An Aquatic Gap program is underway for the riverine and coastal systems of the Great Lakes region. The Great Lakes are the largest system of fresh water on earth and provide habitat for a wide variety of aquatic organisms unique to these systems. The aquatic biodiversity of the region is being threatened due to urban expansion, more intensive agricultural practices, continued logging, coastal zone shoreline destruction, and other human activities.

The goal of the Great Lakes Aquatic GAP Program is to evaluate the biological diversity of aquatic species and their habitats, and to identify gaps in the distribution and protection of these species and their habitats within the Great Lakes basin. This information will provide managers, planners, scientists, and policy makers with the information they need to identify priority areas for conservation before a species is threatened or endangered.

The feasibility for conducting Aquatic Gap for both riverine and coastal systems was assessed by summarizing the status and availability of existing data for the Great Lakes States, including aquatic biological data (fish, freshwater mussels, benthos), and spatial data layers related to physical characteristics of land, in-stream, and coastal habitats. Stakeholders were identified and contacted for their input. An integrated approach is being developed in which common methods and protocols will be established and results will be comparable across the landscape.

1. Develop maps of ecoregional drainage units in a GIS framework
2. Provide hierarchical habitat classifications schemes for riverine and coastal habitat.
3. Collect and build aquatic biological databases.
4. Model aquatic species-habitat affinities and interactions.
5. Conduct a GAP analysis based on land stewardship.
6. Serve data on the Internet and on CD from the centralized regional database.
7. Conduct regional-level synthesis and develop reports and publications that describe aquatic biodiversity and its relation to habitat quality, land use, and land protection.