The natural resource stewardship program is the principle means through which the national park service (NPS) evaluates and improves the health of watersheds, landscapes, and marine and coastal…

This $260,079 Cooperative Agreement award from the National Park Service (NPS) under the Natural Resource Stewardship program (CFDA 15.944) supports research and monitoring to better understand how changes in Lake Michigan, such as invasive species and climate change, are impacting the ecosystem. The main objectives are to monitor the chemistry and biota of Lake Michigan to assess how invasive quagga mussels and round gobies may be altering the food web and promoting nuisance algal growth. This information will help guide decisions related to nutrient management and fisheries in Lake Michigan. The award period runs from September 2024 through June 2026, with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee serving as the prime awardee.

The natural resource stewardship program is the principle means through which the national park service (NPS) evaluates and improves the health of watersheds, landscapes, and marine and coastal resources, sustains biological communities on the lands and waters in parks, and actively endeavors to improve the resiliency of these natural resources and adapt them to the effects of climate change. To carry out and further this stewardship responsibility, NPS implements programs that encompass a broad range of research, operational, and educational activities by utilizing park personnel and contractor support or page 4 of 4 cooperative agreements. Lake michigan has experienced large changes in the composition of its biotic community over the past several decades due largely to the establishment of invasive species such as zebra and quagga mussels and the round goby. IT has also experienced changes in climate resulting in gradual warming of the lake along with large fluctuations in lake level. These changes have significantly altered how the lake michigan ecosystem functions. For example nuisance algae have become a bigger problem in the nearshore zone and this may in part be responsible for the frequent outbreaks of avian botulism that have occurred. The main objectives of this project are to monitor how the chemistry and biota of lake michigan are responding to these ongoing changes. In particular we are improving our understanding of how invasive quagga mussels may be promoting the growth of nuisance algae and how their presence along with the presence of the invasive round goby have altered the structure of the food web of lake michigan. This information will be used to guide decisions related to nutrient especially phosphorus inputs to lake michigan and fisheries management.beneficiaries include the general public.