A new research project at The Ohio State University is exploring how people’s behaviors play a role in influencing environmental conditions and ecosystem services in Lake Erie. These ecosystem services include drinking water, fish habitat, and tourism activities, among others. We are also examining how the lake’s conditions impact human views of the lake and land management decisions in the watershed.

Over the years, ecosystem services provided by Lake Erie have been impacted by human actions in the watershed. Examples include a reduction in phosphorus released by wastewater treatment plants, which improved water quality, and recent increases in phosphorus discharge that have decreased water quality and led to harmful algal blooms. Some of these impacts are expected to increase with a changing climate, as more intense rains transport nutrients and sediments downstream and cause reduced water clarity, increased harmful algal blooms, and a loss of high-value fish stocks. This project is designed to assess how people who live upstream from Lake Erie can offset negative impacts and preserve ecosystem services provided by the lake. Learn More

This four-year NSF-funded project is a partnership effort among six departments within The Ohio State University and Case Western Reserve University.

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