that at either reef (P < 0.05). During egg-fry incubation from 28 October 1987 to 5 May 1988, 11&ndash;18 cm of sediment accumulated in sediment traps placed on the reefs but < 1 cm of sediment was present on each reef in May 1988. Analysis showed that 44% of the eggs at Port Austin Reef and 28% of those at Partridge Island Reef were buried and killed by sediments. During the first week after deployment, mean wave energy was 90% higher at Partridge Island Reef and significantly different from that at Port Austin Reef. Wave energy may be a habitat condition that makes Partridge Island Reef less suitable than Port Austin Reef for incubation of lake trout eggs. Fry from eggs incubated at all three sites experienced no swim-up mortality. We conclude that in 1987&ndash;88 habitat conditions required for survival of lake trout eggs were more suitable at Port Austin Reef than at Partridge Island Reef.

Journal of Great Lakes Research↗
USGS1995

An evaluation of lake trout reproductive habitat on Clay Banks Reef, northwestern Lake Michigan

The extinction of the native populations of lake trout ( Salvelinus namaycush ) in Lake Michigan in about 1956 has been followed by a decades-long attempt to reestablish self-sustaining populations of this valuable species in habitats it formerly occupied throughout the lake. One of the most recent management strategies designed to facilitate recovery was to make a primary management objective the establishment of sanctuaries where stocked lake trout could be protected and self-sustaining populations reestablished. In the present study we employed habitat survey and mapping techniques, field and laboratory bioassays, egg traps, sediment traps, and gill nets to examine the potential for successful natural reproduction by stocked lake trout on Clay Banks Reef in the Door-Kewaunee sanctuary in Wisconsin waters of Lake Michigan. Our study revealed (1) there was suitable habitat on the reef to support the production of viable fry, (2) spawner abundance on the reef was the highest recorded in the great lakes, and (3) eggs taken from spawners on the reef and held on the reef in plexiglas incubators hatched and produced fry that survived through swim-up. We conclude that Clay Banks Reef has the potential to support successful natural reproduction by stocked lake trout.

Journal of Great Lakes Research↗
USGS1993

Growth-temperature relation for young-of-the-year ruffe

The ruffe ( Gymnocephalus cernuus ) was accidentally introduced into the Great Lakes basin from Eurasia and has established a breeding population in the St. Louis River, a major tributary to western Lake Superior. We captured young-of-the-year ruffe in the St. Louis River; acclimated groups of 90-91 fish to test temperatures of 7, 10, 15, 20, and 25&deg;C; and fed them ad libitum for 42 days at those temperatures. Ruffe grew at all five temperatures, but the optimum temperature for growth was about 21&deg;C. Because the optimum temperature for growth of walleye ( Stizostedion vitreum ), sauger ( Stizoste-dion canadense ), and yellow perch ( Perca flavescens ) is about 22&deg;C, ruffe will probably attempt to share their thermal habitat. A recent survey of the St. Louis River revealed that yellow perch and small forage fish declined sharply as ruffe abundance increased. A similar decline in yellow perch abundance in Lakes Michigan, Huron, and Erie would seriously affect the fisheries in these lakes.

Journal of Great Lakes Research↗