Simulating smallmouth bass reproductive success in reservoirs subject to water level fluctuations
Authored by Kenneth A Rose, ME Clark, Winkle W Van, JA Chandler, TJ Richter, DJ Orth
Date Published: 1998
DOI: 10.1023/a:1007489627887
Sponsors:
United States Department of Energy (DOE)
Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)
Platforms:
No platforms listed
Model Documentation:
Other Narrative
Model Code URLs:
Model code not found
Abstract
An individual-based model of nesting smallmouth bass, Micropterus
dolomieu, is used to predict the effects of water level fluctuations on
reproductive success. The model simulates daily nest site selection, spawning, nest guarding, and development and survival of eggs, embryos, and larvae until dispersal. The model was configured for Brownlee
Reservoir, Idaho-Oregon. Each reservoir bank is represented as a
rectangular grid of cells, with each cell characterized by an assigned
slope, substrate, and elevation, and by a water depth that varied daily.
Nest site (cell) selection is determined from a habitat suitability
index (HSI) based on substrate, slope, and depth. Development of young
is temperature-dependent. Mortality of young occurs via attrition, abandonment by the guarding male, and probabilistic whole-nest
catastrophe. Simulations were performed that used observed data for 1991
to 1996. Model predicted nest habitat selection and egg-to-dispersal
survival rates were similar to observed values. Additional model
simulations showed that: (1) nest habitat selection was best predicted
when depth, slope, and substrate were considered together rather than
singly, (2) egg-to-dispersal survival was related to the magnitude of
water level fluctuations during the peak spawning period, (3) relating
mortality to HSI values resulted in lower survival, while relating
growth to HSI values resulted in higher survival, and (4) spawning
habitat is not limiting in Brownlee Reservoir. Suggestions for future
monitoring of reservoir-based smallmouth bass populations are discussed.
Tags
Survival