Suitable habitat model for walleye (Sander vitreus) in Lake Erie: Implications for inter-jurisdictional harvest quota allocations

Pandit, Shubha N.; Zhao, Yingming; Ciborowski, Jan J. H.; Gorman, Ann Marie; Knight, Carey T.

doi:10.1016/j.jglr.2013.09.011

Cited by 26 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Pandit et al. () did not evaluate lake depth or fish size, and this may in part explain the difference between the results of their model and ours. Additional telemetry work will be required to understand how vertical habitat use by small Walleyes varies from that of large fish and how environmental conditions (e.g., temperature, oxygen, and prey distribution) influence gill‐net catches.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 69%

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Vertical Habitat Use by Adult Walleyes Conflicts with Expectations from Fishery‐Independent Surveys

et al. 2019

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Stock assessments of Walleyes Sander vitreus in Lake Erie rely on a combination of suspended and bottom overnight gill-net surveys to provide population and demographic information. However, the assumption that Walleyes undertake diel vertical migrations and become available to the suspended gill nets at night has never been validated. To understand how vertical habitat use affects the availability of Walleyes to fishery-independent surveys, we compared individual behaviors observed by means of acoustic depth telemetry tags (20 individuals; 2013-2016) with catches in paired suspended and bottom gill-net sets (273 paired sets; 2013-2016) used by management agencies. In contrast to our expectations and observations in other lakes, the mean depths for Walleyes most often occurred in the lower one-half to one-third of the water column, and at lake depths <25 m the fish tended to be close to the bottom. The relationship between fish and lake depth was dependent on year and season. At lake depths >15 m, Walleyes were found at shallower depths during stratified periods (i.e., summer) than during unstratified periods (autumn). They were also found at shallower depths in 2015 and 2016 than in 2013 and 2014. In paired autumn gill-net surveys, (1) the overall proportion of Walleye catch was nearly equal in suspended and bottom gill nets and (2) the proportion of the catch in suspended gill nets declined with fish length. The pattern of decline was dependent on how deep the suspended net was fished and the year in which the data were collected. These results provide evidence that the suspended gill-net surveys currently being used to assess Walleye demographics in Lake Erie are biased toward the capture small Walleyes, while bottom nets are biased toward the capture of large ones. Future telemetry investigations will be needed to understand whether these biases reflect differences in the depth of habitat between small and large Walleyes. GORMAN ET AL.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 69%

“…In contrast, Pandit et al. () used logistic models to examine Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry gill‐net data from before 2013 and found that Walleye occurrence (both juvenile and adult) was negatively correlated with suspended‐net depth. Pandit et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vertical Habitat Use by Adult Walleyes Conflicts with Expectations from Fishery‐Independent Surveys

et al. 2019

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“…Walleye (Sander vitreus) are a native coolwater predator species (Koenst & Smith, 1975) that play an important role in lake-ecosystem dynamics by shaping aquatic communities through top-down trophic cascades (Bowlby et al, 2010;Pandit et al, 2013). Walleye are also popular angling targets for commercial and recreational fisheries, generating over ten million Canadian dollars in revenue annually for the economy of the Great Lakes region (Kinnunen, 2003;Pandit et al, 2013). Walleye are currently under threat in Ontario lakes by climate change and the invasion of smallmouth bass.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Examining the effects of climate change and species invasions on Ontario walleye populations: can walleye beat the heat?

Zuiden

Sharma

2016

Diversity and Distributions

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Aim The combined effects of multiple environmental stressors continue to threaten global biodiversity, yet predicting how biotic interactions between native and invasive species may change across a landscape in a multiple stressor environment is relatively understudied. We aim to identify how the invasion of smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomeiu) may influence native walleye (Sander vitreus) populations across Ontario lakes at the landscape scale in a changing climate. Location Ontario, Canada. Methods Using a database that included the abundance and occurrence of over 130 fish species, lake chemistry and lake morphology for 722 lakes, a redundancy analysis was conducted to identify environmental conditions preferred by walleye and smallmouth bass. Multiple linear regression models were then developed to identify the relationship between walleye and multiple stressors (including climate change and biotic interactions with invasive species). Using future scenarios of climate change, we were then able to project future walleye–smallmouth bass co‐occurrences. Results Smallmouth bass were found to prefer different environmental conditions than walleye; however, when walleye and smallmouth bass were found in the same lakes, walleye abundance was reduced almost threefold. Multiple regression models further suggested that there are fewer walleye in lakes with smallmouth bass. Subsequently, we predicted that under future scenarios of climate change the overlapping co‐occurrence of walleye and smallmouth bass may increase by 86–332% by the year 2070. Main conclusions We illustrate the importance of including multiple environmental stressors in statistical models when attempting to understand how native species will be impacted by invasive species and climate change. While independently climate change is anticipated to lower walleye abundances across Ontario, this change is expected to be exacerbated by invasions of warmwater predators.

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“…The partnership index survey (PIS) was conducted using the standard gillnets by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry and the Ontario Commercial Fisheries' Association in the Canadian waters of Lake Erie in annual late summer and early fall. A depth-based stratified random sampling design was used and the number of sample sites was determined according to the surface area of each depth stratum (see Berger et al, 2012;Pandit et al, 2013;Liu et al, 2018). The survey gillnet gangs composed of 14 different mesh sizes were set on the bottom and suspended (canned) in the water column with a mean soak time of 20h.…”

Section: Study Area and Data Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Peer Review #3 of "Exploring spatial nonstationary environmental effects on Yellow Perch distribution in Lake Erie (v0.2)"

2019

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Background: Global regression models under an implicit assumption of spatial stationarity were commonly applied to estimate the environmental effects on aquatic species distribution. However, the relationships between species distribution and environmental variables may change among spatial locations, especially at large spatial scales with complicated habitat. Local regression models are appropriate supplementary tools to explore species-environment relationships at finer scales. Method: We applied geographically weighted regression (GWR) models on Yellow Perch in Lake Erie to estimate spatially-varying environmental effects on the presence probabilities of this species. Outputs from GWR were compared with those from generalized additive models (GAMs) in exploring the Yellow Perch distribution. Local regression coefficients from the GWR were mapped to visualize spatially-varying species-environment relationships. K-means cluster analyses based on the t-values of GWR local regression coefficients were used to characterize the distinct zones of ecological relationships. Results: GWR resulted in a significant improvement over the GAM in goodness-of-fit and accuracy of model prediction. Results from the GWR revealed the magnitude and direction of environmental effects on Yellow Perch distribution changed among spatial locations. Consistent species-environment relationships were found in the west and east basins for adults. The different kinds of speciesenvironment relationships found in the central management unit implied the variation of relationships at a scale finer than the management unit. Conclusions: This study draws attention to the importance of accounting for spatial nonstationarity in exploring species-environment relationships. The GWR results can provide support for identification of unique stocks and potential refinement of the current jurisdictional management unit (MU) structure toward more ecologically relevant MUs for the sustainable management of Yellow Perch in Lake Erie.

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Suitable habitat model for walleye (Sander vitreus) in Lake Erie: Implications for inter-jurisdictional harvest quota allocations

Cited by 26 publications

References 49 publications

Vertical Habitat Use by Adult Walleyes Conflicts with Expectations from Fishery‐Independent Surveys

Vertical Habitat Use by Adult Walleyes Conflicts with Expectations from Fishery‐Independent Surveys

Examining the effects of climate change and species invasions on Ontario walleye populations: can walleye beat the heat?

Peer Review #3 of "Exploring spatial nonstationary environmental effects on Yellow Perch distribution in Lake Erie (v0.2)"

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