The effects of natural turbulence on diurnal fish community assemblages, distribution, and habitat selection

Abstract

The study of fish community assemblages and the myriad factors that determine their makeup, including wind-driven turbulence on lakes, is of great importance to fisheries resource management and policy. Studies done on coral reefs have concluded that morphology differences play important roles in the way fish react to turbulence. Translating this concept to a freshwater system, this study looked at turbulence on South Fishtail Bay, Douglas Lake, Michigan, and its effects on fish distributions and assemblages. Based on the morphological measure of body depth, it was hypothesized that deeper-bodied species, such as sunfish and perch, would show a greater aversion to turbulence than would shallow-bodies species, such as minnows. Data was limited and was sufficient only to corroborate the notion that yellow perch (Perca flavescens) and smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieui) do indeed seek refuge from turbulence in deeper waters, though results regarding the other species were inconclusive. A more thorough, all-encompassing method of data collection and analysis is a critical next step in assessing the relationship between turbulence and fish communities.