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Telemetry-Determined Habitat Use Informs Multi-Species Habitat Management in an Urban Harbour

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Abstract

Widespread human development has led to impairment of freshwater coastal wetlands and embayments, which provide critical and unique habitat for many freshwater fish species. This is particularly evident in the Laurentian Great Lakes, where such habitats have been severely altered over the last century as a result of industrial activities, urbanization, dredging and infilling. In Toronto Harbour, extensive restoration efforts have been directed towards improving the amount and quality of aquatic habitat, especially for fishes. To evaluate the effectiveness of this restoration work, use of the restored area by both target species and the fish community as a whole must be assessed. Individuals from four species (Common Carp, Largemouth Bass, Northern Pike and Yellow Perch) were tagged and tracked continuously for 1 year using an acoustic telemetry array in Toronto Harbour area of Lake Ontario. Daily site fidelity was estimated using a mixed-effects logistic regression model. Daily site fidelity was influenced by habitat restoration and its interactions with species and body size, as well as season and its interactions with species and body size. Daily site fidelity was higher in restored sites compared to non-restored sites for Yellow Perch and Northern Pike, but lower for Largemouth Bass and Common Carp. For all species, daily site fidelity estimates were highest during the summer and lowest during autumn. The approach used here has merit for evaluating restoration success and informing future habitat management activities. Creating diverse habitats that serve multiple functions and species are more desirable than single-function-oriented or single-species-oriented designs.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Toronto and Region Conservation staff that helped with our fieldwork (Brian Graham, Adam Weir, Pete Shuttleworth, Bradley Bloemendal and Ross Davidson). Maxime Veilleux and Tyler Peat from Carleton University assisted with fish tagging and receiver downloads. The Great Lakes Fishery Commission and the Great Lakes Acoustic Telemetry Observation System assited with project coordination. The authors also acknowledge the support of Environment Canada and particularly appreciate the efforts of Laud Matos to secure long-term funding for this work to Rick Portiss and Toronto and Region Conservation Authority from the Great Lakes Action Plan.

Funding

Funding for this research was provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) in the form of an NSERC Strategic Grant to Mathew G. Wells and Steven J. Cooke and Discovery Grants to Steven J. Cooke and Mathew G. Wells . Steven J. Cooke is further supported by the Canada Research Chairs program. Susan E. Doka is supported by project funds from the Great Lakes Action Plan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology Lab, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada

    Andrew M. Rous, Jonathon D. Midwood, Lee F.G. Gutowsky & Steven J. Cooke

  2. Canadian Wildlife Federation, 350 Michael Cowpland Drive, Kanata, ON, K2M 2W1, Canada

    Nicolas W.R. Lapointe

  3. Restoration Services, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, 5 Shoreham Drive, Downsview, ON, M3N 1S4, Canada

    Rick Portiss & Thomas Sciscione

  4. Environmental Fluid Dynamics Lab, University of Toronto, 1265 Military Trail, Toronto, ON, M1C 1A4, Canada

    Mathew G. Wells

  5. Great Lakes Laboratory for Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 867 Lakeshore Road, Burlington, ON, L7R 4A6, Canada

    Susan E. Doka

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  1. Andrew M. Rous
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  2. Jonathon D. Midwood
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  3. Lee F.G. Gutowsky
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  4. Nicolas W.R. Lapointe
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  7. Mathew G. Wells
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  9. Steven J. Cooke
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Correspondence to Andrew M. Rous.

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Rous, A.M., Midwood, J.D., Gutowsky, L.F. et al. Telemetry-Determined Habitat Use Informs Multi-Species Habitat Management in an Urban Harbour. Environmental Management 59, 118–128 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-016-0775-2

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