Premium
Linking piscivory to spatial–temporal distributions of pelagic prey fishes with a visual foraging model
Author(s) -
Mazur M. M.,
Beauchamp D. A.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of fish biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.672
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1095-8649
pISSN - 0022-1112
DOI - 10.1111/j.1095-8649.2006.01075.x
Subject(s) - foraging , predation , biology , diel vertical migration , pelagic zone , trout , oncorhynchus , piscivore , ecology , optimal foraging theory , fishery , nocturnal , rainbow trout , planktivore , prey detection , abundance (ecology) , predator , fish <actinopterygii> , phytoplankton , nutrient
A visual foraging model (VFM) used light‐dependent reaction distance and capture success functions to link observed prey fish abundance and distribution to predation rates and the foraging performance of piscivorous cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarki in Lake Washington (WA, U.S.A.). Total prey density did not correlate with predation potential estimated by the foraging model for cutthroat trout because prey were rarely distributed in optically favourable conditions for detection. Predictions of the depth‐specific distribution and timing of cutthroat trout foraging were qualitatively similar to diel stomach fullness patterns observed in field samples. Nocturnal foraging accounted for 34–64% of all prey fish consumption in simulations for 2002 and 2003. Urban light contamination increased the access of nocturnally foraging cutthroat trout to vertically migrating prey fishes. These results suggest that VFMs are useful tools for converting observed prey fish density into predictions of predator consumptions and behavioural responses of predators to environmental change.