NOAA's Mussel Watch Program collected data on toxic substances in the Great Lakes under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative from 2009 to 2014. This monitoring effort targeted all U.S. Areas of Concern to address environmental issues. The dataset was last updated in 2013.
Use Cases
- Analyze temporal trends in contaminant concentrations across designated Areas of Concern from 2009-2014.
- Model the relationship between mussel tissue contaminant levels and specific site geographies.
- Assess the effectiveness of the GLRI's Toxic Substances Focus Area by comparing pre- and post-initiative monitoring data.
Strengths
- Data collection spans a 5-year period aligned with the GLRI Action Plan (2010-2014).
- Monitoring covers all U.S. Areas of Concern within the Great Lakes, providing systematic spatial coverage.
Limitations
- The dataset's last update was in 2013, making the data over a decade old and potentially stale for current assessments.
- Specific sample size, measured contaminants, and data completeness are unknown from the description.
Provenance
- Source
- National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) Mussel Watch Program, archived by NOAA NCEI.
- Collection Method
- Regional monitoring activities using mussels as bioindicators for toxic substances.
- Time Range
- 2009-2014
- Freshness
- null
- Geography
- U.S. Areas of Concern within the Great Lakes region.