Biophysical modeling of larval Baltic cod (Gadus morhua) growth and survival
Authored by HH Hinrichsen, C Mollmann, R Voss, FW Koster, G Kornilovs
Date Published: 2002
DOI: 10.1139/f02-149
Sponsors:
European Union
Platforms:
No platforms listed
Model Documentation:
Other Narrative
Mathematical description
Model Code URLs:
Model code not found
Abstract
A coupled hydrodynamic-trophodynamic individual-based model of drift and
feeding was utilized to analyze the intra- and inter-annual variability
in growth and survival of cod (Gadus morhua) larvae in the central
Baltic Sea. Highly temporally and spatially resolved simulated flow
fields were used to investigate the potential drift of larval cod from
the centre of spawning effort in the Bornholm Basin towards their
nursery areas through temporally resolved three-dimensional idealized
prey fields. Stomach content analyses of larval cod from the Bornholm
Basin revealed calanoid copepod nauplii and early copepodite stages to
be the preferred prey organisms. The results of the model runs indicate
that larval cod changed from a nonlimited to a food-limited stage
because of the strong decrease in abundance of the calanoid copepod
Pseudocalanus elongatus during the last two decades. The modeling study
revealed retention and dispersal from the main spawning ground to be a
key process influencing larval survival. When P. elongatus was available
in the prey fields, high cod larval survival rates occurred in spring
and early summer. In contrast, when P. elongatus was not available, hatched larvae had only high survival probabilities later in the year or
if they were transported into shallower coastal regions.
Tags
Individual-based model
Spatially explicit
Population-dynamics
Georges bank
Ingestion rates
Haddock melanogrammus-aeglefinus
Theragra-chalcogramma
Walleye pollock
Shelikof-strait
Early-life
stages