Bibliographic Details
| Title: |
Preliminary Comparison of Inland Michigan Fish Assemblages on Artificial Reef and Natural Habitats in 2024 Fall Sampling. |
| Authors: |
Hinds, Hunter1,2 (AUTHOR) hhinds@lssu.edu, Kapuscinski, Kevin1,2 (AUTHOR) |
| Source: |
Northeastern Naturalist. 2026, Vol. 33 Issue 2, p197-207. 11p. |
| Subjects: |
Artificial reefs, Fish habitats, Lakes, Fish communities, Public lands, Species diversity |
| Geographic Terms: |
Michigan |
| Abstract: |
Implementation of artificial habitat is a common management practice used to enhance fisheries; however, evaluation of these habitats is often lacking. During the past 50 years, the US Forest Service created artificial reefs across 12 lakes in the Hiawatha National Forest to benefit Sander vitreus (Walleye) spawning, but these reefs may have altered community structure by replacing natural habitat for native fishes. Therefore, we examined differences in species richness, relative abundance, and assemblage structure of fishes on and off these artificial reefs across 4 lakes in the Hiawatha National Forest during early fall of 2024. We set fyke nets and minnow traps overnight for 24 hours at 1 artificial habitat and 1 natural habitat within each lake. We identified and counted all fishes at each habitat type, and then compared mean species richness, mean relative abundance, and assemblage similarity among sites. Mean species richness was moderately lower at artificial reef sites, and relative abundance did not differ between habitats. Differences in fish assemblages were generally greater between habitat types (even within lakes) compared to habitat types among lakes. Certain species, particularly Perca flavescens (Yellow Perch) were far less abundant at artificial habitat sites than at natural sites. Comparatively, many centrarchid species (e.g., sunfish, crappie, bass) were more abundant on artificial habitat sites. Resource managers should consider benefits to target species and potential unintended consequences to non-target species before installing artificial reefs in inland lakes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
|
Copyright of Northeastern Naturalist is the property of Eagle Hill Institute and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
| Database: |
Engineering Source |
