Date of Award
5-16-2018
Publication Type
Master Thesis
Degree Name
M.Sc.
Department
Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research
Keywords
food webs, PCBs, stable isotopes, trophic ecology
Supervisor
Fisk, Aaron
Supervisor
Haffner, G
Rights
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Abstract
Ontogeny has the potential to influence the resource utilisation and contaminant dynamics of freshwater fishes but this has rarely been compared among species with different foraging strategies. Here, stable isotopes (δ13C, δ15N, and δ34S), and PCBs (IUPAC #: 153, 138, and 180) were used to investigate differences in resource utilisation and contaminant accumulation across ontogeny among three fishes with different foraging strategies (Benthivore: freshwater drum, Aplodinotus grunniens; Piscivore: walleye, Sander vitreus; and Omnivore: white perch, Morone americana) in Lake Erie’s western basin. All three species had distinct patterns of resource utilisation and contaminant accumulation with size (ontogeny) as indicated by their PCB concentrations and stable isotope values. This suggests that ontogeny plays an important role in trophic dynamics of freshwater ecosystems, and that a species functional role should not be categorized by their adult life stage.
Recommended Citation
Heuvel, Cecilia E., "THE INFLUENCE OF ONTOGENY ON RESOURCE UTILIZATION AND CONTAMINANT DYNAMICS IN THREE FISHES WITH DIFFERENT FORAGING STRATEGIES" (2018). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 7472.
https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/7472