An Ecosystem Perspective on Re-Establishing Native Deep-Water Fishes in the Laurentian Great Lakes

What are the scientific questions related to successful re-establishment of native deep-water fish communities in the Laurentian Great Lakes?  We (1) propose a conceptual model for native deep-water fish communities, (2) pose research questions emerging at community and ecosystem levels, and (3) identify high priority research topics related to population re-establishment.  The conceptual model is based on a generalized life cycle nested within population, meta-population, community, and ecosystem-level processes.  The conceptual model assumes that variation in population abundance is a natural phenomenon and biodiversity contributes to ecosystem stability.  Key research topics related to community- and ecosystem-level interactions include understanding large-scale directional influences on community function, expanding current views on ecological succession in large lakes, and determining the evolutionary role of diel vertical migration in phenotypic diversification of deep-water fishes.  Finally, we propose that research in four topical areas are most pertinent to re-establishing native, deep-water fishes: life history bottlenecks, population and meta-population dynamics, matching fish phenotypes to stocking sites, and propagation and stocking methods.