Effects of Predation by Sea-Run Juvenile Alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus) on the Zooplankton Community at Hamilton Reservoir, Rhode Island

Vigerstad, T. J.; Cobb, J. Stanley

doi:10.2307/1351648

Cited by 14 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…In addition, other studies have shown a distinct bloom of zooplankton in the marine environment for this time of year (Sherman et al 1984;Turner 1994). The potential affect of changes in food availability on juvenile migration has also been hypothesized by Vigerstad and Cobb (1978) and Yako et al (2002).…”

Section: Alewivesmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…Late migrators were older and larger than early migrators but had later hatch dates. Based on observed patterns of food availability (Vigerstad and Cobb 1978;Yako et al 2002) in other regional systems, late migrators may be faced with more favorable conditions in the nursery area in the later part of their development. This evidence would support a size maximizing strategy, as late migrators were in the nursery area for several months before migration commenced in November.…”

Section: Alewivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Factors affecting migration patterns of juvenile river herring in a coastal Massachusetts stream

Iafrate

Oliveira

2006

Environ Biol Fish

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Juvenile anadromous river herring (alewives, Alosa pseudoharengus, and blueback herring, Alosa aestivalis) spend 3-7 months in freshwater before migrating to the ocean, often exhibiting waves of early and late migrations. Migratory patterns and associated abiotic and biotic factors were examined for both species migrating in 2003 from Herring River in Bourne Massachusetts. Migrating herring were grouped into two temporal periods and separated by species. Relationships between abiotic (water temperature, lunar phase, and precipitation) and biotic (size, age, growth rate, and hatch date) factors and the timing of out-migration (transition to seawater) were examined. Blueback herring migration coincided with a sharp decrease in temperature consistent with the time of year. Peaks in alewive migration may reflect adaptive traits maximizing likelihood of survival through seasonal marginal stream habitats and also avoiding lethal water temperatures in winter. Migrating bluebacks exhibited a single migratory period (late September-October) which occurred between the early and late migratory pulses of the alewives. These patterns may also represent distinct migration strategies between early and late migrating alewives and between the two species of river herring. Early migration may be a mechanism by which factors such as competition and low food availability are mitigated. In contrast, environmental conditions during the post hatching time of late migrators may allow for a size maximizing strategy that promotes migration from the nursery area as late as possible.

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Section: Alewivesmentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Alewivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors affecting migration patterns of juvenile river herring in a coastal Massachusetts stream

Iafrate

Oliveira

2006

Environ Biol Fish

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“…Landlocked alewives are considered both an archetypal size-selective predator (Brooks and Dodson 1965) and a putative keystone species (Power et al 1996), and therefore, phenotypic differences between anadromous and landlocked populations could strongly affect the ecological role of alewives in lakes. Landlocked alewives are known to structure zooplankton communities and regulate water quality in lakes across eastern North America (Brooks and Dodson 1965, Wells 1970, Eck and Wells 1987, Harman and Albright 2002, Madenjian et al 2002, Mills et al 2003, but little is known about the ecological role of anadromous alewives (but see Vigerstad andCobb 1978, Gregory et al 1983). The transition from an anadromous to a landlocked life history can produce considerable intraspecific variation (Hendry et al 2004) that may strongly affect the ecological role of alewives.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intraspecific Variation in a Predator Affects Community Structure and Cascading Trophic Interactions

Post

Palkovacs

Schielke

et al. 2008

Ecology

260

425

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Abstract. Intraspecific phenotypic variation in ecologically important traits is widespread and important for evolutionary processes, but its effects on community and ecosystem processes are poorly understood. We use life history differences among populations of alewives, Alosa pseudoharengus, to test the effects of intraspecific phenotypic variation in a predator on pelagic zooplankton community structure and the strength of cascading trophic interactions. We focus on the effects of differences in (1) the duration of residence in fresh water (either seasonal or year-round) and (2) differences in foraging morphology, both of which may strongly influence interactions between alewives and their prey. We measured zooplankton community structure, algal biomass, and spring total phosphorus in lakes that contained landlocked, anadromous, or no alewives. Both the duration of residence and the intraspecific variation in foraging morphology strongly influenced zooplankton community structure. Lakes with landlocked alewives had small-bodied zooplankton year-round, and lakes with no alewives had large-bodied zooplankton year-round. In contrast, zooplankton communities in lakes with anadromous alewives cycled between large-bodied zooplankton in the winter and spring and small-bodied zooplankton in the summer. In summer, differences in feeding morphology of alewives caused zooplankton biomass to be lower and body size to be smaller in lakes with anadromous alewives than in lakes with landlocked alewives. Furthermore, intraspecific variation altered the strength of the trophic cascade caused by alewives. Our results demonstrate that intraspecific phenotypic variation of predators can regulate community structure and ecosystem processes by modifying the form and strength of complex trophic interactions.

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“…In contrast, there are few quantitative studies on the diets of anadromous populations. Feeding habits have been reported for juveniles during their freshwater phase (Burbidge 1974, Vigerstad & Cobb 1978, Gregory et al 1983) and for older, ocean-feeding fish (Holland & Yelverton 1973, Neves 1981, Vinogradov 1984, but the diet composition of co-occurring estuarine populations has received little attention (Leim & Scott 1966). This is a serious omission since estuaries serve as nursery and feeding areas for many fish species, particularly anadromous stocks (Haedrich & Hall 1976).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diet of alewives, Alosa pseudoharengus and blueback herring, A. aestivalis (Pisces: Clupeidae) in Minas Basin, Nova Scotia, a turbid, macrotidal estuary

Stone

Daborn

1987

Environ Biol Fish

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SynopsisStomach contents of anadromous alewives, Afosa pseudohurengus and blueback herring, A. aestivalis, obtained from brush weir and drift net collections in Minas Basin, N.S., were examined. Diets showed much overlap in terms of resource use, but the dietary importance of major prey categories differed substantially between species. Alewives favoured larger, more benthic prey (e.g. amphipods, mysids and crangonids), while blueback herring appeared to concentrate their feeding on microzooplankters (e.g. calanoid copepods, cypris larvae and molluscan veligers). Interspecific differences in diet composition are largely attributed to the planktivorous feeding habits of small (81-155 mm fork length) blueback herring. Differences in prey suggest that alewives utilize a particulate feeding strategy while blueback herring are predominantly filter-feeders. Although competition for food in the Basin seems unlikely since high secondary production yields a superabundance of prey, differences in feeding behaviour between younger, smaller individuals of both species could be a means of avoiding competitive interactions in an environment where there are space/ access limitations imposed by the tidal cycle.

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Effects of Predation by Sea-Run Juvenile Alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus) on the Zooplankton Community at Hamilton Reservoir, Rhode Island

Cited by 14 publications

References 15 publications

Factors affecting migration patterns of juvenile river herring in a coastal Massachusetts stream

Factors affecting migration patterns of juvenile river herring in a coastal Massachusetts stream

Intraspecific Variation in a Predator Affects Community Structure and Cascading Trophic Interactions

Diet of alewives, Alosa pseudoharengus and blueback herring, A. aestivalis (Pisces: Clupeidae) in Minas Basin, Nova Scotia, a turbid, macrotidal estuary

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