Environmental and Behavioral Effects on the Feeding Ecology of Two Planktivorous Fish

本研究旨在探讨影响两种被广泛研究的浮游食性鱼类：白鳞鱼和蓝鳃翻车鱼摄食生态的重要环境因素。要研究的环境因素包括光照强度、浊度、形成水华的蓝藻的丰度以及不同大小种类的浮游动物的可用性。研究了捕食周期中影响猎物选择、摄食效率和对捕食者警惕的行为因素，以及饮食活动模式和饱腹感对摄食行为的影响。跳跃式搜索的普遍性将通过观察一种鱼群（金光鱼）来建立，看看这些鱼在从伏击到跳跃式再到巡航的搜索策略梯度上落在哪里。这些研究的结果将被纳入现有的浮游食性鱼类喂养模型，并将在大型户外竞技场进行喂养试验。这一系列研究的结果对那些研究捕食生态学的人具有理论意义，对那些负责湖泊和水库管理以及狩猎鱼生产的人具有实际意义。

This research is to investigate important environmental factors which affect the feeding ecology of two widely studied planktivorous fish: white crappie and bluegill sunfish. The environmental factors to be studied include light intensity, turbidity level, abundance of bloom-forming bluegreen algae, and availability of various size classes of zooplankton. Behavioral factors in the search cycle of these two species will also be studied which affect prey choice, feeding efficiency, and vigilance for predators, as well as the impact of diel activity patterns and satiation on feeding behavior. The generality of saltatory search will be established by observing a schooling species of fish (golden shiner) to see where such fish fall on a gradient of search strategies ranging from ambush to saltatory to cruise. The results of these studies will be incorporated into the existing model of planktivorous fish feeding, and the model will be tested against feeding trials performed in a large outdoor arena. The results of this series of studies will be of theoretical interest to those studying the ecology of predation as well as of practical interest to those responsible for the management of lakes and reservoirs and the production of game fish.