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Last updated in September, 2000

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    The ecosystem of the Great Lakes and the life supported within it have continuously altered with time. Through periods of climate change and glaciation, species moved in and out of the region. Some perished and others pioneered under changed circumstances. None of the changes, however, has been as rapid as that which occurred with the arrival of European settlers. 
     Changes in the species composition of the Great Lakes basin in the last 200 years have been the result of human activities. Many native fish species have been lost by overfishing, habitat destruction or the arrival of exotic species. 

(from The Great Lakes: An Environmental Atlas and Resource Book. 3rd edition, 1995)
 
1. If global warming is occurring and will result in lower lake levels, what do you think is going to happen to Great Lakes fish? 
2. How did glaciation processes related to the distribution of fish and plants in the Great Lakes region?

 
 
1. EP-076/B Holling C. Holling's Paddle-to-the-Sea published 
2. GS-006 The fossil fauna of the islands region of western Lake Erie
3. GS-017 Kelley's Island glacial grooves
4. GS-018 Guide to Put-in-Bay (South Bass Island, Ohio): Historical places, natural features, and island ecology

For more information, please visit OSG website.
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1. ACES (Activities for the Changing Earth System)
  •  How Have All the Species Gone?
    • 2. The Great Lake Erie
  •  3. Vegetation and Plant Geography of the Lake Erie Basin
  •  13. History of Changes in the Lake Erie Fishery 
    • 3. Great Lakes Instructional Materials for the Changing Earth System
  •  Do Christmas Brid Count data reflect trends associated with global warming?
  •  After the maples, then what?
    • 4. Earth Systems - Education Activities for Great Lakes Schools (ES-EAGLS)

    Life in the Great Lakes

  • How are shorebirds adapted for feeding? 
    • 5. Global Change in the Great Lakes Scenarios
  • How could fish population in the Great Lakes be affected?
  • How will forests in the Great Lakes region be affected?
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    		1. The North American Bird Survey
     http://www.mbr.nbs.gov/bbs/bbs.html

    2. How Bountiful are Ocean Fisheries? climate change and fisheries
     http://www.gcrio.org/CONSEQUENCES/winter96/oceanfish.html

    3. Impacts of Introduced Species in the United States
    http://gcrio.gcrio.org:80/CONSEQUENCES/vol2no2/article2.html

    4. The Regional Impacts of Climate Change, Nov. 1997
     http://www.ipcc.ch/pub/sr97.htm#northamerica

    Copyright 1999. Ohio Sea Grant College Program and Earth Systems Education Program of The Ohio State University

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