Effects of turbidity and prey density on the foraging success of age 0 year yellow perch Perca flavescens |
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Authors: | C. G. Wellington C. M. Mayer J. M. Bossenbroek N. A. Stroh |
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Affiliation: | Department of Environmental Sciences and the Lake Erie Center, University of Toledo, 6200 Bayshore Road, Oregon, OH 43616, U.S.A. |
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Abstract: | Laboratory experiments were conducted to determine how larval and juvenile yellow perch Perca flavescens respond to changes in prey density when exposed to different levels and types of turbidity (phytoplanktonic or sedimentary). Across prey densities, consumption by P. flavescens tended to be less in phytoplanktonic turbidity compared with sedimentary turbidity. For larvae, this effect was dependent on turbidity level (consumption differed between turbidity types only at high turbidity), while for juveniles the difference with turbidity type was equal across turbidity levels. These results suggest that phytoplankton blooms are detrimental to the ability of late season age 0 year P. flavescens to forage and support the need to control factors leading to excessive phytoplankton growth in lakes. |
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Keywords: | eutrophication functional response recruitment sedimentation |
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