Fish Ecology, Management and Hydroacoustics

Fish are a prominent feature of most lake ecosystems in terms of their ecological role, including direct impacts on prey populations and indirect impacts on other biotic and abiotic features of the environment, and in terms of their socio-economic value to society. While the latter has historically focused on fisheries concerns, fish are now increasingly appreciated and managed on the basis of biodiversity conservation. Understanding their ecology and providing objective advice on their management are prime objectives of our research.

Our approach involves the combination of long-term (approximately 70 years) data on the major fish populations and environmental features (e.g. temperature, degree of eutrophication) of the north and south basins of Windermere, much of which is employed in population models, together with shorter studies of fish communities at a range of other locations in the English Lake District and elsewhere in the UK. Much of the latter work is carried out under commission to a range of customers and is supported by a state-of-the-art hydroacoustic system.

Fish_Ecology_Hydroacoustics

Recent projects

  • Assessment of the vendace of Bassenthwaite Lake
  • Conservation of the gwyniad of Llyn Tegid
  • Development of hydroacoustics for aquatic ecosystem assessment
  • Long-term population biology of Arctic charr, perch, pike and roach in Windermere
  • Monitoring the fish populations of Bassenthwaite Lake and Derwent Water
  • Monitoring the fish populations of Windermere
  • Monitoring the schelly of Haweswater
  • Refinement of hydroacoustic methodology for vendace population assessment and monitoring
  • Site Condition Monitoring of fish in standing waters
  • Trophic interactions in Loch Leven
  • Trophic interactions in Windermere

 

 

Fish_Ecology

Recent Publications

Winfield, I.J., Fletcher, J.M. and James, J.B.  (2011). Invasive fish species in the largest lakes of Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and England: the collective U.K. experience.  Hydrobiologia 660, 93-103. doi:10.1007/s10750-010-0397-2.

Ohlberger, J. Langangen, O., Edeline, E., Olsen, E.M., Winfield, I.J., Fletcher, J.M., James, J.B., Stenseth, N. Chr. and Vøllestad, L.A. (2011). Pathogen-induced rapid evolution in a vertebrate life-history trait. Proceedings of the Royal Society, Society, Series B 278, 35-41.  doi:10.1098/rspb.2010.0960.

Corrigan, L.J., Winfield, I.J, Hoelzel, R.A. and Lucas, M.C. (2010). Dietary plasticity in Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) in response to long-term environmental change. Ecology of Freshwater Fish. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0633.2010.00446.x.

Winfield, I.J. and Craig, J.F. (editors) (2010).  Special Issue: Fishes and Climate Change.  Journal of Fish Biology 77, 1731-1998.

Winfield, I.J. (2010). Meeting across the river:  from science to impact. Aquatic Conservation:  Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 20, 607-610.

Winfield, I.J., Fletcher, J.M. and James, J.B.  (2010). An overview of fish species introductions to the English Lake District, UK, an area of outstanding conservation and fisheries importance. Journal of Applied Ichthyology 26 (Supplement 2), 60-65.

Crane, M., Gross, M., Matthiessen, P., Ankley, G.T., Axford, S., Bjerregaard, P., Brown, R., Chapman, P., Dorgeloh, M., Galay-Burgos, M., Green, J., Hazlerigg, C., Janssen, J., Lorenzen, K., Parrott, J., Rufli, H., Schäfers, C.,  Seki, M., Stolzenberg, H.-C., van der Hoeven, N., Vethaak, D., Winfield, I.J., Zok, S. and Wheeler, J. (2010). Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis of Test Endpoints for Detecting the Effects of Endocrine Active Substances in Fish Full Life Cycle Tests. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management 6, 378-389. doi: 10.1002/ieam.43.

Thackeray, S.J., Sparks, T.H., Frederiksen, M., Burthe, S., Bacon, P.J., Bell, J., Botham, M.S., Brereton, T.M., Bright, P.W., Carvalho, L., Clutton-Brock, T., Dawson, A., Edwards, M., Elliott, J.M., Harrington, R., Johns, D., Jones, I. D., Jones, J.T., Leech, D.I., Roy, D.B., Scott, W.A., Smith, M., Smithers, R.J., Winfield, I.J. and Wanless, S. (2010). Trophic level asynchrony in rates of phenological change for marine, freshwater and terrestrial environments.  Global Change Biology 16, 3304-3313. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2010.02165.x.

Adams, C., Brännas, E., Dempson, B., Knudsen, R., McCarthy, I., Power, M. and Winfield, I. (editors)  (2010). A perspective on Salvelinus research. Hydrobiologia 650, 1-2.  doi: 10.1007/s10750-010-0279-7.

Winfield, I.J., Hateley, J., Fletcher, J.M., James, J.B. Bean, C.W. and Clabburn, P.  (2010). Population trends of Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) in the UK: assessing the evidence for a widespread decline in response to climate change. Hydrobiologia 650, 55-65.  doi: 10.1007/s10750-009-0078-1.

Edeline, E., Haugen, T.O., Weltzien, F.-A., Claessen, D., Winfield, I.J., Stenseth, N. Chr. and Vøllestad, L.A (2010). Body downsizing caused by non-consumptive social stress severely depresses population growth rate.  Proceedings of the Royal Society, Series B 277, 843-851.

Ogle, D.H. and Winfield, I.J. (2009). Ruffe Weight-Length Relationships with a Proposed Standard Weight Equation. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 29, 850-858.

Edeline, E., Le Rouzic, A., Winfield, I.J., Fletcher, J.M., James, J.B., Stenseth, N. Chr. and Vøllestad, L.A (2009). Harvest-induced disruptive selection increases variance in fitness-related traits. Proceedings of the Royal Society, Series B 276, 4163-4171.

Paxton, C.G.M., Winfield, I.J., Fletcher, J.M., George, D.G. and Hewitt, D.P. (2009). Investigation of first year biotic and abiotic influences on the recruitment of pike Esox lucius over 48 years in Windermere, UK. Journal of Fish Biology 74, 2279-2298.

Spears, B.M., Gunn, I.D.M., Carvalho, L., Winfield, I.J., Dudley, B., Murphy, K. and May, L. (2009).An evaluation of methods for sampling macrophyte maximum colonisation depth in Loch Leven, Scotland. Aquatic Botany 91, 75-81.

Winfield, I.J. (ed.) (2009). O. Vertebrates. In:  Likens, G. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Inland Waters. Elsevier, London, pp. 439-505.

Winfield, I.J. (2009). Fish, Populations. In:  Likens, G. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Inland Waters. Elsevier, London, pp. 464-472.

Kubečka, J., Amarasingh, U.S., Bonar, S.A., Hateley, J., Hickley, P., Hohausová, E., Matěna, J., Peterka, J., Suuronen, P., Tereschenko, V., Welcomme, R. and Winfield, I.J. (2009). The true picture of a lake or reservoir fish stock: A review of needs and progress.  Fisheries Research 96, 1-5.

Winfield, I.J., Fletcher, J.M., James, J.B. and Bean, C.W. (2009). Assessment of fish populations in still waters using hydroacoustics and survey gill netting: experiences with Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) in the UK. Fisheries Research 96, 30-38.

Edeline, E., Ari, T.B., Vøllestad, L.A, Winfield, I.J., Fletcher, J.M., James, J.B. and Stenseth, N. Chr. (2008). Antagonistic selection from predators and pathogens alters food-web structure. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 105, 19792-19796.

Winfield, I.J., Fletcher, J.M. and James, J.B.  (2008). The Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) populations of Windermere, UK: population trends associated with eutrophication, climate change and increased abundance of roach (Rutilus rutilus). Environmental Biology of Fishes 83, 25-35.

Winfield, I.J., James, J.B. and Fletcher, J.M.  (2008). Northern pike (Esox lucius) in a warming lake: changes in population size and individual condition in relation to prey abundance.  Hydrobiologia 601, 29-40.

Jones, I.D., Winfield, I.J. and Carse, F. (2008).  Assessment of long-term changes in habitat availability for Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) in a temperate lake using oxygen profiles and hydroacoustic surveys. Freshwater Biology 53, 393-402.