Project Quinte was a Canadian multi-agency collaborative initiative—launched in 1972 and lasting until 2018—that generated the longest ecosystem-based data set in the Great Lakes. The project produced a special bulletin of the Canadian Journal of Fisheries Science in 1986 and two special issues of Aquatic Ecosystem Health & Management more recently. This monograph provides a broad sweep of the many facets of aquatic ecosystem structure and function that were explored in efforts to define and solve the challenges to ecosystem health present in the Bay of Quinte ecosystem and to sustain it hopefully far into the future. Many papers provide a long-term perspective that highlights the need to maintain monitoring programs while increasing our basic knowledge. Long-term studies of ecosystems like Quinte continually reveal new questions and challenges beyond the scope of controlled laboratory experiments. The health of the Bay of Quinte is much improved as a result of the long-term participation of people, time, and resources reflected in this book. The monograph through its twenty-six in-depth chapters opens a wide panorama for exploration and application of the ecosystem approach and the resulting productivity, with much remaining to be done by those that follow in these footsteps. Approximately one hundred scientists have collectively participated toward the preparation of various chapters included in this meticulously peer-reviewed monograph.

This volume provides an in-depth look at the remediation and restoration of the forty three most polluted areas of the Great Lakes called Areas of Concern (AOCs). This binational restoration effort is unique in that it has fostered use of locally designed ecosystem approaches to restoring impaired beneficial uses as called for in the Canada–U.S. Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. In total, thirty-seven Canadian and U.S. scientists contributed to this comprehensive evaluation of what has been achieved and learned from over three decades of remediation and restoration efforts. This book will be an excellent resource to researchers, resource managers, university faculty, and students within the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem, and others interested in restoring degraded aquatic ecosystems throughout the world. No other volume or textbook provides such a comprehensive evaluation of AOCs. A foreword is provided by Dianne Saxe, former environmental commissioner of Ontario. Leading primary contributors include J. H. Hartig, M. Munawar, L. Richman, S. W. Pickard, M. L. Tuchman, R. Stewart, J. Ridgway, R. K. Sherman, N. T. French, K. C. Williams, G. Krantzberg, and C. McLaughlin.