Round Goby-Dreissenid Mussel Community Ecology in Western Lake Erie: Tenth Year of a Long-term Study
Project Number: R/NIS-111-ST, Progress Report
Start Date: 6/1/2007
Completion Date: 8/31/2007
Revision Date: 2/2/2009
| Principal Investigator(s) | 1. | Kenneth Baker, Heidelberg College |
Objectives
By the end of summer 2005, I'd compiled 9 years of Scuba-based data (125 dives) on round goby, zebra mussel and quagga mussel abundances at a set of nearshore study sites by Kelleys, South Bass and West Sister Islands (and a few years of data on several western basin reefs). I'd very much hoped to complete the tenth year of this long-term study during summer 2006, but other obligations prevented me from doing so. I would like to be able to cap the study with that tenth year this coming summer. To date, almost all of my data has been collected in mid-late summer. it would be interesting to run a comparison of mussel species abundances and size distributions on sample rocks collected in early and late summer. That's my intent in also seeking support for two days of diving in late May (or early June if May diving dates are unavailable).
Rationale
It’s no exaggeration to say that zebra mussels, quagga mussels and the round have restructured the aquatic ecosystems of Lake Erie. While fine studies have contributed to our understanding of the complex effects of these species’ presence in the lake, I believe that I have developed a unique collection of data documenting changes in their distributions, abundances and age-structures over the past decade. Although I’ve presented preliminary results at several research conferences over the years, my work remains unpublished and largely unknown. It is my goal to complete the tenth year of research on this system, to finish the analyses of my data and to publish and present my results
Methodology
My August dives have been standardized for some time. I survey four dive locations by Kelleys Island, six by South Bass and two by West Sister. At each study site, a student assistant (a certified open water diver) and I determine goby abundances for fish in 5 size classes along a 40 x 2 m2 transect situated in 9-12 ft of water. I next estimate percent coverage of hard surfaces by mussels at forty-one 1 x 0.1 m2 sampling quadrats stationed along the transect line. Finally, three mussel-encrusted rocks are brought to the surface. From each rock I remove and preserve all mussels from a 10 x 2.5 cm2 strip for later evaluation of abundances and size distributions of quagga and zebra mussels. I would like to stay at Stone Lab for the first two full weeks in August (beginning Aug 5), with the intention of getting in the diving—as weather conditions allow. Experience suggests six 8-hr diving days (allowing for travel time) should cover the work. If the "Visiting Scientist" program still exists, I'd be interested in being considered for those two weeks at the Lab. For the proposed two dive days in late May, I would only collect sample rocks for analysis from each of the sites, rather than to run the whole transect surveys.
