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Low‐Effort Regression Estimation of Average Daily Food Weight in Fishes: Application to Larval Gizzard Shad
Author(s) -
Hayward Robert S.,
Hiebert John F.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
transactions of the american fisheries society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1548-8659
pISSN - 0002-8487
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8659(1993)122<0834:lereoa>2.3.co;2
Subject(s) - gizzard shad , gizzard , dorosoma , estimation , fishery , larva , biology , regression analysis , ecology , fish <actinopterygii> , statistics , mathematics , economics , management
We present a regression approach for estimating average 24‐h food weight ( F ) in fish stomachs (or guts) from relatively few samples, all collected within substantially less than 24 h. Low‐effort estimates of F can be converted into estimates of daily ration when multiplied by gastric evacuation rate in Bajkov‐type models. We tested this approach on a reservoir population oflarval gizzard shad Dorosoma cepedianum . Regression models constructed from diel feeding data from this population produced accurate and precise estimates of F from only three or four fish collections made over 3–9 h during daylight. When applicable, this approach can be carried out in conjunction with standard in situ daily ration estimation procedures to increase the spatiotemporal resolution of food consumption studies. Findings from this and a related study involving juvenile and adult yellow perch Perca flavescens indicate that regression models constructed from diel feeding data in 1 year can produce accurate estimates of a populationˈs daily ration in future years without further 24‐h sampling. Though the regression models are not yet fully tested, findings hint that models constructed from one fish populationˈs diel feeding data may produce acceptably accurate daily ration estimates for conspecific populations in other systems. We expect that this low‐effort approach for daily ration estimation can be applied to fishes with diurnal, nocturnal, or crepuscular diel feeding patterns, but not to those that feed randomly.