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Habitat use by Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) using acoustics and stable isotopes (presentation)
Citation:
Gordon, M., K. Estep, D. Wilfond, J. VanDeHey, AND J. Hoffman. Habitat use by Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) using acoustics and stable isotopes (presentation). Midwest Fish and Wildlife Virtual Conference, Duluth, MN, February 01 - 03, 2021. https://doi.org/10.23645/epacomptox.13713607
Impact/Purpose:
Understanding habitat use and movement of Lake Sturgeon will aid natural resource decision makers in determining how restoration of the St. Louis River will affect population and recovery.
Description:
Lake Sturgeon are a long-lived, migratory fish species native to the Great Lakes region that were extirpated from the St. Louis River during the early 1900s. Beginning in the 1980s, Minnesota and Wisconsin DNRs along with the Fond du Lac tribe, initiated intensive restocking efforts in the lower river. Despite these intensive efforts, there has been only limited evidence for successful natural reproduction. Understanding habitat use by Lake Sturgeon is an important step to address the potential environmental factors, including legacy contaminants, that are potentially limiting the recovery of Lake Sturgeon in the lower St. Louis River. Therefore, our goal was to use both physical (acoustic tags) and chemical (carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes) tags to characterize habitat use and movements of Lake Sturgeon. Both types of tags revealed strong variations among individuals in habitat use, including some fish exhibiting near exclusive use of Lake Superior, harbor, and riverine habitats, as well as other fish using different combinations of these three habitats. Notably, we did not find a significant correlation between habitat use as characterized by either method, suggesting that the fish readily switch habitats, or that feeding areas and residency areas are independent and distinct, or some combination of both. Further decoupling of these tracking methods will aid resource managers determine how restoration of the St. Louis River will affect the population and contribute to recovery.
URLs/Downloads:
DOI: Habitat use by Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) using acoustics and stable isotopes (presentation)