Wildlife

“Pigs is pets” but boars are banned

By Kevin Duffy | June 4, 2015

A 1905 story on the price of shipping guinea pigs found currency in a present-day Michigan Court of Appeals decision on Wednesday that the state’s Russian boar ban is constitutional.

Shrinking alewife population could deplete Great Lakes salmon

By Guest Contributor | May 28, 2015

The alewife, once the most hated fish in the Great Lakes, is now facing steep declines in population, but it’s not a cause for celebration.

Study looks at biofences for managing wolves

By Mollie Liskiewicz | May 28, 2015

The measures they studied include scent marks, playing recordings of the howling of other wolf packs and human activity.

Parts of upper Great Lakes could suit cougars

By Logan Clark | May 22, 2015

Study says food, water, elevation, vegetation, remoteness are suitable. Recolonization could bring political and cultural problems similar to those involving wolves.

Earthworms rob forests of key nutrients; pave way for other invaders

By Chris Symons | May 19, 2015

By Chris Symons

Compost box heroes, or the root of all ecological evil? Worms in Great Lakes forests are not what they seem. Trilliums are smaller, algal blooms are more common and hummingbird populations are decreasing. All of these are made worse by non-native earthworms in Great Lakes soil. A recent study in Ecosystems journal identified four key minerals that earthworms remove from soil and that native plants need to grow.

Some ostracods survive goby guts

By Mollie Liskiewicz | May 18, 2015

Survival provides insight into fish as agents of species dispersal.

Wildlife

Fake reefs are good for fishing – how about for the fish?

By Eric Freedman | May 14, 2015

While they attract fish to eat and spawn, artificial reefs in the Great Lakes need to be monitored longer to evaluate their success, according to a new study.