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Estimation of Invertebrate Production from Patterns of Fish Predation in Western Lake Superior
Author(s) -
Johnson Timothy B.,
Mason Doran M.,
Bronte Charles R.,
Kitchell James F.
Publication year - 1998
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(1998)127<0496:eoipfp>2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - coregonus , zooplankton , fishery , predation , biology , smelt , invertebrate , rainbow trout , bosmina , biomass (ecology) , ecology , fish <actinopterygii> , cladocera
We used bioenergetic models for lake herring Coregonus artedi , bloater Coregonus hoyi , and rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax to estimate consumption of zooplankton, Mysis , and Diporeia in western Lake Superior for selected years between 1978 and 1995. Total invertebrate biomass consumed yearly ranged from 2.5 to 38 g/m 2 with nearly 40% consumed between August and October in all years. Copepod zooplankton represented the largest proportion of biomass collectively consumed by the three species (81%), although rainbow smelt consumed almost twice as much Mysis as zooplankton. Growth efficiency was highest for rainbow smelt (3.84–16.64%) and lower for the coregonids (1.91–12.26%). In the absence of quantitative secondary production values, we suggest our estimates of predatory demand provide a conservative range of the minimum invertebrate production in western Lake Superior during the past 20 years.