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Environmental factors regulating the recruitment of walleye S ander vitreus and white bass M orone chrysops in irrigation reservoirs
Author(s) -
DeBoer Jason A.,
Pope Kevin L.,
Koupal Keith D.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
ecology of freshwater fish
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.667
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1600-0633
pISSN - 0906-6691
DOI - 10.1111/eff.12000
Subject(s) - abiotic component , fishery , catch per unit effort , hatching , biotic component , biology , ecology , environmental science , fishing
Understanding the environmental factors that regulate fish recruitment is essential for effective management of fisheries. Generally, first‐year survival, and therefore recruitment, is inherently less consistent in systems with high intra‐ and interannual variability. Irrigation reservoirs display sporadic patterns of annual drawdown, which can pose a substantial challenge to recruitment of fishes. We developed species‐specific models using an 18‐year data set compiled from state and federal agencies to investigate variables that regulate the recruitment of walleye S ander vitreus and white bass M orone chrysops in irrigation reservoirs in south‐west N ebraska, USA . The candidate model set for walleye included only abiotic variables (water‐level elevation, minimum daily air temperature during winter prior to hatching, annual precipitation, spring warming rate and M ay reservoir discharge), and the candidate model set for white bass included primarily biotic variables (catch per unit effort ( CPUE ) of black crappie P omoxis nigromaculatus , CPUE of age‐0 walleye, CPUE of bluegill L epomis macrochirus and CPUE of age‐3 and older white bass), each of which had a greater relative importance than the single abiotic variable (minimum daily air temperature during winter after hatching). Our findings improve the understanding of the recruitment of fishes in irrigation reservoirs and the relative roles of abiotic and biotic factors.