Michael J. Wiley

1) The Michigan Rivers Inventory program is a long-term, collaborative research effort between scientists1 from the School of Natural Resources, University of Michigan (SNRE/UM) and the Institute of Fisheries Research, Michigan Department of Natural Resources (IFR/MDNR). It focuses on thedevelopment of a regional database and models for studying the large-scale ecology of Michigan's rivers. The MRI database includes site and catchment-level data for 675 study (Figure above) linked to an extensive geographic information system (GIS). This combination of a GIS andextensive field inventory database was designed to provide the ability to both describe and model key features of the biology, hydrology and water quality of the major rivers systems in Michigan'slower peninsula. Development of a similar database for the upper peninsula rivers is currently underway in collaboration with Dr. Ed Baker of the MDNR. Work begun under thisproject has evolved in several directions and has recently spun off into a numberof other funded projects, which use these basic data for specific management purposes.Public benefits: Provides large-scale of modeling and classification of Michigan stream resources for management agencies, primarily FisheriesDivision of MDNR. Analytical tools developed in this project are already inuse by MDNR fisheries managers, by several regional watershed restoration projects (e.g. Rouge River, Dowagiac River, Huron River, Pigeon Creek, AuSable River), and by The Nature Conservancy, and USEPA.2) Structure and function of trout-stream food webs. This project is in its sixth year of support from NSF. It is focused on understanding the basic community ecology of cold-water stream systems, by utilizing microsporidian epidemics as an ecological probe into the structure and function of trout stream food webs. This basic research program has provided the first detailed informationon the role of microsporidian disease in stream insect communities, and has demonstrated that these communities are unexpectedly dynamic due to widespread effects of pathogens, and competition for limited algal resources. Trout streams in Upper and Lower Michigan, as well as in Western Maine are being studied intensively and will be used to test basic scientific hypotheses aboutthe operation of trout stream food webs. Public benefits: This study provides new, basic information on the nature and dynamics of trout stream food webs. Besides being directly relevant to trout stream fishery management, the results of this research will have important implications for stream quality assessment protocols.3) Ecological targets for the Rouge River. The National Wet weather Demonstration Project on the Rouge River is one of the largest restorations ever attempted in an urban river setting. We have been contracted to provide long-term biological (fish community), thermal and hydrologic targets for this restoration using ecological criteria developed from the statewide MRI databases. Based on the observations of physically similar rivers elsewhere in Michigan, weare designing goals for the restoration of the fish community of the Rouge. In addition we provide RPO hydrologic engineers target temperatures and hydrologic yields (wet weather, dry weather, and annual flow duration curves) necessary to support a rehabilitated fish community.Public benefits: The project is developing new and sorely needed quantitative techniques for planning the rehabilitation of urban river systems. For the Rouge restoration we are providing the first real glimpses of what a rehabilitated Rouge could look like. Because the emerging picture of the Rouge's fishery potential is much better than many residents had anticipated, our analyses are playing both an important technical and political role in the rehabilitation of his river system. Funded by Wayne County (EPA Prime)4) Ecological classification of Michigan rivers. Funded by the MDNR Fisheries Division and by the Ecosystem Management Committee, this project is part of a larger effort to provide a prototype ecosystem classification for MDNR management activities. We were given the task of developing a system for stream classification that would be compatible with the LTA (Land Type Association) classificationbeing developed for the state by ecologists atthe Natural Features Inventory (principally D. Albert and P. Comer, building on the approach of SNRE's Prof. Burt Barnes and regional classification of Albertand Barnes). In combination with MRI project funding, we used this support to develop the MRI EcologicalValley Segment Classification system (a.k.a. MRI-VSEC).Public benefit: The VSEC stream classification system attempts to locate, delimit and describe ecologically distinct units of Michigan's rivers. The classification is providing a large-scale framework for stream fisheries management and planning activities in Michigan. Practical applicationsinclude a variety of assessment activities including fish stocking feasibility and conservation value assessments.5) SAIN Project (Stream ALGAE +INVERTEBRATE-+NUTRIENT). Official title: Nutrient effects on the organization of stream algal and invertebrate communities. Thisproject was one of a small number of proposals funded under the first joint solicitation of the EPA/NSF Watershed Initiative. It employs both laboratory experiments, and large-scale surveys in several ecoregions, to address basic issues inthe ecology of the lower trophic levels of stream ecosystems. Specifically, this research examines the structural response of algal and invertebrate communitiesto site level variations in nutrient availability and disturbance regime. Key questions being addressed include (1) Are responses to nutrients in the organization structure of lower trophic levels more or less continuous, or are there thresholds where small changes result in large structural responses in the lower trophic levels? (2) how and why do algal communities escape the control of grazingmacroinvertebrates? (3) Are there levels of nutrient loading, or of hydrologic disturbance, which will guarantee algal escape?Public benefit: Non-point source and point source nutrient additions continue to be the most pervasive form of stream pollution. In contrast to the situation we find in lakes, we have little ability at present to predict the biological response of streams to nutrient increments. This project explores some of the basic science necessary to understand the practical implications of human alterations of stream nutrient budgets. The ultimate resolution of these issues will have important regulatory implications. Collaborators: Dr. J. Stevenson (Univ. of Louisville), and Dr. J. Holomuski (Ohio State University), Mike Wiley (SNRE).