Using Coarse-scale Physical Lake Characteristics to Model Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser Fulvescens) Feeding Habitat and Their Prey

Using Coarse-scale Physical Lake Characteristics to Model Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser Fulvescens) Feeding Habitat and Their Prey PDF Author: Matthew Lebron
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Lake ecology
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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"Study area : Rainy Lake and the Namakan Reservoice, which includes Kabetogama and Namakan lakes, are situated on the U.S./Canadian border east of International Falls, Minnesota, and Fort Frances, Ontario. Voyageurs National Park encompasses portions of Rainy Lake's south arm and has a total area of 88,628 ha, 34,400 ha of which is water. This study will be restricted to the South Arm of Rainy Lake, the largest surface area at 49,200 ha.--leaf 11.

Using Coarse-scale Physical Lake Characteristics to Model Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser Fulvescens) Feeding Habitat and Their Prey

Using Coarse-scale Physical Lake Characteristics to Model Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser Fulvescens) Feeding Habitat and Their Prey PDF Author: Matthew Lebron
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Lake ecology
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
"Study area : Rainy Lake and the Namakan Reservoice, which includes Kabetogama and Namakan lakes, are situated on the U.S./Canadian border east of International Falls, Minnesota, and Fort Frances, Ontario. Voyageurs National Park encompasses portions of Rainy Lake's south arm and has a total area of 88,628 ha, 34,400 ha of which is water. This study will be restricted to the South Arm of Rainy Lake, the largest surface area at 49,200 ha.--leaf 11.

Using Coarse-scale Physical Lake Characteristics to Model Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser Fulvescens) Feeding Habitat and Their Prey

Using Coarse-scale Physical Lake Characteristics to Model Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser Fulvescens) Feeding Habitat and Their Prey PDF Author: Matt Lebron
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780494844731
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Habitat and Population Assessments of the Lake Sturgeon Acipenser Fulvescens Reintroduced to the Upper Tennessee River

Habitat and Population Assessments of the Lake Sturgeon Acipenser Fulvescens Reintroduced to the Upper Tennessee River PDF Author: Daniel James Walker
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Lake sturgeon
Languages : en
Pages : 141

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Book Description
The Lake Sturgeon Acipenser fulvescens historically occurred throughout the United States and Canada. However, due to widespread overfishing and habitat loss it was extirpated from much of its range, especially in the lower latitudes. Since the year 2000, fisheries managers have been working to restore this species to the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers where it has been extirpated since c. 1961. This reintroduction is comprised of annual releases of young-of-the-year Lake Sturgeon reared in head-start aquaculture facilities around the Southeastern U.S., and annual monitoring efforts that track the spread and growth of reintroduced individuals. In 2015, a management plan guiding this reintroduction effort was drafted which included a variety of research needs to assist with and improve the ongoing restoration of this species. Two of these research needs are an assessment of habitats available to and occupied by Lake Sturgeon in the Upper Tennessee River, and a quantitative assessment of population size.In this dissertation, I explain how I addressed these two research needs, and based on the results, I offer management recommendations for the continued success of Lake Sturgeon recovery in the Southeastern U.S. I characterized two important types of habitat relevant to different life stages of the species: spawning habitat and summer holding areas. I also used 5 years of mark-recapture data to generate the first quantitative assessments of population density and size-specific survival. My results indicate that there is ample suitable spawning substrate within the tailwaters I surveyed. I collected detailed measurements of various physical habitat variables from an area suspected to be important summer refugia for this species and describe in detail the physical habitat characteristics of this important area of habitat. I used a population model to evaluate the mark-recapture data, and found that while Lake Sturgeon are persisting in the Upper Tennessee River, many fall into the slowest-growth category. Finally, I used simulations to show that without natural recruitment, current stocking rates are unlikely to reach stated population goals through stocking alone. The information I provide here will be instrumental in aiding the adaptive management of this population.

Adult Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser Fulvescens) Habitat Use, Groundhog River

Adult Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser Fulvescens) Habitat Use, Groundhog River PDF Author: John Seyler
Publisher: South Porcupine : Northeast Science & Technology, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
ISBN:
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 34

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Describes a field study designed to establish seasonal habitat use relationships for adult lake sturgeon on the Groundhog River, north-eastern Ontario. The study was conducted in 1996 and examined lake sturgeon habitat use during spring and autumn seasons, representing high and low water conditions respectively. Fish were netted in randomly chosen locations in the study area, upstream and downstream of the Camus Rapids, and were measured, weighed, marked, and released. Catch, meristic, and habitat parameter data were entered into an electronic data base and analyzed using the SYSTAT program. Results presented include sturgeon length frequency distributions, substrate and depth preferences exhibited, and stream velocity preferences.

Habitat Preferences and Movement Patterns of the Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser Fulvescens) in Black Lake, Michigan

Habitat Preferences and Movement Patterns of the Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser Fulvescens) in Black Lake, Michigan PDF Author: Elizabeth Marie Hay-Chmielewski
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Black Lake (Mich.)
Languages : en
Pages : 56

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Larval Drift Characteristics, Habitat Use, and Environmental Determinants of Year-class Strength in Wild Age-0 Lake Sturgeon, Acipenser Fulvescens, Within a Large Impounded River

Larval Drift Characteristics, Habitat Use, and Environmental Determinants of Year-class Strength in Wild Age-0 Lake Sturgeon, Acipenser Fulvescens, Within a Large Impounded River PDF Author: Laura Henderson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Gillnetting
Languages : en
Pages : 101

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Book Description
The dynamics of early life stages of Lake Sturgeon ( Acipenser fulvescens) within a large impounded river were studied. Recruitment success, larval drift, and basic habitat and diet use were observed and analysed over a two-year period. As part of a separate study, larval drift monitoring, and juvenile gillnetting were conducted one year prior to the start of the current study; these results were considered preliminary work and included in the analyses. Timing, duration, and extent of larval drift varied from year to year. No correlation was found between year-class strength and water discharge or temperature. Post-drift, age-0 Lake Sturgeon were found in habitats consisting of sand substrates, in depths of greater than 6 m (maximum 24 m), and low to medium velocities (0.0- 0.4 m s-1 ). Diet was composed of Diptera, Ephemeroptera, Trichoptera and Nematoda. Age-0 Lake Sturgeon captured in Dorothy Lake only consumed Dipteran organisms. Nitrogen isotopes indicated that age-0 Lake Sturgeon captured in this lake were significantly different from those captured in other locations of the study area. Daily growth was calculated as 2.0 mm in total length and 0.20 g in weight from August through September. Findings from this study will aid in future age-0 Lake Sturgeon research and management including artificial propagation and nursery habitat remediation.

Diet of and Prey Availability for Reintroduced Juvenile Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser Fulvescens) in Ft. Loudoun Reservoir, Tennessee

Diet of and Prey Availability for Reintroduced Juvenile Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser Fulvescens) in Ft. Loudoun Reservoir, Tennessee PDF Author: Todd Michael Amacker
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Lake sturgeons
Languages : en
Pages : 63

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After fifteen years of reintroducing juvenile Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) in the Upper Tennessee River Basin, fisheries biologists are researching basic ecological traits of subsistent organisms. I set out to seasonally assess whether Lake Sturgeon forage opportunistically or selectively in Ft. Loudoun Reservoir. After anesthetizing individual juvenile Lake Sturgeon caught on trotlines in a 13-km reach of the reservoir, I used colonic flush and gastric lavage techniques to describe diets quantitatively. I also used two methods to assess available prey items in the study area by 1) taking systematic benthic grabs along several transects across the width of the reservoir and 2) opportunistically deploying rock cages filled with various types of hard substrate to assess potential prey that colonize hard surfaces. After identifying macroinvertebrates to their lowest taxonomic level, the foraging modes of Lake Sturgeon were determined by comparing the relative abundances of invertebrate taxa in the gut contents of each sturgeon specimen to the relative abundances of the same invertebrate taxa collected from the resource base. Indices that quantify resource overlap or segregation were used to determine how selective Lake Sturgeon in Ft. Loudoun Reservoir were with respect to diet. I conclude that Lake Sturgeon in Ft. Loudoun Reservoir forage primarily in the benthos where they utilize a relatively narrow niche consisting mostly of larval chironomids, some genera of which they prey upon selectively. Comprehensive conclusions regarding Lake Sturgeon foraging patterns, niche utilization, and selective predation can only be drawn if researchers a) determine the seasonally available prey base by identifying macroinvertebrates to genus/species level b) analyze diet composition (again, identifying prey items to genus/species) from both stomach and intestinal contents and c) use a combination of indices that determine how selective, if at all, Lake Sturgeon are when utilizing the available prey base.

Movements, Habitat Use, and Abundance of Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser Fulvescens) in Lake Champlain

Movements, Habitat Use, and Abundance of Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser Fulvescens) in Lake Champlain PDF Author: Lisa K. Izzo
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Lake sturgeon
Languages : en
Pages : 314

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Book Description
Lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) in Lake Champlain were listed as endangered in 1972. Significant gaps exist in understanding lake sturgeon in the system as well as the methods needed to properly monitor and assess them. My research had three main goals: (1) investigate movements and habitat use of lake sturgeon in the Lake Champlain basin, (2) develop a method to estimate lake sturgeon abundance using sonar technology, and (3) test an alternative method for aging lake sturgeon. One of the primary information gaps for lake sturgeon in Lake Champlain is an understanding of the movements and habitat use of multiple life stages. I used acoustic telemetry to describe seasonal movement patterns and distribution of adult and juvenile lake sturgeon and to quantify the spatial overlap between these life stages. We found that juvenile and adult home ranges overlapped in shallow ( 10 m) water in the summer and fall. During the winter, adults remained in shallow water and juveniles moved to deep-water ( 25 m) overwintering sites. These results identified important areas for lake sturgeon and indicated that there are seasonal differences in habitat use between life stages. I also used acoustic telemetry to describe adult lake sturgeon movement patterns during the spawning period and to investigate environmental drivers of these movements in the Winooski River. River discharge, temperature, the magnitude and direction of the change in temperature (3-day lag), and time of day were significant factors in describing upstream movements. Adult lake sturgeon displayed general movement patterns that included a single run upstream, upstream and downstream movements throughout the river, or multiple runs made up the entire length of the spawning tributary to the spawning site. An understanding of the movements during the spawning period was key in the method I developed to estimate lake sturgeon abundance. To estimate abundance of lake sturgeon spawning in the Winooski River, I used acoustic telemetry data from adult lake sturgeon to estimate observation probability of the sonar and the probability that a lake sturgeon had been seen previously during the season. Using a Bayesian integrated model, I combined these parameters with counts from a dual-frequency identification sonar (DIDSON) to estimate abundances each year: 110 (47 -- 229 CI) in 2017, 133 (79 -- 242 CI) in 2018, and 99 (51 -- 220 CI). The results of this work represent the first estimate of abundance for spawning lake sturgeon in a Lake Champlain tributary, and will be key to tracking progress towards lake sturgeon recovery moving forward. Age data in long-lived species such as lake sturgeon can point to signs of successful recruitment and recovery. I investigated use of the second marginal pectoral fin ray as an alternative, less invasive method for estimating ages of lake sturgeon. The variability of age estimates among different readers and fin structures indicated that the second fin ray may provide some utility to age juvenile lake sturgeon but is not a viable substitute for estimating ages of adult lake sturgeon. These results provide valuable information to managers looking to gain essential age data while also decreasing the impact of handling endangered lake sturgeon.

Evaluating Collection, Rearing, and Stocking Methods for Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser Fulvescens) Restoration Programs in the Great Lakes

Evaluating Collection, Rearing, and Stocking Methods for Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser Fulvescens) Restoration Programs in the Great Lakes PDF Author: James Andrew Crossman
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Fish stocking
Languages : en
Pages : 388

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A Review of Lake Sturgeon Habitat Requirements and Strategies to Protect and Enhance Sturgeon Habitat

A Review of Lake Sturgeon Habitat Requirements and Strategies to Protect and Enhance Sturgeon Habitat PDF Author: Steven James Kerr
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781443514088
Category : Endangered species
Languages : en
Pages : 58

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