Use of Redundancy Analysis to Evaluate Effect of Environmental Conditions on Distribution/Abundance of Larval Lake Whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) in Lake Huron

Environmental assessments require effective methods to evaluate (a) effects of human activity on environmental conditions, and (b) effects of those  conditions on ecological responses of target populations.  Our investigation focuses on the use of Redundancy Analysis to identify environmental conditions that account for the majority of variation in distribution/abundance of larval Lake Whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) near the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station, Douglas Point, Lake Huron. Water and plankton samples were collected during spring-summer in 2013 and 2014. Visual species identification of ichthyoplankton was validated with a novel species-specific genetic probe designed using DNA barcoding. Size distributions of potential zooplankton prey were quantified using a laser optical particle counter, and binned according to larval gape size of Lake Whitefish. Redundancy Analysis revealed that the majority of statistical variation in distribution/abundance of zooplankton was accounted for by sample depth (especially 15m samples) and sample week, while the majority of variation in distribution/abundance of larval Lake Whitefish was accounted for by sample embayments and prevailing wind. On the basis of this case study, we recommend that Redundancy Analysis be considered as a standard tool for quantitative evaluation of anthropogenic effects on environmental (habitat) conditions and associated fish populations.