Predation-Induced Differences in Growth and Reproduction of Bluegills (Lepomis macrochirus)

SRS Ecology Environmental Information Document

“…Second, the thermal effluent only affected one arm of the reservoir, but the observed bluegill population characteristics were not restricted to the thermal or nonthermal areas of the reservoir. Finally, some populations used for comparisons were from reservoirs that receive heated effluents, and the growth in these populations was similar to growth observed in nonthermal reservoirs (Belk and Hales 1993).…”

“…Although Par Pond received thermal effluent when Belk and Hales (1993) did their study, their data suggest that thermal effluents are not responsible for their observations. First, growth of age 1 bluegills in the thermally affected area of the reservoir was lower than growth in ambient areas of the reservoir.…”

“…found that the condition of bluegill, black crappie and lake chubsucker was not significantly different between the Hot Arm and the other sample areas in Par Pond. Belk and Hales (1993) studied the growth and reproduction of the bluegill population in Par Pond. Growth rates of bluegill aged 1-4 years in Par Pond were significantly higher than for the same year classes in other populations, and they approached the maximum reported for the species.…”

Modeling effects of toxin exposure in fish on long-term population size, with an application to selenium toxicity in bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus)

“…This plasticity of life-histories is mainly due to environmental influences, such as resource availability and size-specific predation, rather than to genetic contributions (Belk, 1995;Aday et al, 2002). Age-at-maturity is tightly coupled with size-at-maturity, which is a critical determinant of female fecundity and reproductive success for males (Belk and Hales Jr., 1993). As sexual maturation is energetically expensive, little growth occurs once bluegill mature, as energy is diverted from somatic growth into gonadal development and reproductive activities (Edison et al, 2006).…”

“…Some males exhibit an alternative reproductive strategy in which they are known as "satellites" or "sneakers." Satellite and sneaker males mature precociously and do not build nests of their own but mimic females or use sneaking, respectively, to gain access to fertilization during oviposition (Belk and Hales Jr., 1993;Breck, 1996;Neff et al, 2003).…”