Recruitment Processes in Estuarine Fishes: Pattern, Scale, and Ontogenetic Trends

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

9521512 Houde This project is a five-year program to investigate variability in survival and growth rates during the early lives of two species of estuarine fishes in Chesapeake Bay. Processes operating during early life are hypothesized to generate recruitment variability and the fluctuations in abundance that typically occur in marine and estuarine fish stocks. Objectives of the research are to determine the temporal and spatial patterns, and the scales of variability in survival and growth rates of fish eggs and larvae. The role of ontogeny and trends in stage- specific survivorship during development also will be emphasized. Two species with contrasting life histories, the bay anchovy Anchoa mitchilli and the white perch Morone Americana, will be studied. Bay anchovy spawns throughout the mainstream of the Chesapeake Bay, while spawning by white perch is confined to tidal tributaries. consequently, the dynamics of the two species are dependent upon dispersive or retentive mechanisms, respectively. The dynamics properties of early life stages will be investigated at local and regional scales, and will include detailed examination of how features and hydrography (e.g. fronts, maximum turbidity zone) affect potential for survival. Field surveys, drifting mesocosms, laboratory experiments, and individual-based modeling approaches all will be included. ***