Wisconsin’s Great Lakes coasts are home to diverse and dynamic ecosystems that provide critical plant and animal habitat, support recreational and commercial activities, and help maintain water quality. The resources featured in this topic highlight key coastal ecosystem types, threats to their health, and strategies and decision tools for protection and restoration. Utilizing these resources can help local officials, landowners, and community members support the long-term vitality of Wisconsin’s coastal environments.
Background on Wisconsin’s Coastal Ecosystems
There are 16 different Ecological Landscape areas in the state of Wisconsin, each with unique attributes and management opportunities. Four of these make up the state’s coastal ecosystems on the Great Lakes: the Southern, Central, and Northern Lake Michigan Coastal landscapes, and the Superior Coastal Plain. The use of these distinct geographic areas can help decision makers identify the most effective interventions for particular ecosystems and tailor management approaches to best fit the area. Learn more about Wisconsin’s Ecological Landscapes here.
The Great Lakes Areas of Concern or AOCs are the rivers and harbors that have been most severely affected by pollution and habitat loss. Forty-three of these sites were designated in 1987 as part of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement between the U.S. and Canada, with five in the state of Wisconsin. The Lower Menominee River AOC was delisted in 2020 after a successful cleanup and restoration effort, and similar work continues in the four remaining sites. Visit this page to find information about Wisconsin’s AOCs, the causes of their degradation, and the many projects contributing to their ecological restoration.
Data on coastal ecosystems
UWGB AOC GIS Portal
Interactive web map of the Lower Green Bay and Fox River AOC showing project priority areas, habitat types, and existing development and agricultural land uses.
NEW Water manages an array of water quality monitoring stations across the Fox River watershed and the Bay of Green Bay and has collected water quality data for the region since the 1990s. The data from their Fox River and Bay of Green Bay buoys are available in near real-time through the Seagull Platform (Great Lakes Observing System, GLOS).
The Wisconsin-Lake Michigan Digital Atlas
NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS)
This digital atlas contains geographical information in the waters of Lake Michigan adjacent to Wisconsin, including proposed boundaries for the Wisconsin – Lake Michigan National Marine Sanctuary, the location of known and potential shipwrecks, and ecologically important areas. The atlas allows managers, stakeholders, and the general public to see the location of important lake resources, and how these resources are distributed relative to one another.
Mapping and assessment
Lake Superior Watershed: Mapping Areas of Natural and Ecological Significance
Lake Superior Partnership Working Group
This map is intended to demonstrate the status of an ongoing project to identify important habitat in the Lake Superior region. This third version of the map, completed in 2024, builds upon the data generated for past maps (1996 and 2006) and expands information on ecosystems and habitats of particular significance in the Lake Superior basin. It is available in static hardcopy or digital formats and via an interactive web mapping application. Mapping products were produced and are maintained by the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC) in cooperation with the other agencies of the Superior Partnership Working Group. Data are summarized from existing information submitted to the Lake Superior Partnership Working Group.
This multi-year, multi-agency project focuses on new bathymetric data (airborne lidar and vessel based sonar) acquisition, validation, and benthic habitat characterization mapping of the nearshore waters (0-80 meters) in the U.S. Great Lakes. This web map was developed by the NOAA Office for Coastal Management and is featured in the U.S. Great Lakes Collaborative Benthic Habitat Mapping Common Operating Dashboard.
This report is an assessment of key physical, chemical, and biological attributes that influence the natural and cultural resources offshore of Wisconsin in western Lake Michigan. It is a synthesis of existing scientific literature and a collection of new ecological data that organizes and substantially expands the body of ecological knowledge within the study area. It was conceived to support the designation and management of the proposed Wisconsin-Lake Michigan National Marine Sanctuary, but it is also an instrument for engaging communities, research partners and resource managers in a common, accessible, and scientifically sound body of knowledge.
Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Monitoring Program
This program monitors Great Lakes coastal wetland biota, habitat, and water quality to provide information on coastal wetland condition using fish, birds, calling anurans, wetland vegetation, aquatic macroinvertebrates, and water quality. The Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Decision Support Tool (CWDST) allows users to interact with a variety of information relevant to coastal wetland conservation and management and includes both Wetland Mapping Tools and Decision Support Tools.
FishScale estimates fish lengths, numeric abundance, and biomass density in underwater still images. FishScale uses binary masks obtained from semantic segmentation of individual fish in images to provide accurate estimates of fish lengths, numeric abundance, numeric density, biomass, and biomass density after first correcting for lens distortion, biases caused by underwater magnification, distance from the camera to fish targets, and variation in fish curvature. Users must provide size calibration images and fish length-to-weight relationship(s) to fully utilize the software’s capability.
Protection and Restoration of Wisconsin Coastal Ecosystems
Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR)
Designated in 2010, the Lake Superior NERR works in partnership to improve the understanding of Lake Superior’s coast and estuaries and address issues affecting the watershed through integration of research, system-wide monitoring, education, coastal training and stewardship. Visit this page to access a variety of Reserve publications, data, and reports on Lake Superior coastal ecosystem monitoring and management activities.
Bay of Green Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR)
Once designated, the Bay of Green Bay NERR will offer a coordinating force to manage, restore and protect the largest freshwater estuary in the world. With a focus on four sectors – research, education, stewardship and training – the Reserve will empower local decision-makers with science-backed strategies and address coastal management issues through each sector. Learn more about the Bay of Green Bay NERR and the importance of the Green Bay estuarine ecosystem here.
The Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Restoration Assessment (GLCWRA) developed six landscape-scale GIS data models that assess restorability of wetland areas in the coastal zone and hosts web-based geospatial applications that support decision making at site-specific and landscape scales. The platform helps measure the amount of coastal wetland habitat that is restorable and identify where the most restorable areas are located.
Strategies for Adapting Great Lakes Coastal Ecosystems to Climate Change
USDA Northern Forests Climate Hub
In 2019-2021, regional managers and scientists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science developed a menu of climate adaptation strategies and approaches for Great Lakes coastal ecosystems. This menu can be used along with a structured decision-making framework to facilitate planning and implementation of climate-informed tactics. The menu was tested with several organizations in project-level planning in the Great Lakes watershed.