2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference

March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH

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5/22/2018  |   10:00 AM - 10:15 AM   |  ANIMAL MASS MORTALITIES IN AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS: HOW COMMON AND INFLUENTIAL?   |  321

ANIMAL MASS MORTALITIES IN AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS: HOW COMMON AND INFLUENTIAL?

The prototypical animal mass mortality in aquatic ecosystems is the annual spawning migration of Pacific salmon (Oncoryhnchus spp.) that can transport thousands of kilograms of labile resources to rivers and lakes. However, many other mass dieoffs of vertebrates and invertebrates can strongly influence the structure and function of aquatic ecosystems. Here we discuss the spatial and temporal occurrence of mass dieoffs in aquatic and riparian systems, and their influence on ecological processes. Salmonidae, Clupeidae, and Petromyzontidae are fish families which undertake annual mass migrations that often result in their death in the ecosystem where they spawn, and therefore their macronutrients (C, N, P) subsidize recipient ecosystems. Terrestrial vertebrates such as wildebeest and saiga antelope, and marine mammals such as sei whales, can also subsidize aquatic and coastal ecosystems during mortality episodes. We develop a paradigm of ‘programmed versus catastrophic’ death whereby recipient ecosystems vary in their history and capacity to process these subsidies based on the predictability and timing of the resource pulse. Such mortality events may be increasing in frequency and severity with global change, and therefore a more robust understanding of their ecological effects is needed.

  • Carrion
  • Fish
  • Pulse

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Presenters/Authors

Gary Lamberti (), University of Notre Dame, glambert@nd.edu;


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M. Eric Benbow (), Michigan State University, benbow@msu.edu;


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Dominic Chaloner (), University of Notre Dame, dchalone@nd.edu;


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