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Can artificial plant beds be used to enhance macroinvertebrate food resources for perch (Perca fluviatilis L.) during the initial phase of lake restoration by cyprinid removal?

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Abstract

Restoration of shallow lakes to a clear-water state, often characterized by high submerged macrophyte cover and a high proportion of piscivores such as perch, Perca fluviatilis L., frequently involves removal of a large proportion of the zoobenthivorous fish, such as bream, Abramis brama L., and roach, Rutilus rutilus L. (i.e. biomanipulation). However, establishment of submerged macrophytes is often delayed following fish removal. This is unfortunate because plant beds typically host high densities of the macroinvertebrates constituting the diet of small perch and thus help perch to go through the bottleneck from feeding on macroinvertebrates to feeding on fish. Establishment of artificial plant beds may be a useful tool to enhance macroinvertebrate population growth and thus food resources for small perch until the natural plants have established. To investigate this restoration option, we studied during two growing seasons (June–October) the composition and abundance of the macroinvertebrate community in artificial plant beds installed in shallow Lake Væng (Denmark) comprising the initial phase of a biomanipulation effort by fish removal. Lake areas with artificial plant beds exhibited substantially higher macroinvertebrate densities than the lake bottom. This suggests that artificial plant beds may be used as feeding grounds for small perch, similarly to the well-known refuge effect for zooplankton against fish predation. In this way, artificial plant beds could help maintain a clear-water state during the transient period when natural submerged vegetation is not yet established in the lake.

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Acknowledgments

We are thankful to Anne Birgitte Hundahl, Ayse Idil Cakiroglu, Carolina Trochine, Eçe Saraoglu, Elisabeth Jensen, Eti Levi, Frank Landkildehus, Kirsten Landkildehus Thomsen, Klaire Houeix, Korhan Özkan, Louise Nathansen, Lúcia Lobão, Marcelo Guerrieri, Nihan Yazgan, Sandra Brucet, Soledad García, Tine Nielsen, Tommy Silberg, Ulla Kvist Pedersen and Xristina Papadaki for their valuable help in the field. We also thank Søren Erik Larsen for statistical advice, Anne Mette Poulsen for editorial assistance, Tinna Christensen for layout assistance and Erling Pedersen for assistance in the preparation of the experiment. We also thank the anonymous reviewers who gave useful suggestions to improve this article. The study was supported by the Danish Centre for Lake Restoration (Clear—a Villum Kann Rasmussen Centre of Excellence project), EU-WISER and EU-REFRESH, the Research Council for Nature and Universe (272-08-0406) and project ENDURE (Marie Curie Individual Fellowship MEIF-CT-2006-038366).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Vejlsøvej 25, 8600, Silkeborg, Denmark

    T. Boll, D. Balayla & E. Jeppesen

  2. Institute of Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230, Odense M, Denmark

    T. Boll & F. Ø. Andersen

  3. Greenland Climate Research Centre (GCRC), Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Kivioq 2, P.O. Box 570, 3900, Nuuk, Greenland

    E. Jeppesen

  4. Sino-Danish Education and Research Centre (SDC), Beijing, China

    E. Jeppesen

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  1. T. Boll
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  2. D. Balayla
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  3. F. Ø. Andersen
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  4. E. Jeppesen
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Correspondence to T. Boll.

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Boll, T., Balayla, D., Andersen, F.Ø. et al. Can artificial plant beds be used to enhance macroinvertebrate food resources for perch (Perca fluviatilis L.) during the initial phase of lake restoration by cyprinid removal?. Hydrobiologia 679, 175–186 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-011-0867-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-011-0867-1

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