Title
Centrarchid Utilization and Attraction to Newly Remediated Habitat and Structure in an Urban Lake, Syracuse, New York
Date of Award
4-19-2018
Semester of Degree
May
Document Type
Open Access Thesis
Major Professor
Neil Ringler
Steering Committee Member
Diane Kiernan
Steering Committee Member
Chris Gandino
Abstract
Onondaga Lake in Syracuse, New York, has experienced centuries of habitat degradation. A new substrate layer and habitat structures were added to enhance fish habitat. We hypothesized that centrarchids would respond to the enhancements. We examined centrarchid population size, reproduction, and recruitment relative to remediated habitat and their use of existing and new structures. The Largemouth Bass population and juvenile centrarchid catches were distributed more evenly between basins in 2017 than in previous years, and we concluded this is very likely an immediate response to new habitat availability and structure. In 2017, the whole-lake population estimate was the second highest recorded since sampling began in 1986, and the proportion of nests in remediated shoreline areas increased. Depth of the structures did not influence fish attraction; vegetated and grouped sites attracted greater richness and diversity, and more black bass visits than individual sites or structures.
Recommended Citation
Hummel, Deborah, "Centrarchid Utilization and Attraction to Newly Remediated Habitat and Structure in an Urban Lake, Syracuse, New York" (2018). Dissertations and Theses. 34.
https://digitalcommons.esf.edu/etds/34