UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON: Whole Lake Mixing to Remove Invasive Rainbow Smelt from Wisconsin

UW-Madison Center for Limnology is sponsoring an ACEI Research and Demonstration grant to study Crystal Lake, in Vilas County. The project will focus on mixing Crystal Lake to remove smelt and restore the ecosystem that existed prior to smelt invasion. If successful, this project will be used as a model to apply to other smelt removal projects.

Project activities include: 1) Build Gradual Entrainment Lake Inverters (GELI\2019s) and mixing system; 2) Hire three undergraduates each summer; 3) Mix Crystal Lake for three summers (2011-2013); 4) Monitor physical and chemical limnology weekly and every ten minutes (with automated sensor networks); 5) Monitor fish community every 2 weeks, benthos every month, and zooplankton every week; 6) public education and outreach build an exhibit for Crystal Lake Nature Center, lead 2 interpretive Naturalist sessions, news releases, website updates, workshops, WAL Lakes Convention presentation, and K-12 educational events; 7) Annual summaries and a final report.

Activities

• Control Invasive Species
• Aquatic Invasives Research
• Information and Education

Final Report and Products

• Experimental mixing of a north-temperate lake: testing the thermal limits of non-native rainbow smelt, a cold-water fish [PDF 1 MB]