Distribution and ecological characteristics of fish species-at-risk in the Great Lake basin /

Abstract

Many fish species are considered to be at risk in the Great Lakes basin. The likely cause for their declines are, in many cases, either assumed or unknown. Numerous factors within the environment of these fishes are likely to have a direct effect on the species themselves, but the question remains: what species and why? Do certain species have ecological characteristics that may make them more susceptible to decline? In the past, political jurisdictions within the United States and Canada have enacted conservation programs separately. The current study is the first basin-wide fish species-at-risk analysis. A comprehensive species-at-risk list was created for the Great Lakes basin by referring to state and provincial at-risk lists as well as other non-governmental conservation agencies. Distribution maps for species at-risk in the basin were,developed using a geographic information system (GIS) by compiling existing digital data and also by converting distribution data from non-digital formats. An analysis was undertaken to determine if ecological and life-history traits varied significantly between fish species atrisk and not-at-risk in the Great Lakes basin. Data for traits were gathered from published and unpublished sources. Using statistical analyses (i.e. Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis, logistic/multiple regression, discriminant function analysis), it was determined that fish species-at-risk in the Great Lakes basin are more likely than species not-at-risk to exhibit K-selected life-history traits or to be specialized for particular feeding and/or breeding behaviors.