| Contents Notes |
Spatial and temporal patterns during reproduction and early life history of fishes were studied in a manmade cooling lake. Lake Columbia, impounded in 1974, near Portage, Wisconsin, has an area of 190 ha, a mean depth of 2.1 m, and a 15 C temperature gradient derived from the thermal effluent of a 527-MW fossil-fueled generating station which began operating in 1975. The lake was initially colonized by fishes when filled with Wisconsin River water. Observations suggest a decline of species diversity of the fish community due to direct action of upper lethal temperatures, absence of colonization by warm-water, lake-dwelling species, and lack of recruitment for certain species. Spatial and temporal patterns of spawning of black crappie were altered by a rapid rise in water temperatures following plant start-up after a three-week shutdown. Water temperatures above expected spawning temperatures reduced available spawning area and induced aggregation of sexually mature black crappie at coolest available temperatures. Elevated temperatures subsequently shortened the spawning season, induced resorption of ova, and caused loss of secondary sexual characteristics. A second generating unit began operating in February 1978. Spawning of black crappie and white bass occurred 1 month earlier during the spring of 1978 than in 1977. Species abundance of larval fish catches was greater in 1978 when the spawning season was not unusually abbreviated, as in 1977. After initially drifting with water current, juvenile stages of sunfish and gizzard shad responded to changes in the thermal gradient by horizontal and vertical shifts in abundance. |
