The spatial relationship between pelagic fish species in the Barents Sea
Capelin (Mallotus villosus) is a pelagic fish species with large interannual stock variations in the Barents Sea ecosystem. Together with polar cod (Boreogadus saida) and juvenile herring (Clupea harengus), it functions as an intermediate link that transfers energy from zooplankton to higher trophic...
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Universitetet i Tromsø
2008
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ftunivtroemsoe:oai:munin.uit.no:10037/1613 2024-06-02T08:02:50+00:00 The spatial relationship between pelagic fish species in the Barents Sea Haukeland, Vegard Bjartveit 2008-05-15 1689850 bytes 2076 bytes application/pdf text/plain https://hdl.handle.net/10037/1613 eng eng Universitetet i Tromsø University of Tromsø https://hdl.handle.net/10037/1613 URN:NBN:no-uit_munin_1382 openAccess Copyright 2008 The Author(s) VDP::Matematikk og naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480::Økologi: 488 VDP::Matematikk og naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480::Marinbiologi: 497 Barents Sea capelin herring polar cod co-existence BIO-3910 Master thesis Mastergradsoppgave 2008 ftunivtroemsoe 2024-05-07T08:41:49Z Capelin (Mallotus villosus) is a pelagic fish species with large interannual stock variations in the Barents Sea ecosystem. Together with polar cod (Boreogadus saida) and juvenile herring (Clupea harengus), it functions as an intermediate link that transfers energy from zooplankton to higher trophic levels. Capelin is a key prey and important as a food resource both to sea birds, sea mammals and other fish species. In late summer capelin perform a feeding migration from the central part of the Barents Sea and into Arctic water masses in the north and east. Earlier studies have shown that this migration is strongly density dependent. In years of high abundance, capelin has a more aggregated spatial distribution and migrate further compared to years of low abundance. In this study I investigate how this density dependent migration might affect the distribution and habitat selection of two competing species; polar cod and herring. I compare two years with contrasting abundance in capelin and investigate the spatial distribution of the three competing species with respect to oceanographic habitat. As predicted, capelin showed a shift in distribution into colder water masses in the year with high abundance. One of my hypotheses, which suggested increased spatial overlap with polar cod in years with high capelin abundance, was supported. On the other hand, no increase in overlap with herring was detected. Neither did I find any significant displacement of polar cod or herring that could be connected to capelin abundance. I suggest that the overlap between polar cod and capelin would increase the opportunity of ecological interactions, as they probably utilize many of the same resources. Possible interactions between capelin and its neighbouring pelagic species were connected to the competitive exclusion principle and ecological niche theories. Master Thesis Arctic Barents Sea Boreogadus saida polar cod Zooplankton University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive Arctic Barents Sea |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtroemsoe |
language |
English |
topic |
VDP::Matematikk og naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480::Økologi: 488 VDP::Matematikk og naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480::Marinbiologi: 497 Barents Sea capelin herring polar cod co-existence BIO-3910 |
spellingShingle |
VDP::Matematikk og naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480::Økologi: 488 VDP::Matematikk og naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480::Marinbiologi: 497 Barents Sea capelin herring polar cod co-existence BIO-3910 Haukeland, Vegard Bjartveit The spatial relationship between pelagic fish species in the Barents Sea |
topic_facet |
VDP::Matematikk og naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480::Økologi: 488 VDP::Matematikk og naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480::Marinbiologi: 497 Barents Sea capelin herring polar cod co-existence BIO-3910 |
description |
Capelin (Mallotus villosus) is a pelagic fish species with large interannual stock variations in the Barents Sea ecosystem. Together with polar cod (Boreogadus saida) and juvenile herring (Clupea harengus), it functions as an intermediate link that transfers energy from zooplankton to higher trophic levels. Capelin is a key prey and important as a food resource both to sea birds, sea mammals and other fish species. In late summer capelin perform a feeding migration from the central part of the Barents Sea and into Arctic water masses in the north and east. Earlier studies have shown that this migration is strongly density dependent. In years of high abundance, capelin has a more aggregated spatial distribution and migrate further compared to years of low abundance. In this study I investigate how this density dependent migration might affect the distribution and habitat selection of two competing species; polar cod and herring. I compare two years with contrasting abundance in capelin and investigate the spatial distribution of the three competing species with respect to oceanographic habitat. As predicted, capelin showed a shift in distribution into colder water masses in the year with high abundance. One of my hypotheses, which suggested increased spatial overlap with polar cod in years with high capelin abundance, was supported. On the other hand, no increase in overlap with herring was detected. Neither did I find any significant displacement of polar cod or herring that could be connected to capelin abundance. I suggest that the overlap between polar cod and capelin would increase the opportunity of ecological interactions, as they probably utilize many of the same resources. Possible interactions between capelin and its neighbouring pelagic species were connected to the competitive exclusion principle and ecological niche theories. |
format |
Master Thesis |
author |
Haukeland, Vegard Bjartveit |
author_facet |
Haukeland, Vegard Bjartveit |
author_sort |
Haukeland, Vegard Bjartveit |
title |
The spatial relationship between pelagic fish species in the Barents Sea |
title_short |
The spatial relationship between pelagic fish species in the Barents Sea |
title_full |
The spatial relationship between pelagic fish species in the Barents Sea |
title_fullStr |
The spatial relationship between pelagic fish species in the Barents Sea |
title_full_unstemmed |
The spatial relationship between pelagic fish species in the Barents Sea |
title_sort |
spatial relationship between pelagic fish species in the barents sea |
publisher |
Universitetet i Tromsø |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10037/1613 |
geographic |
Arctic Barents Sea |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Barents Sea |
genre |
Arctic Barents Sea Boreogadus saida polar cod Zooplankton |
genre_facet |
Arctic Barents Sea Boreogadus saida polar cod Zooplankton |
op_relation |
https://hdl.handle.net/10037/1613 URN:NBN:no-uit_munin_1382 |
op_rights |
openAccess Copyright 2008 The Author(s) |
_version_ |
1800747301740740608 |