Spatio-statistical modeling and field validation of coregonine spawning and nursery locations for the Great Lakes, including connecting channels and major tributaries

Contributing Authors

Executive Summary

This research builds on the spawning habitat inventory work [GLRI: Inventory and assessment of coregonine spawning locations in lakes Erie and Ontario, including connecting channels] by using data gleaned from the previous study to develop descriptive and predictive models of coregonine habitat in Lakes Erie and Ontario. Random forest classification models and classification and regression tree procedures used extant information about coregonine spawning and nursery habitats to predict where habitat may have existed historically or contemporarily (Schaefer et al.). Results from larval coregonine sampling was used to construct hydrodynamic larval transport models to demonstrate pelagic lake whitefish larval movements in western Lake Erie and make inferences about the influence of physical factors on larval distribution, abundance, and match-mismatch with habitat features in Lake Erie (Amidon et al.) and adjacent Great Lakes.