Coordinating Conservation in the St. Clair-Detroit River System Steven Francoeur Eastern Michigan University
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University of Windsor Scholarship at UWindsor State of the Strait Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research 2016 State of the Strait: Coordinating Conservation in the St. Clair-Detroit River System Steven Francoeur Eastern Michigan University Jan Ciborowski University of Windsor John Gannon USGS Great Lakes Science Center Donna Kashian Wayne State University Katherine Kahl The Nature Conservancy Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/softs Recommended Citation Francoeur, Steven; Ciborowski, Jan; Gannon, John; Kashian, Donna; and Kahl, Katherine. (2016). State of the Strait: Coordinating Conservation in the St. Clair-Detroit River System. https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/softs/6 This Report is brought to you for free and open access by the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research at Scholarship at UWindsor. It has been accepted for inclusion in State of the Strait by an authorized administrator of Scholarship at UWindsor. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Coordinating Conservation in the St. Clair-Detroit River System 2016 Cover Photo Credits: Jerry Jourdan (Spiderweb at the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge - Humbug Unit, August 2015), Mike Grosso (Seagull and ship passing by Belanger Park - River Rouge, Michigan, November 2015), US Fish and Wildlife Service (Sunrise and Humbug Marsh - Detroit River, June 2015), Michigan Sea Grant (Sturgeon, December 2001). State of the Strait: Coordinating Conservation in the St. Clair-Detroit River System 2016 Edited by: Steven Francoeur, Eastern Michigan University; Jan Ciborowski, University of Windsor; John Gannon, USGS Great Lakes Science Center (ret.); Donna Kashian, Wayne State University; and Katherine Kahl, The Nature Conservancy Based on the 2015 State of the Strait Conference held at Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA Suggested citation: Francoeur, S., J. Ciborowski, J. Gannon, D. Kashian and K. Kahl, eds. 2016. State of the Strait: Coordinating Conservation in the St. Clair-Detroit River System. Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, Occasional Publication No. 9, University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada ISSN 1715-3980 Report also available at: www.stateofthestrait.org Acknowledgements The biennial State of the Strait Conference is a collaborative effort of numerous Canadian and U.S. agencies, institutions, and organizations. Any binational effort covering such a broad scope, by nature, requires considerable collaboration and many contributions. The 2015 State of the Strait Conference and this report would not be possible without the generous support of our many sponsors. We gratefully acknowledge the following supporters: • Detroit River Canadian Cleanup • Eastern Michigan University • Environment Canada • Friends of the Detroit River • International Joint Commission, Great Lakes Regional Office • International Wildlife Refuge Alliance • Michigan Department of Environmental Quality • University of Michigan-Dearborn • University of Windsor • U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service • Wayne State University The management and direction of this project was handled by the State of the Strait Steering Committee made up of the following members: • Raj Bejankiwar, International Joint Commission • Mary Bohling, Michigan Sea Grant • Jan Ciborowski, University of Windsor, Conference Co-Chair • Anna Cook, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service • Jesse Gardner-Costa, University of Windsor • Richard Drouin, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources • Steve Francoeur, Eastern Michigan University, Conference Co-Chair • John Gannon, USGS Great Lakes Science Center (retired) • Orin Gelderloos, University of Michigan-Dearborn • John Hartig, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service • Katherine Kahl, The Nature Conservancy • Donna Kashian, Wayne State University • Ethan Lowenstein, Eastern Michigan University • Greg Norwood, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service i • Bill Parkus, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments • Claire Sanders, Detroit River Canadian Cleanup • Chad Segrist, Detroit Institute of Technology • Michelle Selzer, Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment • Katherine Stammler, Essex Region Conservation Authority • Lisa Voelker, Eastern Michigan University • Bill Welsh, Eastern Michigan University • YichunXie, Eastern Michigan University We would also like to extend our gratitude to those who shared their data and research through presentations, posters, displays and discussions. Their thought- provoking work was key to the overall success of the conference, as well as essential to our understanding of the current status of the St. Clair-Detroit River system. In addition, we would like to take all those who attended the conference, including local citizens, environmental and conservation organizations, researchers, students, and government and industry representatives who all played an important role in the success of the conference. Special thanks are extended to Meg Castro, Eastern Michigan University Event Planning Office, and the student volunteers from Eastern Michigan University’s Biology Department for their assistance with the conference. ii Table of Contents Acknowledgements 1.0) Introduction ....................................................................................................1-1 2.0) Summary and Recommendations ...................................................................2-1 3.0) Keynote Address and Session Abstracts 3.1) Keynote Address – Great Lakes Blue Accounting - Delivering Information, Supporting Collaboration (Steve Cole)...................................3-1 3.2) Lake Erie’s Biodiversity Conservation Strategy (Luca Cargnelli) ...........3-7 3.3) The St Clair Detroit River System Initiative: The Collective Impact, the Common Agenda and a Thriving Ecosystem (St. Clair – Detroit River Steering Committee, presented by Richard Drouin) ....................................................................................3-13 3.4) Developing a Shared Vision for Coastal Conservation in Western Lake Erie (Douglas R. Pearsall, Katherine J. Kahl, Gust Annis, Patrick J. Doran, ChrisMayand and Dave Ewert) ....................3-19 3.5) The Upper Midwest and Great Lakes Landscape Conservation Cooperative and Coastal Wetland Landscape Conservation Design (Bradley Potter) ........................................................................................ 3-27 3.6) Assessment of Nutrient/Eutrophication Dynamics in Western Lake Erie (Sandra Kosek-Sills) ...................................................3-33 3.7) EPA National Coastal Condition Assessment (Elizabeth Hinchey Malloy, David Bolgrien)...............................................................................3-43 3.8) Linking Historical Studies and Biological Inventories to Evaluate Current Biodiversity and Improve Wetland Management in the St. Clair-Detroit River System (Dennis Albert, Helen Enander and Donald Uzarski) ..................................................................................3-45 3.9) An Update on the American and Canadian Status of Beneficial Use Impairments in the Detroit and St. Clair River Areas of Concern (Melanie Foose, Claire Sanders and Donna Strang) ..................................3-51 3.10) A multi-chemical hazard metric predicts chironomid abundance in the Detroit River (Ken G. Drouillard, Kerry N. McPhedran, Alice Grgicak-Mannion, Joseph Lafontaine, Gord Paterson, Ted Briggs, Jan J.H. Ciborowski, and G. Douglas Haffner) ...........................................3-59 iii 3.11) Fish Habitat Restoration Efforts in the St. Clair-Detroit River System: with emphasis on Lake Sturgeon (Justin Chiotti, Bruce Manny, Ed Roseman, Greg Kennedy, Jaquelyn Craig, James Boase, David Bennion, Jennifer Read, Lynn Vaccaro, Richard Drouin, Rosanne Ellison, Mike Thomas, Todd Wills and Mary Bohling) ......................................................................................3-67 3.12) Grass Carp Habitat Suitability, Establishment and Movement in the Detroit – St. Clair River Corridor (Edward Rutherford, Rochelle Sturtevant, Nicholas Mandrak, Aaron Thompson, Andrew Kramer, Marion Wittmann, Patrick Kočovský, Holly Embke, Christine Mayer, Song Qian, Travis Brenden, Charles Krueger, Cleyo Harris and Christopher Vandergoot) ......................3-73 4.0) Panelists.............................................................................................................4-1 5.0) State of the Strait Poster Presentation Abstracts ..............................................5-1 6.0) State of the Strait Conference Program ...........................................................6-1 iv 1.0 Introduction The State of the Strait is a one-day conference held every two years that brings together government managers, researchers, students, environmental and conservation organizations, and concerned citizens from the United States and Canada to assess ecosystem status and provide advice to improve research, monitoring and management. Themes explored by past conferences include: status and trends of the Detroit River ecosystem (2001), monitoring for sound management (2004), status and trends of key indicators (2006), ecological benefits of habitat modification (2009), use of remote sensing and GIS in management (2011), and ecological endpoints and management targets (2013). The seventh biennial State of the Strait conference was held on December 9, 2015 at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The theme for the 2015 conference was “Coordinating Conservation in the St. Clair-Detroit