Sequence analysis and acoustic tracking of individual lake sturgeon identify multiple patterns of river–lake habitat use

Abstract

Understanding the spatial ecology of sturgeon (Acipenseridae) has proven to be a challenge due to the life history characteristics of these fish, especially their long life span, intermittent spawning, and long‐distance migrations. Within the Huron‐Erie Corridor (HEC) of the Laurentian Great Lakes, habitat use of 247 lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) was monitored over a three‐year period (2015–2017) with acoustic transmitters. Extensive spatial coverage of receivers throughout the St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair, and Detroit River between Lake Huron and Lake Erie (~150 km) allowed for continuous monitoring of the movements of acoustic‐tagged individuals. Sequence analysis of individual detection histories was used to describe lake sturgeon habitat use and to determine (1) whether distinct habitat‐use patterns occurred within the HEC; (2) whether the range of habitats occupied varied across seasons among sturgeon grouped by common patterns; and (3) whether variation identified was related to tagging sites in the two rivers or sex. Lake sturgeon were active throughout the HEC, but five distinct habitat‐use patterns were identified. River residents were not broadly distributed across entire rivers, but rather associated with particular segments (middle Detroit River, St. Clair River delta). Variations in habitat‐use sequences were in part related to three river tagging sites, but not sex, and did not produce groups with sequences that reflected all five habitat‐use patterns derived from cluster analysis. Lake sturgeon distribution was reduced to fewer habitat segments during winter and expanded to the maximum extent during the spring and summer. Conservation planning that incorporates behavioral diversity of habitat use is relatively rare due to a lack of observations on movements of individuals at biologically relevant spatial and temporal scales, but using telemetry and sequence analysis methods may promote the success of conservation and restoration efforts.

Intraspecific variation in migration timing of green sturgeon in the Sacramento River system

“…Miller et al (2020) detected green sturgeon in the Sacramento River system during all months of the year, raising the potential that the sDPS green sturgeon population includes partial migration strategies; that is, some individuals exhibit permanent river residency. River residents have been described for other sturgeon species, including lake sturgeon (Borkholder et al, 2002; Colborne et al, 2019; Rusak & Mosindy, 1997) and shortnose sturgeon ( Acipenser brevirostrum ; Kynard et al, 2009). Furthermore, alternate migration strategies are a common aspect of salmonid biology in California, presumably as a bet‐hedging adaptation for the variable Mediterranean climate (Cordoleani et al, 2021; Prince et al, 2017; Thompson et al, 2020).…”

Habitat use differences mediate anthropogenic threat exposure in white sturgeon

“…It also minimizes the effect of fish being detected many times in short succession by the same receiver array, which can occur when fish spend a period of time around the same area. More temporally explicit approaches, such as sequence analysis (Colborne et al 2019), are poorly suited to this dataset because they require sampling over consistent time periods. To maximize the number of records studied in the present analysis, we used fish whose records spanned different time periods.…”

“…Understanding how patterns of fish habitat use vary within and among populations is essential to conservation and management (Crossin et al 2017). In fishes, habitat use and movement may differ among individuals of the same population according to life stage, sex, and behavioral types (Hutchings and Gerber 2002; Moyle 2002; Bade et al 2019; Colborne et al 2019). As an example of sex-dependent movement, in a population of brook trout ( Salvelinus fontinalis ) on Cape Race, Newfoundland, Canada, males were more likely to disperse and tended to move more than twice as far as females (Hutchings and Gerber 2002).…”

“…" with distinct patterns of habitat use in the Laurentian Great Lakes region, including resident and migrant individuals as well as distinct migration patterns(Kessel et al 2018;Colborne et al 2019). For lake sturgeon, habitat use patterns were generally consistent over time, suggesting that sturgeon habitat use groups reflect individuals' intrinsic preferences or specialization, possibly influenced by life history factors.…”

Intraspecific variation in migration timing of green sturgeon in the Sacramento River system

“…Miller et al (22) reported that green sturgeon were detected in the Sacramento River system during all months of the year, raising the potential that the sDPS green sturgeon population includes partial migration strategies, i.e., some individuals exhibit permanent river residency. River-residents have been described for other sturgeon species, including lake sturgeon (45)(46)(47) and shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum; 48). Furthermore, alternate migration strategies are a common aspect of salmonid biology in California, presumably as a bet-hedging adaptation for the notoriously variable Mediterranean climate (49)(50)(51).…”