Life history constraints explain negative relationship between fish productivity and dissolved organic carbon in lakes.

ABSTRACT: Resource availability constrains the life history strategies available to organisms and may thereby limit population growth rates and productivity. We used this conceptual framework to explore the mechanisms driving recently reported negative relationships between fish productivity and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations in lakes. We studied populations of bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) in a set of lakes with DOC concentrations ranging from 3 to 24 mg/L; previous work has demonstrated that primary and secondary productivity of food webs is negatively related to DOC concentration across this gradient. For each population, we quantified individual growth rate, age at maturity, age-specific fecundity, maximum age, length-weight and length-egg size relationships, and other lif

SUBMITTER: Craig N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5574801 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature