Nearshore habitat utilization by young-of-year bluegill and largemouth bass in small glacial lakes: Integrating field measurements and model estimates

Nearshore Habitat Utilization by Young-of-Year Bluegill and Largemouth Bass in Small Glacial Lakes: Integrating Field Measurements and Model Estimates

Christopher Middaugh,¹ Carolyn Foley,¹ Angela Grier,² Steve Donabauer² and Tomas Höök¹

¹ Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana

² Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Columbia City, Indiana

Nearshore zones provide important nursery habitats to fish in many lentic systems, likely due to the abundance of food and cover from predation.  However, these zones may be impacted by anthropogenic activities, such as construction of shoreline structures or clearing of vegetation. To better understand how nearshore habitat features structure distributions and interactions of young fish we collected environmental information and young fish at numerous sites in seven glacial lakes in northern Indiana during the summer of 2009. We recorded lengths and weights and analyzed diet contents of young-of-year largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides and bluegill Lepomis macrochirus. Preliminary analyses suggest that distributions, size structures, and diet contents of both species vary among sites due to environmental features, (e.g., a positive trend between bottom cover and YOY bluegill numbers). We compare these data with theoretical model estimates to better elucidate the processes structuring differential distributions of young centrarchids.