Quinnlan Smith

• Master of Science
• PhD Student at University of Wisconsin–Madison

In recent decades, some lakes in the Ceded Territory of Wisconsin have experienced increasing largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides abundance coupled with declining walleye Sander vitreus abundance. These shifts in abundance have become of management concern, as largemouth bass have been hypothesized to negatively influence walleye populations thro...

The foraging success and growth of piscivores often depend on environmental light availability. In north-temperate systems, high tannin concentrations limit light, and increasing variability in tannin levels may influence fish foraging behavior, success, growth, and further contribute to varying recruitment trends. To evaluate foraging and growth r...

Successful foraging of piscivores is often dependent upon light availability in their visual habitat and is often influenced by a number of abiotic and biotic factors. In north-temperate lakes, dissolved organic carbon concentrations vary greatly, thus likely influencing foraging success. To understand the impact this has on the walleye (Sander vit...

Objective Fish movements and distributions throughout an ecosystem are important for understanding ecological interactions, conservation, and management. Coarse woody habitat (CWH) additions are a popular habitat enhancement tool that can influence movements and distributions of fishes; however, behavioral responses in relation to CWH additions are...

Coarse woody habitat (CWH) modifications to aquatic ecosystems are often a short-term plan for management goals. Positive CWH effects can often be a draw for fish in the area to utilize it for feeding, reproduction, and survival. Though this woody debris can start to degrade and move, further altering the ecosystem, the long-term effects of these m...

Coarse woody habitat (CWH) experiments in lakes have increased in popularity in the midwestern United States to combat negative aquatic ecological effects associated with lakeshore residential development. Previous short-term experiments associate CWH additions with positive effects and CWH removals with negative effects with regards to the fish co...

Walleye population productivity is influenced by water temperature and water clarity, and available evidence suggests that model-predicted thermal-optical habitat area (TOHA) considered optimal for walleye populations has declined in the upper Midwest. Despite apparent relationships between TOHA and walleye populations, estimation of TOHA relies on...

Project updates on thesis research related to thermal-optical habitat area (TOHA) and walleye populations.

Available evidence suggests that walleye population status is influenced by water temperature and light levels and that the availability of thermal-optical habitat area (TOHA) considered optimal for walleye growth has changed over time. Despite the apparent connection between TOHA and population status, no previous study has empirically assessed wa...

Proliferation of warmwater fish in northern lakes has significant implications for food web structure and fisheries management. Specifically, proliferation of centrarchids (e.g., largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides, bluegill Lepomis macrochirus, and black crappie Pomoxis nigromaculatus) could have important implications for yellow perch Perca fla...

Behavioral responses of fishes to littoral zone habitat enhancements are relatively understudied in diverse fish communities but are critical for understanding overall fish community responses. To advance knowledge on effects of coarse woody habitat (CWH) littoral zone enhancements, we initiated a long-term study on Sanford Lake, Vilas County, Wisc...

Coarse woody habitat (CWH) additions have increased in popularity in Midwestern United States lakes,however many of these recent additions have not been treated as deliberate experiments to examine long-term fisheries responses. Past CWH removal studies have shown reduction in fish growth rates, declines in forage fish abundance, and behavioral cha...

Sass GG, Shaw SL, Rooney TP, Rypel AL, Raabe JK, Smith QC, Hrabik TR, Toshner ST. 2019. Coarse woody habitat and glacial lake fisheries in the Midwestern United States: knowns, unknowns, and experiment to advance our knowledge. Lake Reserv Manage. XX:XXX–XXX. Coarse woody habitat (CWH) additions have increased in popularity in glacial lakes (i.e. k...