Larval dispersal underlies demographically important inter-system connectivity in a Great Lakes yellow perch (Perca flavescens) population
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Abstract
Ability to quantify connectivity among spawning subpopulations and their relative contribution of recruits to the broader population is a critical fisheries management need. By combining microsatellite and age information from larval yellow perch (Perca flavescens) collected in the Lake St. Clair – Detroit River system (SC-DRS) and western Lake Erie with a hydrodynamic backtracking approach, we quantified subpopulation structure, connectivity, and contributions of recruits to the juvenile stage in western Lake Erie during 2006-2007. After finding weak (yet stable) genetic structure between the SC-DRS and two western Lake Erie subpopulations, microsatellites also revealed measurable recruitment of SC-DRS larvae to the juvenile stage in western Lake Erie (17-21% during 2006-2007). Consideration of pre-collection larval dispersal trajectories, using hydrodynamic backtracking, increased estimated contributions to 65% in 2006 and 57% in 2007. Our findings highlight the value of complementing subpopulation discrimination methods with hydrodynamic predictions of larval dispersal by revealing the SC-DRS as a source of recruits to western Lake Erie and also showing that connectivity through larval dispersal can affect the structure and dynamics of large-lake fish populations.
Study Area
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Larval dispersal underlies demographically important inter-system connectivity in a Great Lakes yellow perch (Perca flavescens) population |
| Series title | Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences |
| DOI | 10.1139/cjfas-2015-0161 |
| Volume | 73 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Year Published | 2016 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | NRC Research Press |
| Contributing office(s) | Great Lakes Science Center |
| Description | 11 p. |
| First page | 416 |
| Last page | 426 |
| Country | United States |
| Other Geospatial | Lake Erie, Lake St. Clair-Detroit River |
| Online Only (Y/N) | N |
| Additional Online Files (Y/N) | N |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |