Understanding Recruitment of Lake Michigan Fishes: The Importance of Size-Based Interactions Between Fish and Zoopiankton

1987 ◽  
Vol 44 (S2) ◽  
pp. s141-s147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larry B. Crowder ◽  
Michael E. McDonald ◽  
James A. Rice
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rates ◽  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Lake Michigan ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Alosa Pseudoharengus ◽  
Size Dependent ◽  
Rate Dependent ◽  
Zooplankton Size ◽  
Predation Mortality ◽  
The 1960S

Mechanisms controlling recruitment of fishes appear to be strongly size dependent. It is now established that size-selective predators can dramatically reduce zooplankton size, but little is known about the effects of zooplankton size on growth and recruitment of fish through the post-larval stage. As fish grow, their optimal prey size increases; if large zooplankton are uncommon, growth rates may be reduced, prolonging vulnerability to predation or other size-dependent mortality sources and thus reducing recruitment. Most Lake Michigan fishes, including offshore species such as bloater (Coregonus hoyi) and nearshore species such as yellow perch (Perca flavescens), shift from feeding on zooplankton in their early years to feeding on benthic prey or to piscivory. Predation mortality on many larval and juvenile fishes including bloater and yellow perch has been shown to be size or growth rate dependent. As alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) increased in abundance in Lake Michigan in the 1960s, large zooplankton declined and both bloater and perch recruitment was poor. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, alewife declined, large zooplankton increased, and strong year classes of bloater and perch were formed. Based on these dynamics and recent research on resource use, foraging behavior, and recruitment dynamics of larval and juvenile fishes, we suggest two hypotheses. First, young-of-year and juvenile pelagic fishes may have the major size-structuring effects on epilimnial zooplankton in Lake Michigan. And second, if large zooplankton are uncommon, as they were in Lake Michigan in the 1960s, growth rates and recruitment of native fishes will be reduced. Size-based interactions between fish and zooplankton appear to have important implications for growth and recruitment success of fishes.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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).

Population Biology of Alewives, Alosa pseudoharengus, in Lake Michigan, 1949–70

1972 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 477-500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward H. Brown Jr.
Keyword(s):  
Population Biology ◽  
Lake Michigan ◽  
Adult Population ◽  
Good Condition ◽  
Average Weight ◽  
Alosa Pseudoharengus ◽  
Average Percentage ◽  
Poor Condition ◽  
Average Temperature ◽  
The 1960S

Alewives were unknown in Lake Michigan before 1949, but became extremely abundant in the 1960s and soon exceeded the carrying capacity of the lake. In 1967 they were decimated by a lakewide mass mortality, and have since been less abundant as "adults" (≥120 mm long), although numerous young were produced in 1967–70 and the adult population appeared to be gradually increasing. Alewives were studied intensively during 1962–70 on the basis of collections made primarily with bottom trawls. Principal considerations in the population study include effects of seasonal changes in distribution on length composition of young and adults, sex and maturity in relation to size and age at recruitment into adult stocks, and changes in age, growth, condition, and population structure that accompanied the drastic changes in abundance.A substantial increase in the age of adults in the bottom stocks and on the spawning grounds was among the important population changes after the 1967 die-off. Growth of older adults also increased appreciably immediately after the die-off, and a sharp increase in average weight (16–26%) over a standard range of lengths was maintained in 1968–70. Selective depletion of zooplankton by alewives was evidence that overabundance decreased the food supply, depressed growth, and caused the poor condition that made alewives vulnerable to excessive mortality in 1967. Although poor condition in fall undoubtedly increased winter and spring mortality in the mid-1960s, alewives apparently were stressed by below-average temperature in the winter of 1969–70, and experienced a light die-off through May 1970 despite their good condition and relatively low population density the preceding fall.The population upsurge that preceded the 1967 die-off was reflected by a fivefold increase of adults in the fall index catch (in trawls) from 1962 to 1965 and 1966. The index catch then dropped 70% in fall 1967. Mortality among the 1960–64 year-classes, as represented by annual losses from age III to age IV in the index catch during 1964–68, ranged from 40% in 1965 to 89% in 1967, and averaged 68%. Assessment of mortality from the index catches was difficult because the age of alewives at full recruitment into bottom stocks increased from III in the mid-1960s to IV or older in 1968–70, when alewives remained longer at midlevels, possibly because of a delay in sexual maturity. Annual mortality after the fifth year of life, on the basis of average percentage age composition of the trawl catches in 1964–70, was tentatively estimated as 79–80%. The number of alewives recruited to the adult population from the 1962–67 year-classes over several ages in the fall index catch was inversely related to the abundance of their parents in the fall immediately preceding the year in which each year-class was spawned.Annual commercial production in the 1960s (peak in 1967, 42 million lb) may not have exceeded 7.7–18.6% of the bottom stocks, on the basis of the estimated weights of alewives available to trawls in the spring of 1964 and 1969. Yield per recruitment to the commercial fishery was low because of slow growth and high natural mortality.

Fishing-induced versus natural selection in different brown trout (Salmo trutta) strains

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anssi Vainikka ◽  
Pekka Hyvärinen ◽  
Joni Matias Tiainen ◽  
Alexandre Lemopoulos ◽  
Nico Alioravainen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Brown Trout ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Salmo Trutta ◽  
Size Dependent ◽  
Natural Lakes ◽  
Predation Mortality ◽  
Brown Trout Salmo Trutta ◽  
Dependent Potential

Wild, adfluvial brown trout (Salmo trutta) are iconic targets in recreational fisheries but also endangered in many native locations. We compared how fishing and natural selection affect the fitness-proxies of brown trout from two pure angling-selected strains and experimental crosses between an adfluvial, hatchery-bred strain and three wild, resident strains. We exposed age 1+ parr to predation risk under controlled conditions where their behaviour was monitored with PIT-telemetry, and stocked age 2+ fish in two natural lakes for experimental fishing. Predation mortality (16% of the fish) was negatively size-dependent, while capture probability, also reflecting survival, in the lakes (38.9% of the fish) was positively length- and condition-dependent. Angling-induced selection against low boldness and slow growth rates relative to gillnet fishing indicated gear-dependent potential for fisheries-induced evolution in behaviours and life-histories. Offspring of wild, resident fish showed slower growth rates than the crossbred strains. Strain effects suggested significant heritable scope for artificial selection on life-history traits and demonstrated that choices of fish supplementation by stocking may override the genetic effects induced by angling.

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