Updated 2023-12-18 16:22:46
Lake Ontario -> 3.0 Deep Pelagic And Offshore Benthic Zone Goal -> Deep Pelagic and Offshore Benthic Prey Fish Community
Reporting Interval
2014 - 2019
Area
Meeting Target?
Meets
Indicator Trend
Upward trend
Confidence?
High
Maintaining or increasing populations and increasing species diversity of the deepwater and benthic prey fish community including Deepwater Sculpin, Slimy Sculpin, and deepwater ciscoes
Diversity in the benthic preyfish community has increased in the recent reporting period 2014-2019 compared to historically lower values. Despite declines in slimy sculpin abundance, increases in the proportion of the community represented by deepwater sculpin during the reporting period is a primary factor explaining the increase in diversity.
Figure 1. Lake Ontario prey fish diversity index for the benthic preyfish community using the Shannon index based on bottom trawl catch weights from fall 1978-2019. The dashed line represents a maximum diversity value, i.e. if all species occurred in equal proportions of the catch by weight.
Methodology
Diversity in the benthic preyfish community was calculated using the Shannon index (Shannon 1948) based on total weight of trawl catches for the following common demersal preyfish species (trout-perch, spottail shiner, johnny darter, logperch, yellow perch, slimy sculpin, deepwater sculpin, and round goby). Trawl catches were from the Lake Ontario collaborative benthic preyfish survey which uses a Yankee bottom trawl during the fall (Weidel et al. 2020).
Other Resources
Shannon, C.E. 1948. A mathematical theory of communication. Bell Syst.Tech. J. 27: 379423, 623656
Weidel, B.C., B.P. O’Malley, M.J. Connerton, J.P. Holden, C.A. Osborne. 2020b. Bottom trawl assessment of Lake Ontario prey fishes, 2019. Section 12, In: 2019 Annual Report, Bureau of Fisheries Lake Ontario Unit and St. Lawrence River Unit to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission’s Lake Ontario Committee, Ann Arbor, MI.
Contributing Author(s)
- Brian P. O’Malley - USGS
- Brian C. Weidel - USGS
- Jessica A. Goretzke - OMNRF