Everything about Lake Erie totally explained
Lake Erie is the fourth largest (by surface area) of the five
Great Lakes, and the tenth largest globally It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by
volume of the Great Lakes, and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the
Canadian province of
Ontario, on the south by the
U.S. states of
Ohio,
Pennsylvania, and
New York, and on the west by the state of
Michigan. The lake is named after the
Erie tribe of
Native Americans who lived along its southern shore before being exterminated for aiding the
Hurons, the enemy of the
Iroquois. The lake effect ends or its effect is reduced, however, when the lake freezes over. Being the shallowest of the Great Lakes, it's the most likely to freeze and frequently does.
The lake is also responsible for
microclimates that are important to
agriculture. Along its north shore is one of the richest areas of Canada's
fruit and
vegetable production, and along the southeastern shore in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York is an important
grape growing region, as are the islands in the lake.
During the 1960s and 1970s, Lake Erie experienced changes in water quality associated with increasing levels of the nutrient phosphorus in the water and bottom sediments. The result was
eutrophication of the system which resulted in major changes in productivity.
Algal blooms formed by the high nitrogen levels in the water. The decomposition of algae led to extensive seasonal
anoxic areas in the lake (the so-called
dead zone), that were expanding rapidly in the early 1970s. The decomposing algal masses and associated fish kills fouled shorelines, contributing to the widespread impression of Lake Erie as a dead lake.
A 1972 agreement between Canada and the United States reduced the dumping and runoff of phosphorus into the lake significantly. A
dead zone persists in the central Lake Erie basin during the late summer. The
United States Environmental Protection Agency is currently studying this cyclic phenomenon.
Since the 1970s
environmental regulation has led to a great increase in water quality and the return of economically important
fish species such as
walleye and other
biological life.
However, the lake ecosystem is much changed from its original state, with a long list of
invasive species well established. Common fish species such as
rainbow smelt,
alewife,
white perch and
common carp have all been introduced from outside the Great Lakes. Non-native sportfish such as
rainbow trout and
brown trout continue to be stocked for anglers to catch. Attempts to stock the lake with
coho salmon were made, but failed, and that species is once again nearly absent from the lake. Recent invaders,
zebra and
quagga mussels have populated the entire Lake Erie
ecosystem, altering energy flow through the food web away from the
pelagic zone and into the
benthic zone.
Other invasive species, such as the
goby (recently arrived) and the
grass carp (on the doorstep), have increased public debate about the risks of non-native invaders to Great Lakes ecosystems.
The effects of zebra mussels and gobies have been credited with the increased population and size of
smallmouth bass in Lake Erie.
Lake Erie is home to one of the world's largest freshwater commercial fisheries. Once a mainstay of communities around the lake,
commercial fishing is now predominantly based in Canadian communities, with a much smaller fishery, largely restricted to yellow perch, in Ohio. The Ontario fishery is one of the most intensively managed in the world. It was one of the first fisheries in the world managed on individual transferable quotas (ITQs) and features mandatory daily catch reporting and intensive auditing of the catch reporting system. Still, the commercial fishery is the target of critics who would like to see the lake managed for the exclusive benefit of
sport fishing and the various industries serving the sport fishery.
Commercial landings are dominated by
yellow perch and
walleye, with substantial quantities of rainbow smelt and
white bass also taken. Anglers target walleye and yellow perch, with some effort directed on rainbow trout. A variety of other species are taken in smaller quantities by both commercial and sport fleets.
Although management of the fishery is by consensus of all management agencies with an interest in the resource (the states of
New York,
Pennsylvania,
Ohio and
Michigan and the province of
Ontario) under the mandate of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, and driven by comprehensive fisheries assessment programs and sophisticated mathematical modeling systems, it remains the source of considerable recrimination, primarily from United States based angler and charter fishing groups with a historical antipathy to the commercial fishery. This conflict is complex, dating from the 1960s and changes in U.S. fisheries management that led to elimination of commercial fishing in most U.S. Great Lakes states. The process began in the state of Michigan, and its evolution is well documented in Szylvian (2004), using Lake Michigan as a case study. The underlying issues are universal, wherever sport and commercial fishing coexist, but their persistence in the Lake Erie context, one of the most intensively scrutinized and managed fisheries anywhere, suggests that these conflicts are cultural, not scientific, and therefore not resolvable by reference to ecological data. These debates are largely driven by social, political and economic issues, not ecology.
Geology
Lake Erie has a
lake retention time of 2.6 years, which is the shortest of all the
Great Lakes.
Like the rest of the Great Lakes, Erie's levels fluctuate with the season of the year, with the lowest levels in January and February, and the highest in June or July. Its average yearly levels also vary depending on long-term precipitation variations, with levels falling during droughts and rising during periods of extended above-average precipitation.
Lake Erie's short-term level changes are often subject to weather, since its shallowness and the southwest-to-northeast alignment of its longitudinal axis make it particularly prone to
seiches, especially during high southwesterly winds, when the lake water tends to pile up at one end of the lake. This can lead to large
storm surges, potentially causing damage onshore. During one storm in November 2003, the water level at Buffalo rose by 7 feet (2.1 m) with waves of 10-15 feet (3-4.5 m) on top of that, for a cumulative rise of as much as 22 feet (6.7 m). Meanwhile,
Toledo at the western end of the lake will measure similar drops in water level. After the storm event, the water will slowly slosh back and forth, similar to the effect in a bath tub, until equilibrium is re-established.
Islands
Further Information
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