Multi-channel fish respirometry system

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

A multi-channel fish respirometer is being requested to perform NSERC funded research on fish bioenergetics as it relates to multiple stressor impacts in the Canadian environment. One of the projects to be supported by this infrastructure request is an NSERC NETGP Grant, Canadian Aquatic Invasive Species Research Network (CAISN), whereby the respirometer will be used to investigate why certain aquatic invading species exhibit rapid range expansion following their establishment in Canadian waters and why others remain restricted in their range distribution. The infrastructure will measure and compare the physiological tolerance of the round goby (successful invader) and the tubenose goby (limited range, established invader) across gradients in temperature, dissolved oxygen and turbidity to test the hypothesis that successful invaders display higher tolerance and phenotypic plasticity compared to less successful invaders. These traits will be used to develop better models of species invasions for use as screening and risk assessment tools applied to understand the trophic disruption consequences of established invading species. The requested infrastructure will also support NSERC-DG, CRC and Ocean Tracking Network (NSERC NETGP - OTN) research to calibrate in situ bioenergetic tracers for fish and acoustic telemetry-bioenergetic models to better measure the response of fish populations to multiple stressors including turbidity/habitat modifications, alterations in food particle size distribution (as often occurs in response to invading species) and climate change in sensitive Arctic ecosystems. The requested infrastructure will be used to calibrate tracer-bioenergetic approaches and verify telemetry-bioenergetic models to demonstrate the application of the chemical-tracer based methods and acoustic telemetry systems for wider use of these techniques in fisheries, aquatic ecology and ecosystem management. Finally, the infrastructure will support research to interpret why Great Lakes lake trout are undergoing reduced growth and accumulating lower fat in Lake Huron populations and whether or not some morphotypes of key sport fish (rainbow trout) are influenced by fisheries management approaches.