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Introduction
Introduction
There are 11,000 inland lakes located in Michigan, not including the Great Lakes, which is more freshwater than any other state in the nation ("Michigan's Rivers and Lakes," 2025). Healthy biodiversity in Michigan's bodies of freshwater is crucial not only so ecosystems can continue to flourish, but so humans can continue to have clean, potable water for consumption. Biodiversity loss is severely impacting freshwater ecosystems around the world, but it is especially important in Michigan as the Great Lakes contain 21% of the world's freshwater. “More than 30 million people rely on the Great Lakes for drinking water—10 percent of the U.S. population and 30 percent of the Canadian population” ("Great Lakes," 2025). Clean freshwater provides drinking water, habitats and ecosystem services, and is necessary for economic growth.
Research Question
Research Question
There are steps that can be taken to solve the issue of biodiversity loss, why aren’t they being done?
Why haven’t biodiversity loss related solutions been put to work, and if they have, what is it going to take to make positive changes stick?
Is this due to the money it requires to rebuild habitats and restore the health of ecosystems?
Could it be because humans have lost their connection with nature overtime, and no longer have the calling to help it?
Literature Review
Coastal Wetlands
Coastal Wetlands
Many of these areas are experiencing biodiversity loss relating to fish species due to anthropogenic actions.
Much of the Great Lakes fishes spawn in these smaller coastal wetlands.
“Unprotected wetlands have higher observed species richness than protected wetlands, which supports the hypothesis that wetland fishes in unprotected wetlands are in extinction debt” (Montgomery, 2020).
The only solution to this problem is to restore these damaged wetlands and ecosystems to prevent the local extinctions of numerous species.
Restoration processes should also be put in place to reintroduce native plants and organisms to previously damaged wetlands.
The Detroit River
The Detroit River
The Detroit River is a connecting channel between where the Upper Great Lakes flow to the Lower Great Lakes.
In 1985 55% of the shoreline was hardened with steel sheet piling. That only left 45% in a soft shoreline state which means that only that 45% of the shoreline is habitable for aquatic life.
What saved the Detroit River ended up being soft shoreline engineering.
This utilizes vegetation along the shoreline to improve the land-water interface without compromising the integrity of the shoreline (Hartig, 2017).
The Great Lakes
The Great Lakes
One of the biggest threats to the Great Lakes are aquatic invasive species (Pearsall, 2013).
Better invasive species management includes early detection and rapid response (EDRR), eliminating ballast water discharge to prevent new introductions, and removing existing populations.
More protection over coastal habitats such as wetlands or shorelines is vital. This can be done by promoting low impact development strategies which reduces erosion and pollution when the land near these coastal habitats is being developed (Pearsall, 2013).
Reducing nonpoint source pollution, including agricultural runoff, pet waste, and even road salt, can promote healthy biodiversity. We can lower the amount of this pollution by improving urban stormwater management.
Conservation Strategies
One of the biggest conservation strategies being utilized when trying to protect marine biodiversity is declaring the body of water a protected area.
A protected area is defined as “an area of land and/or sea especially dedicated to the protection and maintenance of biological diversity, and of natural and associated cultural resources, and managed through legal or other effective means” (Abell).
This sounds like the perfect solution to biodiversity loss, but it’s rarely seen applied to freshwater ecosystems. This is due to a variety of reasons including geographical location and lack of positive examples.
Since declaring something as a protected area costs money, the economy is often put first, and this solution is never tried.
Most freshwater ecosystems also already exist within an established landscape that might rely on it for certain resources that a protected area declaration would interfere with.
Constructs
Constructs
The two constructs I want to focus on are habitat loss and the relationship between humans and nature.
Habitat loss connects heavily to biodiversity loss, as this is one of the main causes of species extinction.
I will look at the amount of biodiversity loss cases reported about Michigan's bodies of freshwater, and see how many of those were likely caused by habitat loss.
Habitat rehabilitation is commonly a very expensive practice to put into motion, which will discourage people from wanting to implement it in their communities.
This ties into the relationship between humans and nature. Humans have disconnected from the natural environment, and if that relationship was strengthened, we would see more biodiversity restoration being prioritized.
Constructs & Framework Diagram
This diagram starts with humans losing their connection to nature, and ends with a flourishing, diverse ecosystem. This revolves around the idea that the restoration of collapsed ecosystems will promote biodiversity growth. Humans can reconnect with nature by rebuilding habitats, and this will allow us to see firsthand what our actions lead to.
Theoretical Foundation
The Niche Theory
The Niche Theory
“The ecological niche concept expresses the relationship of an individual or a population to all aspects of its environment” (Khatibi, 2016).
This theory is often brought up in cases of invasive species taking over an ecosystem.
When an invasive species comes into a balanced environment, it disrupts the ecosystem and each organism's individual niche.
This theory relates heavily to the Great Lakes situation, as they have struggled with invasive species such as sea lamprey and zebra mussels.
Biodiversity-Ecosystems Function (BET) Theory
Biodiversity-Ecosystems Function (BET) Theory
The BEF theory stems from the idea that “levels of ecosystem functions and the stability of those functions depend directly on levels of biodiversity, including diversity of all biota at the level of genotypes, species, and functional groups” (Doherty, 2018).
This means that higher levels of biodiversity often lead to greater stability and resilience in an ecosystem.
This theory also supports restorations of collapsed ecosystems which promotes the growth of higher forms of life, bacterial diversity, and any other member of a strong, diverse ecosystem.
Methods
Methods
The first step would be to assess the current state of biodiversity in Michigan's freshwater. This can be done by performing field surveys which include “transect surveys, quadrat sampling, and capture-mark-recapture studies” (“Bio Diversity Assessment,” 2025). Remote sensing can also be useful when surveying biodiversity over a large area. I also believe that getting volunteers involved in the monitoring and data collection process could be very beneficial. This way the public gets a firsthand look at how ecosystems are being impacted by biodiversity loss. Once we have the information collected to prove the point that biodiversity loss in freshwater is an issue that needs to be addressed, we can move forward with interviews. Interviewing those who work for the government and have control over what happens to freshwater ecosystems could help answer the research questions. Utilizing both qualitative and quantitative data will provide the biggest picture possible.
Resources
Resources
Abell, R., Allan, J. D., & Lehner, B. (2007). Unlocking the potential of protected areas for Freshwaters. Biological Conservation, 134(1), 48–63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2006.08.017
Allen, D. C., Wynn‐Thompson, T. M., Kopp, D. A., & Cardinale, B. J. (2018). Riparian plant biodiversity reduces stream channel migration rates in Three Rivers in Michigan, U.S.A. Ecohydrology, 11(4). https://doi.org/10.1002/eco.1972
Bio Diversity Assessment - Exploring Ecological Variety. Building Environment . (2025). https://beipl.co.in/bio-diversity-assessment.php#:~:text=Approaches%20to%20Evaluating%20Biodiversity&text=This%20may%20include%20techniques%20such,capture%2Dmark%2Drecapture%20studies.
Doherty, J., & Zedler, J. B. (2018). Biodiversity-ecosystem function (BEF) theory and Wetland Restoration. The Wetland Book. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9659-3_325
Environmental Protection Agency. (2012, November 29). The stream banks are being eroded because of improper stabilization!. EPA. https://archive.epa.gov/water/test/web/html/ersnrite.html#:~:text=Soil%20from%20eroding%20land%20that,stream%20bank%20to%20reduce%20erosion.
Great Lakes. NOAA Office for Coastal Management. (2025, January 24). https://coast.noaa.gov/states/fast-facts/great-lakes.html
Hartig, J. H., & Bennion, D. (2017). Historical Loss and Current Rehabilitation of Shoreline Habitat along an Urban-Industrial River—Detroit River, Michigan, USA. Sustainability, 9(5), 828. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9050828
Hermoso, V., Abell, R., Linke, S., & Boon, P. (2016). The role of protected areas for freshwater biodiversity conservation: Challenges and opportunities in a rapidly changing world. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 26(S1), 3–11. https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.2681
Khatibi, M., & Sheikholeslami, R. (2016). Ecological Niche Theory: A Brief Review. The International Journal of Indian Psychology, 3(2), 42–45. https://oaji.net/articles/2016/1170-1452245952.pdf
Lynch, A., Murchie , K., & Cooke, S. (2023, May 22). People need freshwater biodiversity: Nine reasons freshwater biodiversity is important for humans. Global Water Forum. https://www.globalwaterforum.org/2023/05/22/people-need-freshwater-biodiversity-nine-reasons-freshwater-biodiversity-is-important-for-humans/#:~:text=Climate%20regulation:%20Algae%20and%20macrophytes%2C%20especially%20vegetated,concentration%20of%20nitrate%2C%20which%20is%20a%20threat
Michigan’s rivers and Lakes. SOM - State of Michigan. (2025). https://www.michigan.gov/oac/experience/exhibits/rivers-lakes#:~:text=Michigan%20has%2011%2C000%20inland%20lakes,trails%20%2D%20all%20yours%20to%20enjoy!
Montgomery, F., Reid, S. M., & Mandrak, N. E. (2020). Extinction debt of fishes in Great Lakes Coastal Wetlands. Biological Conservation, 241, 108386. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2019.108386
Native species and biodiversity. Michigan Sea Grant. (2025). https://www.michiganseagrant.org/topics/ecosystems-and-habitats/native-species-and-biodiversity/#:~:text=Unfortunately%2C%20the%20diverse%20habitats%20of,Residential%20and%20industrial%20growth
Pearsall, D. R., Khoury, M. L., Paskus, J., Kraus, D., Doran, P. J., Sowa, S. P., … Elbing, L. K. (2013). ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWS AND CASE STUDIES: “Make No Little Plans”: Developing Biodiversity Conservation Strategies for the Great Lakes. Environmental Practice, 15(4), 462–480. doi:10.1017/S1466046613000410
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