2018 CSMI Lake Ontario Benthic Survey Through a Photographer’s Lens

Session: Poster Session

Yola Monakhov Stockton, Art and Design Department, SUNY Buffalo State, stocktym@buffalostate.edu
Lyubov Burlakova, Great Lakes Center at SUNY Buffalo State , burlakle@buffalostate.edu
Alexander Karatayev, Great Lakes Center at SUNY Buffalo State, karataay@buffalostate.edu
Knut Mehler, Great Lakes Center at SUNY Buffalo State, mehlerk@buffalostate.edu

Abstract

A collaborative team of benthic ecologists sampled the Lake Ontario benthic community as part of the 2018 Lake Ontario Cooperative Science and Monitoring Initiative. Several GLRI partners (EPA, NOAA, and Buffalo State College) together with scientists from Cornell and Wright State universities mapped the distribution of benthos aboard the EPA research vessel Lake Guardian. In addition to traditional Ponar benthic sampling at 52 historical stations, to determine changes in the abundance and spatial distribution of Dreissena we collected videos from 52 Ponars and 54 benthic sled transects. At nearshore stations video data were collected using a downward-looking and transverse-looking drop-down camera (M. Wick, EPA). A sediment Profile Imaging (SPI) camera was used by J. Nestlerode (EPA) to obtain data on the biological, chemical, and physical characteristics of the sediments. In addition, samples were collected to study primary productivity of soft sediments (L. Katona, Wright State University) and diversity of benthic copepods (J. Connolly, Cornell University). Visual data documenting this intensive benthic survey were collected by Y. Monakhov Stockton and will be presented as series of photos.