TY - JOUR
T1 - Influence of lake levels on water extent, interspersion, and marsh birds in Great Lakes coastal wetlands
AU - Hohman, Tara
AU - Gehring, Thomas M
N1 - Funding Information:
We acknowledge the many contributions made by those involved with the Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Monitoring Program, including Valerie Brady, Donald Uzarski, Matthew Cooper, Jennifer Jung, Todd Redder, and field team coordinators and students. We are indebted to Christopher Houghton and Michael Stiefvater for guidance with GIS. The Cofrin Center for Biodiversity at University of Wisconsin-Green Bay provided help through Kimberlee McKeefry and other staff. As well as our gratitude to Doug Wilcox and anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and support in this endeavor. Support for the project came from the Long Point Waterfowl and Wetlands Research Program of Birds Canada, SC Johnson, The Bluff’s Hunting Club, and the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative through the Great Lakes National Program Office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, under grant numbers GL-00E00612-0 and 00E01567. Although the research described in this work has been partly funded by the U.S. EPA, it has not been subjected to the agency's required peer and policy review and therefore does not necessarily reflect the views of the agency and no official endorsement should be inferred.
Funding Information:
We acknowledge the many contributions made by those involved with the Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Monitoring Program, including Valerie Brady, Donald Uzarski, Matthew Cooper, Jennifer Jung, Todd Redder, and field team coordinators and students. We are indebted to Christopher Houghton and Michael Stiefvater for guidance with GIS. The Cofrin Center for Biodiversity at University of Wisconsin-Green Bay provided help through Kimberlee McKeefry and other staff. As well as our gratitude to Doug Wilcox and anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and support in this endeavor. Support for the project came from the Long Point Waterfowl and Wetlands Research Program of Birds Canada, SC Johnson, The Bluff's Hunting Club, and the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative through the Great Lakes National Program Office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, under grant numbers GL-00E00612-0 and 00E01567. Although the research described in this work has been partly funded by the U.S. EPA, it has not been subjected to the agency's required peer and policy review and therefore does not necessarily reflect the views of the agency and no official endorsement should be inferred.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Coastal wetlands in the Laurentian Great Lakes undergo frequent, sometimes dramatic, physical changes at varying spatial and temporal scales. Changes in lake levels and the juxtaposition of vegetation and open water greatly influence biota that use coastal wetlands. Several regional studies have shown that changes in vegetation and lake levels lead to predictable changes in the composition of coastal wetland bird communities. We report new findings of wetland bird community changes at a broader scale, covering the entire Great Lakes basin. Our results indicate that water extent and interspersion increased in coastal wetlands across the Great Lakes between low (2013) and high (2018) lake-level years, although variation in the magnitude of change occurred within and among lakes. Increases in water extent and interspersion resulted in a general increase in marsh-obligate and marsh-facultative bird species richness. Species like American bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus), common gallinule (Gallinula galeata), American coot (Fulica americana), sora (Porzana carolina), Virginia rail (Rallus limicola), and pied-billed grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) were significantly more abundant during high water years. Lakes Huron and Michigan showed the greatest increase in water extent and interspersion among the five Great Lakes while Lake Michigan showed the greatest increase in marsh-obligate bird species richness. These results reinforce the idea that effective management, restoration, and assessment of wetlands must account for fluctuations in lake levels. Although high lake levels generally provide the most favorable conditions for wetland bird species, variation in lake levels and bird species assemblages create ecosystems that are both spatially and temporally dynamic.
AB - Coastal wetlands in the Laurentian Great Lakes undergo frequent, sometimes dramatic, physical changes at varying spatial and temporal scales. Changes in lake levels and the juxtaposition of vegetation and open water greatly influence biota that use coastal wetlands. Several regional studies have shown that changes in vegetation and lake levels lead to predictable changes in the composition of coastal wetland bird communities. We report new findings of wetland bird community changes at a broader scale, covering the entire Great Lakes basin. Our results indicate that water extent and interspersion increased in coastal wetlands across the Great Lakes between low (2013) and high (2018) lake-level years, although variation in the magnitude of change occurred within and among lakes. Increases in water extent and interspersion resulted in a general increase in marsh-obligate and marsh-facultative bird species richness. Species like American bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus), common gallinule (Gallinula galeata), American coot (Fulica americana), sora (Porzana carolina), Virginia rail (Rallus limicola), and pied-billed grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) were significantly more abundant during high water years. Lakes Huron and Michigan showed the greatest increase in water extent and interspersion among the five Great Lakes while Lake Michigan showed the greatest increase in marsh-obligate bird species richness. These results reinforce the idea that effective management, restoration, and assessment of wetlands must account for fluctuations in lake levels. Although high lake levels generally provide the most favorable conditions for wetland bird species, variation in lake levels and bird species assemblages create ecosystems that are both spatially and temporally dynamic.
M3 - Article
SN - 0380-1330
VL - 47
SP - 534
EP - 545
JO - Journal of Great Lakes Research
JF - Journal of Great Lakes Research
ER -
