Ecological Energetics of Rainbow Smelt in the Laurentian Great Lakes: An Interlake Comparison
- 1 September 1993
- journal article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Transactions of the American Fisheries Society
- Vol. 122 (5) , 951-976
- https://doi.org/10.1577/1548-8659(1993)122<0951:eeorsi>2.3.co;2
Abstract
We developed an energetics model for rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax to quantify its role as a producer and a predator in Great Lakes ecosystems. We measured the weight (W, g) and temperature (T °C) dependences of routine metabolism: R (cal·g–1·h–1) = 0.3646·W –0.216. e 0.036·T. We evaluated seasonal and ontogenetic patterns of rainbow smelt energy density. Seasonal and size-dependent diet composition was estimated based on an extensive analysis of smelt diets in Lakes Michigan and Ontario and a synthesis of published diet data for all of the Great Lakes. For each lake, we employed lake-specific temperature regimes, growth rates, mortality rates, and abundance estimates. Model simulations for the average individual rainbow smelt in the various lakes revealed gross food conversion efficiencies (GCE) of 13.8–15.8% averaged over all age-classes. For the youngest age-class, GCE was usually close to 20% and two or three times greater than for age-classes 4 and 5. An empirical estimate of daily ration in ...Keywords
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