Great Lakes Fishery Commission

Theme overview

To understand energy and nutrient dynamics in Great Lakes food webs and the role of food web members in structuring resilient communities and ecosystems.

Knowledge gaps in energy and nutrient dynamics of large lake ecosystems

Flow into System	Structural attributes	Importance of macroalgae as a basal resource in the nearshore habitat
		Contributions of nutrients inputs to ecosystem and fish production
	Natural processes	Impacts of long-term temporal changes in dietary quality of basal resources
	Human modifiers	Impacts of land use and climate change on energy and nutrient inputs
Flow within habitats	Structural attributes	Drivers of offshore fish community production
		Energy and nutrient dynamics within connecting channels and tributaries , and impacts of these flows on near- and offshore lentic food-web structure
		Role of microbial food-web structure in the dynamics of higher trophic levels
		Contribution of the deep chlorophyll layer to production, compensation, or both in the pelagic food web
		Role of the benthic community in nearshore water quality and food web dynamics
	Natural processes	Implications of density-dependent top-down effects of planktivore grazing and piscivore predation on ecosystem function and adaptive capacity
		Drivers of changes in zooplankton community structure and impacts of these changes on food-web structure and adaptive capacity of the system
		Impacts of reduced prey fish diversity and density on the adaptive capacity of the nearshore, pelagic, and profundal habitats
		Impacts of changing seasonal phytoplankton community dynamics (biomass, abundance, species composition) on upper trophic level production
		Applicability of research on nearshore pathway energy and nutrient flows in embayments to areas of open shoreline
	Human modifiers	Effects of non-native planktivores on trophic structure of pelagic and profundal energy pathways
		Impacts of harmful algal blooms on food webs
Flow among habitats	Structural attributes	Spatial and temporal variation in magnitude and direction of energy and nutrient flows among habitat compartments
		Magnitude, mechanisms, and importance of inter-basin coupling
	Natural processes	Changes in coupling among habitat compartments (i.e., magnitude and direction of energetic and nutrient linkages) over time
		Drivers of carbon cycling between near- and offshore habitats. Do increased nearshore signals represent increased nearshore movement by consumers or increased offshore movement by prey?
		Role of mussel veligers as prey for larval fishes
		Contribution of winter energy dynamics, including coupling by mobile consumers, to food-web structure
		Mechanisms behind fluctuating abundance of small benthic fishes (e.g., sculpins)
		Spatiotemporal patterns and rates of transport of particle associated substances from nearshore to offshore
		Impacts of changes in abundance of mobile or migratory fishes on nearshore productivity
		Changes in phenology of energy subsidies (i.e., climactic influences on spawning run timing)
	Human modifiers	Impacts of hypoxia on fish movement and coupling among habitats
		Role of native as compared to non-native benthic fishes as energy vectors between nearshore and offshore profundal habitats

Theme paper

McMeans, B. C., K. S. McCann, T. D. Tunney, A. T. Fisk, A. Muir, N. Lester, B. Shuter, and N. Rooney. 2016. The adaptive capacity of lake food webs: from individuals to ecosystems. Ecological Monographs 86(1): 4-19

Ives, J.T., B.C. McMeans, K.S. McCann, A.T. Fisk, T.B. Johnson, D.B. Bunnell, K.T. Frank. & A.M. Muir. 2019. Food-web structure and ecosystem function in the Laurentian Great Lakes – Toward a conceptual model. Freshwater Biology, 1-23

Theme leaders

Theme leaders are available to be contacted to discuss potential research proposals and their relevance to theme area priorities.

Relevant resources

A complete list of completion reports and scientific papers resulting from this theme can be found in the Commission's publication database.