Differential habitat use patterns of yellow perch Perca flavescens in eastern Lake Michigan and connected drowned river mouth lakes

Senegal, Taylor J.; Ruetz, Carl R.; Chorak, Gregory M.; Janetski, David J.; Clapp, David F.; Bowen, Gabriel J.; Höök, Tomas O.

doi:10.1016/j.jglr.2020.06.021

Cited by 11 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 67 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Ambient water isotope patterns presented herein are generally consistent with past studies in nearshore Lake Michigan (e.g., Jasechko et al 2014;Foley et al 2017Foley et al , 2022Senegal et al 2020) and with relatively few available studies that have simultaneously considered tributaries (e.g., Dufour et al 2005;Jameel et al 2018;Senegal et al 2020;O'Reilly et al 2023). Similar to δ 13 C in prey samples, δ 2 H and δ 18 O values in the ambient water followed a general trend of relatively low δ 2 H and δ 18 O values in tributaries and isotopic enrichment in nearshore Lake Michigan waters (e.g., Foley et al 2022).…”

Section: Isotopic Patterns In Ambient Water Shells and Preysupporting

confidence: 88%

“…These patterns likely reflect tributary characteristics such as hydrology (e.g., residence time, surface area, groundwater inputs) and geomorphology (Larson et al 2013;Essig 2016). We measured slightly higher water isotope values in Muskegon Lake (À57.0‰ δ 2 H; À7.9‰ δ 18 O) compared to previous studies by Dufour et al (2005) (À8.2‰ to À8.9‰ δ 18 O only) and Senegal et al (2020) (À61.0‰ to À67.0‰ δ 2 H; À8.8‰ to À9.8‰ δ 18 O). These observed differences are likely associated with annual and seasonal variability.…”

Section: Isotopic Patterns In Ambient Water Shells and Preycontrasting

confidence: 60%

“…Although studies of habitat utilization and resource subsidies in freshwater river mouths are rare, some studies have attempted to use stable isotope analyses to describe consumers' resource use in these transition zones (Dufour et al 2008; Senegal et al 2020; O'Reilly et al 2023). In fish, stable isotopes in soft tissues are integrative indices of resource use, reflecting food consumed and habitats occupied over the past 2–6 months, depending upon tissue turnover (Weidel et al 2011).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Bidirectional energy subsidies for fish in river mouths of a large lake as revealed by stable isotopes and fatty acids

Eglite,

Stein,

Turschak

et al. 2024

Limnology & Oceanography

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Freshwater river mouths may facilitate cross‐habitat resource use and bidirectional subsidization through (a) active cross‐habitat movement by consumers like fish and (b) water and material movement both downstream, from tributary to nearshore lake, and in the opposite direction due to backflow processes. Despite potential importance of freshwater river mouths, relative contributions of lentic and tributary energy sources to fishes along these ecotones remain understudied, in part because measuring cross‐habitat subsidization is not straightforward. We assessed cross‐habitat subsidization of three fish consumers round goby (Neogobius malanostomus), yellow perch (Perca flavescens), and alewife (Alosa psuedoharengus) in three river mouths of Lake Michigan, USA. Specifically, we (a) measured stable isotope ratios (δ13C, δ15N, δ2H, δ18O) in ambient water, bivalve shells, potential invertebrate prey, and fish soft tissue, and we assessed fish nutritional status based on essential fatty acid composition, and (b) estimated Bayesian ellipses and mixing models including either two (δ13C‐δ15N) or three (δ13C‐δ15N‐δ2H) isotope ratios. Results revealed evidence of bidirectional habitat subsidies for all fishes, but energy subsidies varied by species and across river mouths; likely related to differences in species‐specific behavior and hydrologic differences among river mouths. Relative to nearshore oligotrophic Lake Michigan, fish in productive tributary environments contained relatively low essential fatty acid content, suggesting a possible trade‐off between prey quantity and quality across habitats. This study advances our understanding of resource connectivity in lake ecosystems and the combined use of multiple stable isotopes (including mixing models) and fatty acids to document cross‐habitat subsidies along freshwater ecotones.

show abstract

Section: Isotopic Patterns In Ambient Water Shells and Preysupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Isotopic Patterns In Ambient Water Shells and Preycontrasting

confidence: 60%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Bidirectional energy subsidies for fish in river mouths of a large lake as revealed by stable isotopes and fatty acids

Eglite,

Stein,

Turschak

et al. 2024

Limnology & Oceanography

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Specific paired wetland–nearshore sites were selected using data from the Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Monitoring Program (https://www.greatlakeswetlands.org; Uzarski et al, 2017; Appendix S1: Table S1) and sampled twice in the summers (June and July) of two consecutive years (2014 and 2015). At eastern DRM wetland sites, an estuarine‐DRM lake habitat between the coastal wetland and the open waters of the nearshore was also sampled, as this may represent an important habitat for perch (Senegal et al, 2020). Additionally, the extent to which systems were exposed to wave action and susceptible to exchange with Lake Michigan was characterized by calculating modified effective fetch following Howes et al (1999) (Table 1).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lakescape connectivity: Mobile fish consumers link Lake Michigan coastal wetland and nearshore food webs

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In large lake ecosystems, fish movement between coastal littoral habitats such as wetlands and the adjacent open-water nearshore represents an understudied but potentially important linkage supporting energy flow and fisheries production. We hypothesized that yellow perch (Perca flavescens), an ecologically and economically important sport fish in the Laurentian Great Lakes, transport energy from highly productive wetlands to nearshore food webs, but that their role changes with ontogenetic shifts in diet and habitat use. We also predicted that the relative strength of such fish-mediated habitat linkages would vary depending on physical connectivity across habitats. We collected perch and potential prey resources from seven paired coastal wetland-nearshore sites across three regions of Lake Michigan and quantified resource and habitat use with Bayesian stable isotope mixing models and otolith microchemistry. We found that juvenile perch collected in nearshore habitats showed high use of wetland resources, and that diets of wetland-collected juveniles typically contained a smaller proportion of nearshore resources than did more mobile adults from the same wetland.The least hydrologically connected sites had lower cross-habitat resource use (e.g., wetland-collected perch consumed fewer nearshore resources and vice versa) compared with sites with greater levels of hydrological connectivity. Otolith microchemistry confirmed the linkages revealed by stable isotopes, suggesting that a dual approach can increase understanding of habitat linkages in large lakes. Quantifying the importance of multiple lentic habitats (i.e., "lakescape connectivity") for fisheries production is critical for developing comprehensive large lake food web models and providing managers with information to prioritize locations for conservation and restoration.

show abstract

“…Similar variations in life‐history strategies have recently been uncovered in some of our other study species as well. Chorak et al ( 2019 ) and Senegal et al ( 2020 ) both found that in eastern Lake Michigan, yellow perch exhibited multiple life‐history variations, in which some yellow perch were Lake Michigan residents, some were DRM lake residents, and some were Lake Michigan fish that temporarily moved into DRM lakes during the fall. It is therefore possible that prior to dam construction, GL juvenile fish from some or all of our species not only entered the lower Boardman River, as we observed in our study, but also traveled upstream of the current dam site and utilized habitat in Boardman Lake, which is a natural DRM lake, and perhaps further upstream as well.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

It’s complicated: Heterogeneous patterns of genetic structure in five fish species from a fragmented river suggest multiple processes can drive differentiation

Gehri

Gruenthal

Larson

2021

Evolutionary Applications

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Fragmentation of river systems by dams can have substantial genetic impacts on fish populations. However, genetic structure can exist naturally at small scales through processes other than isolation by physical barriers. We sampled individuals from five native fish species with varying life histories above and below a dam in the lower Boardman River, Michigan, USA, and used RADseq to investigate processes influencing genetic structure in this system. Species assessed were white sucker Catostomus commersonii, yellow perch Perca flavescens, walleye Sander vitreus, smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu, and rock bass Ambloplites rupestris. We detected significant differentiation within each species, but patterns of population structure varied substantially. Interestingly, genetic structure did not appear to be solely the result of fragmentation by the dam. While genetic structure in yellow perch and walleye generally coincided with “above dam” and “below dam” sampling locations, samples from our other three species did not. Specifically, samples from rock bass, smallmouth bass, and, to a much lesser extent, white sucker, aligned with a putative Great Lakes (GL) group that contained mostly individuals sampled below the dam and a putative Boardman River (BR) group that contained individuals sampled both above and below the dam, with some evidence of admixture among groups. We hypothesize that the GL and BR groups formed prior to dam construction and our samples largely represent a mixed stock that was sampled sympatrically outside of the spawning season. Support for this hypothesis is especially strong in smallmouth bass, where GL fish were 151 mm smaller than BR fish on average, suggesting a potential ontogenetic habitat shift of young GL fish into the lower river for feeding and/or refuge. Our study illuminates the complex dynamics shaping genetic structure in fragmented river systems and indicates that conclusions drawn for a single species cannot be generalized.

show abstract

Differential habitat use patterns of yellow perch Perca flavescens in eastern Lake Michigan and connected drowned river mouth lakes

Cited by 11 publications

References 67 publications

Bidirectional energy subsidies for fish in river mouths of a large lake as revealed by stable isotopes and fatty acids

Bidirectional energy subsidies for fish in river mouths of a large lake as revealed by stable isotopes and fatty acids

Lakescape connectivity: Mobile fish consumers link Lake Michigan coastal wetland and nearshore food webs

It’s complicated: Heterogeneous patterns of genetic structure in five fish species from a fragmented river suggest multiple processes can drive differentiation

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About