Resource Overlap among Walleye, Smallmouth Bass, and Northern Pike

Fishy Fridays

Weekly spotlight on fisheries science journal articles

 

Jeff Kopaska
AFS Executive Director
jkopaska@fisheries.org

Today’s paper is from the most recent issue of TAFS. It investigates niche overlap and habitat use in a glacial lake-wetland ecosystem complex in South Dakota. The species studied were Walleye, Northern Pike, and Smallmouth Bass. While significant diet and habitat overlap was observed, there were marked differences. Specifically, Walleye used the wetland habitat, while the others did not, and Walleye consumed significant numbers of bullheads, which the other species did not.

The thing that really got me thinking was how often managers of highly turbid systems (which a quick internet search told me Lake Kampeska is) have worked to eliminate wetland access for fish, in order to address overpopulation and turbidity problems associated with Common Carp.  In my experience, these management actions have results in positive outcomes regarding water quality, water clarity, increased macrophyte coverage, and changing the distribution of fish biomass (fewer carp/bullhead/buffalo; more Walleye/panfish/bass). These authors conclude from the data that wetland access is very important for the Walleye population. Really cool findings, and I enjoyed the read.

https://doi.org/10.1002/tafs.10496