Fish growth, temperature, and life history: applying theory to improve fisheries research and management
2018-12
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Fish growth, temperature, and life history: applying theory to improve fisheries research and management
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2018-12
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Ectotherm growth is inextricably linked to both temperature and other aspects of life history. In this dissertation, I leverage life history and bioenergetics theory to (1) justify and standardize the use of metrics that adequately describe the effect of temperature on ectotherm growth, and (2) develop and apply methods that leverage the links between ectotherm growth and life history to extract life history information from growth data. I focus on fishes as example ectotherms. Fish growth is driven by the amount of thermal energy accrued over time (i.e., the thermal integral). Accordingly, numerous studies have found strong linear relationships between fish growth and degree-days (DD), a thermal integral metric. Despite these findings, fish science lags behind other fields in the widespread adoption of DD, likely due to (1) a lack of theoretically-sound support for the observed linear relationships between fish growth and DD, and (2) insufficient justification for using DD derived from air temperatures in place of DD derived from water temperatures in fish science. Moreover, there is limited guidance for selecting the base temperature for growth (T_0), an important parameter for calculating DD, among fishes and scenarios. In Chapter 2, I combine empirical data and simulation modeling to provide bioenergetic and limnological foundations for the linear relationship between fish growth and DD, and I show that air-based DD can serve as an accurate proxy for water-based DD for describing fish growth. In Chapter 3, I provide estimates of T_0 for 82 fish species using approaches that are rooted in fish biology. Together, these analyses will help to justify and standardize the use of DD in fish science. Fish growth is also strongly correlated with other aspects of life history (e.g., maturity, mortality). Recent advances in life history theory have led to the development of biphasic growth models that allow for the estimation of age-at-maturity, reproductive investment, and other life history traits from growth data. However, these models can be difficult to fit in the absence of maturity data. In Chapter 4, I develop a statistical framework for fitting biphasic growth models using only length-at-age data. I show that this approach can provide accurate estimates of age-at-maturity and other life history traits, and I evaluate the performance of the method across various species and data quality scenarios. In Chapter 5, I use a similar approach to investigate shifts in life history traits in an ecologically and economically important fish stock (Gulf of Mexico red snapper Lutjanus campechanus) from 1941-2005. This growth-based approach allows for the estimation of life history traits deeper into the past than would have been possible using traditional approaches and provides a more holistic understanding of how red snapper life histories have shifted in the face of fishing pressure and other stressors. Taken together, this work has the potential to improve fisheries research, promote sustainable fisheries management, increase global food security, and encourage similar advances in other fields.
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University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation.December 2018. Major: Ecology, Evolution and Behavior. Advisor: Paul Venturelli. 1 computer file (PDF); xxv, 239 pages + 2 supplementary data files.
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Honsey, Andrew. (2018). Fish growth, temperature, and life history: applying theory to improve fisheries research and management. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/202191.
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