NOAA is part of a collaborative effort among government agencies and academic institutions to evaluate the composition and abundance of components in Lake Ontario’s benthic (bottom) zone. The recently launched project has benefitted tremendously from GLRI support and will contribute data to measure the overall health of the lake ecosystem. In particular, the technology will help scientists to identify whether native fish species and macroinvertebrates (animals without a backbone that can be viewed without a microscope) have recovered to target levels established in the GLRI Action Plan.
NOAA contact: Henry.Vanderploeg@noaa.gov.