An analysis of the community structure of North Fishtail Bay in Douglas Lake.

Abstract

The determination of community structure is an important ecological tool for the formation of hypotheses pertaining to energy flow, biotic interaction, functional relationships of component organisms and populations, and other questions about individuals and their interactions with other individuals and their environment. I, along with Dan Peters, formulated and conducted a study of the North Fishtail Bay region of Douglas Lake in Cheboygan County, Michigan with the goal of understanding the structure of the community and predicting the relationships of the constituent populations. We chose this area for its variety of habitats and easy access from the biological station. The bay area is characterized by a marginal sandy shoal which extends out various distances and gives way to a steep shelf and deep pelagic area. Using numerous techniques learned through the Biology 486 course, we set out to sample all fish possible, collect abiotic data, and use this information to unravel questions about the system. What species may compete for similar resources? What types of predator-prey relationships exist? Are there populational differences between the defined habitats? Although not all these questions may be answered with the limited data collected, indications for future investigation are revealed.