An empirical model for estimating annual consumption by freshwater fish populations

Abstract Population consumption is an important process linking predator populations to their prey resources. Simple tools are needed to enable fisheries managers to estimate population consumption. We assembled 74 individual estimates of annual consumption by freshwater fish populations and their mean annual population size, 41 of which also included estimates of mean annual biomass. The data set included 14 freshwater fish species from 10 different bodies of water. From this data set we developed two simple linear regression models predicting annual population consumption. Log-transformed population size explained 94% of the variation in log-transformed annual population consumption. Log-transformed biomass explained 98% of the variation in log-transformed annual population consumption. We quantified the accuracy of our regressions and three alternative consumption models as the mean percent difference from observed (bioenergetics-derived) estimates in a test data set. Predictions from our population-si...

[1]  L. Rudstam,et al.  Piscivores and Their Prey , 1992 .

[2]  Chris Luecke,et al.  Salmonine Consumption and Competition for Endemic Prey Fishes in Bear Lake, Utah-Idaho , 2001 .

[3]  F. J. Margraf,et al.  A Bioenergetics Simulation of the Potential Effects of Angler Harvest on Growth of Largemouth Bass in a Catch-and-Release Fishery , 1995 .

[4]  J. Downing,et al.  Production of Fish Populations in Lakes , 1993 .

[5]  L. Rudstam,et al.  Prey consumption by the burbot (Lota lota) population in Green Bay, Lake Michigan, based on a bioenergetics model , 1995 .

[6]  Christopher C. Kohler,et al.  Inland Fisheries Management in North America , 1993 .

[7]  R. G. Randall,et al.  Fish production in freshwaters : are rivers more productive than lakes ? , 1995 .

[8]  Lawrence B. Slobodkin,et al.  A Critique for Ecology , 1991 .

[9]  R. Peters.  The Ecological Implications of Body Size , 1983 .

[10]  M. Negus.  Bioenergetics Modeling as a Salmonine Management Tool Applied to Minnesota Waters of Lake Superior , 1995 .

[11]  W. Wurtsbaugh,et al.  An Empirical Model of Gastric Evacuation Rates for Fish and an Analysis of Digestion in Piscivorous Brown Trout , 1993 .

[12]  S. Gerking.  Feeding Ecology of Fish , 1994 .

[13]  Daniel Pauly,et al.  Predicting food consumption of fish populations as functions of mortality, food type, morphometrics, temperature and salinity , 1998 .

[14]  C. L. Pierce,et al.  Consumption Dynamics of the Adult Piscivorous Fish Community in Spirit Lake, Iowa , 2004 .

[15]  R. Carline.  Simplified Method Based on Bioenergetics Modeling to Estimate Food Consumption by Largemouth Bass and Northern Pike , 1987 .

[16]  D. J. Stewart,et al.  Predation and Production by Salmonine Fishes in Lake Michigan, 1978–88 , 1991 .

[17]  D. Yule,et al.  Lake Trout Consumption and Recent Changes in the Fish Assemblage of Flaming Gorge Reservoir , 1993 .

[18]  Daniel Pauly,et al.  Food consumption by tropical and temperate fish populations: some generalizations , 2006 .

[19]  F. J. Margraf,et al.  Effects of Prey and Predator Abundances on Prey Consumption and Growth of Walleyes in Western Lake Erie , 1992 .

[20]  John J. Ney,et al.  Bioenergetics Modeling Today: Growing Pains on the Cutting Edge , 1993 .

[21]  L. Miranda,et al.  Effects of Simulated Removal of Striped Bass from a Southeastern Reservoir , 2002 .

[22]  J. Magnuson,et al.  Effects of Walleye Predation on the Population Dynamics of Small Littoral-Zone Fishes in a Northern Wisconsin Lake , 1987 .

[23]  W. C. Leggett,et al.  Empirical Prediction of Fish Biomass and Yield , 1982 .

[24]  Stephen B. Brandt,et al.  Applications of Bioenergetics Models to Fish Ecology and Management: Where Do We Go from Here? , 1993 .

[25]  J. Kitchell.  Food web management: A case study of Lake Mendota , 2011, Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries.