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Examination of Spawning Stock Specific Recruitment and Migration Dynamics in Lake Erie White Bass

Davis, Jeremiah J

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2013, Master of Science (MS), Bowling Green State University, Biological Sciences.
Differential and annually varying recruitment contributions by different spawning-stocks under varying abiotic conditions may be an underlying factor in high inter-annual recruitment variability in Lake Erie fish populations. The 2011 spawning season was characterized by very high discharge conditions. To investigate recruitment contributions from different spawning-stocks during 2011 I utilized otolith micro-chemical analyses to determine the natal origins of young of the year white bass (Morone chrysops) that composed the Lake Erie Central Basin population during August 2011. The otoliths of fishes have unique properties that allow them to act as reliable recorders of environmental history. Under the abiotic conditions that characterized the 2011 season, >80% of the successful recruits to the population were produced by the Sandusky River spawning-stock. Other spawning-stocks made limited contributions. To examine causative factors behind these differential recruitment contributions the otolith micro-chemistry dataset was spatially linked with the physical structure of the otolith to estimate the length at which individuals emigrated from near shore nursery habitats. Results of this study showed that surviving individuals from the Sandusky spawning-stock were retained in nursery habitats to significantly larger sizes before emigration to the Central Basin than individuals from the Maumee spawning-stock. Thus, during spawning seasons characterized by high discharge, the Sandusky River spawning-stock provides the Lake Erie white bass population with substantial contributions to year classes because the Sandusky system has the propensity for retention of early life stages of fishes within productive nursery habitat.
Jeffrey Miner, Phd. (Committee Co-Chair)
John Farver, Phd. (Committee Co-Chair)
Karen Root, Phd. (Committee Member)
74 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Davis, J. J. (2013). Examination of Spawning Stock Specific Recruitment and Migration Dynamics in Lake Erie White Bass [Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1375114131

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Davis, Jeremiah. Examination of Spawning Stock Specific Recruitment and Migration Dynamics in Lake Erie White Bass. 2013. Bowling Green State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1375114131.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Davis, Jeremiah. "Examination of Spawning Stock Specific Recruitment and Migration Dynamics in Lake Erie White Bass." Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1375114131

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)