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Research articles
Research articles
The Green Bay ecosystem and assessment of climate
change impacts
- R. B. WENGER1,H. J. HARRIS1, 2,
Author information
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1.Department of Natural
and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Green, WI
54311, USA; 2.2010-10-25 16:04:15;
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Published |
05 Sep 2010 |
Issue Date |
05 Sep 2010 |
Abstract
Climate change will have major impacts in the Great Lakes region of North America. Particularly vulnerable are shallow freshwater estuaries, such as Lake Michigan’s Green Bay, located in the north-eastern part of the State of Wisconsin. Green Bay and the Lower Fox River, its major tributary, were considered to be severely polluted as early as 1925. As a result of large expenditures of money and a major research effort that has been conducted over the past 40 years or more, some progress has been made toward the restoration of ecosystem integrity. However, work remains, and within this context, potential climate change impacts pose additional challenges. We discuss in this paper a methodology that can be used to assess climate change impacts on ecosystems, and describe an application to the Green Bay ecosystem. The methodology employs numerical methods to evaluate the inputs from scientific, policy, and management experts who are knowledgeable about the ecosystem under study. The Green Bay ecosystem application reveals that runoff from agriculture and urban sources, already a major ecosystem stressor, will be exacerbated in the future as a result of climate change impacts.
Keywords
climate change /
ecosystem /
Great Lakes /
Green Bay /
runoff
Cite this article
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R. B. WENGER, H. J. HARRIS.
The Green Bay ecosystem and assessment of climate
change impacts. Front. Earth Sci., https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-010-0116-3
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