Does the amount of human development in a lacustrine environment have a significant effect on its fish populations?

Abstract

A priori analysis of Burt Lake suggests that it is much more developed than neighboring Douglas Lake, leading to questions as to how this increased human development may affect fish populations. Previous studies have tended to show variation in chemistry between Douglas Lake and Burt Lake in Cheboygan County, MI, and our study intended to figure out if these differences affected these lakes’ fish populations. Minnow traps and seining methods were applied over a two‐week period, and water chemistry and benthic samples were also taken multiple times and averaged. Results showed that richness was higher overall in Burt Lake than Douglas Lake, with marly areas in each lake proving richer than sandy areas. Vegetated benthos appeared to boost the Shannon Diversity Index of fishes when looking at minnow trap collection data, but when observing seining collection data, the Index was again elevated in the presence of a marly benthos.