Individual-based model of young-of-the-year striped bass population dynamics. II. Factors affecting recruitment in the Potomac River, Maryland
- Univ. of South Alabama, Mobile, AL (United States)
- Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)
- Univ. of Maryland System, Solomons, MD (United States)
An individual-based model of the population dynamics of young-of-the-year striped bass Morone saxatilis in the Potomac River, Maryland, was used to test the hypothesis that historically high recruitment variability can be explained by changes in environmental and biological factors that result in relatively small changes in growth and mortality rates of striped bass larvae. The four factors examined were (1) size distribution of female parents, (2) zooplankton prey density during the development of striped bass larvae, (3) density of completing larval white perch M. americana, and (4) temperature during larval development. Simulation results suggest that variations in female size and in prey for larvae alone could cause 10-fold variability in recruitment. But no single factor alone caused changes in vital rates of age-0 fish that could account for the 145-fold variability in the Potomac River index of juvenile recruitment. However, combined positive or negative effects of two or more factors resulted in more than a 150-fold simulated recruitment variability, suggesting that combinations of factors can account for the high observed annual variability in striped bass recruitment success. Higher cumulative mortality of feeding larvae and younger life stages than of juveniles was common to all simulations. supporting the contention that striped bass year-class strength is determined prior to metamorphosis. 76 refs., 7 figs., 4 tabs.
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-84OR21400
- OSTI ID:
- 5728735
- Journal Information:
- Transactions of the American Fisheries Society; (United States), Vol. 122:3; ISSN 0002-8487
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
STRIPED BASS
POPULATION DYNAMICS
ANIMAL GROWTH
BIOLOGICAL MODELS
LIFE CYCLE
PHYSIOLOGY
ANADROMOUS FISHES
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
FISHES
GROWTH
VERTEBRATES
560162* - Radionuclide Effects
Kinetics
& Toxicology- Animals
Plants
Microorganisms
& Cells
540310 - Environment
Aquatic- Basic Studies- (1990-)