Winter Biology of Wild Fish in a Multi-Stressor World

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The long-term goal of our Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology Laboratory is to establish a clear understanding of the inter-relationships between the environment and individual-level physiology, behaviour and fitness. With support of our NSERC DG during the past five years our lab has made substantial progress in understanding stress in wild temperate fish during the spring and summer months.  Our research has generated new questions about stress in fish, many of which relate to winter, a naturally challenging period in the lives of many temperate freshwater fishes. Moreover, the winter conditions of many temperate lakes are rivers are changing even more rapidly than in summer as a result of environmental change. Our 5-yr goal, and the focus of this DG application, is to study the winter biology of wild fish in the context of a multi-stressor world, attempting to understand (1) determine the biotic and abiotic factors that influence how fish respond to winter-related challenges, and (2) understand the consequences of winter stressors on fish condition, behaviour, and fitness.   The scientific approaches that will be used test hypotheses will include extensive experimentation and comparative surveys in natural field (e.g., lakes, rivers) and mesocosm (e.g., experimental pond and stream) environments.  We will use a variety of models and rely heavily on non-lethal tissue sampling combined with electronic tagging to examine how various biotic (e.g., body size, species, nutritional state, disease state, stress responsiveness) and abiotic (e.g., habitat quality, availability of food) factors influence how fish respond to winter-related stressors (e.g., ice dynamics, hypoxia, timing of spring ice melt). In some experiments we will expose fish to varied holding environments (e.g., manipulating winter conditions mesocosms) to understand how stressors act alone or in combination. Endpoints will include bioenergetics, behaviour, and survival.  We will also examine the effects of winter stressors on fish condition, behaviour, survival, and reproduction. This work will include long-term monitoring of fish under experimental conditions across seasons and years to understand the latent effects of winter conditions on fish performance (i.e., seasonal carryover effects). The proposed research will enhance our understanding of ecological processes in the winter, particularly in the face of environmental change. Research on winter ecology is likely to be fruitful in terms of novel discoveries because it is a comparatively poorly studied and understood season, yet is widely thought to play an important role in structuring animal populations given the challenges it poses.  Our work will also provide much scope for training HQP with skills needed to solve complex problems while working across disciplinary boundaries. Beyond conducting research the HQP will learn about knowledge exchange, #scicomm, and collaborative teamwork.