ABSTRACTS Presented by IAGLR Virtual | March 9–11, 2021 International Association for Great Lakes Research ABSTRACTS 2021 State of Lake Ontario Conference Presented by IAGLR Virtual | March 9–11, 2021 © 2021 International Association for Great Lakes Research 4840 South State Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48108 iaglr.org CONTENTS CONTENTS ...............................................................................................................................5 ABSTRACTS ...............................................................................................................................5 A .............................................................................................................................................5 B .............................................................................................................................................7 C ...........................................................................................................................................12 D ...........................................................................................................................................15 E ...........................................................................................................................................17 F ............................................................................................................................................18 G ...........................................................................................................................................22 H ...........................................................................................................................................24 J ............................................................................................................................................29 K ...........................................................................................................................................31 L ............................................................................................................................................32 M ..........................................................................................................................................37 N ...........................................................................................................................................43 O ...........................................................................................................................................44 P ...........................................................................................................................................45 R ...........................................................................................................................................47 S ............................................................................................................................................52 T ...........................................................................................................................................57 U ...........................................................................................................................................59 V ...........................................................................................................................................59 W ..........................................................................................................................................59 X ...........................................................................................................................................62 Y ...........................................................................................................................................62 ABSTRACTS An alphabetical listing of abstracts presented at the 2021 State of Lake Ontario Conference, organized by first author. Presenters are underlined. A ALIPOUR PARVIZIAN, B., ZHOU, C., FERNANDO, S., CRIMMINS, B., HOPKE, P., HOLSEN, T., Clarkson University. Concentration and Temporal trend (1978-2016) of Hexaboromocyclododecane (HBCDD) in fish tissues from the Great Lakes. Hexaboromocyclododecane (HBCDD) is a brominated flame retardant (BFR) that is commonly used as part of building insulation and in many common household items. The global production volume of this BFR reported to be 600,000 tons per year in 2001. Due to the toxic and persistent nature of this compound multiple regulatory agencies have started to monitor there levels in the environment and food. Therefore, as a part of Great Lakes Fish Monitoring and Surveillance Program (GLFMSP), total HBCDD (∑HBCDD) concentrations and temporal trends in homogenized whole fish samples from the Great Lakes region (1978 to 2016) were determined. Both increasing and decreasing trends were observed for the region, indicating the impact of atmosphere transport both globally and locally, food web change, and climate change in trend of this compound. ANDERSON, A., MEYER, J., MUGALINGHAM, S., MIDLANE-JONES, S., Lower Trent Conservation. Implementing the Proposed Long Term Phosphorus Management Strategy for the Bay of Quinte Area of Concern. A Phosphorus Management Strategy, as identified in the 2020 Draft Canada-Ontario Agreement, is being developed for the Bay of Quinte Area of Concern to continue to address harmful and nuisance algae. An important element of the proposed strategy is to reduce by at least 20%, the rural non-point phosphorus loads generated within focus areas in the watershed that have been identified through a watershed- based phosphorus loads model called SPARROW, as well as more refined sub-watershed based SWAT model. Field scale modelling has been completed in identified sub-watersheds to identify areas in the field that are prone to erosion. As the majority of the land is privately owned voluntary landowner stewardship is the best approach to achieve the reduced phosphorus loads. Voluntary landowner stewardship through education, public engagement, and cost sharing incentives help to foster a shared responsibility of environmental protection. Through the Bay of Quinte Remedial Action Plan, several programs are promoted to area residents. Programs include education and outreach on proper on-site sewage maintenance; collection of soil samples to assess soil nutrients; incentive funding to implement best management practices such as, planting cover crops and riparian buffers. Participants in the soil sampling program in the focus areas receive a large field scale map of the field showing among others: soil nutrient results, slopes, gullies modeled using DEM acquired through technologies such as LiDAR and/or point cloud cover associated with Ortho Photos; as well as estimated field erosion over a certain time span, again using above mentioned technology based DEMs acquired at two different times. This paper will illustrate the above-mentioned tools implemented in the rural land uses within focus areas for phosphorus reduction in the Bay of Quinte. ABSTRACTS 6 ARHONDITSIS, G., University of Toronto. A probabilistic assessment of the status of Areas of Concern in the Laurentian Great lakes: How far are we from delisting the Hamilton Harbour, Lake Ontario, Canada? Environmental policy analysis aims to identify the important drivers of degradation, elucidate sources of controversy, and put the necessary risk assessment tools in place to prepare for the unexpected. In this context, we reappraise the idea of probabilistic water quality criteria as a pragmatic way to accommodate the frequently experienced situation when the prevailing conditions may not always be favourable, even if the central tendency of the system is on par with what is defined as an acceptable ecosystem state. Our case study is the Hamilton Harbour, a large embayment located at the western end of Lake Ontario, with a long history of environmental pollution problems. Based on a probabilistic framework, our basic objective is to provide a comprehensive assessment of the current state of eutrophication and fish contamination in the system. Notwithstanding the significant improvements brought about by the remedial measures in the area, our analysis shows that the system continues to experience excessively high exceedance frequencies of the water quality goals as well as the consumption advisory PCB benchmarks of eight sport fish species examined. These results clearly suggest that the Hamilton Harbour is still a long way off from being delisted as an Area of Concern. While our modelling analysis does not negate -in principle- the optimism that the goal of restoring environmental health of the system is achievable, it cautions that there are many “ecological unknowns” that may determine the degree and timing of restoration. The present framework encapsulates one of the founding concepts of the Hamilton Harbour remediation, whereby management strategies and quality goals heavily rely on continuous research and monitoring and dynamically adapt to the contemporary changes of the ecological conditions. AWONAIKE, B., LEI, Y.D., PARAJULEE, A., MITCHELL, C., FRANK WANIA, F., University of Toronto, Scarborough. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Quinone Substituted Congeners in Urban and Rural Stormwater Run-off: Effects of Land Use and Storm Characteristics. We explored the significance of stormwater as a source of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)