Structuring of a Predator Population Through Temperature-Mediated Effects on Prey Availability

Temperature can control the structure of a predator population by regulating the abundance and size availability of prey. Relatively small differences in winter temperatures between years can have a major influence on largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) population structure because of the threshold relationship between temperature and the lower lethal limits of shad. The relationship between prey availability and predator growth and mortality was established through field measurements of consumed energy. Growth and consumption of largemouth bass in Watts Bar Reservoir, Tennessee, was lower in 1979 than in 1980 as a result of lower winter water temperature in 1979, which reduced the abundance and availability of adequate-sized prey. Depending on the severity of the winter, bass that do not attain 25 ± 5 cm by the end of their first growing season do not survive to annulus I formation because of the unavailability of appropriate-sized prey in the spring and the inability of small bass to store sufficient energy reserves. Selective mortality favoring survival of larger individuals in an age-class is operating in the Watts Bar largemouth bass population. This has significant implications for predator growth in ecosystems that experience large seasonal fluctuations in prey availability.Key words: predator population structure, prey availability, reservoir temperature, energy consumption, growth, largemouth bass, selective mortality, shad

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Eco-evolutionary feedbacks link prey adaptation to predator performance

Biology Letters ◽

10.1098/rsbl.2019.0626 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 15 (11) ◽

pp. 20190626 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

David C. Fryxell ◽

Zachary T. Wood ◽

Rebecca Robinson ◽

Michael T. Kinnison ◽

Eric P. Palkovacs

Keyword(s):

Largemouth Bass ◽

Prey Availability ◽

Micropterus Salmoides ◽

Gambusia Affinis ◽

Short Term ◽

Field Surveys ◽

Predator Prey ◽

Introduced Populations ◽

Body Sizes ◽

Average Body

Eco-evolutionary feedbacks may determine the outcome of predator–prey interactions in nature, but little work has been done to quantify the feedback effect of short-term prey adaptation on predator performance. We tested the effects of prey availability and recent (less than 100 years) prey adaptation on the feeding and growth rate of largemouth bass ( Micropterus salmoides ), foraging on western mosquitofish ( Gambusia affinis ). Field surveys showed higher densities and larger average body sizes of mosquitofish in recently introduced populations without bass. Over a six-week mesocosm experiment, bass were presented with either a high or low availability of mosquitofish prey from recently established populations either naive or experienced with bass. Naive mosquitofish were larger, less cryptic and more vulnerable to bass predation compared to their experienced counterparts. Bass consumed more naive prey, grew more quickly with naive prey, and grew more quickly per unit biomass of naive prey consumed. The effect of mosquitofish history with the bass on bass growth was similar in magnitude to the effect of mosquitofish availability. In showing that recently derived predation-related prey phenotypes strongly affect predator performance, this study supports the presence of reciprocal predator–prey trait feedbacks in nature.

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Latitudinal variation in the geometric morphology of the largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides

Marine and Freshwater Research ◽

10.1071/mf17369 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 69 (9) ◽

pp. 1480 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Elijah S. Hall ◽

Benjamin E. Martin ◽

Kristen Brubaker ◽

Christopher J. Grant

Keyword(s):

Largemouth Bass ◽

Habitat Structure ◽

Body Shape ◽

Prey Availability ◽

Abiotic Factors ◽

Micropterus Salmoides ◽

Canonical Variate ◽

Resource Utilisation ◽

Eastern United States ◽

Geometric Morphology

Geometric morphology can be influenced by several biotic and abiotic factors, including predator–prey interactions and habitat structure. We measured the external morphology of Micropterus salmoides (largemouth bass, LMB) from two states in north-eastern United States, to assess the potential divergence of body shape. LMB varied in overall body shape (canonical variate analysis, P<0.001) between states, with Maine populations exhibiting shorter jaws (ANOVA, P<0.001) and thicker caudal peduncle depths (ANOVA, P<0.001) than the LMB in Pennsylvania. We propose that these observed differences in morphological traits suggest that jaw length may be influenced by prey availability and resource utilisation, whereas peduncle depth is better explained by surrounding habitat structure. These findings showed that body shape is variable and is influenced by a complex array of environmental factors, even over small latitudinal differences.

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Recruitment dynamics of non-native largemouth bass within the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences ◽

10.1139/cjfas-2020-0241 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Brock M. Huntsman ◽

Frederick Feyrer ◽

Matthew J. Young ◽

James A. Hobbs ◽

Shawn Acuña ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Population Structure ◽

Largemouth Bass ◽

Aquatic Vegetation ◽

Micropterus Salmoides ◽

Habitat Characteristics ◽

Fish Community Structure ◽

Health Indices ◽

Young Of The Year ◽

Overwinter Mortality ◽

Critical Developmental Period

Largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides, LMB) recruitment is limited by a critical developmental period during early life-stages, but this mechanism may be less significant within non-native habitats. We conducted boat electrofishing surveys in four tidal lakes of California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (SSJD) from 2010-2011 to describe introduced LMB recruitment dynamics. We evaluated growth, proximate composition, and health indices of young-of-the-year (YOY) LMB among tidal lakes and developed an integrated count model to determine how factors known to affect LMB recruitment shape SSJD population structure. Our results show a mismatch between growth, nutrition, and YOY abundance, where the tidal lake with the most abundant and fastest growing LMB had the poorest nutritional status. The warm winter water temperatures and lack of a hatching-cohort growth advantage suggests overwinter starvation plays a less significant role in SSJD LMB recruitment than many native LMB habitats. Collectively, our results suggest that habitat characteristics (submerged aquatic vegetation) and not overwinter mortality shapes SSJD LMB population structure, a mechanism consistent with contemporary hypotheses about the altered fish community structure of the SSJD.

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Balancing Fisheries Management and Water Uses for Impounded River Systems

Balancing Fisheries Management and Water Uses for Impounded River Systems ◽

10.47886/9781934874066.ch24 ◽

2008 ◽

Keyword(s):

Food Web ◽

Largemouth Bass ◽

Standing Crop ◽

Size Structure ◽

Prey Availability ◽

Micropterus Salmoides ◽

Adult Population ◽

Fish Prey ◽

Growth And Survival ◽

Southern Florida

<em>Abstract</em>.—Growth and survival of stocked fish are positively influenced by the availability of suitably sized prey fish. We examined relationships among juvenile largemouth bass <em>Micropterus salmoides </em>size structure, occurrence of piscivory, and biomass relative to fish prey size structure and biomass across Florida’s latitudinal gradient to evaluate potential fish prey availability across a broad spatial scale of lakes. We sampled the 2003 and 2004 largemouth bass year-classes and potential fish prey in April/May (i.e., spring) and in June/July (i.e., summer) in six study lakes distributed from northern to southern Florida. Available prey to predator ratios (AP:P) decreased with increased fish size but indicated that prey resources were not limiting at any lake during either year (all AP:P > 8). We used a biomass-based food web model for our lake with the lowest AP:P we measured (~9) to determine if bioenergetics-based predictions agreed with AP:P metric indications of the system’s potential to support a higher standing crop of largemouth bass. Food web simulations showed potential to increase the standing crop of adult largemouth bass population by up to 30% at high stocking rates (i.e., 150 fish/ha), but stocking at high rates resulted in decreases to the natural portion of the adult population. Available prey metrics and simulations can provide information on the potential for stocking success, which could be used to improve the efficacy of stocking programs.

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