LEMN Workshop 4.11: "Nutrient Effects at the Coastal Margin & Nearshore" was a binational workshop that was held at the University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario from March 20th to 21st, 2007.
There is increasing belief that aquatic habitat characteristics reflect dynamic interactions among environmental, hydrological, geological, and biological features. Strategies for long-term habitat protection and restoration depend on understanding the dynamics as well as by characterizing the habitats themselves. We believe that Lake Erie’s nearshore biological processes are affected by quantity, timing, and nature of nutrient inputs from the adjacent landscape. However, the relationships are not well understood. It is unclear what proportion of nutrients driving food web processes in the basin represent loads from the land, and what proportion are internally recycled. At the invitation of the Lake Erie LAMP and in cooperation with the Water Quality Board of the International Joint Commission, the LEMN is hosting a workshop to determine how we would assess the aspects of nutrient loading from tributaries that most strongly influence nearshore community condition/processes
In this workshop, we will address the following questions preparatory to developing research and action plans for creating and sustaining desirable Lake Erie ecosystem objectives: