Advances in Wetland Science: Connecting the Land, Water, and People, Part II of II
Wetlands in the Great Lakes basin have immense ecological and cultural importance. They support diverse flora and fauna that are sensitive to deterioration in water quality, changes in land use, and ecological degradation. Resilient, healthy wetlands with biodiverse communities provide essential functions that protect water quality, sequester carbon and connect people and the land. Despite their importance, it is estimated that over 50% of the coastal wetlands of the Great Lakes have already been lost. Human development and high lake levels present an ongoing threat to those wetlands that remain. In this session, we will platform recent research into the functions and values of wetlands in the Great Lakes basin, from coastal marsh to riverine and isolated inland wetlands within the broader watershed. We will also highlight advances in monitoring and measurement, including efforts to harmonize data collection methods, better predict restoration outcomes, and develop community-based monitoring programs that interweave different ways of knowing. In recognition of the conference theme, we particularly encourage abstract submissions with a One Health perspective and research focused on the restoration, protection and/or management of culturally and traditionally important flora and fauna. Chaired by:Rebecca C Rooney, University of WaterlooAndrea Kirkwood, Ontario Tech UniversityCourtney D Robichaud, Carleton UniversityTyler Hampton, University of Waterloo
FishCAST x ACARE Workshop
This jointly run event by FishCAST (a NSERC Canada CREATE program) and AWIS (a program by African Centre for Aquatic Research and Education), we are planning a half-day workshop to offer a unique opportunity for networking, learning, and professional growth within the fisheries and aquatic sciences. We are thrilled to collaborate to help build local and global collaborations. The workshop aims to provide networking opportunities for you to engage with new and established researchers and science practitioners, gain insights from their experiences, explore shared research interests, and build your own professional networks. This is also an opportunity to inquire about research projects, seek advice on career development, or navigate academia with guidance from industry experts.
General Contributions: Fish & Fisheries
Chaired by:Geoffrey Chavula, Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences
Nutrient Export from Urban and Rural Watersheds to Large Lakes: Addressing the Diversity of Nutrient...Part I of II
Title: Nutrient Export from Urban and Rural Watersheds to Large Lakes: Addressing the Diversity of Nutrient Sources, Speciation and Transport Pathways, and Their In-Lake Biogeochemical Impacts Large lakes and their watersheds experience multiple and evolving stressors such as climate change, urbanization, deforestation, agricultural intensification, river damming, and shoreline development. The impacts resulting from these stressors are highly dynamic in nature creating complexities and uncertainties in characterizing the associated nutrient fluxes. For instance, estimating urban nutrient export loads and chemical speciation remain uncertain. Urban landscapes contribute to both point and non-point nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and other nutrients inputs to lakes, often with distinct characteristics in loads, bioavailability, and ratios compared to agricultural and industrial landscapes.This session focuses on enhancing our understanding of quantitative and qualitative characterization of the coupled biogeochemical cycling of nutrients (N, P, Si) in lakes and their watersheds employing various approaches, ranging from mechanistic to statistical and observational modeling, field and experimental studies, and machine learning. We invite contributions addressing the uncertainties of nutrient loads from agricultural and urban landscapes, relationships between nutrient speciation and loads and lake concentrations, upstream-downstream nutrient transport and within-lake inter-basin exchanges, nutrient cycling within lakes, particularly in nearshore zones, including exchanges between nearshore and offshore areas in the context of climate change. Chaired by: Serghei A Bocaniov, University of Waterloo Zahra Akbarzadeh, University of Waterloo Philippe Van Cappellen, University of Waterloo, Water Institute Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences Department of Biology
Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Lower Trophic Levels, Part I of II
Freshwater ecosystems of large lakes harbor a rich diversity of species and habitats and also provide critical resources to people. The lower food webs of these ecosystems can be degraded by numerous environmental stressors, habitat alteration, introduction of invasive species, and other factors. The structure and function of lower food webs in large lake systems, however, are not well understood due the large surface area and depth more common to marine ecosystems, great geographical distances with substantial morphological and habitat variations, and difficulties in differentiating long-term changes from inherent spatiotemporal variation. In this session we will examine the spatial and temporal dynamics, trajectory and long-term changes in lower food web changes across the large lakes. We invite talks on integrated physical, chemical and biological changes in large lake systems, issues associated with spatial and temporal processes in the lower food webs, connections across trophic levels, emerging techniques in monitoring, as well as on the use of long-term data series for understanding ecosystem changes in Great Lakes and other large lakes of the world. Chaired by:James M Watkins, Cornell University Lyubov E Burlakova, SUNY Buffalo State Alexander Y Karatayev, SUNY Buffalo State Euan D Reavie, U Minnesota Duluth NRRI
Sustainability of Great Lake Systems: A One Health, All Hands Approach
A new bi-national United Nations Center of Expertise for Sustainable Development was recently announced in the Great Lakes watershed jointly house with Wayne State University and The University of Windsor on the shores of the Detroit River. This session seeks to highlight and promote research aimed at ensuring the health of the Great Lakes ecosystem to meet the needs of future generations including sustainable fisheries, sustainable water supply and an ecosystem that supports sustainable life. Sustainable fisheries are inclusive of native practices and harvesting and stocking management in a way that meets our present needs without compromising the ability to meet our future needs. Sustainability will necessitate a one health approach that is a transdisciplinary, collaborative, multisectoral, inclusive, accessible and just for the people and resources of the Great Lakes. Chaired by:Donna R Kashian, Wayne State University Halima Salah, Wayne State University Nadia Harduar, University of Windsor Catherine Febria, University of Windsor
Toward a Resilient and Reciprocal Relationship Between Coregonines and Humans, Part II of II
The diversity of coregonines (ciscoes, whitefish) have historically promoted resilience and ecosystem services by connecting diverse energy pathways. For example, coregonines can be key prey to top predators and support valuable fisheries. In North America, these services preceded European settlement, as coregonines have long been of great cultural and socio-economic importance to Indigenous Peoples. Over the past century, however, overfishing, habitat loss, and interactions with introduced species have led to large losses in coregonine diversity and population abundance, leading to substantial declines in subsistence, commercial, and recreational fisheries. In many areas, there are consumption advisors for coregonines given high contaminant levels. Mitigation of stressors has improved ecosystem conditions in some areas, for example, reducing heavy metal contamination and limiting harvest pressure. Moreover, specific restoration and conservation efforts aimed at coregonines are now underway, with varying levels of success. In this session, we invite talks that share ongoing efforts to acquire knowledge (through Indigenous and western approaches) about the stressors affecting coregonine populations, ecosystem contributions of coregonines, and reciprocal relationships between coregonines and people. We also welcome talks that increase our understanding of coregonine ecology and their adaptive capacity for coping with future stressors. We invite talks from a continuum of ecosystems, including those that have few anthropogenic disturbances, that continue to be managed for subsistence, recreational or commercial fishing, that focus on potential risks of consumption and vulnerability to disadvantaged communities, and that have imperiled populations for which active conservation or restoration programs are planned or underway. Chaired by:David B Bunnell, USGS-Great Lakes Science CenterErin S Dunlop, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and ForestryRyan Lauzon, Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First NationJason B Smith, Bay Mills Indian Community
Urban Aquatic Ecosystems: Foes or Allies in the Conservation of the Laurentian Great Lakes?
The Great Lakes region is home for many densely populated urban areas. Such areas are often sources of pollutants to Great Lakes, manly through the discharge of stormwater. Cities often rely on complex drainage systems including natural and/or constructed semi aquatic-aquatic features that collect and, eventually, direct stormwater to be discharged into the Great Lakes. Such features can include wetlands, rain gardens, ponds, and streams/rivers. Despite their widespread use in stormwater management, we currently do not fully understand the ecology and socioeconomic dynamics of such features. This information is fundamental to evaluate the extent to which these features contribute to the conservation of the Great Lakes, providing information for better management. In this special session, we invite contributions from researchers in diverse fields (eg. ecology, evolution, sociology, humanities) focusing on better understanding urban aquatic ecosystems. We welcome a wide variety of approaches from chemical-, biogeochemical-, trait-, ecosystem-, landscape-based to social and cultural. We are especially interested in inter- and trans-disciplinary approaches that expose the socio-environmental nature of urban aquatic ecosystems. Chaired by:Piata Marques, University of Toronto ScarboroughEdina Illyes, University of Toronto ScarboroughErik Dean, University of Toronto Scarborough