Species Interactions in Percid Communities

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Abstract
Evidence for species interactions in communities with Perca and Stizostedion is evaluated. Substantial evidence exists for the importance of predation by and on percids to community structure and function. Some evidence also clearly demonstrates that competition is an important interaction both within Perca populations and between Perca and other species. The necessity of using manipulative experiments to test for community level effects of competition and predation is emphasized. Such manipulative experiments, however, should be restricted in number and conducted with great care, because the community changes they induce are often irreversible and detrimental.Species interactions related to feeding have apparently resulted in the partitioning of habitat and food resources among fishes in percid communities. Partitioning of space is considered in terms of distribution of Perca and Stizostedion in respect to temperature in stratified and unstratified aquatic systems. In stratified lakes, percids are expected to be spatially segregated from fishes with other thermal requirements, such as the warmwater centrarchids and the cold-water salmonids. Seasons and depths of potentially intense interactions are diagrammed. In unstratified lakes, latitude and lake size set the stage for the thermal habitat that favors the physiology of percids in some systems. Resource partitioning, in respect to food size and time of day for foraging, is also diagrammed and appears to be important. It is argued that species interactions between other fishes and Perca and Stizostedion are greatly reduced by present patterns of resource utilization. Key words: competition, predation, resource partitioning, percid communities

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