Great Lakes Funding

Great Lakes Program Funding

Are you interested in news about our USEPA Great Lakes funding opportunities? Join our mail list, "greatlakesnews"

(About PDF)

Back To Index

FY1999 Great Lakes Projects

Ecosystem Model for Saginaw Bay

A Coupled Benthic-Pelagic Ecosystem Model for Saginaw Bay (GL985600-02-0: $74,870)

Recipient: The Research Foundation of State University of New York (SUNY)

Project Period:9/1/99 to 8/31/00

Project Officer: Duane Heaton (312-886-6399)

The overall goal of this project is to develop a mass balance modeling tool to quantify the relationship between external phosphorus loads and zebra mussel densities (ecosystem stressors) and benthic and pelagic production and biomass (ecosystem responses). Expected outcomes of the work will be (1) a better quantitative understanding of ecosystem stress-response relationships and benthic-pelagic coupling in the Saginaw Bay ecosystem and (2) forecasts of possible future states of the bay as a result of changes in external stressors such as nutrient loads and zebra mussel densities and size structure. This project will draw upon results from a previous GLNPO grant to develop an aquatic ecosystem modeling framework for Saginaw Bay, integrating the various processes involving nutrient-phytoplankton-zebra mussel-PCB dynamics.