2022 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Virtual Conference

March 13 - 15, 2022

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5/21/2018 | 10:00 AM - 10:15 AM | POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF TRIBUTARY LOADS ON COASTAL ECOSYSTEM SERVICES IN LAKE MICHIGAN | 430 B

POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF TRIBUTARY LOADS ON COASTAL ECOSYSTEM SERVICES IN LAKE MICHIGAN

Tributary nutrient loads degrade Great Lakes coastal ecosystems and services they provide, including drinking water, fisheries, and recreation. In Lake Michigan, open-lake phosphorus (P) concentrations are below mandated targets, but coastal concentrations are generally elevated due in part to agricultural and urban runoff. Here we use a three-dimensional hydrodynamic model of Lake Michigan to explicitly simulate the redistribution of tributary P loads within the lake from 2007-2010, and then assess their potential impacts on ecosystem services. Time-varying river inputs are based on observed flows and concentrations in 11 major tributaries, which collectively represent 70% of the total load. Elevated P loads during spring high-flows is trapped along the shoreline. In summer, lake stratification allows tributary plumes to spread offshore. By comparing maps of aggregate tributary loads and ecosystem services, we find that use of coastal waters for fishing and swimming may be particularly compromised along the southeastern shore. Our analyses illustrates the insights into coastal ecosystem health arising from simultaneously quantifying nutrient loads, in-lake physics, and ecosystem services. The framework developed here is applicable to a wide range of pollutants and waterbodies, and can help to guide coastal management efforts.

Modeling
Ecosystem
Social Values

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Presenters/Authors

Lucas Gloege (), Columbia University, gloege@ldeo.columbia.edu;