Lake trout are making a comeback, and no one knows why
Erin Ross 6 hours ago
Scientists have spent their entire careers trying to understand why some trout no longer survive in Lake Champlain and the Great Lakes. Now, they've returned and researchers don’t know why.
Why it matters: Around the world, large lakes ecosystems, which drive the economies of cities that border them, are being threatened. “One thing [this return] demonstrates is that these lakes have enormous recuperative powers,” says Dave Fielder, fisheries research biologist at the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. “If we can provide relief from some of the stressors, the lake will respond. Sometimes, very quickly.”
What they're studying: Lake Champlain serves as a microcosm for the Great Lakes, which are extremely hard to study in their entirety, explains Ellen Marsden, a professor at the University of Vermont who has spent decades studying Champlain’s ecosystem. In the years since the trout first became locally extinct, the lake has been through a lot.
More:
https://www.axios.com/lake-trout-comeback-champlain-great-lakes-lamprey-6c49645d-4dd6-4453-b8d4-d24029c1c38a.html
