The present study investigates the impact of northern pike (Esox Lucius) on the growth of juvenile burbot (Lota lota) in northern lake ecosystems. It is hypothesized that the presence of pike will positively affect the growth of juvenile burbot by reducing interspecific competition and increasing the abundance of benthic invertebrates. To test this hypothesis, electrofishing for juvenile burbot was conducted in the littoral zones of lakes with and without pike in the region Jämtland Härjedalen, Sweden. Data on length and age of the captured burbot were used to compare growth between the two lake types. Contrary to the initial hypothesis, the results show that juvenile burbot were significantly larger at a given age in lakes where pike was absent. This outcome suggests that juvenile burbot may reduce their foraging activity in lakes with pike to minimize predation risk. Since adult burbot has shown to be of greater size in lakes with pike, future research could investigate whether the shift towards piscivory in burbot leads to changes in how they are affected by pike.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:umu-226622 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Foth, Angelina |
| Publisher | Umeå universitet, Institutionen för ekologi, miljö och geovetenskap |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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