Recent Major Declines in Zooplankton Populations in the Inshore Region of Lake Michigan: Probable Causes and Implications

1986 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 154-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlene S. Evans
Keyword(s):  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Lake Michigan ◽  
Food Limitation ◽  
Fish Predation ◽  
Alosa Pseudoharengus ◽  
Population Decrease ◽  
Probable Consequence ◽  
Major Increase ◽  
Standing Stocks ◽  
Zooplankton Communities

Summer Zooplankton communities in the inshore region of southeastern Lake Michigan were dominated by small species during the 1970s, suggesting that size-selective fish predation pressures were intense. Abundances of alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), the dominant planktivore in the 1970s, declined in recent years, especially over 1982–84. Despite decreased alewife predation, small zooplankton taxa continued to predominate. Moreover, zooplankton standing stocks declined 10-fold during 1982–84, suggesting that predatory pressures had intensified. Concurrent with the alewife population decrease was a major increase in yellow perch (Perca flavescens) abundances. As a probable consequence of intense predation pressures exerted by abundant yellow perch, zooplankton standing stocks were severely reduced. Yellow perch populations may have been adversely affected by food limitation, especially in summer 1984 when zooplankton standing stocks were only 3% of their average level over 1975–81.

Cyclopoid Predation on Lake Michigan Fish Larvae

1982 ◽  
Vol 39 (12) ◽  
pp. 1563-1568 ◽  
Author(s):  
John H. Hartig ◽  
David J. Jude ◽  
Marlene S. Evans
Keyword(s):  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Lake Michigan ◽  
Fish Larvae ◽  
Spatial Proximity ◽  
Osmerus Mordax ◽  
Alosa Pseudoharengus ◽  
Rainbow Smelt ◽  
Common Carp Cyprinus Carpio ◽  
Diacyclops Thomasi ◽  
Temporal And Spatial

Cyclopoid predation on fish larvae, as evidenced by copepods attached to larvae in field collections, was quantitatively investigated during 1975–76 in southeastern Lake Michigan. Although six species of fish larvae were collected, predation occurred primarily (98%) on alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus); 2% of the predators were attached to spottail shiner (Notropis hudsonius) larvae. No cyclopoids were observed on rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax), yellow perch (Perca flavescens), common carp (Cyprinus carpio), or sculpin (Cottus spp.) larvae. Most alewife larvae attacked were 3–8 mm long; older larvae and larvae of more robust species, such as yellow perch and spottail shiner, are apparently immune to such predation. Most predation (99%) occurred in July when alewife larvae were numerous and cyclopoids abundant. Fish larvae with attached copepods were found only in night collections. Most cyclopoid predators (99%) were adult female Diacyclops thomasi and Acanthocyclops vernalis. Other predaceous species of zooplankton, that occurred in close temporal and spatial proximity to fish larvae, apparently were not predaceous on these organisms.Key words: Alosa pseudoharengus larvae, Notropis hudsonius larvae, Diacyclops thomasi, Acanthocyclops vernalis, cyclopoid predation, Lake Michigan

scholarly journals Dynamics of the Lake Michigan food web, 1970–2000

2002 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 736-753 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles P Madenjian ◽  
Gary L Fahnenstiel ◽  
Thomas H Johengen ◽  
Thomas F Nalepa ◽  
Henry A Vanderploeg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Web ◽  
Zebra Mussel ◽  
Dreissena Polymorpha ◽  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Lake Michigan ◽  
Petromyzon Marinus ◽  
Perca Flavescens ◽  
Sea Lamprey ◽  
Alosa Pseudoharengus ◽  
Coregonus Clupeaformis

Herein, we document changes in the Lake Michigan food web between 1970 and 2000 and identify the factors responsible for these changes. Control of sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) and alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) populations in Lake Michigan, beginning in the 1950s and 1960s, had profound effects on the food web. Recoveries of lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) and burbot (Lota lota) populations, as well as the buildup of salmonine populations, were attributable, at least in part, to sea lamprey control. Based on our analyses, predation by salmonines was primarily responsible for the reduction in alewife abundance during the 1970s and early 1980s. In turn, the decrease in alewife abundance likely contributed to recoveries of deepwater sculpin (Myoxocephalus thompsoni), yellow perch (Perca flavescens), and burbot populations during the 1970s and 1980s. Decrease in the abundance of all three dominant benthic macroinvertebrate groups, including Diporeia, oligochaetes, and sphaeriids, during the 1980s in nearshore waters ([Formula: see text]50 m deep) of Lake Michigan, was attributable to a decrease in primary production linked to a decline in phosphorus loadings. Continued decrease in Diporeia abundance during the 1990s was associated with the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) invasion, but specific mechanisms for zebra mussels affecting Diporeia abundance remain unidentified.

Recent Changes in Lake Michigan's Fish Community and Their Probable Causes, With Emphasis on the Role of the Alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus)

1987 ◽  
Vol 44 (S2) ◽  
pp. s53-s60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary W. Eck ◽  
Larue Wells
Keyword(s):  
Native Species ◽  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Lake Michigan ◽  
Lake Trout ◽  
Pink Salmon ◽  
Oncorhynchus Gorbuscha ◽  
Alosa Pseudoharengus ◽  
Poor Recruitment ◽  
Emerald Shiner

Major changes in fish populations occurred in Lake Michigan between the early 1970s and 1984. The abundance of lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) and several nonnative species of salmonines increased greatly as a result of intensive stocking. The exotic alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), which had proliferated to extremely high levels of abundance in the mid-1960s, declined, particularly in the early 1980s. We believe that the sharp decline in alewives in the 1980s was caused primarily by poor recruitment during the colder than normal years of 1976–82. Several of Lake Michigan's endemic species of fish appeared to be adversely affected by alewives: bloater (Coregonus hoyi), lake herring (C. artedii), emerald shiner (Notropis atherinoides), yellow perch (Perca flavescens), and deepwater sculpin (Myoxocephalus thompsoni), and possibly spoonhead sculpin (Cottus ricei). All declined when alewives were abundant, and those that did not become rare, i.e. the bloater, perch, and deepwater sculpin recovered when alewives declined. We present evidence suggesting that the mechanism by which alewives affect native species is not by competition for food, as has often been hypothesized, and discuss the possibility that it is predation on early life stages. Despite the decreased availability of alewives in the early 1980s, salmonines continued to eat mainly alewives. The highly abundant alternate prey species were eaten only sparingly, but alewives still may have been abundant enough to meet the forage requirements of salmonines. Two new exotics, the pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) and threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), increased in abundance in the 1980s, and could become detrimental (particularly the salmon) to other species.

Chaoborus populations: response to food web manipulation and potential effects on zooplankton communities

1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (12) ◽  
pp. 2846-2852 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica M. Elser ◽  
Carl N. von Ende ◽  
Patricia Sorrano ◽  
Stephen R. Carpenter
Keyword(s):  
Food Web ◽  
Food Limitation ◽  
Major Change ◽  
Fish Predation ◽  
Chaoborus Flavicans ◽  
Reference Lake ◽  
Chaoborus Punctipennis ◽  
Consumption Rates ◽  
Zooplankton Communities ◽  
Major Reduction

Chaoborus populations were studied in two lakes in which fish predation was experimentally reduced, and in a reference lake. In Tuesday Lake, major reduction of fish predation led to substantial increases in density of Chaoborus punctipennis. Analysis of crop contents and estimates of consumption rates suggested that C. punctipennis caused declines of rotifer and copepod populations following the manipulations. In Peter Lake, lesser changes in fish predation caused no major change in density of Chaoborus flavicans, perhaps because food limitation compensated for effects of reduced predation. In both Peter Lake and the reference lake, Paul Lake, C. flavicans preyed heavily and selectively on Daphnia less than about 1.4 mm in total length. Bioenergetic calculations indicated that up to 46% of the daphnids were consumed daily. At some times of the year, certain zooplankton populations (especially noncolonial rotifers, small copepods, and small cladocerans) were strongly influenced by Chaoborus predation.

Complementarity in the Use of Food and Thermal Habitat by Lake Michigan Fishes

1981 ◽  
Vol 38 (6) ◽  
pp. 662-668 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larry B. Crowder ◽  
John J. Magnuson ◽  
Stephen B. Brandt
Keyword(s):  
Native Species ◽  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Lake Michigan ◽  
Perca Flavescens ◽  
Common Species ◽  
Osmerus Mordax ◽  
Alosa Pseudoharengus ◽  
Rainbow Smelt ◽  
Thermal Habitat ◽  
Young Of The Year

The potential for ecological segregation of Lake Michigan fishes was examined by comparing diets and thermal habitat use of common species. Samples were collected by bottom trawling (N = 68) off Grand Haven, Michigan, September 7–13, 1977. Five common species exhibited complementarity in the use of food and thermal habitat resources. During the day, adult alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), and rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) had similar diets but occupied somewhat different thermal habitats. Young-of-the-year (YOY) alewives segregated from adult alewife and rainbow smelt on both habitat and food. Spottail shiner (Notropis hudsonius), YOY alewives, and yellow perch (Perca flavescens) used similar thermal habitats but fed on different prey. Trout-perch (Percopsis osmiscomaycus) tended to segregate from the others based on both food and thermal habitat but may experience diffuse competition. Adults of the three native species consume entirely different prey than exotic alewife and rainbow smelt. The native species which declined during the invasion of alewife and rainbow smelt were those with apparently similar habitat and food requirements to the exotics. These data suggest that competition is important in maintaining the structure of the Lake Michigan fish community.Key words: competition, fishes, food, habitat, Lake Michigan, predation, temperature

Changes in Yellow Perch (Perca flavescens) Populations of Lake Michigan, 1954–75

1977 ◽  
Vol 34 (10) ◽  
pp. 1821-1829 ◽  
Author(s):  
LaRue Wells
Keyword(s):  
Population Dynamics ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Lake Michigan ◽  
Perca Flavescens ◽  
Commercial Production ◽  
Alosa Pseudoharengus ◽  
Exploitation Competition ◽  
Sport Fishery ◽  
High Production

In the early and mid-1960s the abundance of yellow perch (Perca flavescens) in Lake Michigan declined abruptly. The decline began in the northern part of the lake and spread progressively southward. Circumstantial evidence suggests that the nonnative alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), by interfering with perch reproduction, was the primary cause of the decline. The alewife was first reported in northeastern Lake Michigan in 1949, and had become extremely abundant throughout the lake before an enormous die-off in 1967 reduced its numbers by an estimated 70%. An intensive fishery hastened the decline of perch. In most areas the decline was immediately preceded by a period of conspicuously high commercial production. This high production appears to have been related in part to increased growth rates of perch resulting from much lower density of younger fish. A sport fishery for perch in shallow water collapsed a few years before the species declined in abundance. The most logical explanation is that heavy concentrations of alewives physically displaced the perch from nearshore areas. Although perch populations increased in some areas in the 1970s, a full recovery is unlikely unless alewife numbers are further reduced. Key words: Percidae, Lake Michigan, Perca, population dynamics, exploitation, competition

Intervention Analysis of Power Plant Impact on Fish Populations

1986 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 819-829 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles P. Madenjian ◽  
David J. Jude ◽  
Frank J. Tesar
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Lake Michigan ◽  
Type I Error ◽  
Intervention Analysis ◽  
Type I ◽  
Alosa Pseudoharengus ◽  
First Order ◽  
Plant Effect

Alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) and yellow perch (Perca flavescens) abundances, estimated from monthly gillnet and trawl catches at two transects, were monitored before (1973–74) and during (1975–82) operation of the D. C. Cook Nuclear Power Plant, southeastern Lake Michigan. Intervention analysis, a technique which accounts for autocorrelated observations, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were applied to the monitoring data to assess any plant impact beginning in 1975. Both analyses disclosed no significant power plant impacts except for gillnetted yellow perch adults. The ANOVA indicated a significant decrease in abundance at the plant-discharge transect relative to the reference transect as plant operation began, which established a plant effect; intervention analysis showed no change. When April and May catches (months of low abundance) were deleted, this plant effect was insignificant. Monte Carlo simulation showed that as the first-order autoregressive coefficient increased positively, type I error of the ANOVA F-test increased. However, ANOVA was more powerful than intervention analysis when a first-order autoregressive component was included. Impact assessment based only on ANOVA can result in detection of impact when actually there was no effect (type I error) when observations are serially correlated (lack independence).

scholarly journals Elucidating patterns of size-dependent predation on larval yellow perch (Perca flavescens) in Lake Michigan: an experimental and modeling approach

2006 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard S Fulford ◽  
James A Rice ◽  
Thomas J Miller ◽  
Fred P Binkowski
Keyword(s):  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Lake Michigan ◽  
Larval Mortality ◽  
Perca Flavescens ◽  
Larval Survival ◽  
Alosa Pseudoharengus ◽  
Larval Phase ◽  
Size Dependent ◽  
Recruitment Failure ◽  
Productive Systems

Yellow perch (Perca flavescens) in Lake Michigan have experienced sustained recruitment failure since 1990 as a result of increased mortality during the pelagic larval phase. Increased mortality of larval yellow perch has been tied indirectly to increased alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) predation, but effects of predation on larval survival variability must be better understood. We compared the relative importance of predation by alewife and two other fish predators to larval survival in laboratory experiments and developed an individual-based predation model (IBM) to examine patterns in size-dependent predation vulnerability. Simulations exposing larval perch to predation by all predators suggest that larval mortality resulting from alewife predation is more size-dependent than mortality resulting from the other two predators, and the range of sizes vulnerable to alewife is smaller. Alewife predation may not be an important mortality source for larval yellow perch in Lake Michigan at present because of the narrow range of vulnerable sizes and low densities of larval perch in the open lake. Predation is more likely to be important in smaller, more productive systems where other predators are abundant. Modeling results also indicate IBM analysis of date of hatch distributions of surviving larvae is a valuable tool for identifying factors most important to larval survival.

Spatial variation in trophic structure of nearshore fishes in Lake Michigan as it relates to water clarity

2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. 364-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin A. Turschak ◽  
Sergiusz Czesny ◽  
Jason C. Doll ◽  
Brice K. Grunert ◽  
Tomas O. Höök ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Variation ◽  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Lake Michigan ◽  
Round Goby ◽  
Water Clarity ◽  
Michigan Basin ◽  
Alosa Pseudoharengus ◽  
N Isotopes ◽  
C And N ◽  
Nearshore Fishes

Nearshore water clarity, as measured by remotely sensed Kd(490), and stable C and N isotopes of several nearshore fishes differed across the Lake Michigan basin. Values of δ13C of round goby (Neogobius melanstomus), yellow perch (Perca flavescens), and spottail shiner (Notropis hudsonis) were depleted in the southeast where water clarity was low relative to the southwest where water clarity was greater. Bayesian analyses were used to evaluate spatial variation in diet composition and quantify the relationship between water clarity and the proportional importance of pelagic energy in fish diets. Water clarity in nearshore areas is likely related to variable riverine inputs, resuspension, and upwelling processes. While these processes may not directly impact δ13C or δ15N of nearshore fishes, we hypothesize that water clarity differentially affects benthic and pelagic algal production. Lower water clarity in the benthos and subsequently lower benthic productivity may be related to regional diet differences and increased reliance on pelagic energy sources. Mobile fishes such as alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) may not be in isotopic equilibrium with regional prey sources and depart from spatial patterns observed in other nearshore fishes.

Long-term changes of the Lake Michigan fish community following the reduction of exotic alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus)

2006 ◽  
Vol 63 (11) ◽  
pp. 2434-2446 ◽  
Author(s):  
David B Bunnell ◽  
Charles P Madenjian ◽  
Randall M Claramunt
Keyword(s):  
Native Species ◽  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Fish Community ◽  
Lake Michigan ◽  
Lake Trout ◽  
Native Fish ◽  
Trawl Survey ◽  
Alosa Pseudoharengus ◽  
Exotic Fish

We used our long-term annual bottom trawl survey (1973–2004) in Lake Michigan to reveal the response of the native fish community to the biological control of a dominant exotic fish, alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), as well as to changes in total phosphorus and salmonine biomass. Through nonmetric multidimensional scaling, we documented a 1970s community largely dominated by alewife, and then a shift to a community dominated by several native species during the 1980s through 1990s, when alewife remained at relatively low levels. We argue that the recovery of burbot (Lota lota), deepwater sculpin (Myoxocephalus thompsonii), and yellow perch (Perca flavescens) was partially or fully aided by the alewife reduction. We argue that changes in phosphorus or salmonines were not directly related to abundance increases of native species. An additional community shift occurred during 1999–2004, which coincided with a reduction in species richness and total fish biomass in our trawl. The mechanisms underlying this latest shift may be related to reductions in nutrients, but further research is required. The restoration of the native fish community has been incomplete, however, as emerald shiner (Notropis atherinioides), cisco (Coregonus artedii), and lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) have yet to demonstrate recovery.

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