The Great Lakes:An Environmental History

Great Lakes Science Center

Jeffrey S. Schaeffer

Great Lakes Science Center

1451 Green Rd.

Ann Arbor, MI 48105

The Great Lakes

A Primeval landscape

Vast wetlands,fisheries

Loss of Marshlands

The WellandCanal

FirstCommercial

Fishing

The loggingera

1800 1810 1823 1830 1850

The GreatBlack

Swamp

The great abundance of fish … is a daily manna, whichnever fails... Moreover, better fish can not be eaten, andthey are bathed and nourished in the purest water …you could see anywhere.

Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac (1658-1730)

There were a lot of fish

No quantitativeestimates

Many anecdotalaccounts

High catches usingprimitive methods

Wetlands

Agricultural dikes

The Great Black Swamp

Wetland Drainage

Saginaw Bay, early 1800’sData from Mackay,Lake Huron GIS project

WetlandForestWet Prairie

Saginaw Bay, 1983Data from Mackay,Lake Huron GIS project

WetlandForestWet Prairie

Ship Canals

Welland Canal: 1829

Dams

Whitewater, Ausable River

Circa 1910

Photo Courtesy of Troy Zorn,Michigan Dept. of NaturalResources

Dam Impacts- whitewater

Miles from River Mouth0 10 20 30 40 50

Elev

atio

n (fe

et)

450

500

550

600

650

700

NowThen

Dam Impacts: migration

Map courtesy of Troy Zorn,Michigan Dept. of NaturalResources

Watershed impacts: logging

Primeval Forests

Old Growth White Pine

Efficiency Rules

Log Drive at Grand Rapids

Michigan Grayling

A barren landscape

Fire!

The Great Peshtigo Fire

October 8, 1871

PeshtigoOctober 8, 1871

3,780,000 acres burned

Worst natural disaster in U.S.history in terms of loss of life(1500?)

Until Titanic, worst U.S.disaster from any cause

Why have you never heardabout this?

The Great Chicago Fire

October 8, 1871

First problems apparent

The GreatPeshtigo Fire

Swedes DiscoverLake Sturgeon

Spencer Baird’sBig Mistake

CommercialFishing

becomesIndustrialized

The BigSmelt Escape

1871 1880 1885 1900 1912

Lake Sturgeon

Lake Sturgeon landings

Year1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950

Land

ings

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

Spencer Baird’s Big Mistake

The Common Carp

Sport fishing

Commercial Fishing

Commercial Fishing

The big smelt escape of 1912

A wave of invaders

Sea lamprey inLake Erie

Lake Herring collapse

First fish kill fromPollution

Sea lampreyIn Lake Huron

SeaLampreys

everywhere

Alewivesproliferate

1921 1925 1932 1940 1949

Sea Lamprey

Year1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960

Land

ings

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

Lake trout landings

Alewife invades

Exploitation followed a pattern

High value Low value

A decade of change

HexageniaExtirpated

Nylon nets

Alewife ,Rainbow smelt

proliferate

Lake trout collapse

Blue PikeExtinct

AlewifeDominate

L. Michigan

1953 1955 1960 1962 1963

Notice anything?

Hexagenia extirpated

Nylon Nets

An Environmental Catastrophe!

MassiveAlewifeDie-off

Overfishing

CuyahogaRiver burns

Lake ErieDeclared

Dead

DDT LampreyControl

CleanWater

Act

1966 1967 1969 1970 1972

Alewife die-off

1960’s Pollution!

Lamprey control

Recovery!

Salmon surprise

EPA created

Walleyesreturn

SalmonControl

Alewives

Lake troutreturn

StillMore

walleyes

Sport FishingIndustrycreated

1972 1974 1976 1977 1979

Great Fishing

Salmon Surprise!

Invasions: round 2

White perch

EuropeanWaterflea

Zebramussels

Ruffegobies

1980 1985 1988 1989 1990

Non-Point

Sources

Ballast water introductions

Zebra mussels

Yet more invadersRound Goby Ruffe

Bythotrephes

Habitat Loss

• Wetland loss

• Dams

• Watershed changes

Overfishing

• Industrialization, technology advances

• Lack of regulation (sturgeon)

• Specific Exploitation pattern

Exotics

Introduced deliberately

Invaded through ship canals

ballast water introductions

Water quality

• Point sources• Nutrients, industrial wastes• Greatly reduced

• Non-point sources• Nutrients, toxics• May be worse than ever

Consequences

• Loss of Native Species

• Replacement by exotics

• Instability, fluctuating populations

Human Solutions

• Reaction• Money• Technology

Throw money at the problem …

Human Challenges

• Prevention• Restoration• Money• Technology

Help! We are being eaten by agiant Muskellunge!