White Perch in Small North Carolina Reservoirs: What Explains Variation in Population Structure?

Abstract

White Perch Morone americana have been introduced into many inland systems throughout the United States. To determine factors affecting White Perch abundance and size structure, we compared White Perch growth, timing of maturity, and trophic level; the abundance of a predator (Largemouth Bass Micropterus salmoides); the abundance of an ecologically significant mid-level omnivore (Gizzard Shad Dorosoma cepedianum); prey availability (chironomid and zooplankton abundances); and environmental variables (specific conductivity, Secchi depth, dissolved oxygen concentration, and temperature) among four reservoirs (two with high White Perch abundance and two with low abundance). White Perch size structure was closely tied to abundance, with truncated size structure as abundance increased. Among the other variables we tested, only Largemouth Bass abundance had a significant (negative) relationship with White Perch abundance. White Perch size structure appeared to be highly density dependent, and variables that commonly explain variation in abundance of introduced fishes did not explain differences in the four White Perch populations we studied. Further study of the competitive and predatory interactions of White Perch and Largemouth Bass over ontogeny could shed light on the mechanism(s) potentially shaping population structure of the two species where they coexist.

Received June 28, 2013; accepted July 24, 2013

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This research was funded by the NCWRC through Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Grant F-68. We thank D. Dickey for his assistance with statistical analysis, members of the Fisheries Aquatic Ecology Sciences Laboratory at North Carolina State University for assistance with field collections, and Z. S. Feiner for logistic and editorial support.