Cooperative Agreement for Affiliated Partner with Great Rivers Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU partner for research addressing the ecology, behavior, population dynamics, and resource management of fish across the Great Lakes basin and their tributary systems. The Great Lakes constitute the largest system of freshwater lakes on Earth and support exceptionally diverse native fish assemblages of significant ecological, economic, and cultural importance. These systems are subject to ongoing and interacting environmental stressors, including habitat alteration, invasive species, nutrient loading, and contaminants. Decades of management efforts have produced measurable improvements at many sites, yet substantial knowledge gaps remain in our understanding of fish population responses to these stressors and to restoration and remediation actions. Sound, science-based management of Great Lakes fish resources requires robust, current, and spatially explicit data on fish ecology across all five lakes and their connected tributary networks.

USGS Columbia Environmental Research Center (CERC) has been tasked with developing a cooperative research program capable of addressing a broad range of fish-related questions across the Great Lakes basin. Research may span individual lakes or tributary systems and may address topics including, but not limited to, population connectivity, movement ecology, habitat selection, community dynamics, behavioral ecology, and restoration effectiveness. Data analysis, reporting, and conceptual development of assessment approaches under this agreement will advance understanding of current environmental conditions across the Great Lakes basin and support evidence-based management and recovery planning over the next five years.