Habitat Quality as a Driver of Lake Erie Walleye Population Dynamics: Past, Present, and Future
David Dippold – PhD Student
Lake Erie has experienced significant ecosystem changes due to climate change and agricultural land use in its watershed. These changes are likely to alter the availability of quality habitat for ecologically and economically important species like walleye. However, little information exists on how these changes have affected Lake Erie walleye in the past and how the changes will affect walleye populations in the future. This project seeks to investigate what environmental factors have affected walleye recruitment and population dynamics in the past and how recruitment and population dynamics may change under different climate and land-use regimes.