Introduction

Ecosystemic science as applied in the Great Lakes

The irruption of the sea lamprey into the upper Great Lakes – Huron, Michigan, and Superior (see Fig. 9.1) – occurred at a time when both cultural and natural aspects of the Basin ecosystem were under increasing stress by factors other than the invading sea lamprey. At the time there was intense disagreement among some experts about the causes of particular fishery effects in the Great Lakes. Thus, J. Van Oosten inferred that overfishing was mostly to blame for decreases in catches of preferred species; R. Hile argued that the sea lamprey was the main culprit, at least in the three upper lakes; and T.H. Langlois invoked pollution, based on his experiences in Lake Erie (Egerton, 1985). About four decades later we note that not all the disagreements have been resolved, but that all the strong protagonists for only one of the possible explanations have passed on. With hindsight we opine that each of these “one-cause experts” had strong evidence for his views from some locales within the Basin, but insufficient evidence to generalize that inference far beyond those locales.

The 1971 Symposium on Salmonid Communities in Oligotrophic Lakes (Loftus & Regier, 1972) was an attempt to transcend the polarizations and biases generated by “one-stress experts.” This SCOL Symposium sought to build on the more ecosystemic initiatives of F.E.J. Fry, R.A. Vollenweider and others.