Unpredictability of fish recruitment: interannual variation in young–of–the–year abundance |
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| Authors: | J Karjalainen H Auvinen H Helminen T J Arjomäki T Niva J Sarvala M Vilhanen |
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| Institution: | University of Jyväskylä, Department of Biological and Environmental Science, P.O. Box 35, FIN–40351 Jyväskylä, Finland;Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute, FIN–58175 Enonkoski, Finland;Southwest Finland Regional Environment Centre, Inkilänkatu 4, FIN–20300 Turku, Finland;Department of Biology, University of Turku, FIN–20014 Turku, Finland;Department of Ecology, Karelian Institute, University of Joensuu, P.O. Box 111, FIN–80101 Joensuu, Finland |
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| Abstract: | In 1989–1998, vendace larvae Coregonus albula were sampled in Finnish lakes following a stratified random sampling design. The abundance of young–of–the–year vendace after the first growing season was estimated using catch–per–unit–effort statistics. The number or total area of nursery places hardly limited the recruitment of vendace in the study lakes. The major proportion of prerecruit mortality of vendace occurred in the larval phase and larval sampling produced significant information on young–of–the–year survival. Although larval abundances and recruitment were clearly associated only in Lake Onkamo, generally high larval abundance was needed to produce high number of recruits. |
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| Keywords: | larval abundance mortality recruitment vendace |
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