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Effects of water-level regulation on the nearshore fish community in boreal lakes

  • WATER-LEVEL FLUCTUATIONS
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Abstract

The fish community in the littoral areas of eight regulated lakes and five reference lakes in Finland was sampled by electrofishing. No significant effect of winter drawdown on species richness was recorded across lakes. Total fish density for stony bottoms of the regulated and reference lakes averaged 19.3 and 32.7 individuals per 100 m2, respectively, but this difference was not statistically significant. The combined proportion of littoral fish species, including minnow (Phoxinus phoxinus), bullhead (Cottus gobio), alpine bullhead (Cottus poecilopus), nine-spined stickleback (Pungitius pungitius), and stone loach (Barbatula barbatula), supplemented with zoobenthos feeders ruffe (Gymnocephalus cernuus) and young burbot (Lota lota), was much lower in the regulated lakes than in the reference lakes. Besides winter drawdown, other variables, such as nutrient level and lake size, affected the fish community.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Finnish Environment Institute, P.O. Box 140, 00251, Helsinki, Finland

    Tapio Sutela

  2. Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute, Oulu Game and Fisheries Research, Tutkijantie 2 E, 90570, Oulu, Finland

    Teppo Vehanen

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  1. Tapio Sutela
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  2. Teppo Vehanen
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Correspondence to Tapio Sutela.

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Guest editors: K. M. Wantzen, K.-O. Rothhaupt, M. Mörtl, M. Cantonati, L. G.-Tóth & P. Fischer

Ecological Effects of Water-Level Fluctuations in Lakes

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Sutela, T., Vehanen, T. Effects of water-level regulation on the nearshore fish community in boreal lakes. Hydrobiologia 613, 13–20 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-008-9468-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-008-9468-z

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