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Relative Abundance of Littoral Zone Fishes: Biotic Interactions, Abiotic Factors, and Postglacial Colonization
Author(s) -
Hinch Scott G.,
Collins Nicholas C.,
Harvey Harold H.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.144
H-Index - 294
eISSN - 1939-9170
pISSN - 0012-9658
DOI - 10.2307/1941104
Subject(s) - esox , catostomus , ecology , abundance (ecology) , relative species abundance , littoral zone , biology , pike , abiotic component , micropterus , bass (fish) , fishery , fish <actinopterygii>
We used multivariate ordination techniques to establish relationships among the abundances of the most frequently occurring littoral zone fishes (fishes that occurred in ≥60% of the lakes) in 25 central Ontario lakes. Previously, most large—scale comparative studies of freshwater fish communities only measured species presence/absence. Abundance estimates provide an alternative, and perhaps more sensitive, means of assessing the relative importance of biotic processes, geological/chemical factors, and historical determinants of present—day community structure. Seventy percent of the variation in abundances was described by the first two axes from a correspondence analysis. Abundances of white sucker (Catostomus commersoni) and rock bass (Ambloplites rupestris), and abundances of brown bullhead (Ictalurus nebulosus) and smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieui) were negatively related. However, abundances of these species pairs were not related where the species occurred in sympatry, suggesting that species presence/absence strongly influenced these patterns of abundance. Most of the variation in species abundance and distribution was attributed to physical factors associated with species colonization processes (i.e., differences in postglacial colonization rates may have caused negative association between white sucker and rock bass). An independent 45—lake data set was used to confirm these zoogeographic patterns. Predation by northern pike (Esox lucius) may be partly responsible for variation in abundance and distribution of white sucker. Where pike and sucker co—exist, sucker abundance is lower than where sucker exist without pike. Habitat differences between lakes provided the best explanation for the variation in abundance of smallmouth bass and brown bullhead. Biogeographic processes, physical environmental factors, and predatory processes have been very influential in shaping abundances and distributions of ubiquitous littoral zone fishes in Ontario.