Fish community change in Lake Superior, 1970–2000

2003 ◽  
Vol 60 (12) ◽  
pp. 1552-1574 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles R Bronte ◽  
Mark P Ebener ◽  
Donald R Schreiner ◽  
David S DeVault ◽  
Michael M Petzold ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Fish Community ◽  
Lake Trout ◽  
Community Change ◽  
Osmerus Mordax ◽  
Rainbow Smelt ◽  
Additional Species ◽  
Community Agencies ◽  
Natural Reproduction

Changes in Lake Superior's fish community are reviewed from 1970 to 2000. Lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) and lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) stocks have increased substantially and may be approaching ancestral states. Lake herring (Coregonus artedi) have also recovered, but under sporadic recruitment. Contaminant levels have declined and are in equilibrium with inputs, but toxaphene levels are higher than in all other Great Lakes. Sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) control, harvest limits, and stocking fostered recoveries of lake trout and allowed establishment of small nonnative salmonine populations. Natural reproduction supports most salmonine populations, therefore further stocking is not required. Nonnative salmonines will likely remain minor components of the fish community. Forage biomass has shifted from exotic rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) to native species, and high predation may prevent their recovery. Introductions of exotics have increased and threaten the recovering fish community. Agencies have little influence on the abundance of forage fish or the major predator, siscowet lake trout, and must now focus on habitat protection and enhancement in nearshore areas and prevent additional species introductions to further restoration. Persistence of Lake Superior's native deepwater species is in contrast to other Great Lakes where restoration will be difficult in the absence of these ecologically important fishes.

Early Life Stage Mortality Syndrome in Fishes of the Great Lakes and Baltic Sea

1998 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Prey Species ◽  
Lake Trout ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
Species Variation ◽  
Osmerus Mordax ◽  
Alosa Pseudoharengus ◽  
Rainbow Smelt ◽  
Thiamine Content ◽  
Lake Variation

<em>Abstract</em>.—Thiamine concentrations in representative Great Lakes prey fish, including alewives <em>Alosa pseudoharengus</em>, rainbow smelt <em>Osmerus mordax</em>, slimy sculpin <em>Cottus cognatus</em>, bloater chub <em>Coregonus hoyi</em>, and lake herring <em>Coregonus artedi</em>, and their major dietary items, including mysids <em>Mysis relicta</em>, amphipods <em>Diporeia hoyi</em>, and net macroplankton, were measured to assess their potential involvement in depressed thiamine concentrations in lake trout <em>Salvelinus namaycush </em>of the Great Lakes. Mean thiamine concentrations in all biota were greater than the recommended dietary intake of 3.3 nmol/g for prevention of effects on growth, although the adequacy of these concentrations for reproduction is not known. Mean thiamine concentrations decreased in the order alewives > bloater chub, herring > smelt and differed from the order of associated egg thiamine concentrations published for lake trout feeding on these species (herring > alewives, smelt). As a result, these data strongly implicate the high thiaminase content, rather than the low thiamine content, of alewives and smelt as being responsible for the low egg thiamine concentrations of Great Lakes lake trout stocks that feed heavily on these species. Variations in thiamine content among prey species did not appear to be related to levels in their diet, because thiamine concentrations in <em>Mysis</em>, <em>Diporeia</em>, and macroplankton showed little consistency between group or between lake variation. There was no lake to lake variation in mean thiamine concentrations of prey species, but considerable within species variation occurred that was unrelated to size.

The Lake Huron pelagic fish community: persistent spatial pattern along biomass and species composition gradients

2009 ◽  
Vol 66 (8) ◽  
pp. 1199-1215 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Warner ◽  
Jeffrey S. Schaeffer ◽  
Timothy P. O’Brien
Keyword(s):  
Native Species ◽  
Fish Community ◽  
Pelagic Fish ◽  
Lake Huron ◽  
Fish Biomass ◽  
Osmerus Mordax ◽  
Rainbow Smelt ◽  
The North ◽  
Abiotic Variables ◽  
Composition Gradients

Spatial patterns in the biomass of pelagic fish in Lake Huron have persisted over 10 years even though biomass decreased 86% and the fish community shifted from dominance by non-native species (rainbow smelt, Osmerus mordax ) to dominance by native species (bloater, Coregonus hoyi ). Based on multivariate analyses of acoustic biomass data and abiotic variables from the years 1997, 2004, 2005, and 2007, the strength of relationships between abiotic variables (primarily bottom depth) and fish community composition gradients decreased with fish biomass, suggesting that at high biomass, the influence of the measured abiotic variables is minimal. We observed consistently higher biomass in the North Channel and Georgian Bay than in the Main Basin, and as a result, we conclude that these smaller basins are likely important contributors to lakewide fish biomass, production, and dynamics. These results suggest that at current biomass levels, efforts to understand ecology, population dynamics, and lakewide abundance need to incorporate the effects of depth and geographic variation on fish distributions and ecology.

Lake Superior Revisited 1984

1987 ◽  
Vol 44 (S2) ◽  
pp. s23-s36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wayne R. MacCallum ◽  
James H. Selgeby
Keyword(s):  
Fish Community ◽  
Lake Trout ◽  
Pacific Salmon ◽  
Lake Superior ◽  
Sea Lamprey ◽  
Osmerus Mordax ◽  
Coregonus Clupeaformis ◽  
Rainbow Smelt ◽  
Coregonus Artedii ◽  
Historical Levels

The Lake Superior fish community has changed substantially since the early 1960s, when control of the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) became effective. Self-reproducing stocks of lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) have been reestablished in many inshore areas, although they have not yet reached pre-sea lamprey abundance; offshore lake trout are probably at or near pre-sea lamprey abundance. Stocks of lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) appear to have fully recovered; commercial catches are at or above historical levels. Lake herring (Coregonus artedii) are recovering rapidly in U.S. waters and are abundant in western Canadian waters. The population of rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax), which declined in the 1970s, is recovering. Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus) are becoming more abundant as a result of increased stocking in U.S. waters and are reproducing in most suitable tributaries; they have become significant in anglers' creels.

Early Life Stage Mortality Syndrome in Fishes of the Great Lakes and Baltic Sea

1998 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Lake Trout ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
Osmerus Mordax ◽  
Alosa Pseudoharengus ◽  
Rainbow Smelt ◽  
Inland Lakes ◽  
Early Mortality Syndrome ◽  
Thiamine Content

<em>Abstract</em>.—Lake trout <em>Salvelinus namaycush </em>eggs were collected from 18 separate locations in the Great Lakes and inland lakes to evaluate the relationship between diet and egg thiamine content. Thiamine concentrations in the eggs of lake trout whose diet consisted primarily of rainbow smelt <em>Osmerus mordax </em>and alewife <em>Alosa pseudoharengus </em>were one-ninth to one-seventeenth those of eggs of lake trout whose diet lacked either of these two species and was composed of lake herring <em>Coregonus artedi</em>, yellow perch <em>Perca flavescens</em>, cyprinids, or invertebrates. Within the Great Lakes, concentrations of thiamine in the eggs of lake trout increased in the order Ontario, Erie, Michigan, Huron < Superior and reflected the proportion of smelt, alewives, or both in the diet. Of the three forms of thiamine found in eggs, free thiamine was the most important and the form most affected by a diet of alewives or smelt. Collections from inland lakes were similar in terms of thiamine content and its relationship to diet composition. Average free thiamine concentrations in lake trout from Lakes Ontario, Erie, Michigan, and Huron were 1.5 to 4 times a threshold of 0.8 nmol/g that has been associated with the development of a thiamine-responsive early mortality syndrome. In contrast, the concentration of free thiamine in Lake Superior lake trout eggs was 26 times the threshold. We concluded that the reduction in egg thiamine concentrations in lake trout whose diet was primarily smelt or alewives was the result of their high thiaminase content, because published thiamine contents could not explain the patterns observed. Egg thiamine concentrations in lake trout were unaffected by maternal age.

Historical Changes in Large River Fish Assemblages of the Americas

2005 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Dreissena Polymorpha ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Hudson River ◽  
Osmerus Mordax ◽  
Shoreline Development ◽  
Rainbow Smelt ◽  
River Fish

<em>Abstract.</em>—The main channel of the Hudson River is a tidal estuary from its mouth in New York Harbor to Troy, New York, 247 km upstream. It drains about 35,000 km<sup>2</sup> and is an important navigational, commercial, and recreational system. Since the arrival of European settlers over 400 years ago, it has undergone numerous environmental changes. These changes have included channel maintenance by dredging, wholesale dumping of industrial and domestic wastes, scattered in-basin urbanization and shoreline development, deforestation of the watershed and an increase in agriculture, and water removal for commercial, industrial, and agricultural needs. In addition, the biota of the river has supported commercial and recreational harvesting, exotic species have become established, and habitats have become fragmented, replaced, changed in extent, or isolated. The tidal portion of the Hudson River is among the most-studied water bodies on Earth. We use data from surveys conducted in 1936, the 1970s, the 1980s, and the 1990s to examine changes in fish assemblages and from other sources dating back to 1842. The surveys are synoptic but use a variety of gears and techniques and were conducted by different researchers with different study goals. The scale of our assessment is necessarily coarse. Over 200 species of fish are reported from the drainage, including freshwater and diadromous species, estuarine forms, certain life history stages of primarily marine species, and marine strays. The tidal Hudson River fish assemblages have responded to the environmental changes of the last century in several ways. Several important native species appear to be in decline (e.g., rainbow smelt <em>Osmerus mordax </em>and Atlantic tomcod <em>Microgadus tomcod</em>), others, once in decline, have rebounded (e.g., striped bass <em>Morone saxatilis</em>), and populations of some species seem stable (e.g., spottail shiner <em>Notropis hudsonius</em>). No native species is extirpated from the system, and only one, shortnose sturgeon <em>Acipenser brevirostrum</em>, is listed as endangered. The recent establishment of the exotic zebra mussel <em>Dreissena polymorpha </em>may be shifting the fish assemblage away from openwater fishes (e.g., <em>Alosa</em>) and toward species associated with vegetation (e.g., centrarchids). In general, the Hudson River has seen an increase in the number and importance of alien species and a change in dominant species.

Partitioning Potential Fish Yields from the Great Lakes

1987 ◽  
Vol 44 (S2) ◽  
pp. s417-s424 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. H. Loftus ◽  
C. H. Olver ◽  
E. H. Brown ◽  
P. J. Colby ◽  
W. L. Hartman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Fish Habitat ◽  
Fish Communities ◽  
Osmerus Mordax ◽  
Rainbow Smelt ◽  
Yield Data ◽  
Predator Species ◽  
Resource Managers ◽  
Commercial Yield ◽  
Fish Yields

We proposed and implemented procedures for partitioning future fish yields from the Great Lakes into taxonomic components. These projections are intended as guidelines for Great Lakes resource managers and scientists. Attainment of projected yields depends on restoration of stable fish communities containing some large piscivores that will use prey efficiently, continuation of control of the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus), and restoration of high-quality fish habitat. Because Great Lakes fish communities were harmonic before their collapse, we used their historic yield properties as part of the basis for projecting potential yields of rehabilitated communities. This use is qualified, however, because of possible inaccuracies in the wholly commercial yield data, the presence now of greatly expanded sport fisheries that affect yield composition and magnitude, and some possibly irreversible changes since the 1950s in the various fish communities themselves. We predict that total yields from Lakes Superior, Huron, and Ontario will be increased through rehabilitation, while those from Lakes Michigan and Erie will decline. Salmonines and coregonines will dominate future yields from the upper lakes. The Lake Erie fishery will continue to yield mostly rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax), but the relative importance of percids, especially of walleye (Stizostedion vitreum vitreum), will increase. In Lake Ontario, yields of salmonines will be increased. Managers will have to apply the most rigorous management strictures to major predator species.

Using bioenergetics models to predict stable isotope ratios in fishes

2002 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris J Harvey ◽  
Paul C Hanson ◽  
Timothy E Essington ◽  
Paul B Brown ◽  
James F Kitchell
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotope ◽  
Lake Trout ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Null Model ◽  
Field Tests ◽  
Isotope Ratios ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Stable Isotope Ratios ◽  
Osmerus Mordax ◽  
Rainbow Smelt

To describe temporal dynamics of stable isotope ratios in fishes, we developed a bioenergetics-based model that links isotope ratios to growth, as influenced by fish size, temperature, diet, and prey quality. The model includes error terms for isotope ratios, diet proportions, and fractionation. The model accurately predicted temporal δ15N dynamics of lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) in a diet-switch experiment but was less successful for δ13C, possibly because of variable fractionation. The model was then used in three heuristic applications. In a diet-validation scenario, a model derived from limited knowledge of rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) diet reasonably estimated δ13C and δ15N compared with a null model but inaccurately estimated prey consumption. In a scenario where adult lake trout briefly cannibalized stocked lake trout fingerlings, the detectability of a cannibalism-induced δ15N increase depended on predator size, duration of cannibalism, and sample size. In a scenario where seasonal isotopic variability occurred at the base of a food web, variation propagated to higher trophic levels depended on consumer size and diet. Our approach is most valuable when used to examine multiple diet combinations that produce observed stable isotope ratios; one can then identify the most reasonable diets through field tests or other observations.

Dynamics of salmonine diets and foraging in Lake Ontario, 1983-1993: a test of a bioenergetic model prediction

1998 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 307-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter S Rand ◽  
Donald J Stewart
Keyword(s):  
Lake Trout ◽  
Coho Salmon ◽  
Lake Ontario ◽  
Osmerus Mordax ◽  
Alosa Pseudoharengus ◽  
Bioenergetic Model ◽  
Rainbow Smelt ◽  
Predator Species ◽  
Mean Size ◽  
Diet Survey

We tested the hypotheses that (1) reductions in individual size and energy density of adult alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) in Lake Ontario over the past decade have caused reductions in mean size of consumed alewife and compensatory increases in frequency of feeding by salmonines and (2) perceived recent reductions in the alewife and rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) prey base in recent years have resulted in shifts in diets of salmonines to less preferred prey items. Data from a diet survey conducted on sport-caught salmonines during 1983-1988 and 1993 indicated significant reductions in the mean size of consumed alewife across all predator species over time and an increased frequency of feeding among some predators (reflected by a decline in the proportion of empty stomachs observed). We found evidence of increased ration levels in coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) and an increase in the number of adult alewife in stomachs of all predator species that was accurately predicted by an earlier bioenergetic model analysis. We found evidence of a shift in diet across years away from rainbow smelt and other fishes to adult alewife. Results point toward possible sources of bioenergetic stress on salmonines in Lake Ontario.

Hudson River Fishes and their Environment

2006 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Species Richness ◽  
River Estuary ◽  
Hudson River ◽  
Anthropogenic Sources ◽  
Osmerus Mordax ◽  
Rainbow Smelt ◽  
Additional Species ◽  
Acipenser Brevirostrum ◽  
River Drainage

<em>Abstract.</em>—The Hudson River Estuary (defined here as the Hudson River drainage and New York Harbor) is home to a large and diverse ichthyofauna. Estimates of species richness reflect both their geographic boundaries and time periods. The most complete estimate is for the Hudson River drainage north of the southern tip of Manhattan, where, as of 2005, 212 fish species have been recorded. This includes 11 new forms not reported in the most recently published tally (1990). We categorize the fishes of the Hudson River drainage as derived from 12 zoogeographic or anthropogenic sources (including species for which we make no judgment [<em>n </em>= 26]), the largest contributions from which include temperate marine strays (<em>n </em>= 65), introduced species (<em>n </em>= 28), and freshwater species that survived Pleistocene glaciations in Atlantic coastal refugia (<em>n </em>= 21). Additional species appear to have invaded from the Mississippi refugia, some naturally (<em>n </em>= 11) and some later, via canals (<em>n </em>= 11). Only ten diadromous fishes occur in the estuary, but many of these are, or have been, commercially and recreationally important (e.g., Atlantic sturgeon <em>Acipenser oxyrinchus</em>, American shad <em>Alosa sapidissima</em>, and striped bass <em>Morone saxatilis</em>). Extremely high seasonal temperature changes in the main-channel Hudson River foster a seasonally dynamic ichthyofauna with relatively few species occurring year round. However, the small number of resident estuarine fishes (<em>n </em>= 8) often occur in high abundances. Species richness peaks between June and September and reaches a minimum in winter. Long-term data indicate that although species richness has increased with the additions of new species, diversity is decreasing because of the decrease in population size of certain species, especially native cyprinids. The Hudson estuary hosts a population of one federally endangered species, shortnose sturgeon <em>Acipenser brevirostrum</em>, which is flourishing. Only one species, the anadromous rainbow smelt <em>Osmerus mordax </em>appears to have become extirpated in the Hudson Estuary.

Mercury Uptake by Lake Trout, Salvelinus namaycush, Relative to Age, Growth, and Diet in Tadenac Lake with Comparative Data from Other PreCambrian Shield Lakes

1983 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 114-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugh R. MacCrimmon ◽  
Christopher D. Wren ◽  
Barra L. Gots
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Lake Trout ◽  
Cold Water ◽  
Salvelinus Namaycush ◽  
Mercury Accumulation ◽  
Osmerus Mordax ◽  
Rainbow Smelt ◽  
Precambrian Shield ◽  
Safe Level ◽  
Mercury Uptake

Lake trout, Salvelinus namaycush, released into Tadenac Lake as juveniles, show a pronounced acceleration in growth rate, following a change in diet from benthic invertebrates to rainbow smelt, Osmerus mordax, beginning at age 6 (> 30 cm). An abrupt increase in the rate of mercury accumulation in white muscle of these fish occurs at the same time. Mercury levels in lake trout ([Formula: see text] = 0.24–3.44 μg/g) and coresident smelt ([Formula: see text] = 0.06–0.48 μg/g) from Tadenac and eight neighboring lakes reveal maximum levels reaching 10.0 and 0.84 μg/g, respectively. Mercury levels in lake trout from Tadenac Lake, an undisturbed PreCambrian Shield ecosystem without detected indigenous sources, exceed the "safe" level (0.5 μg/g) at sexual maturity and at a size less than generally acceptable for human utilization. Mercury accumulation by the trout is correlated with length (r = 0.92) in each lake population examined, but substantial among-lake differences occur in fish of comparable ages. As the growth rates are similar in various waters, differences in extent of mercury accumulation is attributed to differences in mercury availability among lakes. In view of a strong correlation (r = 0.96) between mercury levels in smelt and trout calculated at standardized length, it is proposed that the smelt is an appropriate indicator species for the ranking of cold-water lakes relative to the availability of mercury for uptake by lake trout and other living aquatic organisms.Key words: mercury uptake, lake trout, rainbow smelt, growth rate, diet

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