Influence of Introduced Spawning Habitat on Yellow Perch Reproduction in Lake Madison, South Dakota

ABSTRACT

Yellow perch (Perca flavescens Mitchill) populations often exhibit variable recruitment in eastern South Dakota. Lakes with erratic yellow perch recruitment are shallow and lack structure; consequently, habitat manipulation may be useful to enhance perch recruitment. The objective of this study was to determine the contribution of eggs deposited on a conifer tree reef toward overall larval yellow perch production in Lake Madison. The number of egg masses deposited on the reef and the mean number of eggs per mass were calculated and used to estimate the number of larvae produced on the reef. Peak abundance of larvae in the lake was estimated using a surface trawl. Results from two years indicated that the reef contributed 14 to 37% toward larval yellow perch production, although confidence intervals were large. Low numbers of egg masses observed per tree (0.13 to 0.44) relative to other studies lead us to conclude that several smaller reefs might have been a better design than a single, large reef.