Doctor of Philosophy / Department of History / James E. Sherow / This project examines ecological change in Lake Huron during the nineteenth and twentieth century and investigates the causative role of the commercial fisheries in that change. The repeated failures of various regional and international efforts designed to improve management of the lake’s fisheries are also examined. The fundamental argument is that economic considerations were the primary motivations for policy development related to the Great Lakes fisheries. Historically management programs and legislation were shaped by local and regional economic interests. The central focus of this project is Lake Huron. Anthropogenic changes in that lake’s environment dramatically affected the lives and relationships of its non-human inhabitants. The same changes also transformed relationships among human beings who relied on the lake’s resources. Commercial fishermen who operated in the waters of both the United States and Canada relied on the lake for their livelihood, but as the twentieth century commenced the supply of marketable fishes decreased. Competition accelerated and fishermen introduced new technologies and increased their quantity of fishing gear in an effort to maximize their catches in response to fluctuating returns. Economic considerations were of primary concern to both fishermen and government bureaucrats. Lake Huron’s status as an international borderland further complicated the situation. Analysts in both the United States and Canada recognized the dramatically changing conditions of the lakes as reflected through the woes of the commercial fishery. Nonetheless, the germane state, provincial and national governments repeatedly failed in their attempts to develop a cooperative management plan. By the second half of the twentieth century Lake Huron’s embattled biome stood in stark contrast to the once seemingly endless numbers of fishes and flora that sustained the lake’s web of life for hundreds of years.

Recreational boating in the Great Lakes is suggested to fuel tourism and the Ontario economy. Like many other tourism sectors, boating-tourism is a highly climate-sensitive economic sector which significantly relies upon compromising climatic conditions. Climate change in the 21st century is projected to alter climatic parameters in the Great Lakes region, thereby generating low lake water conditions and inadequate water levels within some marina facilities that cater to recreational boats. This study examines the multiple implications lakeside marina facilities have previously endured during low water conditions and the possible implications they may experience during three scenarios of water level reductions as a result of climate change. Among the five Great Lakes, Lake Huron has become one of the most prominent lakes for understanding the relationship between climate variability and water-level fluctuations. A questionnaire was administered to 58 marina operators on the Canadian Lake Huron coastline. The questionnaire results were analysed, indicating implications Lake Huron marina operators experienced at their facilities during low water conditions and methods of adaptation that they used to overcome these conditions. The results also projected future implications that may result from climate change and reduced water levels. The most imminent impacts Canadian marina facilities on the Lake Huron coastline would endure as a result of climate change and low water conditions would be the loss of docking slips and potential marina closures. Without adaptation of marina infrastructure, future implications on some Lake Huron Canadian marina facilities may cause substantial economic loss for nearby communities and businesses. Economic losses resulting from lake level water reductions and reduced boat-based expenditures for two regions located on Lake Huron's Georgian Bay shoreline are derived in the study. It is anticipated that the results of this study will provide significant groundwork for systematic and regional evaluations on the impacts in which climate change has upon Great Lake marinas and boat-based tourism.

Recreational boating in the Great Lakes is suggested to fuel tourism and the Ontario economy. Like many other tourism sectors, boating-tourism is a highly climate-sensitive economic sector which significantly relies upon compromising climatic conditions. Climate change in the 21st century is projected to alter climatic parameters in the Great Lakes region, thereby generating low lake water conditions and inadequate water levels within some marina facilities that cater to recreational boats. This study examines the multiple implications lakeside marina facilities have previously endured during low water conditions and the possible implications they may experience during three scenarios of water level reductions as a result of climate change. Among the five Great Lakes, Lake Huron has become one of the most prominent lakes for understanding the relationship between climate variability and water-level fluctuations. A questionnaire was administered to 58 marina operators on the Canadian Lake Huron coastline. The questionnaire results were analysed, indicating implications Lake Huron marina operators experienced at their facilities during low water conditions and methods of adaptation that they used to overcome these conditions. The results also projected future implications that may result from climate change and reduced water levels. The most imminent impacts Canadian marina facilities on the Lake Huron coastline would endure as a result of climate change and low water conditions would be the loss of docking slips and potential marina closures. Without adaptation of marina infrastructure, future implications on some Lake Huron Canadian marina facilities may cause substantial economic loss for nearby communities and businesses. Economic losses resulting from lake level water reductions and reduced boat-based expenditures for two regions located on Lake Huron's Georgian Bay shoreline are derived in the study. It is anticipated that the results of this study will provide significant groundwork for systematic and regional evaluations on the impacts in which climate change has upon Great Lake marinas and boat-based tourism.

No description available.

Lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) are an ecologically, culturally and economically important species throughout the Great Lakes. Studying the larval period of ontogeny is important to increasing knowledge of population dynamics and monitoring ecological changes in lake whitefish populations. Larval lake whitefish have been studied across the Great Lakes since the 1930’s; however, there are major gaps in our understanding of the factors that affect distribution and abundance of larval lake whitefish. The goal of this study was to investigate the distribution and abundance of larval lake whitefish in a Great Lakes embayment, using Stokes Bay, Lake Huron as a case study. Plankton samples and environmental data were collected from mid-spring to early summer during 2011 and 2012. Plankton tows in 2011 (n=71, 21 April-03 June) revealed relatively high densities of larval lake whitefish as compared to other Great Lakes studies. Overall there was little relationship between environmental variables (temperature, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, depth) and larval lake whitefish distribution and abundance. Plankton tows in 2012 (n=25, 25 April-23 May) revealed a virtual absence of larval lake whitefish in Stokes Bay. The apparent 2012 year-class failure was concurrent with unseasonably warm temperatures and reduced ice coverage. Temperature-related hypotheses are evaluated in context with other possible explanations of a general year-class failure of lake whitefish during early life history. / Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON)

<p>Natural and constructed rocky reef habitats constitute important areas for lithophilic spawning fishes and their embryonic and larval offspring. Interstitial spaces created by the structure of rocky reefs create micro-environments where incubating embryos and juvenile fishes are potentially protected from predators. However, if interstitial spaces are filled or blocked by sediment deposition or biofouling, the reef structure may lose the protective benefits for embryonic and larval fish survival. Lake whitefish (<i>Coregonus clupeaformis</i>) and walleye (<i>Sander vitreus</i>) are native Great Lake lithophilic broadcast spawning fish that use rocky spawning habitats that are vulnerable to degradation caused by deposition of suspended sediments. To restore degraded rocky reef habitat, common practices include addition of material to existing reef structures or construction of new reefs, but both of these practices can be costly and time intensive. In this study, we measured the effect of different types and amounts of sediment cover on hatching success of walleye eggs and assessed if differences in female walleye (female length and egg size) account for tolerance to sediment cover. Additionally, we explored an alternative approach for reef restoration, custodial maintenance, in which we created two novel devices to potentially clean rocky reef habitat. We carried out two laboratory experiments in 2018 and 2019 to test the effect of sediment cover on hatching success of walleye eggs (2018) and to test how female identity and female length or egg size may interact with sediment cover to influence hatching success (2019). We exposed walleye eggs to instantaneous sediment cover (0 mm – 7mm) of either sand (course) or silt (fine) sediments from fertilization until day 15 of incubation. Our results indicated that walleye eggs were sensitive to silt cover (71% mortality- 2 mm cover silt) but not sand (47% mortality- 7mm cover sand). While there was an indication that hatching success was marginally related to female length and egg size, we concluded that sediment cover seemed to have similar effects on eggs, regardless of female length or egg size. The susceptibility of walleye eggs to mortality caused by sediment cover underscores the need for non-degraded spawning habitat. Our two cleaning devices used either propulsion or pressurized water jets to clean sediments from the rocky structure as they were towed behind a small vessel (i.e., did not require the use of SCUBA divers). We used devices to clean two natural rocky reefs in Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron in 2018 and 2019. We measured relative hardness before and after use of devices on cleaned and uncleaned study plots to determine effectiveness of devices. In addition, we measured egg deposition by fall (lake whitefish) and spring (walleye) lithophilic spawners on study plots to determine potential differences in fish usage of cleaned and uncleaned areas. We found that cleaning devices contributed to changes in relative hardness among study plots. Egg deposition was also variable on study plots but in general, egg deposition was consistently highest on treatment plots cleaned by our device that used propulsion. The practicality of cleaning devices was seemingly related to the magnitude of degradation of rocky reefs, nevertheless, our results show that the use of these or similar devices may potentially increase egg deposition by creating areas of higher-quality habitat. While more testing is necessary to fully understand the potential of our reef cleaning devices, this two-year study suggests that these devices may be capable of restoring degraded rocky spawning habitat which could potentially minimize the negative effects associated with sediment degradation on lithophilic spawning fish.</p>

<p> This report is the only detailed study concerning the fresh water cobble beaches of the Georgian Bay Islands. It includes extensive studies on the morphological characteristics, especially the platform development and profile configuration, and the sedimentary provenance of the cobbles. </p> <p> It was found that the platform configuration (step topography) acts as a substrate control for the cobble beaches. The presence of two cobble generations, angular and well-rounded, indicate that t he shore platform is the source for these cobble beaches. </p> <p> The roundness values of these cobble generations depends on t heir mode of transport. Evidence indicates that longshore movement of cobbles increases their roundness values, but their angular shape i s indicative of their lack of transport. </p> <p> Very little proof was found within this study to correlate relict cobble beaches with any specific stage of the Lake Huron Basin, although it was possible to generalize and state that the relict cobble beaches were generated by high-energy wave events during the transition from the Algoma stage to Lake Huron. </p> <p> Clast analysis determines the relationship between the length of the wave fetch and its related energy environment. It was found that high-energy coastal environments have oblate cobbles with a high roundness and low sphericity. In each case, the samples were associated with a large fetch. Those cobbles of a low-energy coastal environment have a high sphericity, low roundness, and are associated with smaller fetches. </p> <p> The steepness of the beach profile results from the increase in wave height, generated by an increase in shallowness. It also depends upon the volume of backwash. The backwash is reduced by the increased percolation rates through the cobbles, thus reducing the combing down effect of the backwash. </p> <p> This study also provides a discussion on the minor morphological features such as sinkholes and imbrication. </p> / Thesis / Bachelor of Arts (BA)

<p>This study explores the extent to which migration, kinship and social and economic security programs were utilized by individuals in order to increase their 'life chances'. The study area consists of three contiguous townships on the north shore of Lake Huron during an era of profound transit ions in Canadian society between 18 79 and 1939 and also encompassing the local evolution from frontier to established agricultural community. Within nineteenth century North American populations, two groups can be distinguished: the geographically stable ' core ' minority and a geographically mobile majority . In the study area, as elsewhere, the farm family functioned as a socio-economic institution. The family farm was a source of security, stability and wealth. Paradoxically, while it bound some to the land, it also forced others to leave. As a social unit, the farm family tried to protect and promote the interests of all family members in order to increase their 'life chances' . However, economic realities meant that social welfare often had to be subordinated to the need to attain economic stability in a society with few alternate sources of assistance.</p> <p>Farmers wanted to provide a 'start in life' for all of their children; but they were loathe to subdivide the farm lest that practice compromise its economic viability. Small farms could not support a family. Conversely, providing for non-inheriting children also depleted capital accrued by the farm. Kinship conventions governed the crucial interface between social and economic functions of these families. They provided flexibility in the orderly transfer of land from the older generation to the younger and fair compensation for those who didn't inherit.</p> <p>The Rowell-Sirois Report of 1940 suggests that the stresses upon families of unemployment, aging, illness and untimely death, accelerated by the changes from a predominantly rural, agricultural society to an urban, industrial one, were inadequately met by traditional kinship-oriented mutual support networks.</p> <p>This study examines the extent to which this assertion is valid and the extent to which the first government programs to improve social and economic welfare modified the uncertainties of survival to 1939. Personal characteristics indicative of kinship relations are strongly associated with geographical stability or mobility among farm family members.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p> The Ontario shoreline of Lake Huron is one of the most populated areas, with reference to recreational purposes, in Ontario. However, with the rising water levels of the Great Lakes during 1972 and again in 1973, serious problems of beach erosion have resulted, particularly in the area of Grand Bend and Port Franks. This loss of sand has threatened cottages built on the dunes in addition to destroying breakwalls, steps, and boat launching ramps along the beach. It was with the idea of learning more about the beach, and possibly suggesting some methods of beach protection, that the research for this thesis was initiated. During the course of study, the author also became interested in the Ausable River and the associated flooding and erosion problems, with reference to past, present, and future attempts to solve or at least alleviate these difficulties. Thus, one section of the thesis is concerned with the Ausable River alone. </p> <p> The beach studied is actually the culmination of a series of raised beaches, formed during higher post-glacial lake stages. These raised beaches formed a bar separating the now non-existent Ausable Bay from Lake Huron, forming a lagoon eastward of the beach. This bar extends from Grand Bend, in a southwest direction, and culminates at Kettle Point. However, for the purposes of this thesis, that section between Grand Bend and Port Franks received the greatest amount of concentrated study. Over the years, the lagoon, formed by the growth of the bar has silted up, and is now drained for agricultural purposes. </p> <p> The modern beach was observed during the summer of 1972. This involved, profiling of a portion of the shore and offshore topography, procuring beach samples for later analysis, the use of sequential air photographs for observing changes over time, and the analysis of wind and wave data, along with many conversations with local residents and personal observations. </p> <p> The subsequent study of the above factors revealed several major conclusions regarding the beach. First, that it has good natural protection against erosion due to the abundance of sand s tored by the dunes. Second, the beach appears to be in an equilibrium state, however as lake levels fluctuate, so must the beach level, thus destroying the equilibrium for a period of time. With the lowering of the water level, the beach will become wider, exposing sand to the onshore winds, which will in turn rebuild the dunes with the blowing sand. Finally, because of the prximity of man-made structures to the beach, on the unstable dunes, some method of stabilizing the beach is necessary. That suggested is a groin system, designed and constructed by the local authorities. This would help prevent erosion and would eliminate the often vain and possibly dangerous, (to the natural environment), attempts by individuals to halt erosion. </p> <p> This is by no means a complete study of the area and its problems. Further consideration should be given to proposals which have been presented to the local conservation authority, and which were designed to alleviate some of these problems, particularly at Port Franks. The suggestions made here should also be given further thought. In addition to these practical problems, the actual growth of the original bar would provide an interesting subject for study. </p> / Thesis / Bachelor of Arts (BA)

<div>Grand Sable Dunes, as a perched dune field on the shore of Lake Superior, is a sensitive</div><div>ecosystem subject to continual disturbance. Repeated natural disturbances necessitate specialized</div><div>plant communities to develop. There were two objectives of my research in this system that are</div><div>treated in separate chapters. They include: 1) the quantification of successional changes in the</div><div>plant community over time, and the identification of population demography changes for rare</div><div>species within the dunes and 2) the evaluation of evaluate in pollinator species for two plants</div><div>Hieracium caespitosum (Yellow Hawkweed) and Lithospermum caroliniense (Carolina</div><div>Puccoon).</div><div>For the first objective, target plant community composition and structures (i.e. richness,</div><div>diversity) were quantified in 2011 and 2018 across Grand Sable Dunes in 1 m² quadrats.</div><div>Additionally, two relatively rare plant species (Cirsium pitcheri and Tanacetum bipinnatum)</div><div>were selected to quantify demographic (i.e. flowering, non-flowering) patterns and changes over</div><div>time. Samples for C. pitcheri and T. bipinnatum were acquired via circle-plots 2.5 m in diameter.</div><div>Population comparisons between 2011 and 2018 illustrate minimal change in community</div><div>structure (richness and diversity). Composition increased slightly with eight species occurring in</div><div>2018, but not 2011. Additionally, community similarity was high (~78%) between the two years.</div><div>C. pitcheri occurrence was inversely related to presence of other species. Plant community</div><div>composition in eastern and western survey zones within the dunes appear to be diverging. Minor</div><div>changes in the plant community composition and structures indicate successional changes have</div><div>occurred, but without major disturbance. This divergence in community composition may be</div><div>related to weather related incidents associated with Lake Superior disturbance potential.</div><div>The secondary objective concerns pollinator species on two similar plant species found in</div><div>the Grand Sable Dunes. Individuals of H. caespitosum and L. caroliniense were observed and all</div><div>floral visitors were identified to family. The majority of arthropod families were observed</div><div>10</div><div>visiting both H. caespitosum and L. caroliniense, with an absence of typically important families</div><div>(e.g. Apidae, Bombiliidae). Halictidae, Muscidae and Syrphidae were the most common visitors,</div><div>with L. caroliniense attracting far more Muscidae than their H. caespitosum competitors.</div><div>Overlap in visitors for both species was observed, which may lead to decreased reproduction in</div><div>L. caroliniense.</div>