Cover photos: Landsat 7 satellite image of western Lake Erie Basin and Detroit River corridor provided by USGS Landsat Project; Upper left: angler with walleye (Sander vitreus) by Jim Barta; Middle left: lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) by Glenn Ogilvie; Lower left: Hexagenia by Lynda Corkum; Center: lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) by James Boase/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Lower right: juvenile peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) by Craig Koppie/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Bottom left: bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) by Steve Maslowski/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

STATE OF THE STRAIT

STATUS AND TRENDS OF KEY INDICATORS

Edited by: John H. Hartig, Michael A. Zarull, Jan J.H. Ciborowski, John E. Gannon,

Emily Wilke, Greg Norwood, and Ashlee Vincent

2007

STATE OF THE STRAITSTATUS AND TRENDS OF KEY INDICATORS

2007

Edited by:

John H. Hartig, U.S. Fish and Wildlife ServiceMichael A. Zarull, Environment Canada

Jan J.H. Ciborowski, University of WindsorJohn E. Gannon, International Joint Commission

Emily Wilke, Southwest Michigan Land ConservancyGreg Norwood, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Ashlee Vincent, University of Windsor

Based on the Detroit River-Western Lake Erie Indicator Project, a three-year U.S.-Canada effort to compile and summarize long-term trend data, and the

2006 State of the Strait Conference held in Flat Rock, Michigan

Suggested citation: Hartig, J.H., M.A. Zarull, J.J.H. Ciborowski, J.E. Gannon, E. Wilke, G. Norwood, and A. Vincent, eds. 2007.

State of the Strait: Status and Trends of Key Indicators. Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, Occasional Publication No. 5,

University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada. ISSN 1715-3980

Report also available at: www.StateoftheStrait.org

www.epa.gov/med/grosseile_site/indicators/index.html

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface ............................................................................................................. i

Acknowledgements ......................................................................................... ii

1.0) Executive Summary ................................................................................. 1

2.0) Introduction ............................................................................................ 4

3.0) Comprehensive and Integrative Assessment ........................................... 8

3.1) Pollution Prevention/Control and Evidence of Improved Environmental Quality ..........................................................................................................8

3.1.1) Oil Pollution ..................................................................................13

3.1.2) Municipal Waste ...........................................................................13

3.1.3) Phosphorus and Eutrophication ................................................... 14

3.1.4) Chloride ........................................................................................ 14

3.1.5) Persistent Toxic Substances ........................................................... 14

3.1.6) Contaminated Sediment ...............................................................15

3.2) Ecological Recovery ....................................................................................15

3.2.1) Bald Eagles………………………………………………………..……... ..........15

3.2.2) Peregrine Falcons ..........................................................................16

3.2.3) Walleye and the Walleye Fishery ..................................................16

3.2.4) Lake Sturgeon ...............................................................................16

3.2.5) Lake Whitefish .............................................................................. 17

3.2.6) Mayflies ......................................................................................... 17

3.3) Key Environmental and Natural Resource Challenges and Priority Management Actions ................................................................................ 17

3.3.1) Population Growth, Transportation Expansion, and Land Use Changes ......................................................................................... 17

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3.3.2) Nonpoint Source Pollution ................................................................19

3.3.3) Toxic Substances Contamination .......................................................22

3.3.4) Habitat Loss and Degradation............................................................22

3.3.5) Introduction of Exotic Species ...........................................................24

3.3.6) Greenhouse Gases and Global Warming ...........................................25

3.4) Priority Research/Monitoring Needs ...............................................................27

3.4.1) Demonstrate and Quantify Cause-Effect Relationships .....................27

3.4.2) Establish Quantitative Endpoints and Desired Future States ..........27

3.4.3) Determine Cumulative Impacts and How Indicators Relate .............28

3.4.4) Further Modeling and Prediction ......................................................28

3.4.5) Prioritize Areas for Protection and Restoration ................................28

3.4.6) Foster Long-Term Monitoring for Adaptive Management ................28

3.5) Concluding Thoughts and Recommendations ................................................28

4.0) Literature Cited ........................................................................................... 31

5.0) Appendix A .................................................................................................. 33

5.1) State of the Strait Conference Program – December 5, 2006 ..........................34

5.2) State of the Strait Conference Session Summaries ..........................................36

Land Use, Transportation, Population and Human Health Session Summary ............................................................................................................36

Wildlife and Habitat Session Summary ............................................................38

Fish and Invertebrate Session Summary ........................................................... 41

Contaminants Session Summary ......................................................................43

6.0) Appendix B .................................................................................................. 47

6.1) Pressure Indicators

Human Population Growth and Distribution in Southeast Michigan ............52

Land Use Change in Southeast Michigan ........................................................57

Transportation Trends in Southeast Michigan ...............................................63

Phosphorus Loads and Concentrations from the Maumee River ...................68

Michigan’s Carbon Emissions ..........................................................................75

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Oil Pollution of the Detroit and Rouge Rivers ................................................78

Lake Erie Shoreline Hardening in Lucas and Ottawa Counties, Ohio ...........85

6.2) State Indicators

Lake Erie Water Levels ......................................................................................92

Water Clarity in Western Lake Erie ..................................................................99

Lake Erie Ice Cover .........................................................................................102

Phosphorus Concentrations in the Western Basin of Lake Erie ....................105

Chloride Levels in Western Lake Erie Water Samples Collected from the Monroe Water Intake ...................................................................................... 111

Dissolved Oxygen Levels in the Rouge River .................................................. 116

Contaminants in Western Lake Erie Sediments ............................................. 121

Criteria Air Pollutants in Southeast Michigan................................................126

Contaminants in Western Lake Erie Fish Community ..................................136

Mercury in Lake St. Clair Walleye ..................................................................143

Contaminants in Herring Gull Eggs ...............................................................146

Algal Blooms in Western Lake Erie ................................................................ 151

Plankton Communities ...................................................................................156

Recovery of Wild Celery .................................................................................160

Reestablishment of Long-Absent Aquatic Macrophytes in Western Lake Erie ..........................................................................................................163

Detroit River Coastal Wetlands ...................................................................... 172

Invasion of the Erie Marsh Preserve by Common Reed (Phragmites australis) Over the Last 20 Years ..................................................................................... 177

Hexagenia Density and Distribution in the Detroit River ............................... 181

Abundance of Burrowing Mayflies in the Western Basin of Lake Erie ..........189

Chironomid Abundance and Deformities ......................................................193

Oligochaete Densities and Distribution ..........................................................199

Invasion of Zebra Mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) and Quagga Mussels (Dreissena bugensis) ............................................................................................205

Yellow Perch Population .................................................................................. 212

Lake Whitefish Spawning ................................................................................ 216

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Lake Sturgeon Population ...............................................................................221

The Walleye Population of Lake Erie ..............................................................226

Canvasback Population in Lake St. Clair/Detroit River/Western Lake Erie Basin .........................................................................................................230

Common Tern Reproduction .........................................................................234

Double-crested Cormorant Population Changes ............................................239

Detroit River Christmas Bird Count ..............................................................243

Rockwood, Michigan Christmas Bird Count – Overwintering Bird Count Fluctuations ......................................................................................... 247

Fall Raptor Migration at Holiday Beach Conservation Area, Amherstburg, Ontario ............................................................................................................253

Fall Raptor Migration over Lake Erie Metropark ............................................259

Peregrine Falcon Reproduction in Southeast Michigan .................................263

Bald Eagle Reproductive Success.....................................................................267

Asthma Hospitalization Rates in Wayne County, Michigan .......................... 276

Lead Poisoning in Detroit, Michigan ..............................................................281

West Nile Virus in Michigan ...........................................................................288

6.3) Response Indicators

Phosphorus Discharges from Detroit Wastewater Treatment Plant ..............294

Combined Sewer Overflow Controls in Southeast Michigan .......................297

Contaminated Sediment Remediation ..........................................................305

Land Conservation for Wildlife in the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge ...............................................................................................309

Southeast Michigan Greenway Trails ............................................................. 312