**ABSTRACT NOT FOR CITATION WITHOUT AUTHOR PERMISSION. The title, authors, and abstract for this completion report are provided below. For a copy of the full completion report, or with questions, please contact the GLFC via email at stp@glfc.org or via telephone at 734-662-3209.**
Great Lakes ECOPATH Modeling
Workshops
1USGS
Great Lakes Science Center Lake Erie Biological Station, 6100 Columbus Avenue,
Sandusky, Ohio 44870
2USGS
Great Lakes Science Center, 1451 Green Road, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48105
December 2011
ABSTRACT:
The Great Lakes Fishery Commission granted Science
Transfer funds totaling $9600 to support Great Lakes ecosystem modeling
workshops with focus on the Ecopath with Ecosim modeling software.
Ecopath with Ecosim was
chosen because there were either published models or models under development
for all Laurentian Great Lakes using this software. We held two workshops during 28 Feb – 1 Mar
and 12-13 July, 2011. Primary goals of
the workshops were to 1) identify and explore common challenges to ecosystem
modeling across the Great Lakes and 2) identify common patterns across the
Great Lakes ecosystems. Workshop
attendees were affiliated with multiple universities and federal and state
agencies from Canada and the U.S. The
grant provided funding for attendant lodging and meals during workshops with
other travel money available in cases where management agency budgets limited
travel. The grant also provided funding
for two invited ecosystem modeling experts to demonstrate new capabilities and
innovative approaches to ecosystem modeling.
Workshop outcomes included the formation of a cooperative group of Great
Lakes ecosystem modelers, progress on the development of a robust method for
modeling invasive species in time-dynamic ecosystem models, and new knowledge
of tools available for making ecosystem models useful to resource management.