great lakes basin ecosystem
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Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem
Learn about the largest freshwater ecosystem in the world and it’s
right in our back yard.
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The Great Lakes EcosystemThe Great Lakes ecosystem is an extensive watershed (288,000
square miles) with 5,000 tributaries and 9,000 miles of shoreline.
Great lakes Inhabitants• Fish Species
• Bird Species
• Plants Species
• Mammal Species
• Non-indigenous Plants and Animals
The Importance of protecting our Great Lakes
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Fish Species of Interest
• Lake trout, Brook trout, Lake sturgeon, Muskellunge, Yellow perch, Pumpkinseed Sunfish, Small and Large Mouth Bass, Walleye, Chinook salmon, and Coho salmon.
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Lake Trout
Brook Trout
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Scientific Name: (Salvelinus namaycush) They can reach ages of twenty to thirty years and tend to reach up to 3 feet in length. During winter lake trout can prey upon small fish and bottom insects. In summer
months, lake trout feed actively upon minnows, crayfish, and abundant insect larvae that are active at that time of year in shallow areas
Scientific Name: (Salvelinus fontinalis) Contrary to the name, Brook Trout, are found mostly in lakes were the
temperatures are colder and the oxygen levels are high. They typically live up to five years and tend to only reach 12 inches in length. They feed upon small fish, crayfish, small crustaceans, and insect larvae.
Lake Sturgeon
Scientific Name: (Acipenser fulvescens)
Lake Sturgeon usually reach 3-5 feet long and weigh 10-80 pounds.
Muskellunge Scientific Name: (Esox masquinongy)
Their diet consists of fish, frogs, snakes, small mammals, and aquatic birds. Muskies are sometimes cannibalistic to the extent of damaging their own populations.
A rapidly growing fish, they reach sizes of several feet and can be in the 40-60-pound class.
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Yellow Perch
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They live in weedy, warm lake water.
Perch seldom reach large sizes, the average being l/4 to 3/4-pound fish of 6 to 10 inches.
Young perch feed on zooplankton
Pumpkinseed Sunfish
Scientific Name: (Lepomis gibbosus)
They seem to prefer weedy, warm water lakes and ponds, using weed patches, docks, and logs for cover and usually staying close to shore. They are present in the calm pools of most rivers.
The average pumpkinseed is about 5 to 6 inches in length, although some may approach 10 inches.
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Smallmouth Bass
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Largemouth Bass
Scientific Name: (Micropterus dolomieui)
As bass grow larger they begin to feed increasingly upon other fishes and crayfish. Smallmouth bass are uniquely suited for feeding upon crayfish, which provide an energy source not generally available to other fish predators.
Smallmouth bass are usually found along lake shorelines.
Scientific Name: (Micropterus salmoides)
A largemouth bass can reach up to 16 inches in 3 years
Adults feed almost exclusively on other fish and large invertebrates such as crayfish. Larger fish prey upon smaller bass.
Walleye
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Scientific Name: Stizostedion vitreum
The average walleye caught and kept is about 14 inches long and weighs slightly more than 1 pound.
The Walleye is named for its pearlescent eye, which is caused by a reflective layer of pigment. Its eyes help it see and feed at night or in murky water.
Chinook (King) Salmon
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Coho Salmon
Scientific Name: (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) Adults weigh 15–30 pounds Prey on smaller fish
Scientific Name: Oncorhynchus kisutch
Although larger specimens over 30 pounds have been captured, a typical adult Coho weighs ten pounds.
Bird Species of Interest
• American bittern, Double-crested cormorant, Northern goshawk, Red-shouldered hawk, Yellow rail, Wood thrush, Bobolink, Common tern, Sedge wren, Golden-winged warbler, Grasshopper sparrow, Bald eagle, Mallard Duck, Kirtland's warbler, and Piping plover.
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Plant Species of InterestThere are far too many native plant species of great importance to
the Great Lakes so I will only name a few.
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• Blue violet
• White oak
• White Lady-slipper
• Snow Trillium
• White pine
• Houghton’s Goldenrod
• Morel Mushroom
Blue violet (Viola sororia)
The blue violet can be found throughout the entire Great Lakes basin, and is Minnesota's and Illinois' state flower. The violet's colors can vary, ranging from blue to yellow, white, lilac and even green.
White oak (Quercus alba)
The white oak, Illinois' state tree, is a flowering angiosperm that can grow to be 100 feet tall, three feet wide, and can live to be 400 years old! The tree has grayish-white bark, which gives its name, and green-brown acorns. In the fall, the leaves will turn a variety of colors including red, gold, yellow, or purple.
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Key CharacteristicsSmall orchid (20-30 cm) of prairie fens and lake plain prairies; leaves narrowly elliptic; flower a small ivory-white pouch-like slipper.
Cypripedium candidum
White Lady-slipper
Key CharacteristicsSmall forbs (10 cm) of forested floodplains; leaves small (3-4 cm), oval and bluish, with distinct petioles; flowers stalked, small, white with 3 narrow petals (1 cm wide), blooming in early April.
Trillium nivale
Snow Trillium
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White pine (Pinus strobus)The white pine, Michigan's state tree, is considered to be the largest conifer in the northeastern United States. The needles are soft, bluish-green to silver green in color and are regularly arranged in bundles of five. The eastern white pine forests in the lower peninsula of Michigan and northern Wisconsin were clear-cut for lumber from 1850 to 1890; standing over 200 feet (60 meters) tall, each tree could provide 6,000 board feet (10 cubic meters) of lumber. However, reforestation efforts are beginning the slow regrowth of this much loved tree.
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Houghton’s Goldenrod (Oligoneuron houghtonii)This shoreline goldenrod grows nowhere else in the world but along the Great Lakes shoreline, mostly along the northern shores of Lakes Michigan and Huron. Increased human activity, such as foot and car traffic, along shorelines has caused Houghton's goldenrod to be listed as a threatened species.
Plant Species
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The Morel Mushroom
•Morchella conica, the black morel
•Morchella esculenta, the gray or white morel
•Morchella semilibera, the half-free morel
Morels grow in the early spring and are harvested by morel hunters. They are a considered to be a great delicacy, because of their unique flavor. They arrive in early spring, because the trees don’t block the sunlight with their leaves allowing the mushrooms to grow.
Plant Species
Mammal Species of Interest
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• Timber Wolf
• Cougar
• White Tailed Deer
• Red Fox
• Coyote
• Black Squirrel
• Otter
• Raccoon
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Timber WolfCanis lupus
A full grown timber wolf weighs from 70 to 100 pounds. Powerfully built with steel-strong jaws, muscular legs, and large feet, the wolf is an efficient predator.
The Timber Wolf was once endanger of becoming extinct, but they have finally returned to the Michigan.
This drawing was created by Catie Burcroff
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White Tailed DeerOdocoileus virginianus
White-tailed deer are the smallest of the three members of the deer family found in Michigan, the others being elk and moose. They range throughout Michigan and are a game animal in this state. “White-tailed" refers to the distinctive white tail that when raised is a flag and provides a flash of white, signaling other deer when there is danger. Deer are graceful and swift runners (up to 35 miles per hour), but do not generally run long distances, preferring to seek the nearest shelter whenever possible.
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Coyotes can often live six to eight years in the wild. Coyotes can be difficult to distinguish from a medium sized German shepherd dog from a distance. There is wide variation in the coyote's color, but generally their upper body is yellowish gray, and the fur covering the throat and belly is white to cream color. The coyote's ears are pointed and stand erect, unlike the ears of domestic dogs that often droop. When observed running, coyotes carry their bushy, black tipped tail below the level of their back. Wolves, which are found in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, are larger than coyotes and carry their tail in a horizontal position while running.
Coyote Canis latrans
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Black SquirrelSciurus carolinensis
Freshwater Otter
Lontra canadensis
RaccoonProcyon lotor
Invasive Species Issues in the Great Lakes Ecosystem
FISH AQUATIC PLANTS
Asian carp Curly leaf pondweed (GLIN)
Eurasian ruffe Eurasian water milfoil
Northern snakehead Hydrilla
Round goby Purple loosestrife
Sea Lamprey Water chestnut
INVERTEBRATES TERRESTRIAL PLANTS
Asian long horned beetle (US Forest Service)
Canada thistle
Emerald ash borer Common reed
European gypsy moth Japanese knotweed
New Zealand mud snail (USGS)
Rusty crayfish (GLIN)
Spiny water flea (GLIN)Fishhook water flea (US EPA)Zebra mussel
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Invasive SpeciesThese species compete with the native species for food and territory. The invasive or alien species do not have natural predators to reduce their numbers so they over populate an area were they are introduced and out compete the native species.
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Click video to play.
Author’s SlideHi my name is Catie Burcroff and I am an Integrated Science major at Grand Valley State University. I chose to create my PowerPoint with a science theme that I thought was important for children to understand. Children must learn the importance of our Great Lakes or they will misuse them.
If you have any questions about
the material contained in this
power point or further questions
about our class please
contact me at:
Resources Slide 1• http://watersecretsblog.com/archives/GreatLakes.jpg
• http://www.fws.gov/midwest/GreatLakes/ecosystem.htm
• http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=4280238&size=lg
• http://www.lakegeorgeassociation.org/html/fish_&_fishing_in_lake_george.htm
• http://www.fws.gov/midwest/GreatLakes/invasives/index.htm
• http://fish.dnr.cornell.edu/nyfish/Salmonidae/brook_trout.html
• http://www.nal.usda.gov/
• http://www.great-lakes.net/
• http://www.na.fs.fed.us/fhp/alb/general/general.shtm
• http://www.dfg.ca.gov/invasives/mudsnail/
• http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/invasive/asiancarp/
• http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fish/walleye/index.html
• http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/species/lmb/
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Resources Slide 2• http://www.themodernapprentice.com/feathers_contour.jpg
• http://player.discoveryeducation.com/index.cfm?guidAssetId=9F11EE03-A280-464A-9FDC-BA98197980BF&blnFromSearch=1&productcode=US
• http://whatbird.wbu.com/mwg/_/0/attrs.aspx
• http://www.naturealmanac.com/archive/morels/morels.html
• http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10370_12145_12205-61328--,00.html
• http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/mammals/wolves/index.html
• http://mrsmaine.wikispaces.com/file/view/white_tailed_deer_buck2.jpg
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