2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH
5/25/2021 | 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM | THE VARIED ROLES OF SMALL FISH AS MESOPREDATORS IN LAKE FOOD WEBS | Virtual Platform
THE VARIED ROLES OF SMALL FISH AS MESOPREDATORS IN LAKE FOOD WEBS
Small fish are often pooled together despite being both trophically and taxonomically diverse. In the thousands of lakes within New York’s Adirondack Park, minnows are the most diverse family of fish, but their functional roles are poorly understood. This study uses stable isotope analysis (d13C and d15N) to profile the trophic ecology of fish communities from 5 waters along gradients of native mesopredator species richness and introduced species richness. Comparing community and species level metrics, we analyze differences in community structure and the roles of individual species between lakes. We document small-bodied fishes acting as top-predators in waters without salmonids or bass. In all waters, minnows exhibit unique functional roles and differentiate along isotopic resource axes. Furthermore, minnows interact with their community from various trophic positions and can function as top-predators, higher-level mesopredators, and lower-level omnivores. Warming and invasive species can alter fish community assembly and relative abundances. Documenting the functional roles of these species creates an important baseline and can help forecast changes in prey suppression, species interactions, or nutrient cycling that may occur with these shifting community dynamics.
- Biodiversity
- Species interactions
- Ecological dynamics
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Presenters/Authors
Montana Airey
(), Cornell University, ma2276@cornell.edu;
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Peter McIntyre
(), Cornell University, pbm3@cornell.edu;
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