Projects

Great Lakes Fisheries GIS
Ecosystem management of Great Lakes fisheries requires analysis of multiple factors which are spatially-explicit in nature. A GIS system is required to store databases available on Great Lakes fisheries, to facilitate analysis and research of factors influencing fish abundances, distributions, and harvest, and to aid management decisions. Our overall objective is to develop a GIS database and software for use in research and management of Great Lakes fisheries resources. Specific objectives include: (1) Map historic and projected fishing efforts, harvests and fish tag returns for the tribal fisheries negotiations. (2) Describe and explain spatial trends in distributions and harvests of Great Lakes fishes (3) Link dynamic fish production models to GIS coverages for Great Lakes ecosystems.

Primary Funding Source: State of Michigan Department of Natural Resources' Virtual Geographic Information Laboratory (ViGIL) body.
Contact: Ed Rutherford

Digital Water Atlas of Michigan
The Digital Atlas project is designed to develop both comprehensive, spatially-explicit information describing the natural resources of Michigan inland waters and applications to support assessment of resource status and management options. The main objective of this project is to provide resource managers and other agencies with desktop access to such information and applications. The objectives are: (1) Develop a comprehensive Geographic Information System for Michigan's inland waters including map themes of landscape features and databases of water body characteristics (2) Support ecological classification of lakes and streams (3) Support fisheries management planning including river and lake assessments and management plans (4) Provide information on water resources to users (5) Support research on lakes and streams (6) Provide links to databases of other agencies. Potential deliverables include: State-of-the-art hydrography map that allows routing of water and fish; Access to maps and linked databases, such as valley segments, coldwater stream designations, water quality; Maps of watershed boundaries; Maps of dam locations, with dam characteristics; Maps of precipitation, groundwater potential, streamflow; Digital maps of lake bathymetry, with info on lake volume, mean depth, littoral area.

Primary Funding Source: State of Michigan Department of Natural Resources' Virtual Geographic Information Laboratory (ViGIL) body.
Contact: Jim Breck and Paul Seelbach

Michigan Rivers Inventory
This project is a long-term, collaborative research effort established in 1988 by scientists from the Institute of Fisheries Research, Michigan Department of Natural Resources (IFR/MDNR) and the School of Natural Resources, University of Michigan (SNRE/UM). Initially a Dingell-Johnson funded inventory project directed by Dr. Paul Seelbach (MDNR) and Dr. Mike Wiley (SNRE/UM), the collaboration has grown to include active scientists from multiple research institutions. The MRI focuses on the development of : a regional, spatially explicit, inventory framework; collaboratively managed research database; and scientific models and methods for studying the large-scale ecology of Michigan's rivers. The MRI database currently includes site and catchment-level data for 700+ study locations (Figure left) linked by an extensive geographic information system (GIS). This combination of a GIS and extensive field inventory database is designed to provide the ability to both describe and model key features of the biology, hydrology and water quality of the Michigan's major rivers systems. Collaborating scientists and institutions access centrally and distributively held data, GIS covers, and models based on their participation in the MRI data sharing agreement.