No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the author.
Predation by cutthroat trout on Chaoborus flavicans as revealed by a population budget
Abstract
This article is in Free Access Publication and may be downloaded using the “Download Full Text PDF” link at right.
... Exploitation competition with native insectivores could indirectly affect recruitment of smallmouth bass by decreasing the numbers of young-of-theyear forage fishes available to juvenile bass. Vertebrate predation can have a significant impact on populations of some invertebrate species in lentic environments (Bohanan and Johnson, 1983;Gilinsky, 1984;Luecke, 1988), but data from lotic systems is equivocal. Although there is some indication that fish predation can affect invertebrate population densities in streams (Reice and Edwards, 1986;Schlosser and Ebel, 1989), hydrologic conditions may be the major structuring agents for many headwater communities (Schlosser and Ebel, 1989). ...
Food habits of introduced rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in the upper Little Missouri River system of Arkansas were studied by analyzing 18 stomach samples taken from Blaylock Creek between March and April, 1991, 41 stomach samples taken from the Little Missouri River proper and 38 stomach pumped samples obtained from Long Creek between March and May, 1993. Forty-two percent of stomachs from Long Creek contained food items. Stonefly (Plecoptera) larvae were the most frequently found food items, occurring in 44% of the stomachs and comprising 28% of all items recovered. Perlodid stoneflies represented 38% of all food items taken and were present in every stomach containing food. Leptophlebiid mayflies were the most abundant prey in stomachs collected from Blaylock Creek, having a relative abundance of 33%. Stomach samples indicated that introduced rainbow trout feed on a variety of invertebrates in the Little Missouri River system. The annual introduction of rainbow trout may increase feeding competition and disrupt spawning by native fish species in their natural habitat.
... Fish predation greatly affects the structure of Chaoborus communities in temperate lakes (Pope et al. 1973;Northcote et al. 1978;von Ende 1979). Chaoborus populations may be less able to sustain predation in cold, oligotrophic lakes because of slower development rates (Luecke 1988) and low food availability (Neil1 1988; Yan et al. 1982 (Fisheries and Environment Canada 1978). The 12 northernmost records of each species from Borkent (1979, 198 1) are plotted. ...
We tested the hypothesis that the distribution of four species of Chaoborus is limited by water temperature in Rocky Mountain lakes. Midsummer surface water temperature (MSSWT) of Rocky Mountain lakes varied between 25 and 5 °C along an elevation gradient spanning 600–2400 m above sea level. Chaoborus (subgenus Chaoborus) americanus and C. (C.) flavicans were collected in lakes with MSSWT ≥ 16 °C, generally corresponding to lakes at elevations lower than 1600 m above sea level. Chaoborus (Sayomyia) punctipennis was only collected in warm lakes (MSSWT ≥ 21 °C). Species of the subgenus Schadonophasma (C. trivittatus and possibly C. cooki) were not commonly collected, but preliminary data suggest that they may be more tolerant of low water temperatures than the other species. On a qualitative basis, the distribution of these chaoborids in the Rockies is similar to their latitudinal distribution. However, MSSWT as a valid predictor of Chaoborus species distribution with latitude remains to be tested. The gradient in lake temperature found in mountainous environments appears to be a useful gauge for obtaining information about the distribution of invertebrates relative to temperature.
... Interactions between fish and invertebrate predators can strongly affect the structure of aquatic communities (e.g., Dodson 1970; Lane 1979; Gilinsky 1984; Kerfoot and DeMott 1984; Morin 1984; Elser et al. 1987; Kerfoot 1987; Crowder et al. 1988; Hanazato and Yasuno 1989; Blois-Heulein et al. 1990; Power 1990). Direct impacts of fish on invertebrate predators have been observed often in lentic systems (e.g., Henrikson and Oscarson 1978; Gilinsky 1984; Morin 1984; Heads 1985; Dawidowicz et al. 1990; Luecke 1988, 1990; Tjossem 1990), and recent evidence exists for such effects in streams (Cooper 1988; Power 1990). The relationship between trout and stoneflies in streams has been particularly well studied by Feltmate et al. (1986), and by Feltmate and Williams (1989a, 1989b, 199 la, 199 1 b) using both laboratory experiments and field manipulations of trout density in 13 m long stream sections. ...
In a series of high-gradient streams along the Wasatch Front in northern Utah, perlid stoneflies were more abundant in benthic samples from 14 fishless streams than in 9 similar streams which contained trout. Smaller-bodied perlodid stoneflies were more abundant in samples from streams containing trout. Herbivorous insect abundances varied substantially within groups of streams containing and lacking trout; multivariate analysis of variance using the six most abundant herbivorous taxa indicated no significant difference between the two groups of streams. Similarly, total numbers of invertebrates did not differ between streams with and without fish. Sites above and below the upstream limit of trout in three streams showed patterns in invertebrate abundances similar to that seen at the whole-stream scale. Trout may have no effect on the overall density of stream benthos because of their negative direct effects on invertebrate predators.
... Also they permit measurement of dynamics that may be difficult or impossible to make otherwise. For example, Luecke (1988) was able to determine the rates of pupation and emergence by samples of Chaoborus populations in tubs partly submerged in Lake Lenore. This permitted a calculation of a population budget including the number of individuals taken by fish in the lake. ...
True replication and control are not available for whole-lake experiments, even when the investigator can manipulate the system. Many lakes have been subjected to deliberate or inadvertent disturbance and provide excellent opportunities for research when one can find substitutes for replication and control. Such studies require extensive quantitative description of relevant conditions in the lake. The population explosions of Oscillatoria and Daphnia in Lake Washington are taken as examples. One of the relevant properties of a zooplankton population for such an analysis is the rate of reproduction, or egg production. The present state of the use of data on eggs is described against the background of development of the use of such information.
... Responses of freshwater communities to the effects of vertebrate and invertebrate predators can be extensive and complex (Brooks & Dodson, 1965;Lynch, 1979;Kerfoot & Sih, 1987;Black & Hairston, 1988;Riessen et al., 1988;Hanazato & Yasuno, 1989;Brett & Goldman, 1996). Phantom midge larvae (Chaoborus spp.) are important invertebrate predators in many lake and pond communities, feeding on rotifers, cladocera, and copepods (Elser et al., 1987;Luecke, 1988) and exerting varying effects on different zooplankton species (MacKay et al., 1990). Another group of invertebrate predators, large diaptomid copepods, also affect coexisting cladocera and copepods wherever they are found (O'Brien, 2001), even though these copepods may not be obligate predators (Kling et al., 1992). ...
This study assessed the influence of annual snowpack on long term changes in the predatory regime of four high elevation ponds in the mountains of northwest Wyoming. Over 36 y of observation, in two ponds the primary predator alternated between phantom midge Chaoborus americanus larvae and Diaptomus shoshone predatory copepods, whereas the predatory regime did not change in the other two shallower ponds. Switching of predators correlated with extreme amounts of winter snow, either high or low, which determined the depth at which drying or complete freezing of the pond occurred. Chaoborus americanus colonized ponds after the wettest years and disappeared after the driest years. The results provide an unusual long term perspective of the effects of weather on predator dominance.
... Since the relative timing of the various factors has been suggested to be of great importance for the initiation of an MSD (Boersma et al. 1996, Post & Kitchell 1997, Benndorf et al. 2001 ), different scenarios of bottom-up and top-down interactions can be ex- pected. For benthic prey species with clearly distinguishable cohorts, the construction of population budgets has proven to be a useful approach to assess the importance of predation for population dynamics (Luecke 1988 ). Therefore , here we adopt this approach to the continuously reproducing zooplankton species Daphnia galeata to find a mechanistic explanation for the MSD. ...
The midsummer decline (MSD) of daphnids has been attributed to a range of factors related to either resource availability or predation. However, the relative magnitude and importance of each of these factors remained unknown. Therefore, we quantified simultaneously, but independently, both consumptive mortality due to pred-ation and non-consumptive mortality of Daphnia galeata due to senescence, disease, food limitation as well as limiting physical or chemical factors between May and July 1998 in Bautzen Reservoir, Germany. These losses were balanced by the population gains by recruitment. The predation pressure exerted by age-0 fish, by older zooplank-tivorous fish and by carnivorous zooplankton did not completely account for the ob-served mortality pattern of D. galeata that caused the MSD. Non-consumptive mortal-ity in the field was calculated from recruitment patterns estimated from field samples and from age-specific survival probabilities of Daphnia offspring according to life-table experiments. The results suggest a high non-consumptive mortality during the clear-water phase which is comparable to the magnitude of consumptive losses and may give a possible explanation for the remaining part of Daphnia mortality. By inte-grating all data concerning the initial abundance in early May as well as population gains and losses of daphnids, a balance sheet was drawn up for four years of investiga-tion (1995 –1998). The differences between the cumulated positive and negative book values corresponded well to the actually observed Daphnia abundance in Bautzen Re-servoir at the transition period to an MSD of every year. Generally, the hypothesis is 1 Authors' addresses:
1. Cold water acted differently to delay and lengthen the pupation period for the larvae of two species of the zooplankton predator Chaoborus (Diptera: Chaoboridae). During Chaoborus pupation, the zooplankton community is released from predation, while the dark-coloured Chaoborus pupae are more susceptible to their own predators.
2. Fourth instar larvae of Chaoborus americanus and C. trivittatus, collected from an oligotrophic lake, were reared individually at 5 °C in the dark. Chaoborus americanus was also reared at 9 and 12 °C under spring photoperiod conditions (L : D, 16 : 8 h). Individuals were observed through pupation to emergence (ecdysis) or death.
3. Chaoborus americanus pupated at 5, 9 and 12 °C with substantial emergence only at 12 °C. In comparison, C. trivittatus emerged at 5 °C. Light was not a necessary cue for pupation and ecdysis, contrary to previous reports. Cold water delayed the onset and lengthened and increased the variability of the duration of pupation.
4. In Shirley Lake, C. americanus pupated in late June–early July while C. trivittatus pupated first in April and again in June–July.
5. Chaoborus americanus pupae needed a temperature cue to complete ecdysis. The ecdysis temperature threshold helps to explain the difference in pupation timing, and the geographical distribution, of C. americanus and its relatively inflexible life history contrasted with C. trivittatus. Delayed predator pupation in years with low spring temperature can affect the community dynamics of the prey.
Changes in the limnology of two saline lakes, Lake Lenore and Soap Lake, in the lower Grand Coulee, Washington, between 1949
and the present are described.
Fewer than half of the anisopteran odonate species that oviposited in a North Carolina farm pond successfully metamorphosed from that pond. Odonates metamorphosed during two periods: early April though early June, and late May through early September. I used an experiment designed for variance analysis to measure the impact of fish and early-breeding odonates on the abundance and species composition of late-breeding odonates. Odonates recruited naturally in open-topped screened pens that either excluded or contained fish. I placed pens in the pond either during or after the early species breeding season to alter the abundance of larval early breeders. Fish exclusion increased the combined abundances of all anisopteran species 5-10 times above abundances in pens containing fish. However, fish also facilitated the recruitment of one species, Perithemis tenera. Placement of fish exclusion pens in late June instead of early May reduced abundance of early breeders and increased abundances of two late breeders, Perithemis tenera and Pachydiplax longipennis. Early-breeders did not reduce late-breeder recruitment in pens with fish. Abundances of early and late breeders were significantly negatively correlated in pens without fish, but abundances of the same species were not significantly correlated in pens with fish. Different histories of colonization by early breeders influenced interspecific interactions among odonates only if fish were absent. Most variation in the composition of experimental communities was explained by a hierarchy of negative effects of fish on odonate abundance, and negative effects of early-breeders on late-breeders in the absence of fish.
(1) Previous studies on rates of gastric evacuation and food consumption are briefly reviewed and criticized. The truly quantitative studies show that the evacuation rate is usually exponential and is related to water temperature by an exponential or power-law function. These relationships have been ignored in most of the previous methods used to estimate the daily food consumption for fish in the field. (2) Two new methods are proposed and both assume that the rate of gastric evacuation is exponential. The rate of food consumption is assumed to be constant within the interval between sampling in the first method, and to decrease with time in the second method which also requires an estimate of the satiation ration. Equations are developed for both methods. (3) In a series of experiments with brown trout and perch, the first method usually provided close estimates of the daily food consumption even when feeding was restricted to short periods at infrequent intervals of time. The first method was inadequate, and the second method more appropriate, for larger fish feeding close to the maximum or satiation level. (4) The new methods are compared with some of the equations of earlier workers and the latter are shown to have often made erroneous assumptions that produced underestimates of the daily food consumption.
Structural complexity of the habitat often reduces predatory efficiency by reducing prey capture rates. Prey density is often positively correlated with habitat structure because it provides food and substrate to the prey as well as a relative refuge from predators. Dense structure inhibits foraging, allowing abundant, highly profitable prey to coexist with predators. Sparse structure allows efficient foraging and generally contains few highly profitable prey. This suggests that feeding rates of predators may be maximized at intermediate structure. It this true, we might also expect predator growth rates to be higher in intermediate structure habitats. Since diet breadth is thought to be related to rates of encounter with profitable prey, we also expect diets of predators to be narrower at intermediate structure than in either sparsely or densely structured habitats. Bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus) restricted to experimental ponds varying in vegetation density grew better and consumed more prey at intermediate macropohyte density than fish held at either low or high macrophyte densities. Fish at low macropohyte density had narrower diets than expected due to high initial prey availability relative to prey available at intermediate and high macrophyte density. Fish at high macrophyte density ate fewer, but large, prey and thus had a narrower diet than expected. Fish predation reduced total prey biomass as well as mean prey size and altered the prey community structure by removing large active invertebrate predators and herbivores with subsequent release of smaller invertebrate predators and herbivores. These changes in prey community structure were also mediated by habitat structure. Habitat structure-food density interactions may be added to temperature and presence of predators as variables that influence the use of resources by fishes.
The seasonal importance of vertebrate predators in potentially regulating the abundance and diversity of the benthic macroinvertebrates in the littoral zone of a soft-bottom reservoir that receives thermal effluent from a nuclear production reactor was examined. Thirty-six predator (fish and turtle) exclusion cages (4 m²) were placed in shallow water at six locations along a thermal gradient in Par Pond, a 1100-ha cooling reservoir on the Savannah River Plant near Aiken, South Carolina, USA. An additional 36 control plots (4 m²) were also set up. Cages were in place during three, 3-mo test periods beginning in September 1977. Estimates of benthic density, taxon richness, and distribution within functional groups (defined by feeding mechanism) were calculated for each test period. Effects of temperature on predator-prey relationships were also determined. Experimental results of this study suggest that vertebrate predation was not the fundamental parameter organizing the benthic macroinvertebrate community in the littoral zone of this reservoir. Neither taxon richness nor density of total macroinvertebrates was conclusively related to predator treatment. Relationships between predator treatment and community response (changes in density and taxon richness) were generally unaffected by either plot locality, temperature fluctuations from thermal effluent, or seasonal changes. When data from caged and control plots were pooled, however, both location and water temperature individually had direct impacts on the benthic community. From these results and other field studies it is hypothesized that individual species of keystone benthic predators do not occur in the littoral zone of freshwater lentic environments with soft bottoms.
Ahstroct Feeding experiments and examination of gut contents show that Neomysis mercedis is an effective predator on zooplankton in Lake Washington. Daphnia is consistently preferred to other prey; Diaptomus and Cyclops copepodids and nauplii are always underrepresented in mysid diets. This pattern of selectivity is consistent with the hypothesis that a large population of Neomysis formerly excluded Daphnia from the lake. Because of their strong size selectivity and high feeding rates, vertebrate pred- ators (especially visually feeding fish) are often considered the primary threat to freshwater zooplankton. The low feeding rates of the blindly foraging invertebrate planktivores led Hall et al. (1976) to doubt that invertebrate predation alone causes the extinction of populations of zooplankton. The invertebrates, how- ever, are usually more abundant than fish, and there is growing appreciation of their potential significance to total pre- dation pressure (Lane 1979).
This article is in Free Access Publication and may be downloaded using the “Download Full Text PDF” link at right.
Fishes differ greatly in the character of the food they consume. This chapter is divided into three main sections. The first surveys the range of dietary specialization of fishes in a number of temperate and tropical ecosystems; the second examines physiological, behavioral, and morphological characteristics that simultaneously affect overall for aging efficiencies and predispose fishes to acquire particular foods; the third looks briefly at some recent attempts to quantify and explain the “selective” exploitation of foods by fishes. It emerges from the discussion that relative food size is a major factor determining efficient utilization of rations, but of course many other characteristics of food influence foraging efficiency A few of the observed differences of food utilization are related to the differences in food present in lake, river, estuarine, and marine ecosystems. Vascular plant material and terrestrial insects are unique supplies in freshwater, coral polyps, and thallose algae in marine systems. In large lakes, such as Lake Victoria, terrestrial insects are not expected to supply a major food source for the majority of fish.
In a Colorado stream, the standing crop of trout (mainly Salvelinus fontinalis) prior to this study was 4.86 g/m2, typical of infertile trout streams. Electroshocking of a 1220 m long experimental section kept trout stocks at 10-25% of this initial value during the summers of 1975-1978. Density of invertebrates in the benthos showed no consistent differences between the trout removal section and upstream and downstream control sections for most taxa examined. Drift density also failed to show an effect of the trout removal. Some taxa were significantly more abundant at one site than another, but this was attributable to changes along the stream gradient or differences in phenology among the sites. As trout stomach content analysis revealed very intensive grazing on a few taxa of aquatic insects, their failure to increase in the trout removal section was unexpected. Because of the variability of the system, a doubling or halving of numbers must occur to be detectable. Within these limits, it is concluded that removal of trout had no significant effect on the prey community. It is also likely that because streams do not provide areas where fish are predictably absent, the invertebrate community is highly adapted to fish predation and so is not sensitive to manipulations in fish density.-from Author
In third and fourth instar larvae of the midge Chaoborus crystallinus the concentrations of various metabolites were estimated during anoxia and in the course of recovery from anaerobiosis. The glycogen reserves were found to be unusually low, whereas malate is present in quantities exceeding those of total glucans. Under anoxic conditions the concentration of malate drops rapidly and, concomitantly, the level of succinate rises in a reciprocal manner. In addition, large quantities of alanine are accumulated, while lactate is produced as a minor end product. During recovery from anaerobiosis the concentrations of malate and succinate are restored to the values of normoxia within less than 3 hr. In contrast, alanine and lactate decrease rather slowly and are still substantially higher than normal after 12 hr. The possible significance of malate utilization by the larvae in relation to the demands of their normal conditions of life is discussed.
Fish, like other living systems, must conform to the laws of thermodynamics. Fish gain matter and energy in food, and they lose absorbed matter and energy as a result of catabolism—which provides energy for maintenance and activity—and the elaboration of reproductive products. Physiological energetics, or animal bioenergetics, concerns the rates of energy expenditure, the losses and gains, and the efficiencies of energy transformation, as functional relations of the whole organism. The majority of such presentations commence with an energy-flow diagram indicating the main steps that the energy of food intake follows through the organism, and the paths of energy distribution. Each of these steps with their appropriate values is subject to quantitative change, depending on many biotic and abiotic factors. With the thought that the basis of these energy exchanges needs to be elaborated first, it was deemed more fitting to conclude with a quantitatively expressed flow diagram. An understanding of the physical, chemical, and biological basis on which the energetics is built, and the equivalents employed, constitutes the opening section of this chapter. Some necessary distinctions between mammalian and nonmammalian systems are made. An adequately nutritious diet is assumed; the basic source of fuel for the fire of life is solely derived from the food.
The pattern of diel vertical migration exhibited by Chaoborus flavicans in Lake Lenore, Washington has changed over the past decade. Formerly Chaoborus larvae and pupae were present in the water column during the day. Since 1982, a strong pattern of diel vertical migration
has been evident in this population. Third and fourth instar larvae and pupae reside in the sediments during the day and then
ascend to the surface waters at night. The change in migratory activity of C. flavicans was coincident with the introduction of cutthroat trout (Salmo clarki henshawi) into Lake Lenore in 1979. Predation by trout on fourth instar larvae and pupae of C. flavicans was probably responsible for the observed changes in migratory behavior.
The present condition of saline lakes in the lower Grand Coulee
EDMONDSON, W. T. 1969. The present condition of
saline lakes in the lower Grand Coulee, Washington. Int. Ver. Theor. Angew. Limnol. Verb. 17:
447-448.
Rates of gastric evacuation in brown trout, Sa/mo trutta L
ELLIOT,J. M. 1972. Rates of gastric evacuation in
brown trout, Sa/mo trutta L. Freshwater Biol,, 2:
1–18.
The role of fish predation and spatial heterogeneity in determining benthic community structure
G[L]NSKY, E. 1984. The role of fish predation and
spatial heterogeneity in determining benthic community structure. Ecology 65:455468.
Changes in the benthic community of a small Precambrian lake following the introduction of yellow perch Perca J!avescens Insect ecology
- J R Am
- D Cucm
POST, J. R., Am D. Cucm.
1984. Changes in the
benthic community of a small Precambrian lake
following the introduction of yellow perch Perca
J!avescens. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 41:1496-1501.
PRICE,P. W. 1975. Insect ecology. Wiley.
Temperature and insect development The effect of vertebrate predation on lotic macroinvertebrate communities in Quebec
- H T Iu 'rre
- K H Jn
- Hoffman Springer
- S R Reice
- R L Edwards
IU'rrE, H. T. 1985. Temperature and insect development, p. 33-66. Jn K. H. Hoffman [cd.], Environmental physiology and biochemistry of insects. Springer.
REICE,S. R., m
R. L. EDWARDS. 1986. The effect
of vertebrate predation on lotic macroinvertebrate
communities in Quebec, Canada. Can. J. Zool. 64:
1930-1936.
- W T Helm
- P A Kucera
- S Vigg
- Andg W Wormim
SIGLER,W. F., W. T. HELM,P. A. KUCERA,S. VIGG,
ANDG. W. WoRmim.
1983. Life history of the
Lahontan cutthroat trout in Pyramid Lake, Nevada. Great Basin Nat. 43: 1–29.
The effect of fish on the number of invertebrates in ponds and streams
STRA3KRABA, M. 1967. The effect of fish on the number of invertebrates in ponds and streams. Mitt.
Int. Verb. Theor. Angew. Limnol. 13, p. 106-127.
Two distinct roles for predation in freshwater assemblages
THORP,J. H. 1986. Two distinct roles for predation
in freshwater assemblages. Oikos 47:75-82.
Ecology of Chironomidae (Diptera ) in a polar lake
WELCH,H. E. 1976. Ecology of Chironomidae (Diptera ) in a polar lake. J. Fish. Res. Bd. Can. 33:
227-247.
The adaptive significance ofcarotenoid pigmentation in Diaplomus (Copepoda)
- N G Hairston
- Jr
HAIRSTON, N. G., JR. 1977. The adaptive significance
ofcarotenoid pigmentation in Diaplomus (Copepoda). Ph.D. thesis, Univ. Washington. 230 p.
Changes in the benthic community of a small Precambrian lake following the introduction of yellow perch Perca J!avescens
- J R Post
- D Am
- Cucm
POST, J. R., Am D. Cucm.
1984. Changes in the
benthic community of a small Precambrian lake
following the introduction of yellow perch Perca
J!avescens. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 41:1496-1501.
PRICE,P. W. 1975. Insect ecology. Wiley.
Environmental physiology and biochemistry of insects
- H T Iu'rre
IU'rrE, H. T. 1985. Temperature and insect development, p. 33-66. Jn K. H. Hoffman [cd.], Environmental physiology and biochemistry of insects. Springer.
Life history of the Lahontan cutthroat trout in Pyramid Lake
- W F Sigler
- W T Helm
- P A Kucera
- S Vigg
- Andg W Wormim
SIGLER,W. F., W. T. HELM,P. A. KUCERA,S. VIGG,
ANDG. W. WoRmim.
1983. Life history of the
Lahontan cutthroat trout in Pyramid Lake, Nevada. Great Basin Nat. 43: 1-29.