PARENT SESSION
Poster Session #23: Fish, Lakes, Streams, and Wetlands.
Wednesday, August 8, 2001. Presentation from 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM. Exhibition Hall
72
Density-dependent foraging plasticity of largemouth bass.
Hodgson, Jay1, Hodgson, James2, 1 2
ABSTRACT- We examined prey selection of largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides spanning 1984-1996 from a small north temperate lake in Upper Michigan. Following a partial winterkill in 1988, the largemouth bass population decreased by as much as 50% in the subsequent years. Given the observed reduction in bass density and presumed reduction in intraspecific competition for food, we anticipated dietary changes as a consequence of more food being available to each surviving bass. Our data demonstrate opportunism in bass foraging behavior but provide support for the general tenets of Optimal Foraging Theory. Diet composition was statistically different and diet breadth decreased in response to changes in bass population density.
KEY WORDS: Micropterus salmoides, prey selection, density-dependent