A Framework for Defining Fish Habitat Domains in Lake Ontario and its Drainage

Minns, Charles K.; Wichert, Gordon A.

doi:10.1016/s0380-1330(05)70287-2

Cited by 28 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Cases such as these are difficult to address with either mechanistic models or interpolation models because of the abrupt changes that may occur. Therefore, the choice of time step in habitatbased models is important, as well as the availability of data or physical models as input (Minns and Wichert 2005).…”

Section: Paucity Of Relevant Habitat Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Linking fish population dynamics to habitat conditions: insights from the application of a process-oriented approach to several Great Lakes species

Hayes

Jones

Lester

et al. 2009

Rev Fish Biol Fisheries

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One of the major challenges facing fishery scientists and managers today is determining how fish populations are influenced by habitat conditions. Many approaches have been explored to address this challenge, all of which involve modeling at one level or another. In this paper, we explore a process-oriented model approach whereby the critical population processes of birth and death rates are explicitly linked to habitat conditions. Application of this approach to five species of Great Lakes fishes including: walleye (Sander vitreus), lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush), smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu), yellow perch (Perca flavescens), and rainbow trout (Onchorynchus mykiss), yielded a number of insights into the modeling process. One of the foremost insights is that processes determining movement and transport of fish are critical components of such models since these processes largely determine the habitats fish occupy. Because of the importance of fish location, an individual-based model appears to be a nearly inescapable modeling requirement. There is, however, a paucity of field-based data directly relating birth, death, and movement rates to habitat conditions experienced by individual fish. There is also a paucity of habitat information at a fine temporal and spatial scale for many important habitat variables. Finally, the general occurrence of strong ontogenetic changes in the response of different life stages to habitat conditions emphasizes the need for a modeling approach that considers all life stages in an integrated fashion.

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Section: Paucity Of Relevant Habitat Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Linking fish population dynamics to habitat conditions: insights from the application of a process-oriented approach to several Great Lakes species

Hayes

Jones

Lester

et al. 2009

Rev Fish Biol Fisheries

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“…Coastal wetlands of the Laurentian Great Lakes provide crucial habitat for a wide variety of resident and migrant fish species (Jude and Pappas 1992;Wei et al 2004;Minns and Wichert 2005). Key aspects governing the use of these wetlands by fishes are thought to be their productivity, connectivity, structural complexity, and water clarity (Wilcox 1995;Randall et al 1996;Brazner and Beals 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geographic, anthropogenic, and habitat influences on Great Lakes coastal wetland fish assemblages

Trebitz

Brazner

Danz

et al. 2009

Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci.

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We analyzed data from coastal wetlands across the Laurentian Great Lakes to identify fish assemblage patterns and relationships to habitat, watershed condition, and regional setting. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) ordination of electrofishing catch-per-effort data revealed an overriding geographic and anthropogenic stressor gradient that appeared to structure fish composition via impacts on water clarity and vegetation structure. Wetlands in Lakes Erie and Michigan with agricultural watersheds, turbid water, little submerged vegetation, and a preponderance of generalist, tolerant fishes occupied one end of this gradient, while wetlands in Lake Superior with largely natural watersheds, clear water, abundant submerged vegetation, and diverse fishes occupied the other. Fish composition was also related to wetland morphology, hydrology, exposure, and substrate, but this was only evident within low-disturbance wetlands. Anthropogenic stress appears to homogenize fish composition among wetlands and mask other fish-habitat associations. Because land use is strongly spatially patterned across the Great Lakes and aquatic vegetation is a key habitat element that responds to both biogeography and disturbance, it is difficult to disentangle natural from anthropogenic drivers of coastal wetland fish composition.Résumé : Nous analysons des données provenant de terres humides riveraines réparties sur l'ensemble des Grands Lacs laurentiens afin d'identifier les patrons d'associations de poissons et leurs relations avec les habitats, les conditions du bassin versant et l'environnement régional. Une ordination de cadrage non métrique multidimensionnel (NMDS) de données de captures par unité d'effort de pêche électrique révèle l'existence d'un gradient prédominant de facteurs de stress géo-graphiques et anthropiques qui semble structurer la composition des peuplements de poissons par son impact sur la clarté de l'eau et la structure de la végétation. Les terres humides aux lacs É rié et Michigan avec des bassins versants agricoles, de l'eau turbide, une végétation submergée rare et une prépondérance de poissons généralistes et tolérants, occupent une extrémité de ce gradient; en revanche, les terres humides du lac Supérieur avec des bassins versants en grande partie naturels, de l'eau claire, une végétation submergée abondante et une diversité de poissons, occupent l'autre extrémité. La composition des peuplements de poissons est aussi en relation avec la morphologie des terres humides, l'hydrologie, l'exposition et le substrat, mais la relation n'est évidente que dans les terres humides peu perturbées. Le stress anthropique semble homogénéiser la composition des peuplements de poissons dans les différentes terres humides et masquer les autres associations poissons-habitats. Parce que l'utilisation des terres dans la région des Grands Lacs forme un patron spatial bien marqué et que la végétation est un élément essentiel de l'habitat qui réagit à la fois à la biogéographie et aux perturbations, il est difficile de démêler...

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“…The relative exposure index (REI) is a wind speed, direction, and frequency weighted measure of effective fetch (Keddy 1982). Fetch is the distance across the lake that wind blows typically in the predominant direction and is related to the range of wave height and periodicity characteristics at different locations around the coastal areas of the Great Lakes (Minns and Wichert 2005). Fetch has been commonly used to characterize the exposure of coastal areas to winds and as a predictor of coastal wetlands types (Keough et al 1999;Cooper et al 2014); nearshore macrophyte cover (Randall et al 1996;McKenna and Castiglione 2010); and both physical habitat conditions and fish metrics such as fish biomass, diversity, and condition indices (Randall et al 1996(Randall et al , 1998.…”

Section: Mechanical Energymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This variable was computed by first calculating the contributing watershed area of each tributary or coastal segment. Three classes of the tributary influence variable were used, based on tributary catchment area (Minns and Wichert 2005;Allan et al 2013): low (<30 km 2 , mean size of first-and second-order tributaries); moderate (30-250 km 2 , representing third-and some fourth-order tributaries), and high (>250 km 2 , representing ≥fourth-order tributaries; Table 2; Fig. 2).…”

Section: Tributary Influencementioning

confidence: 99%

Ecosystem classification and mapping of the Laurentian Great Lakes

Riseng

Wehrly

Wang³

et al. 2018

Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci.

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Owing to the enormity and complexity of the Laurentian Great Lakes, an ecosystem classification is needed to better understand, protect, and manage this largest freshwater ecosystem in the world. Using a combination of statistical analyses, published knowledge, and expert opinion, we identified key driving variables and their ecologically relevant thresholds and delineated and mapped aquatic systems for the entire Great Lakes. We identified and mapped 77 aquatic ecological units (AEUs) that depict unique combinations of depth, thermal regime, hydraulic, and landscape classifiers. Those 77 AEU types were distributed across 1997 polygons (patches) ranging from 1 to >48 000 km 2 in area and were most diverse in the nearshore (35 types), followed by the coastal margin (26), and then the offshore (16). Our classification and mapping of ecological units captures gradients that characterize types of aquatic systems in the Great Lakes and provides a geospatial accounting framework for resource inventory, status and trend assessment; research for ecosystem questions; and management and policy-making. Résumé : En raison de l'énormité et de la complexité des Grands Lacs laurentiens, une classification des écosystèmes est nécessaire pour mieux comprendre, protéger et gérer ce plus grand écosystème d'eau douce du monde. En utilisant une combinaison d'analyses statistiques, de connaissances publiées et d'opinions de spécialistes, nous avons cerné des variables clés et leurs seuils importants sur le plan écologique, et délimité et cartographié les systèmes aquatiques pour l'entièreté des Grands Lacs. Nous avons cerné et cartographié 77 unités écologiques aquatiques (UEA) qui représentent les différentes combinaisons de profondeur, de régime thermique et de variables hydrauliques et du paysage importantes pour la classification. Ces 77 types d'UEA sont répartis sur 1997 polygones (parcelles) de superficies allant de 1 à >48 000 km 2 , la région sublittorale en présentant la plus grande diversité (35 types), suivie des bandes côtières (26), puis de la zone extracôtière (16). La classification et la cartographie des unités écologiques font ressortir les gradients qui caractérisent les types de systèmes aquatiques dans les Grands Lacs et fournissent un cadre géospatial de référence pour l'inventaire des ressources, l'évaluation des statuts et tendances, la recherche sur des questions touchant aux écosystèmes et la gestion et l'élaboration de politiques. [Traduit par la Rédaction]

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A Framework for Defining Fish Habitat Domains in Lake Ontario and its Drainage

Cited by 28 publications

References 32 publications

Linking fish population dynamics to habitat conditions: insights from the application of a process-oriented approach to several Great Lakes species

Linking fish population dynamics to habitat conditions: insights from the application of a process-oriented approach to several Great Lakes species

Geographic, anthropogenic, and habitat influences on Great Lakes coastal wetland fish assemblages

Ecosystem classification and mapping of the Laurentian Great Lakes

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