After staking out plots along the shores of Crystal Lake in Vilas County, Caroline Gruber and Madeline Hetland begin documenting what they see.
They’re undergraduate research fellows at UW Trout Lake Station.
Gruber is focused on the woods along the shore.
“You can take a peek at the sheet here, but what we're trying to do is quantify the riparian vegetation, so we're seeing how much forest is there, how much understory is there, and trying to get a pretty holistic idea of what types of vegetation are going to be here, and then in what quantities,” said Gruber.
While Gruber works along the shore, Hetland is in waders in the water noting things like sticks and logs that make good habitat.
“The fish might not be able to use these twigs and things as cover, but I'm looking at the little bugs, and that's big enough for the bugs to kind of make their selves home on those sticks,” said Hetland.
They repeat this process at different points along the shore in areas where there’s a beach, natural forest vegetation, and sections that have been restored.
“We're already seeing differences in letting all this detritus material, the things that fall in from the trees, kind of sit and accumulate and make habitat, especially being able to sample the plants. That was another thing that we just didn't see in the beach area, but that's where all the little critters like to be, is in the detritus,” said Hetland.
The data they collect on Crystal Lake and others they plan to visit over the summer is being used to research the impact restoring shoreline can have on a lake.
Katie Hein is the aquatic research scientist at UW Trout Lake Station leading the research.
“Globally, one quarter of freshwater biodiversity is threatened with extinction, and if we kind of look at why, what is the cause behind that, land use change or habitat loss really is the number one driver of loss,” said Hein. “This is an issue. We know that's a problem for our freshwater organisms. We've known that for a long time now.”
Shoreland development
Hein says there’s been detailed research on what happened with shoreline habitat is lost. If you don’t have trees that eventually fall in the water, then there’s less habitat for fish and the things the fish eat.
Studies have noted fish that are more sensitive to disturbance have less abundance and slower growth rates.
While there’s a lot of research on the negative impacts on shoreline development, Hein says there’s less out there about what happens when that shoreline is restored to its more natural state.
“We really want to work on bringing things back and having the science there to tell people, ‘Well, how much do we need to restore to start to see improvement?’” said Hein. “I think that it can be a win-win. We could change the way we use the shoreline, and we could enjoy the water and have our homes near the lake, but also have good habitat to then support all the wildlife and organisms that live in the water and alongside it.”
Previous shoreline restoration
Crystal Lake is one of the places chosen because of the extensive shoreline restoration work that was done there more than a decade ago.
It was a research project in collaboration with Michigan Technological University and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources that did restoration work on 26 sites in the county.
Michael Meyer was the supervisor of the project. He retired from the DNR in 2015 and now runs lake research consulting firm.
“The objective of the project was to develop cost effective and ecologically effective shoreline restoration techniques,” said Meyer. “What made Crystal Lake exceptionally good to work at was the amount of land area we were able to put into restorations.”
The project as a whole tried out a variety of planting techniques, plant combinations, and different sources for those plants.
The difference at Crystal Lake is clear to see. What once was a beachy area with regularly mowed grass now once again looks like a forest with tall trees and areas of thick understory.
Meyer and the researchers that worked with him were able to do some follow up work, but the research project was never finished because of cuts made during the Walker administration.
He says he’s excited to see the work on it be brought back, especially as shoreline regulations have been relaxed.
“Counties are no longer able to put in effective shoreline zoning that is greater than the state standard. We've seen a lot of degradation of lake shoreland up here in the North Country, people are just no longer thinking about it as much as they had been previously,” said Meyer who encourage shoreland owners to keep in natural features.
Quita Sheehan believes part of the work is changing the mindset of what a lawn and shoreline looks like. She says as more people have made their once vacation homes a permanent residence in the last couple of years, they’ve brought with them this idea that lawns have to be neat and tidy.
“You can have a landscape that is natural and a little bit messy and changing all the time, because native plants will do that, and that will provide more habitat, or birds and pollinators and other critters, which is what people moved up here for that Northwoods experience, right?” said Sheehan, the Conservation Specialist for the Vilas County Land and Water Department.
Sheehan works with private landowners to help restore shoreline. The county has a cost share program that’s funded by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection.
Most counties use the program to protect water quality in regard to agricultural fields. Since Vilas County doesn’t have many farmers, they use it to restore shoreline.
Lately, Sheehan says it’s mostly been focused on shoreline erosion. She says some of is just the natural process of lakes changing over time and other times its spurred by people making changes to shoreline.
“You're removing more vegetation. You're creating more impervious surface, which allows runoff to move faster. And so that does create more problems, both for erosion on your shoreline and water quality. In that way, we've seen some changes,” said Sheehan.
How much restoration is needed?
One of the big questions Hein would like her research to answer is how much and what kind of restoration is needed to keep lakes healthy.
“There's a term called hysteresis, where sometimes you might have to restore more to get those things back,” said Hein. “You could think about like these tipping points, right? If you've lost so much habitat, maybe they don't even occur in that lake anymore, and so it might take time for things to come in.”
Hein would like to a point where they can set certain targets for restoration. For example, if a lake group or association wanted to reach a goal, their research could tell those groups how many feet of shoreline needs to be restored and the most cost-effective way to do it.
“I think the work here is so important because we're trying to show the benefits of good habitat, and then what people can do in a positive way to contribute to that. And what I love about this environmental issue is that everyone can do something good without it being too hard,” said Hein.
In the end, the researchers hope to find that balance of people making their home in the Northwoods while also preserving the very things that drew them here in the first place.
“I think shoreline owners have a lot more influence on the lake and its community than they might think. If you see in your lake that things are disappearing, or they're not how they used to be 20 years ago, which is what I hear all the time, maybe there's something you can fix,” said Hetland. “Maybe you can plant some native vegetation along your shoreline instead of mowing all the way down to the shoreline. Just little changes I think can add up in the grand scheme of things.”
Hein says this summer is a kind of pilot to get some initial data. She’s applying for more funding to continue the research.
