Solving increasingly complex environmental challenges requires collaborative research networks that share expertise, data, information, and tools. Fortunately, the Real-Time Aquatic Ecosystem Observation Network (RAEON) is providing exactly what researchers need to carry out their work to understand and monitor freshwater ecosystems in the Great Lakes.…
CBC News
The University of Windsor is receiving more than $1.77 million in funding to support its leadership in the Real-Time Aquatic Ecosystem Observation Network (RAEON).
It’s working with eight other schools in the largest freshwater observational research network in Canada, and one of the largest globally.…
Living at the centre of the Great Lakes, the world’s biggest freshwater body, any suggestion there might be big issues with our water might be hard to swallow.
But being surrounded by an abundance of the liquid doesn’t mean not being directly impacted by large challenges associated with it, including pollution, toxic algae blooms, invasive species and periods of having either too much or too little.…
RAEON has supported several projects related to shoreline change in the Great Lakes, including a study using artificial vegetation to protect shorelines by reducing the impacts of waves and wakes. RAEON also supported a project to measure the evolution of Point Pelee National Park and to identify sediment transport pathways and potential mitigation strategies to protect critical ecosystems within the park.…
RAEON, in partnership with the US Geological Survey, is range testing a novel mobile platform to improve glider-based acoustic telemetry studies. Scientists use acoustic telemetry – which includes fish tags and stationary receivers – to determine the distribution and movements of aquatic species.…
Canada’s GHG reductions and carbon offsets to prevent warming beyond 1.5 °C need to be reported internationally in order to be recognized in global negotiations around climate change. With growing local and national scale interest in wetlands as a Nature-based climate Solution, improved estimates of wetland organic carbon (OC) sequestration and GHG flux across wetland types are required.…
This project will help scientists better understand and predict the development of harmful algal blooms (HABs) using real-time data. The project team will deploy real-time continuous monitoring instruments in Lake Erie — the first time this equipment has been used this way in freshwater — to better understand how nutrients, temperature, and other factors lead to the development of HABs and hypoxia, oxygen-depleted water. …
Freshwater fish are an important economic and cultural resource to Canadians. Recent research indicates, however, that some recreational fisheries may be struggling. Managers are unsure whether fish production is declining in Canada’s inland lakes, especially in the context of warming temperatures that are affecting fish and their habitats.…
Scientists deployed an autonomous underwater vehicle to continuously collect high-resolution spatial and temporal data in Lake Ontario to better understand key lake processes, including currents, primary productivity, and the distribution of phytoplankton and zooplankton.…
By Maggie Xenopoulos, Trent University
This is part of the Smart Project Series—stories published by Smart Great Lakes Initiative (SGLi) partners that explore current or future projects that sum up what it means to be “smart,” as established in the Common Strategy for Smart Great Lakes.…
