Doran M. Mason
Charles R. Bronte
James F. Kitchell
Timothy B. Johnson
1998
<p><span>We used bioenergetic models for lake herring </span><i>Coregonus artedi</i><span>, bloater </span><i>Coregonus hoyi</i><span>, and rainbow smelt </span><i>Osmerus mordax</i><span> to estimate consumption of zooplankton,</span><i>Mysis</i><span>, and</span><i>Diporeia</i><span> in western Lake Superior for selected years between 1978 and 1995. Total invertebrate biomass consumed yearly ranged from 2.5 to 38 g/m</span><sup>2</sup><span> with nearly 40% consumed between August and October in all years. Copepod zooplankton represented the largest proportion of biomass collectively consumed by the three species (81%), although rainbow smelt consumed almost twice as much </span><i>Mysis</i><span> as zooplankton. Growth efficiency was highest for rainbow smelt (3.84–16.64%) and lower for the coregonids (1.91–12.26%). In the absence of quantitative secondary production values, we suggest our estimates of predatory demand provide a conservative range of the minimum invertebrate production in western Lake Superior during the past 20 years.</span></p>
application/pdf
10.1577/1548-8659(1998)127<0496:EOIPFP>2.0.CO;2
en
Taylor & Francis
Estimation of invertebrate production from patterns of fish predation in western Lake Superior
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