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Isle Royale Research
The Isle Royale Institute supports and fosters research and research-based education at Isle Royale. We also strive to disseminate the results of this research to a wide public audience.
Highlights
As a National Park, International Biosphere Reserve and Wilderness, Isle Royale offers a superlative natural laboratory and field site for research in a broad range of disciplines, from natural sciences to geology, archaeology, and wilderness ethics. The park is home to long-running research on wolf-moose dynamics, boreal chorus frogs, and nutrient cycling and climate change, as well as being home to a wealth of cultural resources related to prehistoric mining and trade routes, commercial fishing, and shipwrecks.
The natural history of the archipelago tells the tale of ancient lava flows and glaciers, extreme climates, human impacts from mining and fires, and the ongoing influences of fluctuating moose numbers. Spruce-fir-birch forests dominate the east end of the main island, and northern hardwoods dominate the west end. However, the archipelago’s habitats are diverse, including over 40 inland lakes, a wide variety of wetlands and forests, and microhabitats within the crevasses and splash pools of the most exposed rocky shorelines.
A real-world example of island biogeography, this isolated archipelago is home to fewer animal and plant species than one would find on the mainland. However, the islands host an unusual concentration of rare and protected species. Some of the rare species include disjunct plants and insects that are found more commonly in arctic, alpine and western regions (such as crow berry, butterwort, devil’s club and a dragonfly Aeshna juncea).
Species such as the eastern paintbrush are on the southern edge of their range, common on Isle Royale and farther north, but rare in the rest of Michigan.
Federally and state listed species found in the park include gray wolves, common loons, several fish, and dozens of plant species. The park’s list of species is ever changing; since the mid-1990s otters and four species of bats have been added to the park’s mammal list. Research was initiated in 2006 to determine if pine martins can be added to the list as well. In the early 1900s woodland caribou, coyotes, and lynx all were found on the island, but exist there no longer. In 1999 researchers from the USGS discovered surprisingly dense populations of fresh water mussels and sponges in some of Isle Royale’s inland lakes, densities that have not been seen elsewhere in the region for 100 years.
Research at Isle Royale has made critical contributions to global conservation efforts. Atmospheric sampling and studies of bioaccumulation have revealed helpful information about how pollutants are transported, how far they are transported, and how they move through the food chain. Significant reductions in lead concentrations in moose teeth, which have been collected for 50 years as part of the wolf-moose project, demonstrate the effectiveness of the Clean Air Act. However, Isle Royale loons and fish have shown disturbingly high concentrations of mercury, raising concern for the effectiveness of air quality regulations for mercury emissions, of which coal-burning power plants in the region and around the globe are a leading source.
Located within the transition zone between the northern hardwood and boreal forest, Isle Royale also acts as an early indicator of global climate change; effects on boreal and northern species may be detectable earlier here than further north in their range.
Research Documents
The Isle Royale Institute, in partnership with the NPS and Michigan Tech, is in the process of building a research publications database and electronic library to make these resources more accessible to scientists, managers, teachers, students, and the general public. As more of these documents become publicly available, they will be posted here.
Currently available research and monitoring documents:
- Bibliography of Isle Royale publications
- 50 years of wolf-moose interactions. Publications by Rolf Peterson and John Vucetich
- Conservation of coaster brook trout in the Lake Superior Region
- Breeding Bird Survey - Resource Management Report 05-1, July 2005
- Frog and Toad Survey - Resource Management Report 05-2, July 2005
- Common Loon Survey - Resource Management Report 05-3, December 2005
Information for Researchers
All researchers are required to apply for and receive a research permit prior to conducting research at Isle Royale. Approximately 25 research permits are issued for Isle Royale each year, for both long-term ongoing research, as well as shorter-term projects that may include only one field season. Permit applicants are strongly encouraged to contact the park’s Natural Resources Division prior to proposing new research, as there are many special circumstances that must be considered prior to conducting research at this remote island, including travel logistics, and wilderness ethics and etiquette. IRI can be a useful preliminary contact for developing new proposals for Isle Royale research.
The Isle Royale Institute offers opportunities to incorporate researchers’ latest work and scientific findings into education and outreach program. We are also in the process of expanding opportunities for research funding. As new funding opportunities become available, additional information will be posted here.
Last updated: September 27, 2007
