Salmonid or nonsalmonid lakes: predicting the fate of northern boreal fish communities with hierarchical filters relating to a keystone piscivore

2008 ◽  
Vol 65 (9) ◽  
pp. 1945-1955 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan Spens ◽  
John P. Ball
Keyword(s):  
Brook Trout ◽  
Salmo Trutta ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Salvelinus Alpinus ◽  
Fish Communities ◽  
Perca Fluviatilis ◽  
Boreal Lakes ◽  
Roach Rutilus Rutilus ◽  
High Connectivity

We determine if lacustrine salmonids show large-scale patterns of coexistence with the keystone predator northern pike ( Esox lucius ) and test an approach to predict fish communities using coexistence rules set in the context of three hierarchical filters that a species must pass to be present. The mutually exclusive species distribution patterns that we detected among 1029 lakes were repeatedly verified from results of whole-lake interventions with rotenone and introductions. Essentially, pike did not coexist with self-sustaining salmonid populations in lakes. High connectivity to pike (derived from maps) largely predicts the absence of lacustrine salmonids. Our analysis strongly suggests that pike prevented self-sustaining populations of brown trout ( Salmo trutta ), Arctic char ( Salvelinus alpinus ), and brook trout ( Salvelinus fontinalis ) in lakes. High connectivity to pike resulted in nonsalmonid lake fish communities, most often including both European perch ( Perca fluviatilis ) and roach ( Rutilus rutilus ). Our analysis suggests that if pike were not present in many boreal lakes where they now dwell, salmonid fish assemblages would prevail, a sharp contrast from the present pike-driven homogenized state with mainly nonsalmonid fish communities.

Lac Léman: Effects of Exploitation, Eutrophication, and Introductions on the Salmonid Community

1972 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 867-875 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. J. Laurent
Keyword(s):  
Salmo Trutta ◽  
Salvelinus Alpinus ◽  
Central Zone ◽  
Perca Fluviatilis ◽  
Rutilus Rutilus ◽  
Salmo Gairdneri ◽  
Algal Flora ◽  
Indigenous Species ◽  
Roach Rutilus Rutilus ◽  
Size Limits

Review of 14 years of data concerning the geographic and hydrographic characteristics of Léman show that this lake is in the process of eutrophication: nutrient levels are increasing, oxygen levels are decreasing in the deep waters, and the algal flora has changed. The effect of the current warming of the climate on its evolution is taken into consideration.Since 1900 the fishing regulations of the Swiss and French have been dissimilar. Excessively small size limits and at certain times the abusive use of nets have repeatedly led to a reduction of the most valued species.French catch data, covering more than 70 years, reveal fluctuations which reflect biological disturbances due primarily to overexploitation and also to eutrophication. Landings have increased but value has decreased.Numerous introductions have been made purposely or accidentally. Certain of these species have had deleterious effects (sticklebacks) and some beneficial (introductions of a new population of coregonines after the extinction of the indigenous species).Some aspects of the biology of the most valued salmonids (Salmo trutta, Salmo gairdneri, Salvelinus alpinus) have been shown as well as the results of attempts to repopulate them using pisciculture and marking. Plantings of rainbow trout along the shoreline during summer gave best results (percentage return and growth being most important), although their reproduction seems to be doubtful.Overexploitation of coregonines followed by that of perch (Perca fluviatilis) has left roach (Rutilus rutilus) to inhabit all the central zone of the lake. This valueless species is favored by eutrophication and is thus able to utilize plankton without undergoing competition from coregonines and young perch, or predation by larger perch. No fishing profits are derived from the invasion of the lake by roach.

scholarly journals Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) extinction in small boreal lakes revealed by ephippia pigmentation: a preliminary analysis

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandre Bérubé Tellier ◽  
Paul E. Drevnick ◽  
Andrea Bertolo
Keyword(s):  
Brook Trout ◽  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Salvelinus Fontinalis ◽  
Sediment Cores ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Fish Predation ◽  
Boreal Lakes ◽  
Predation Pressure ◽  
Trout Population

<p>Ephippium pigmentation is a plastic trait which can be related to a trade-off between visual predation pressure and better protection of cladoceran eggs against different types of stress. Experimental studies showed that planktivorous fish exert a greater predation pressure on individuals carrying darker ephippia, but little is known about the variation of ephippium pigmentation along gradients of fish predation pressure in natural conditions. For this study, our experimental design included four small boreal lakes with known fish assemblages. Two of the lakes have viable brook trout (<em>Salvelinus fontinalis</em>) populations, whereas the other two lakes experienced brook trout extinctions during the 20<sup>th</sup> century. Cladoceran ephippia were extracted from sediment cores at layers corresponding to the documented post- extinction phase (1990's) and from an older layer (1950's) for which the brook trout population status is not known precisely. Our first objective was to determine whether brook trout extinction has a direct effect on both ephippium pigmentation and size. Our second objective was to give a preliminary assessment of the status of brook trout populations in the 1950's by comparing the variation in ephippia traits measured from this layer to those measured in the 1990's, for which the extinction patterns are well known. Cost-effective image analysis was used to assess variation in pigmentation levels in ephippia. This approach provided a proxy for the amount of melanin invested in each ephippium analysed. Our study clearly shows that ephippium pigmentation may represent a better indicator of the presence of fish predators than ephippium size, a trait that showed a less clear pattern of variation between lakes with and without fish. For the 1990's period, ephippia from fishless lakes were darker and showed a slight tendency to be larger than ephippia from lakes with brook trout. However, no clear differences in either ephippium size or pigmentation were observed between the 1990's and 1950's layers within each lake. This suggests that brook trout extinction already occurred before the 1950’s, or that brook trout population abundance was already extremely low before and after the 1990’s. Our preliminary study shows that ephippium pigmentation can be used as a tool to quickly assess present and past predation levels on zooplankton when only sediment samples are available.</p>

scholarly journals Transcript expression of inward rectifier potassium channels of Kir2 subfamily in Arctic marine and freshwater fish species

2019 ◽  
Vol 189 (6) ◽  
pp. 735-749
Author(s):  
Minna Hassinen ◽  
Hanna Korajoki ◽  
Denis Abramochkin ◽  
Pavel Krivosheya ◽  
Matti Vornanen
Keyword(s):  
Salmo Trutta ◽  
Salvelinus Alpinus ◽  
Perca Fluviatilis ◽  
Inward Rectifier ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Phylogenetic Position ◽  
Polar Cod ◽  
Transcript Expression ◽  
Freshwater Species ◽  
Inward Rectifier Potassium Channels

Abstract Inward rectifier K+ (Kir2) channels are critical for electrical excitability of cardiac myocytes. Here, we examine expression of Kir2 channels in the heart of three Gadiformes species, polar cod (Boreogadus saida) and navaga (Eleginus nawaga) of the Arctic Ocean and burbot (Lota lota) of the temperate lakes to find out the role of Kir2 channels in cardiac adaptation to cold. Five boreal freshwater species: brown trout (Salmo trutta fario), arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus), roach (Rutilus rutilus), perch (Perca fluviatilis) and pike (Esox lucius), and zebrafish (Danio rerio), were included for comparison. Transcript expression of genes encoding Kir2.1a, − 2.1b, − 2.2a, − 2.2b and − 2.4 was studied from atrium and ventricle of thermally acclimated or acclimatized fish by quantitative PCR. Kir2 composition in the polar cod was more diverse than in other species in that all Kir2 isoforms were relatively highly expressed. Kir2 composition of navaga and burbot differed from that of the polar cod as well as from those of other species. The relative expression of Kir2.2 transcripts, especially Kir2.2b, was higher in both atrium and ventricle of navaga and burbot (56–89% from the total Kir2 pool) than in other species (0.1–11%). Thermal acclimation induced only small changes in cardiac Kir2 transcript expression in Gadiformes species. However, Kir2.2b transcripts were upregulated in cold-acclimated navaga and burbot hearts. All in all, the cardiac Kir2 composition seems to be dependent on both phylogenetic position and thermal preference of the fish.

Assessing the biological relevance of aquatic connectivity to stream fish communities

2014 ◽  
Vol 71 (12) ◽  
pp. 1852-1863 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shad Mahlum ◽  
Dan Kehler ◽  
David Cote ◽  
Yolanda F. Wiersma ◽  
Les Stanfield
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Structural Connectivity ◽  
Fish Communities ◽  
Stream Fish ◽  
Aquatic Connectivity ◽  
Longitudinal Connectivity ◽  
Riverine Systems

Recent advances in the ability to quantify longitudinal connectivity of riverine systems is enabling a better understanding of how connectivity affects fish assemblages. However, the role of connectivity relative to other factors, such as land use, in structuring biological assemblages is just emerging. We assessed the relevance of a structural connectivity index to stream fish communities at a relatively large scale (across five watersheds of Lake Ontario) while controlling for confounding habitat variables, such as land use, elevation, and stream topology. The results were assessed to determine whether species’ sensitivities to connectivity are in accordance with expectations of life history. Our results indicated that at large scales, structural connectivity explains significant amounts of variation in community structure (1% to 5.4% as measured by Bray–Curtis similarity), but remains secondary to other habitat components. Connectivity also was significantly related to abundance in three of the seven species assessed. The lower explanatory power of our models compared with studies done at smaller scales suggests that the relevance of connectivity to fish communities is scale-dependent and diminishes relative to other environmental factors at larger spatial extents.

Competition, predation and environmental factors as structuring forces in freshwater fish communities: Sumari (1971) revisited

1997 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
L Persson
Keyword(s):  
Abiotic Factors ◽  
Fish Communities ◽  
Perca Fluviatilis ◽  
Rutilus Rutilus ◽  
Apparent Competition ◽  
Roach Rutilus Rutilus ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Perch Perca Fluviatilis ◽  
Species Performance

A study by Sumari (O. Sumari. 1971. Ann. Zool. Fenn. 8: 406-421) of the fish communities in 32 Finnish lakes concluded that the main factors affecting perch (Perca fluviatilis) populations were biotic, of which the competitive interspecific effect of roach (Rutilus rutilus) was the main one analysed. A reanalysis of this data set suggests that abiotic factors such as conductivity and pH are also important in structuring fish communities. It is suggested that abiotic factors affect perch abundance mainly by their effects on other species' performance, particularly roach. The analyses of the whole data set and a subset of this data set consisting of nine lakes having perch only, or perch and piscivores only, also provided evidence that piscivores affect perch biomass. A positive relationship between piscivore biomass and roach biomass suggests that the piscivore-perch-roach interaction may have involved the presence of apparent competition between roach and perch.

Nonnative brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) and the demise of native brown trout (Salmo trutta) in northern boreal lakes: stealthy, long-term patterns?

2007 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 654-664 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan Spens ◽  
Anders Alanärä ◽  
Lars-Ove Eriksson
Keyword(s):  
Brown Trout ◽  
Brook Trout ◽  
Salmo Trutta ◽  
Salvelinus Fontinalis ◽  
Time Lag ◽  
Boreal Lakes ◽  
Extinction Rate ◽  
Average Maximum ◽  
Brown Trout Salmo Trutta

This study of 193 boreal lakes of northern Sweden suggests a long-term detrimental impact of introduced brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) on brown trout (Salmo trutta) populations. Thirteen of 65 (20%) brown trout populations in lakes exposed to brook trout went extinct, whereas the extinction rate in unexposed lakes was significantly lower (2%). We verified other studies that indicate that altitude strongly affects the distribution of the two species; brown trout populations in our higher altitude lakes were more sensitive to impact from brook trout. In 28 lakes above 285 m, 12 trout populations exposed to brook trout went extinct, while only one population became extinct in 37 lakes below 285 m. No effects of other environmental factors were detected (e.g., water chemistry, stocking of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), fish species community assembly, migration barriers, or lake morphometry on brown trout extinction). The time lag between the first record of brook trout introduction and subsequent extinction of brown trout was two decades on average (maximum 70 years). Even though further stocking of brook trout has been stopped, our analysis suggest that existing sympatric populations may continue to pose an extinction threat to brown trout.

Temporal variation in juvenile fish communities of Kaunas reservoir littoral zone, Lithuania

2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 858-866 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valdemaras Žiliukas ◽  
Vida Žiliukienė ◽  
Rimantas Repečka
Keyword(s):  
Littoral Zone ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Juvenile Fish ◽  
Fish Communities ◽  
Perca Fluviatilis ◽  
Rutilus Rutilus ◽  
Diversity Indices ◽  
Fish Diversity ◽  
Roach Rutilus Rutilus ◽  
Species Diversity Indices

AbstractThe aim of this study was to assess juvenile fish communities in terms of species composition, fish diversity and density in the littoral zone of the Kaunas reservoir before (in 1989–1990, period I) and after (in 1999–2000, period II, and in 2006–2007, period III) launching the Kruonis hydroelectric pumped plant (Kruonis HPP). During the whole research period, 20 fish species were caught. According to the frequency of occurrence, the three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus, European perch Perca fluviatilis and roach Rutilus rutilus were regarded as constant species in all investigated periods. Significant differences were established in juvenile fish community density between period I and periods II and III, whereas species richness (S) and species diversity indices (H′, J′) did not change significantly. The density of the shoreline community in period III was more than two times lower than in period I, probably due to higher fluctuations in water level of the reservoir, resulting from the Kruonis HPP operation.

Large-scale patterns in species richness and composition of temperate riverine fish communities, south-eastern Australia

2000 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter C. Gehrke ◽  
John H. Harris
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Fish Communities ◽  
Fish Fauna ◽  
South Coast ◽  
North Coast ◽  
Large Spatial Scale ◽  
River Types ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Riverine Fish

Riverine fish in New South Wales were studied to examine longitudinal trends in species richness and to identify fish communities on a large spatial scale. Five replicate rivers of four types (montane, slopes, regulated lowland and unregulated lowland) were selected from North Coast, South Coast, Murray and Darling regions. Fishwere sampled during summer and winter in two consecutive years with standardized gear that maximized the range of species caught. The composition of fish communities varied among regions and river types, with little temporal variation. Distinct regional communities converged in montane reaches and diverged downstream. The fish fauna can be classified into North Coast, South Coast, Murray and Darling communities, with a distinct montane community at high elevations irrespective of the drainage division. Species richness increased downstream in both North Coast and South Coast regions by both replacement and the addition of new species. In contrast, species richness in the Darling and Murray regions reached a maximum in the slopes reaches and then declined, reflecting a loss of species in lowland reaches. The small number of species is typical of the freshwater fish faunas of similar climatic regions world-wide. Fish communities identified in this study form logical entities for fisheries management consistent with the ecosystem-focused, catchment-based approach to river management and water reform being adopted in Australia.

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