Spatial Models of Salmonine Growth Rates in Lake Ontario

Abstract
Salmonine growth rate potential, a bioenergetic measure of environmental quality, was modeled for chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha and lake trout Salvelinus namaycush in Lake Ontario. Spatial distributions of predator and prey were measured along a cross-lake transect during spring, summer, and fall with a 120-kHz, dual-beam acoustic system. A geographic information system provided the platform to create high-resolution maps of observed acoustic (prey and predator biomass densities), biological (energetic parameters), and physical (temperature) variables, and to model salmonine growth rate potential in a spatially explicit context. Predators and prey occupied only a small percentage of the available habitat: 0.3–14.7% and 8.7–25.9%, respectively. A range of 3% to 27% of the habitat sampled, depending on the species and season, was able to support positive salmonine growth. Predator distributional overlap with regions of positive growth potential was nearly 50% in summer, 72% in fall, and 7...

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