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Factors Affecting Recruitment of Age‐0 Muskellunge in Escanaba Lake, Wisconsin, 1987–2006
Author(s) -
Eslinger Lawrence D.,
Dolan David M.,
Newman Steven P.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
north american journal of fisheries management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.587
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1548-8675
pISSN - 0275-5947
DOI - 10.1577/m09-114.1
Subject(s) - minnow , abundance (ecology) , esox , biology , population , fishery , ecology , pike , fish <actinopterygii> , demography , sociology
We modeled variation in recruitment ( R ) of age‐0 muskellunge Esox masquinongy to identify factors influencing their abundance in Escanaba Lake, Wisconsin. Muskellunge R declined over the study period and ranged from 0.00 to 1.85 age‐0 fish/km of shoreline (mean = 0.42 age‐0 fish/km of shoreline). A Ricker stock–recruitment model determined that the following factors explained 88% of the variation in annual R of age‐0 muskellunge between 1987 and 2006: abundance and age structure of the adult muskellunge population, abundance of bluntnose minnow Pimephales notatus , abundance of age‐3 and older (age‐3+) walleyes Sander vitreus , abundance of age‐0 white suckers Catostomus commersonii , and coefficient of variation (CV) of May water temperatures. Abundance of adult muskellunge (≥76.2 cm total length) accounted for only 1% of the variation in R and showed no significant relationship with R . Abundance of bluntnose minnow improved the model fit to 40% of the variation in R and indicated that higher R was achieved with greater numbers of bluntnose minnow. The average age of adult muskellunge further improved the model fit to 59% of the variation in R , suggesting that R increased when more young adults were present in the population. The abundance of age‐3+ walleyes enhanced the model fit to 69% of the variation in R and indicated that greater R occurred with high numbers of walleyes. The abundance of age‐0 white suckers improved the model to explain 77% of the variation in R and indicated that more recruits occurred when numbers of age‐0 white suckers were low. Finally, the CV of May water temperatures further improved the model to explain 88% of the variation in R and signified that lower variability in May water temperatures was beneficial to recruitment success. We interpret the model results to mean that muskellunge R in Escanaba Lake is regulated by the reproductive potential of the adult muskellunge population, forage availability, variation in May water temperatures, and other community dynamics.