title: Telemetry-Determined Habitat Use Informs Multi-Species Habitat Management in an Urban Harbour.
abstract: Widespread human development has led to impairment of freshwater coastal wetlands and embayments, which provide critical and unique habitat for many freshwater fish species. This is particularly evident in the Laurentian Great Lakes, where such habitats have been severely altered over the last century as a result of industrial activities, urbanization, dredging and infilling. In Toronto Harbour, extensive restoration efforts have been directed towards improving the amount and quality of aquatic habitat, especially for fishes. To evaluate the effectiveness of this restoration work, use of the restored area by both target species and the fish community as a whole must be assessed. Individuals from four species (Common Carp, Largemouth Bass, Northern Pike and Yellow Perch) were tagged and tracked continuously for 1 year using an acoustic telemetry array in Toronto Harbour area of Lake Ontario. Daily site fidelity was estimated using a mixed-effects logistic regression model. Daily site fidelity was influenced by habitat restoration and its interactions with species and body size, as well as season and its interactions with species and body size. Daily site fidelity was higher in restored sites compared to non-restored sites for Yellow Perch and Northern Pike, but lower for Largemouth Bass and Common Carp. For all species, daily site fidelity estimates were highest during the summer and lowest during autumn. The approach used here has merit for evaluating restoration success and informing future habitat management activities. Creating diverse habitats that serve multiple functions and species are more desirable than single-function-oriented or single-species-oriented designs.
authors.affiliation: Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology Lab, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada. andrew.rous@carleton.ca.
authors.forename: Andrew M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Rous
authors.affiliation: Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology Lab, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada.
authors.forename: Jonathon D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Midwood
authors.affiliation: Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology Lab, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada.
authors.forename: Lee F G
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Gutowsky
authors.affiliation: Canadian Wildlife Federation, 350 Michael Cowpland Drive, Kanata, ON, K2M 2W1, Canada.
authors.forename: Nicolas W R
authors.initials: NW
authors.lastname: Lapointe
authors.affiliation: Restoration Services, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, 5 Shoreham Drive, Downsview, ON, M3N 1S4, Canada.
authors.forename: Rick
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Portiss
authors.affiliation: Restoration Services, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, 5 Shoreham Drive, Downsview, ON, M3N 1S4, Canada.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sciscione
authors.affiliation: Environmental Fluid Dynamics Lab, University of Toronto, 1265 Military Trail, Toronto, ON, M1C 1A4, Canada.
authors.forename: Mathew G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Wells
authors.affiliation: Great Lakes Laboratory for Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 867 Lakeshore Road, Burlington, ON, L7R 4A6, Canada.
authors.forename: Susan E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Doka
authors.affiliation: Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology Lab, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada.
authors.forename: Steven J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Cooke
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D052918:Environmental Restoration and Remediation / Q000379:methods*; D005399:Fishes / Q000254:growth & development*; D060106:Lakes / Q000737:chemistry; D016015:Logistic Models; D009864:Ontario; D012621:Seasons; D013686:Telemetry; D014507:Urbanization; D053833:Wetlands
keywords: Acoustic telemetry in fisheries management; Fish habitat management; Great lakes; Habitat restoration; Habitat use; Mixed models; Restoration ecology