Geology topics

L. G. Rudstam

Publications and source records attributed to L. G. Rudstam.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2018

Stomach contents and stable isotopes analysis indicate Hemimysis anomala in Lake Ontario are broadly omnivorous

Hemimysis anomala is a recent invader to North American aquatic ecosystems and is spreading rapidly throughout the Great Lakes region. This is the first littoral mysid in the North American Great Lakes; and, as such, the ecosystem effects are unknown and could be substantial. These effects depend on the role of Hemimysis in the food web and, therefore, on its diet. We examined the stomach contents of two life stages of Hemimysis from two sites in Lake Ontario during the growing season (May–November 2010). We also report the relationship between zooplankton hard parts and size for a number of potential prey species to allow the back-calculation of prey lengths from stomach contents. Both juvenile (2–5 mm) and adult Hemimysis (5–11 mm) were omnivorous, consuming phytoplankton, zooplankton, and benthos when available. However, adults appeared slightly more carnivorous and incorporated larger prey in their diets. Hemimysis were able to consume zooplankton prey up to 30% of their own length, including Bythotrephes longimanus and Cercopagis pengoi . Daphnia and Bosmina were selected over other prey by both juvenile and adult Hemimysis and were most common in stomachs during July and September when their abundances in the zooplankton were highest. Measurements of δ 13 C and δ 15 N corroborated stomach content materials, indicating an omnivorous diet which included benthic and pelagic sources. Omnivory by Hemimysis is typical of mysids in general and makes them less sensitive to seasonal dynamics of preferred prey items.

Lake Ontario↗

USGS2015

Lake Ontario water quality during the 2003 and 2008 intensive field years and comparison with long-term trends

Phosphorus loading declined between the 1970s and the 1990s, leading to oligotrophication of the offshore waters of Lake Ontario during that time period. Using lake-wide data from the intensive field years of 2003 and 2008 and from available long-term data sets on several trophic state indicators (total phosphorus [TP], soluble reactive silica [SRSi], chlorophyll a and Secchi disc transparency [SDT]), we tested the hypothesis that oligotrophication of the offshore waters of Lake Ontario has continued in the 2000s. Significant differences between 2003 and 2008 include higher spring (April) TP, SRSi, and SDT in 2008, lower summer (July–August) SDT in 2008, higher summer chlorophyll a in 2008, and lower fall (September) TP, SRSi, and chlorophyll a in 2008. The decline in SRSi from spring to summer was greater in 2008 than in 2003. Change point and regression analyses on the long-term data revealed no trend in spring TP since 1996, in summer chlorophyll a since 1994, in spring SDT since 1998, in spring SRSi or SRSi decline from spring to summer since 1999, or in summer SDT since 2001. Neither the comparison of the 2003 and 2008 surveys nor the analysis of the long-term data supported our hypothesis of continued oligotrophication of the offshore of Lake Ontario in the 2000s.

Lake Ontario↗

USGS2014

Spatial extent and dissipation of the deep chlorophyll layer in Lake Ontario during the Lake Ontario lower foodweb assessment, 2003 and 2008

Increasing water clarity in Lake Ontario has led to a vertical redistribution of phytoplankton and an increased importance of the deep chlorophyll layer in overall primary productivity. We used in situ fluorometer profiles collected in lakewide surveys of Lake Ontario in 2008 to assess the spatial extent and intensity of the deep chlorophyll layer. In situ fluorometer data were corrected with extracted chlorophyll data using paired samples from Lake Ontario collected in August 2008. The deep chlorophyll layer was present offshore during the stratified conditions of late July 2008 with maximum values from 4-13 μg l - 1 corrected chlorophyll a at 10 to 17 m depth within the metalimnion. Deep chlorophyll layer was closely associated with the base of the thermocline and a subsurface maximum of dissolved oxygen, indicating the feature's importance as a growth and productivity maximum. Crucial to the deep chlorophyll layer formation, the photic zone extended deeper than the surface mixed layer in mid-summer. The layer extended through most of the offshore in July 2008, but was not present in the easternmost transect that had a deeper surface mixed layer. By early September 2008, the lakewide deep chlorophyll layer had dissipated. A similar formation and dissipation was observed in the lakewide survey of Lake Ontario in 2003.

Lake Ontario↗

USGS2010

Metrics of ecosystem status for large aquatic systems: a global comparison

We identified an objective set of 25 commonly available ecosystem metrics applicable across the world's large continental freshwater and brackish aquatic ecosystem. These metrics measure trophic structure, exploited species, habitat alteration, and catchment changes. We used long-term trends in these metrics as indicators of perturbations that represent an ecosystem not in homeostasis. We defined a healthy ecosystem as being in a homeostatic state; therefore, ecosystems with many changing trends were defined as more disturbed than ecosystems with fewer changing trends. Healthy ecosystems (lakes Baikal, Superior, and Tanganyika) were large, deep lakes in relatively unpopulated areas with no signs of eutrophication and no changes to their trophic structure. Disturbed ecosystems (lakes Michigan, Ontario, and Victoria) had shallow to moderately deep basins with high watershed population pressure and intense agricultural and residential land use. Transitioning systems had widely varying trends and faced increasing anthropogenic pressures. Standardized methodologies for capturing data could improve our understanding of the current state of these ecosystems and allow for comparisons of the response of large aquatic ecosystems to local and global stressors thereby providing more reliable insights into future changes in ecosystem health.

Journal of Great Lakes Research↗

USGS2008

Hydroacoustic measures of Mysis relicta abundance and distribution in Lake Ontario

Mysis relicta can be observed on echograms as a sound scattering layer when they migrate into the water column at night to feed on zooplankton. However, quantitative measures of mysid abundance with hydroacoustics requires knowledge of mysid target strength (TS), a method of removing fish echoes and contribution from noise, and an understanding of the effect of range on the ability of hydroacoustics to detect mysids (the detection limit). Comparisons of paired net data and acoustics data from July 7, 2005 yielded a mysid TS of -86.3 dB (9 mm animal) and a biomass TS of -58.4 dB (g dry wt)-1. With ambient noise levels (Sv of -125 dB at 1 m depth) and this TS, we can detect a mysid density of 1 m-3 at 60 m depth with a signal to noise ratio of 3 dB. We present a method to remove backscattering from both noise and fish and apply this method and the new TS data to whole lake acoustic data from Lake Ontario collected in July 25-31, 2005 with a 120 kHz echosounder as part of the annual standard fish survey in that lake. Mysis abundance was strongly depth dependent, with highest densities in areas with bottom depth > 100 m, and few mysids in areas with bottom depth < 50 m. With the data stratified in five bottom depth strata (> 100 m, 100-75 m, 75-50 m, 50-30 m, < 30 m), the whole-lake average mysid density was 118 m-2 (CV 21%) and the whole-lake average mysid biomass was 0.19 g dry wt m-2 (CV 22%) in July 2005. The CVs of these densities also account for uncertainty in the TS estimates. This is comparable to whole-lake density estimates using vertical net tows in November, 2005 (93 m-2, CV 16%). Copyright ?? 2008 AEHMS.

Conference Paper↗

USGS2006

Hydroacoustic separation of rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) age groups in Lake Champlain

Separate assessment of young-of-year (YOY) and yearling-and-older (YAO) fish is desirable from both ecological and management perspectives. Acoustic assessments provide information on fish population size structure in the target strength (TS) distribution, but interpretation of TS distributions must be done carefully, as single age groups can produce multiple TS modes. We assessed the ability of in situ TS distributions to identify Lake Champlain rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) age groups in June, July, and September of 2001 using mobile and stationary surveys, knowledge of vertical distribution preferences, and predicted TS from trawl catches. YAO rainbow smelt (93-179 mm total length) had wide TS distributions between -60 and -35 dB in all 3 months with two modes at approximately -50 and -40 dB. Most stationary survey single-fish tracks attributed to YAO had targets in both TS modes and a wide TS range often over 15 dB. Between June and September, YOY rainbow smelt TS increased, but single-fish tracks were unimodal, and the TS range was smaller (6 dB). Overlap in TS attributed to YOY and YAO increased from no overlap in June (YOY TS -76 to -61 dB, 15-25 mm) to moderate overlap in July (-76 to -50 dB, 25-63 mm) to considerable overlap in September (-68 to -45 dB, 33-80 mm). In June and July, the TS distribution changed abruptly at the thermocline, indicating almost complete separation of the two groups. A more gradual TS transition was evident in September, indicating substantial overlap between YOY and YAO. Separate estimates can be obtained in September by decomposing TS overlap into components attributed to YOY and YAO rainbow smelt. However, this decomposition introduces additional uncertainty and an assessment in July or possibly August is preferable to obtain separate abundance estimates of YOY and YAO. ?? 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Fisheries Research↗

USGS2005

Thiamine content and thiaminase activity of ten freshwater stocks and one marine stock of alewives

Alewives Alosa pseudoharengus contain thiaminase activity that has been implicated in the development of a thiamine deficiency and associated effects in salmonines of the Great Lakes basin. Little is known about the factors that regulate thiaminase activity in alewives. We sampled alewives of uniform size (60-120 mm) during the summer of 1998 from the Gulf of St. Lawrence, seven of New York's Finger Lakes, one inland lake in Ontario, and two Great Lakes to assess possible relationships among thiamine, lipid content, fish abundance, lake morphometry, lake productivity, freshwater residency, and thiaminase activity. Thiaminase activity varied significantly among the 11 locations but was unrelated to thiamine concentration, which did not vary significantly. Alewife thiaminase activity in the Finger Lakes was negatively related to lipid content and positively related to measures of lake size (e.g., area, volume, and maximum depth). Activity in the one marine stock sampled in the Gulf of St. Lawrence was comparable to the highest values observed in the 10 freshwater stocks examined. Variation in alewife thiaminase activity has the potential to affect the extent of a thiamine deficiency associated with salmonines who feed on alewives as well as the viability of their offspring.

Big Rideau Lake, Finger Lakes, Gulf of St. Lawrenc↗

USGS2005

A synthesis of ecological and fish-community changes in Lake Ontario, 1970-2000

We assessed stressors associated with ecological and fishcommunity changes in Lake Ontario since 1970, when the first symposium on Salmonid Communities in Oligotrophic Lakes (SCOL I) was held (J. Fish. Res. Board Can. 29: 613-616). Phosphorus controls implemented in the early 1970s were undeniably successful; lower food-web studies showed declines in algal abundance and epilimnetic zooplankton production and a shift in pelagic primary productivity toward smaller organisms. Stressors on the fish community prior to 1970 such as exploitation, sea lamprey ( Petromyzon marinus ) predation, and effects of nuisance populations of alewife ( Alosa pseudoharengus ) were largely ameliorated by the 1990s. The alewife became a pivotal species supporting a multi-million-dollar salmonid sport fishery, but alewife-induced thiamine deficiency continued to hamper restoration and sustainability of native lake trout ( Salvelinus namaycush ). Expanding salmonine populations dependent on alewife raised concerns about predator demand and prey supply, leading to reductions in salmonine stocking in the early 1990s. Relaxation of the predation impact by alewives and their shift to deeper water allowed recovery of native fishes such as threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) and emerald shiner ( Notropis atherinoides ). The return of the Lake Ontario ecosystem to historical conditions has been impeded by unplanned introductions. Establishment of Dreissena spp. led to increased water clarity and increased vectoring of lower trophic-level production to benthic habitats and contributed to the collapse of Diporeia spp. populations, behavioral modifications of key fish species, and the decline of native lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis ). Despite reduced productivity, exotic-species introductions, and changes in the fish community, offshore Mysis relicta populations remained relatively stable. The effects of climate and climate change on the population abundance and dynamics of Lake Ontario fish were unknown at the time of SCOL I, but a temperature-time series begun in the late 1950s in the Kingston Basin has since provided evidence of climate warming and associated fish-community changes. We should expect ecological surprises in the coming decades that will challenge scientists and fishery managers especially as they face new exotic species, climate warming, and escalating stakeholder demands on the resource. Continuous long-term ecological studies were critical for interpreting changes in Lake Ontario's fish community over the past three decades and will be essential in the future for both scientific understanding and management of the fishery.

Technical Report↗

USGS2004

Cormorant predation and the population dynamics of walleye and yellow perch in Oneida Lake

Double-crested Cormorants ( Phalacrocorax auritus ) increased dramatically in North America during the 1990s, providing the opportunity to study the effects of an increase of a top predator on an existing predator-prey system. In Oneida Lake, New York, USA, Double-crested Cormorants were first observed nesting in 1984 and had increased to over 360 nesting pairs by 2000. Concomitant with this increase in piscivorous birds was a decrease in the adult walleye ( Stizostedion vitreum ) and yellow perch ( Perca flavescens ) populations. Analysis of a 40-yr data series shows higher mortality of subadults (age 1-2 yr perch and age 1-3 yr walleye) for both species in the 1990s compared to the previous three decades. Cormorant diet was investigated from 1995 to 2000 using a combination of cast pellets, regurgitants, and stomach analysis. Walleye and yellow perch were a major portion of the cormorant diet during these years (40-82% by number). The number of subadult walleye and yellow perch consumed by cormorants suggests that the increase in subadult mortality can be explained by predation from cormorants. Mean mortality rates of adult percids attributed to cormorant predation were 1.1% per year for walleye and 7.7% per year for yellow perch. Our analysis suggests that predation by cormorants on subadult percids is a major factor contributing to the decline in both the walleye and the yellow perch populations in Oneida Lake. Other ecosystem changes (zebra mussels, lower nutrient loading, decrease in alternate prey) are not likely explanations because the potential mechanisms involved are not consistent with auxiliary data from the lake and would not affect subadult mortality. The likely impact of bird predation on percid populations in Oneida Lake occurs because cormorants feed on larger fish that are beyond the size range where compensatory mechanisms are important.

New York↗