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Fish–duck interactions in boreal lakes in Finland as reflected by abundance correlations

  • LIMNOLOGY AND AQUATIC BIRDS
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Abstract

We studied the hypothesis that fish play an important role in lake use by ducks (pairs and broods) in boreal lakes. The study was based on densities of different duck and fish species in 28 boreal lakes in southern Finland. We focused on the three most common duck species (mallard Anas platyrhynchos, green-winged teal A. crecca and common goldeneye Bucephala clangula) and on the three most common fish species (perch Perca fluviatilis, roach Rutilus rutilus and pike Esox lucius) in the region. We considered both competitive and predatory interactions between ducks and fish, the perch and roach being potential competitors with ducks and the pike a potential predator of ducks. We found a negative association between green-winged teal brood density and total fish density, the other duck species having only a weak association with total fish density. When the three fish species were considered separately, a negative association, suggesting food competition, was found between perch, green-winged teal and goldeneye, whereas the role of roach as a food competitor seemed to be of minor importance. We did not find any clear signs of predatory effects of pike on ducks. Our results suggest that food competition is a more important factor than pike predation in affecting lake use by ducks in oligotrophic boreal environments in southern Finland.

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Acknowledgments

We sincerely thank Stuart H. Hurlbert and an anonymous referee for valuable comments on the manuscript, and Esa Pienmunne and Keijo Taskinen for helping in the fieldwork.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forest Sciences, University of Helsinki, P. O. Box 27, 00014, Helsinki, Finland

    Veli-Matti Väänänen & Petri Nummi

  2. Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute, Joensuu Game and Fisheries Research, Yliopistokatu 6, 80100, Joensuu, Finland

    Hannu Pöysä

  3. Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute, Evo Game and Fisheries Research, 16970, Evo, Finland

    Martti Rask

  4. Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, P. O. Box 65, 00014, Helsinki, Finland

    Kari Nyberg

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  1. Veli-Matti Väänänen
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  2. Petri Nummi
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  3. Hannu Pöysä
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  4. Martti Rask
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  5. Kari Nyberg
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Correspondence to Veli-Matti Väänänen.

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Guest editors: F. A. Comín & S. H. Hurlbert / Limnology and Aquatic Birds: Monitoring, Modelling and Management

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Väänänen, VM., Nummi, P., Pöysä, H. et al. Fish–duck interactions in boreal lakes in Finland as reflected by abundance correlations. Hydrobiologia 697, 85–93 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-012-1172-3

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