Abstract
Within the Laurentian Great Lakes, many native fishes use wetlands for spawning; however, these areas are also used by non-native common carp (Cyprinus carpio) that may impart negative ecological impacts. There is interest in managing common carp using physical barriers to decrease passage to specific habitats (e.g., their spawning sites), but these barriers could also exclude native wetland spawners such as largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) and northern pike (Esox lucius). Our objective was to determine if differences in spawning movements could be exploited in shallow areas to operate seasonal barriers that are opened and closed to promote selective fragmentation. Using a long-term dataset from the Cootes Paradise Marsh Fishway (Hamilton, Ontario), we generated predictive models for spawning movements based on cumulative growing degree day (CGDD) for all three fishes. These models successfully predicted earlier arrival by all species in a warmer year and delayed spawning movements during a cold year, highlighting the role of temperature as a driver of interannual variation in spawning movements. We then compared the Fishway model predictions to spawning movements within nearby Toronto Harbour, which were derived from acoustic telemetry data. We found that the model outputs were correlated with movements of all three species, but performance was weakest for northern pike. Resource managers could use these predictive models to assist in the operation of seasonal barriers to decrease access of common carp to spawning sites, while maximizing passage to native fishes.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data Availability
The datasets generated during this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. Telemetry data are available through GLATOS.
References
Barnes K, Cartwright L, Portiss R et al (2020) Evaluating the Toronto Waterfront Aquatic Habitat Restoration Strategy. 157 https://trcaca.s3.ca-central-1.amazonaws.com/app/uploads/2021/01/07074413/TWAHRS-assessment-FINAL-technical-document-Nov-2020.pdf. Accessed 23 Mar 2023
Boston CM, Randall RG, Hoyle JA et al (2016) The fish community of Hamilton Harbour, Lake Ontario: Status, stressors, and remediation over 25 years. Aquatic Ecosystem Health & Management 19:206–218. https://doi.org/10.1080/14634988.2015.1106290
Brett JR (1971) Energetic responses of salmon to temperature. a study of some thermal relations in the physiology and freshwater ecology of Sockeye Salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka). American Zoologist 11:99–113. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/11.1.99
Bromage N, Porter M, Randall C (2001) The environmental regulation of maturation in farmed finfish with special reference to the role of photoperiod and melatonin. Aquaculture 197(1–4):63–98
Brooks ME, Kristensen K, van Benthem KJ, Magnusson A, Berg CW, Nielsen A, Skaug HJ, Maechler M, Bolker BM (2017) glmmTMB balances speed and flexibility among packages for zero-inflated generalized linear mixed modeling. The R Journal 9:378–400. https://journal.r-project.org/archive/2017/RJ-2017-066/index.html. Accessed 23 Mar 2023
Butler SE, Wahl DH (2010) Common carp distribution, movements, and habitat use in a river impounded by multiple low-head dams. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 139:1121–1135. https://doi.org/10.1577/T09-134.1
Casselman JM (1995) Age, growth, and environmental requirements of pike. In: Craig JF (ed) Pike: biology and exploitation. Chapman and Hall, London, pp 69–101
Chow-Fraser P (2006) Development of the Water Quality Index (WQI) to assess effects of basin-wide land-use alteration on coastal marshes of the Laurentian Great Lakes. Coastal wetlands of the Laurentian Great Lakes: health, habitat and indicators, pp 137–185
Conallin AJ, Smith BB, Thwaites LA et al (2016) Exploiting the innate behaviour of common carp, Cyprinus carpio, to limit invasion and spawning in wetlands of the River Murray, Australia. Fisheries Management and Ecology 23:431–449. https://doi.org/10.1111/fme.12184
Cooke SJ, Nguyen VM, Murchie KJ, Thiem JD, Donaldson MR, Hinch SG, Brown RS, Fisk A (2013) To tag or not to tag: Animal welfare, conservation, and stakeholder considerations in fish tracking studies that use electronic tags. Journal of International Wildlife Law & Policy 16:352–374
Cooke SJ, Bergman JN, Twardek WM, Piczak ML, Casselberry GA, Lutek K et al (2022) The movement ecology of fishes. Journal of Fish Biology 101:756–779
Cooke SJ, Auld HL, Birnie-Gauvin K et al (2023) On the relevance of animal behavior to the management and conservation of fishes and fisheries. Environmental Biology of Fishes 106:785–810. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-022-01255-3
French JRP, Wilcox DA, Jerrine Nichols S (1999) Passing of northern pike and common carp through experimental barriers designed for use in wetland restoration. Wetlands 19:883–888. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03161790
Fry FEL (1971) The effect of environmental factors on the physiology of fish. Fish Physiol 6:1–98
Gardner Costa J, Rémillard CYL, Doolittle A, Doka SE (2020) Hamilton Harbour shoreline survey — 2006. Canadian Technical Report of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 3381(vii):37. https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2020/mpo-dfo/Fs97-6-3381-eng.pdf. Accessed 23 Mar 2023
Hartig JH, Krantzberg G, Alsip P (2020) Thirty-five years of restoring Great Lakes Areas of Concern: Gradual progress, hopeful future. Journal of Great Lakes Research 46:429–442. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2020.04.004
Hijmans RJ, Williams E, Vennes C (2021) geosphere: Spherical Trigonometry. https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/geosphere/geosphere.pdf. Accessed 23 Mar 2023
Hlevca B, Wells MG, Cruz Font L, Doka SE, Portiss R, St John M, Cooke SJ (2018) Water circulation in Toronto Harbour. Aquat Ecosyst Health Manag 21(3):234–244
Jepsen N, Schreck C, Clements S, Thorstad E (2005) A Brief Discussion on the 2% tag/Bodymass Rule of Thumb. In Aquatic Telemetry: Advances and Applications – Proceedings of the Fifth Conference on Fish Telemetry: 9–13 June 2005; Ustica, Italy. Edited by: Spedicato MT, Lembo G, Marmulla G. Rome: FAO; 2005:255–259
Jones PE, Tummers JS, Galib SM et al (2021) The use of barriers to limit the spread of aquatic invasive animal species: a global review. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 9:611631. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.611631
Jude DJ, Pappas J (1992) Fish utilization of great lakes coastal wetlands. Journal of Great Lakes Research 18:651–672. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0380-1330(92)71328-8
Kessel ST, Cooke SJ, Heupel MR et al (2014) A review of detection range testing in aquatic passive acoustic telemetry studies. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries 24:199–218. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11160-013-9328-4
Klinard NV, Matley JK (2020) Living until proven dead: addressing mortality in acoustic telemetry research. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries 30:485–499. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11160-020-09613-z
Kocovsky PM, Chapman DC, McKenna JE (2012) Thermal and hydrologic suitability of Lake Erie and its major tributaries for spawning of Asian carps. Journal of Great Lakes Research 38:159–166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2011.11.015
Kronfeld-Schor N, Dayan T (2003) Partitioning of time as an ecological resource. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 34:153–181. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.34.011802.132435
Larocque SM, Boston CM, Midwood JD (2020) Seasonal daily depth use patterns of acoustically tagged freshwater fishes informs nearshore fish community sampling protocols. Canadian Technical Report of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 3409:viii + 38. https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2020/mpo-dfo/Fs97-6-3409-eng.pdf. Accessed 23 Mar 2023
Lazaridis E (2022) Package lunar: Lunar Phase & Distance, Seasons and Other Environmental Factors. https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/lunar/lunar.pdf. Accessed 23 Mar 2023
Leisti KE, Gardner Costa J, MacEachern JT, Gertzen EL, Doka SE (2020) Toronto Harbour 2012 shoreline, substrate, and submerged aquatic vegetation survey. Canadian Technical Report of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 3379:viii + 47. https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2020/mpo-dfo/Fs97-6-3379-eng.pdf. Accessed 23 Mar 2023
Lougheed VL, Crosbie B, Chow-Fraser P (1998) Predictions on the effect of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) exclusion on water quality, zooplankton, and submergent macrophytes in a Great Lakes wetland. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 55(5):1189–1197
Lougheed VL, Theÿsmeÿer T, Smith T, Chow-Fraser P (2004) Carp exclusion, food-web interactions, and the restoration of Cootes paradise marsh. Journal of Great Lakes Research 30:44–57. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0380-1330(04)70328-7
Lubejko MV, Whitledge GW, Coulter AA, Brey MK, Oliver DC, Garvey JE (2017) Evaluating upstream passage and timing of approach by adult bigheaded carps at a gated dam on the Illinois River. River Research and Applications 33:1268–1278
Lucas MC, Baras E (2008) Migration of freshwater fishes. Blackwell Science, London
Lüdecke et al (2021) performance: An R package for assessment, comparison and testing of statistical models. Journal of Open Source Software 6:3139. https://doi.org/10.21105/joss.03139
Magnuson JJ, Crowder LB, Medvick PA (1979) Temperature as an ecological resource. American Zoologist 19:331–343. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/19.1.331
McKee PM, Batterson TR, Dahl TE, Glooschenko V, Jaworski E, Pearce JB, Raphael CN, Whillans TH, LaRoe ET (1992) Great Lakes aquatic habitat classification based on wetland classification systems. In: Busch W-DN, Sly PG (eds) The development of an aquatic habitat classification system for lakes. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp 59–72
Midwood JD, Chow-Fraser P (2015) Connecting coastal marshes using movements of resident and migratory fishes. Wetlands 35:69–79. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-014-0593-3
Midwood JD, Rous AM, Doka SE, Cooke SJ (2019) Acoustic telemetry in Toronto Harbour: assessing residency, habitat selection, and within-harbour movements of fishes over a five-year period. Canadian Technical Report of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 3331:xx + 174. https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2019/mpo-dfo/Fs97-6-3331-eng.pdf. Accessed 23 Mar 2023
Neave F (1964) Ocean migrations of pacific salmon. Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada 21:1227–1244
Neuheimer AB, Taggart CT (2007) The growing degree-day and fish size-at-age: the overlooked metric. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 64:375–385. https://doi.org/10.1139/f07-003
Panek FM (1987) Biology and ecology of carp. In: Cooper EL (ed) Carp in North America. American Fisheries Society, Maryland, pp 1–16
Pankhurst NW, Porter MJR (2003) Cold and dark or warm and light: variations on the theme of environmental control of reproduction. Fish Physiology and Biochemistry 28:385–389. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:FISH.0000030602.51939.50
Parkos JJ, Santucci VJ, Wahl DH (2003) Effects of adult common carp (Cyprinus carpio) on multiple trophic levels in shallow mesocosms. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 60:181–192
Piczak ML, Bzonek PA, Pratt TC et al (2022) Controlling common carp (Cyprinus carpio): barriers, biological traits, and selective fragmentation. Biological Invasions. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-022-02987-0
Piczak ML, Brooks JL, Boston C et al (2023) Spatial ecology of non-native common carp (Cyprinus carpio) in Lake Ontario with implications for management. Aquatic Sciences 85:20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-022-00917-9
Pincock G (2012) False detections: what they are and how to remove them from detection data. VEMCO Whitepaper Document DOC-004691, v03. Amirix Systems Inc., Halifax, NS, Canada
Post van der Burg M, Smith D, Cupp AR et al (2021) Decision analysis of barrier placement and targeted removal to control invasive carps in the Tennessee River Basin. U.S. Geological Survey, Open File Report 2021–1068, Urbana, Illinois, USA. https://doi-org.proxy.library.carleton.ca/10.3133/ofr20211068
Priegel GR, Krohn DC (1975) Characteristics of a northern pike spawning population. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Technical Bulletin, 86. 18 pp. https://asset.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/VTGW7JVEZOPJJ8N/E/file-32a6a.pdf?dl. Accessed 23 Mar 2023
R Core Team (2023) R: A language and environment for statisticalmcomputing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna. https://www.R-project.org/
Rahel FJ (2013) Intentional fragmentation as a management strategy in aquatic systems. BioScience 63:362–372. https://doi.org/10.1525/bio.2013.63.5.9
Rahel FJ, McLaughlin RL (2018) Selective fragmentation and the management of fish movement across anthropogenic barriers. Ecological Applications 28:2066–2081. https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.1795
Rous AM, Forrest A, McKittrick EH et al (2015) Orientation and position of fish affects recovery time from electrosedation. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 144:820–828. https://doi.org/10.1080/00028487.2015.1042555
Schramm HL, Willis DW (2012) Assessment and harvest of largemouth bass-bluegill ponds. In: Neal JW, Willis DW (eds) Small Impoundment Management in North America. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, pp 181–213
Scott WB, Crossman EJ (1973) Freshwater fishes of Canada. Bulletin 184. Fisheries Research Board of Canada 1973, pp 96. https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2019/mpo-dfo/Fs94-184-eng.pdf
Theÿsmeÿer T (1999) The ecological relationship between Cootes Paradise Marsh and the fish community. Dissertation, McMaster University
Trebitz AS, Hoffman JC (2015) Coastal wetland support of Great Lakes fisheries: progress from concept to quantification. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 144:352–372
Van Der Kraak G, Pankhurst NW (1997) Temperature effects on the reproductive performance of fish. In: Wood CM, McDonald DG (eds) Global warming. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 159–176
Veilleux M (2014) Spatial ecology of fish in Toronto Harbour in response to aquatic Habitat Enhancement. Master of Science, Carleton University
Vélez-Espino LA, McLaughlin RL, Jones ML, Pratt TC (2011) Demographic analysis of trade-offs with deliberate fragmentation of streams: Control of invasive species versus protection of native species. Biological Conservation 144:1068–1080. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2010.12.026
Whillans TH (1982) Changes in Marsh Area Along the Canadian Shore of Lake Ontario. Journal of Great Lakes Research 8:570–577. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0380-1330(82)71994-X
Zielinski DP, McLaughlin RL, Pratt TC et al (2020) Single-stream recycling inspires selective fish passage solutions for the connectivity conundrum in aquatic ecosystems. Bioscience 70:871–886. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biaa090
Zuur AF, Ieno EN, Walker N et al (2009) Mixed effects models and extensions in ecology with R. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-87458-6
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank staff members of the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) for their support in the field and for planning including Rick Portiss, Don Little, Brian Graham, Brynn Coey, Gord MacPherson, Adam Weir, Pete Shuttleworth, Bradley Bloemendal, Meg St. John, Kaylin Barnes, Matthew Fraschetti, and Ross Davidson (among others). We also thank the members of the Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology Laboratory at Carleton University including Maxime Veilleux and Andrew Rous. We extend thanks to those working for the Great Lakes Acoustic Telemetry Observation System, especially Nancy Nate. The team at Fisheries and Oceans Canada including Christine Boston, David Reddick, Erin Budgell, Sarah Larocque, and Dallas Linley provided assistance with array maintenance and fish tagging.
Funding
Morgan Piczak and Steven Cooke were supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Funding for both TRCA and Carleton University came from the Great Lakes Sustainability Fund. Funding to Jon Midwood and Susan Doka for these projects came from the Great Lakes Action Plan administered by Environment and Climate Change Canada, as well as support from Fisheries and Oceans Canada through the Freshwater Habitat Initiative.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
All authors contributed to the study concept and design. Data collection was led by Tys Theÿsmeÿer, Susan Doka and Jon Midwood, with analysis completed by Morgan Piczak with supervision from Steven Cooke. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Morgan Piczak, with all authors providing feedback. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethics Approval
Not applicable.
Consent to Participate
Not applicable.
Competing Interests
The authors have no competing interests to disclose.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Piczak, M.L., Theÿsmeÿer, T., Doka, S.E. et al. Knowledge of Spawning Phenology may Enhance Selective Barrier Passage for Wetland Fishes. Wetlands 43, 72 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-023-01723-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-023-01723-1