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Development of a Benthic Macroinvertebrate Indicator of Great Lakes Nearshore Coastal Condition using 30 years of Monitoring Data
Citation:
Larson, C., Peg Pelletier, Matt Pawlowski, J. Paul, M. Nord, Jon Launspach, N. Grode, AND A. Hess. Development of a Benthic Macroinvertebrate Indicator of Great Lakes Nearshore Coastal Condition using 30 years of Monitoring Data. National Water Quality Monitoring Conference, Green Bay, WI, March 10 - 14, 2025. https://doi.org/10.23645/epacomptox.29521157
Impact/Purpose:
The Great Lakes are an important resource for communities and the environment, as the largest system of fresh water in the world. There are many threats to the health of the Great Lakes, including contaminants, habitat degradation, invasive species, and eutrophication. The National Coastal Condition Assessment (NCCA) of EPA’s National Aquatic Resource Surveys monitors the abiotic and biotic integrity of Great Lakes nearshore waters, including benthic macroinvertebrate communities. This macroinvertebrate indicator can potentially measure status, change, and trends in benthic condition across the Great Lakes, which allows for more informed management decisions by our regional partners.
Description:
The Great Lakes are an important resource for communities and the environment, as the largest system of fresh water in the world. There are many threats to the health of the Great Lakes, including contaminants, habitat degradation, invasive species, and eutrophication. The National Coastal Condition Assessment (NCCA) of EPA’s National Aquatic Resource Surveys monitors the abiotic and biotic integrity of Great Lakes nearshore waters, including benthic macroinvertebrate communities. Yet, despite the utility of macroinvertebrates as indicators of ecological integrity, there are no multimetric benthic macroinvertebrate indices developed for the nearshore waters of the Great Lakes. Therefore, we leveraged >30 years of monitoring datasets from multiple agencies including benthic assemblage data, autecology information, and associated habitat, landscape, and environmental attributes to develop multimetric indices for the Great Lakes nearshore. Macroinvertebrate community metrics for different ecotypes were correlated and ordinated across environmental gradients, such as dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll a, and turbidity, to develop candidate metrics. These metrics were statistically evaluated and validated using the 2020/2021 Great Lakes NCCA database. This macroinvertebrate indicator can potentially measure status, change, and trends in benthic condition across the Great Lakes, which allows for more informed management decisions. The views expressed in this presentation are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
URLs/Downloads:
DOI: Development of a Benthic Macroinvertebrate Indicator of Great Lakes Nearshore Coastal Condition using 30 years of Monitoring Data
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