Estimating synchronous changes in condition and density in eastern Bering Sea fishes

2020 ◽  
Vol 635 ◽  
pp. 169-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Grüss ◽  
J Gao ◽  
JT Thorson ◽  
CN Rooper ◽  
G Thompson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Variation ◽  
Temporal Variation ◽  
Density Dependence ◽  
Bering Sea ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Relative Weight ◽  
Bottom Temperature ◽  
Fish Condition ◽  
Eastern Bering Sea ◽  
Spatio Temporal

Estimating fish condition, the relative weight of an individual fish given its body length, is a convenient way to relate the physiological health and energetic status of fishes to their productivity. Despite evidence of density-dependence effects on condition in some species, previous research has not jointly estimated synchronous changes in condition and density operating at fine spatial scales (a few km). Therefore, we developed a spatio-temporal modeling approach that simultaneously estimates correlated variation in density (measured as numbers per area) and condition. We applied our approach to 6 eastern Bering Sea (EBS) groundfish species (4 flatfishes and 2 gadoids) for the period 1992-2016, and estimated correlations in spatial variation (unmeasured variation that is stable over time) and spatio-temporal variation (unmeasured variation that changes between years). Spatial variation in density had a strong significant negative association with spatial variation in condition for 3 flatfishes and a positive association for one gadoid. Spatio-temporal variation in density had a significant association with spatio-temporal variation in condition for one flatfish (negative) and one gadoid (positive). Moreover, for the 6 study species, bottom temperature was identified as an important predictor of both density and condition. The increasing trend in bottom temperatures between 1992 and 2016 was accompanied by an overall increase in the abundance-weighted condition of 5 species. We conclude that forecasts of changes in weight-at-age within some EBS groundfish assessments will require an understanding of both density-dependence and bottom temperature effects on fish condition to better prepare for future climate and exploitation changes.

Contrasting the variability in spatial distribution of two juvenile flatfishes in relation to thermal stanzas in the eastern Bering Sea

2019 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 953-963
Author(s):  
Cynthia Yeung ◽  
Daniel W Cooper
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Bering Sea ◽  
Thermal Environment ◽  
Bottom Temperature ◽  
Eastern Bering Sea ◽  
Northward Expansion ◽  
Yellowfin Sole ◽  
Temperature Indices ◽  
Limanda Aspera ◽  
The Bering Sea

Abstract Groundfish species in the Bering Sea are undergoing pronounced changes in spatial distribution and abundance due to warming ocean temperatures. The main drivers of interannual variability in this ecosystem are the alternating warm and cold thermal stanzas. Yellowfin sole (Limanda aspera; YFS) and northern rock sole (Lepidopsetta polyxystra; NRS) are commercially-valuable flatfishes in the Bering Sea and are among the most dominant groundfish species there in numbers and biomass. We examined the variability in the spatial distribution and abundance of juvenile NRS and YFS in relation to the ice and temperature conditions associated with warm-cold thermal shifts from 1982 to 2017. The goal was to assess the implications of the fluctuating thermal environment for Bering Sea flatfish production. We found ice cover and bottom temperature indices in the preceding 1 to 3 years to be the best predictors of NRS juvenile distribution. In contrast, these indices were not significantly correlated with YFS juvenile distribution, which could be an artifact of their relatively low availability to sampling. A warm stanza, as the Bering Sea is currently in, is expected to favor high numbers of NRS juveniles and the northward expansion of their distribution.

Spatial dynamics of female snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) in the eastern Bering Sea

2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 250-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Billy Ernst ◽  
JM (Lobo) Orensanz ◽  
David A Armstrong
Keyword(s):  
Bering Sea ◽  
Environmental Gradients ◽  
Condition Index ◽  
Mature Female ◽  
Temperature Fields ◽  
Snow Crab ◽  
Bottom Temperature ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Chionoecetes Opilio ◽  
Eastern Bering Sea

Snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) migrations in the eastern Bering Sea have long been ignored. Based on preliminary information, we hypothesized that females undergo an extensive ontogenetic migration, tracking down environmental gradients. We analyzed a 25-year time series of survey data and defined ontogenetic stages in terms of a "shell condition index" calibrated with radiochemical methods. "Pseudo-cohorts" of mature females (groups of females that undergo puberty molt in a given year) "recruit" to the mature female pool in the Middle Domain (50–100 m) of the intermediate shelf. Females undergo puberty molt and primiparous mating in winter. Over the next year, they migrate an average net distance of 73.5 nautical miles towards the shelf edge following a predominantly northeast–southwest direction. Maximum post-terminal molt life span is 6–7 years. Results support the hypothesis that the variable tracked is near-bottom temperature. Although near-bottom temperature fields vary from year to year, the corresponding vector field is a conservative template, which explains the consistency observed in the pattern of migration. Elucidation of the life history schedule of mature female snow crabs in the eastern Bering Sea revealed that it is very similar to that reported for eastern Canada, although patterns of migration may differ substantially between the two systems.

A probabilistic cellular automata approach for predator–prey interactions of arrowtooth flounder (Atheresthes stomias) and walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) in the eastern Bering Sea

2012 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-272
Author(s):  
Kun Chen ◽  
Kung-Sik Chan ◽  
Kevin M. Bailey ◽  
Kerim Aydin ◽  
Lorenzo Ciannelli
Keyword(s):  
Cellular Automata ◽  
Bering Sea ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Walleye Pollock ◽  
Theragra Chalcogramma ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Eastern Bering Sea ◽  
Walleye Pollock Theragra Chalcogramma ◽  
Arrowtooth Flounder

We developed a hybrid cellular automata (CA) modelling approach to explore the dynamics of a key predator–prey interaction in a marine system; our study is motivated by the quest for better understanding of the scale and heterogeneity-related effects on the arrowtooth flounder (Atheresthes stomias) and walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) dynamics during the summer feeding season in the eastern Bering Sea (EBS), but can be readily extended to other systems. The spatially explicit and probabilistic CA model incorporates individual behaviours and strategies and local interactions among species, as well as spatial and temporal heterogeneity due to geographical and (or) environmental changes in the physical environment. The model is hybridized, with an individual-based model (IBM) approach for increasing its capacity and continuum and for balancing between computational efficiency and model validity, which makes it suitable for simulating predator–prey dynamics in a large, complex ecological environment. We focus on the functional and aggregative responses of predators to prey density at different spatial scales, the effects of individual behaviours, and the impacts of systematic heterogeneity. Simulations from the model with suitable parameter values share qualitatively similar features found in field observations, e.g., local aggregations around hydrographical features. Spatial heterogeneity is an important aspect of whether local-scale functional and aggregative responses reflect those operating over large, or global, scales.

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