Fish diversity and biomass in northern Canadian lakes: northern lakes are more diverse and have greater biomass than expected based on species–energy theory
Biodiversity in northern Canada (north of 60°N latitude) is threatened, primarily by increasing resource exploitation and by climate change. Unfortunately, we have relatively limited knowledge of aquatic biodiversity for this region, making it difficult to develop suitable policies to manage these t...
Published in: | Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences |
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/cjfas-2014-0104 2024-04-07T07:54:58+00:00 Fish diversity and biomass in northern Canadian lakes: northern lakes are more diverse and have greater biomass than expected based on species–energy theory Samarasin, Pasan Minns, Charles K. Shuter, Brian J. Tonn, William M. Rennie, Michael D. Ramcharan, Charles 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2014-0104 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjfas-2014-0104 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjfas-2014-0104 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences volume 72, issue 2, page 226-237 ISSN 0706-652X 1205-7533 Aquatic Science Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics journal-article 2015 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2014-0104 2024-03-08T00:37:30Z Biodiversity in northern Canada (north of 60°N latitude) is threatened, primarily by increasing resource exploitation and by climate change. Unfortunately, we have relatively limited knowledge of aquatic biodiversity for this region, making it difficult to develop suitable policies to manage these threats. Here we describe, quantify, and test hypotheses related to fish biodiversity and biomass in 37 lakes in a diamond mining district (the Barrenlands) in the Northwest Territories, Canada (64°N, 110°W). To estimate species richness and biomass of fish, we took advantage of exhaustive sampling and monitoring surveys conducted in the region and compared our northern estimates against estimates from southern Canadian lakes. We found that most of the 37 northern lakes contained two to four species, with the largest lake containing eight species. Salmonids dominated this system, with lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) being the dominant species in abundance and biomass. Comparative analysis with similar-sized southern Canadian lakes showed no significant difference in the slopes of species richness versus lake area curves. Surprisingly, total fish biomass distributions for northern, Barrenlands lakes were also similar to southern, Ontario lakes. Overall, our results suggest that Barrenlands lakes are important natural resources of Canada that should be conserved for the future. Under anticipated scenarios of climate change, these lakes may represent important refugia for coldwater fishes (e.g., lake trout) as habitats at the southern edges of their ranges become more limiting. Article in Journal/Newspaper Northwest Territories Canadian Science Publishing Canada Northwest Territories Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 72 2 226 237 |
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Canadian Science Publishing |
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crcansciencepubl |
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English |
topic |
Aquatic Science Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
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Aquatic Science Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Samarasin, Pasan Minns, Charles K. Shuter, Brian J. Tonn, William M. Rennie, Michael D. Fish diversity and biomass in northern Canadian lakes: northern lakes are more diverse and have greater biomass than expected based on species–energy theory |
topic_facet |
Aquatic Science Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
description |
Biodiversity in northern Canada (north of 60°N latitude) is threatened, primarily by increasing resource exploitation and by climate change. Unfortunately, we have relatively limited knowledge of aquatic biodiversity for this region, making it difficult to develop suitable policies to manage these threats. Here we describe, quantify, and test hypotheses related to fish biodiversity and biomass in 37 lakes in a diamond mining district (the Barrenlands) in the Northwest Territories, Canada (64°N, 110°W). To estimate species richness and biomass of fish, we took advantage of exhaustive sampling and monitoring surveys conducted in the region and compared our northern estimates against estimates from southern Canadian lakes. We found that most of the 37 northern lakes contained two to four species, with the largest lake containing eight species. Salmonids dominated this system, with lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) being the dominant species in abundance and biomass. Comparative analysis with similar-sized southern Canadian lakes showed no significant difference in the slopes of species richness versus lake area curves. Surprisingly, total fish biomass distributions for northern, Barrenlands lakes were also similar to southern, Ontario lakes. Overall, our results suggest that Barrenlands lakes are important natural resources of Canada that should be conserved for the future. Under anticipated scenarios of climate change, these lakes may represent important refugia for coldwater fishes (e.g., lake trout) as habitats at the southern edges of their ranges become more limiting. |
author2 |
Ramcharan, Charles |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Samarasin, Pasan Minns, Charles K. Shuter, Brian J. Tonn, William M. Rennie, Michael D. |
author_facet |
Samarasin, Pasan Minns, Charles K. Shuter, Brian J. Tonn, William M. Rennie, Michael D. |
author_sort |
Samarasin, Pasan |
title |
Fish diversity and biomass in northern Canadian lakes: northern lakes are more diverse and have greater biomass than expected based on species–energy theory |
title_short |
Fish diversity and biomass in northern Canadian lakes: northern lakes are more diverse and have greater biomass than expected based on species–energy theory |
title_full |
Fish diversity and biomass in northern Canadian lakes: northern lakes are more diverse and have greater biomass than expected based on species–energy theory |
title_fullStr |
Fish diversity and biomass in northern Canadian lakes: northern lakes are more diverse and have greater biomass than expected based on species–energy theory |
title_full_unstemmed |
Fish diversity and biomass in northern Canadian lakes: northern lakes are more diverse and have greater biomass than expected based on species–energy theory |
title_sort |
fish diversity and biomass in northern canadian lakes: northern lakes are more diverse and have greater biomass than expected based on species–energy theory |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2014-0104 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjfas-2014-0104 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjfas-2014-0104 |
geographic |
Canada Northwest Territories |
geographic_facet |
Canada Northwest Territories |
genre |
Northwest Territories |
genre_facet |
Northwest Territories |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences volume 72, issue 2, page 226-237 ISSN 0706-652X 1205-7533 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2014-0104 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences |
container_volume |
72 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
226 |
op_container_end_page |
237 |
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1795671844558209024 |