ISSN:
1365-2427
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Biology
Notes:
1. Benthic invertebrate community composition and yellow perch (Perca flavescens) diet, growth and activity levels from lakes along a metal-contamination gradient were used to assess the importance of a naturally diverse prey base for maintaining energy transfer to growing fish, and how this transfer is disrupted by metal contamination.2. Zoobenthic communities had lower diversity in metal-contaminated lakes, with a notable absence of large bodied invertebrate taxa.3. The average mass of non-zooplankton prey items was significantly greater for 2+ and 3+ perch from the reference lake, and increased significantly with age in all except the most contaminated lakes where prey choice was limited.4. Benthivorous perch from all contaminated lakes exhibited slowed growth. Perch from one of the contaminated lakes exhibited faster growth during piscivory, indicating slowed growth only while benthivorous.5. Estimates of fish activity, using the activity of the glycolytic enzyme Lactate dehydrogenase in perch white muscle tissue as a proxy, suggested that shifts in diet to larger prey (in reference and intermediately contaminated lakes) lowered activity costs, which may explain how diet shifts maintain growth efficiency as perch grow larger.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2427.2005.01380.x
