Life Sciences Commons^™

A Lota Lota Consumption: Trophic Dynamics Of Non-Native Burbot In A Valuable Sport Fishery, Stephen L. Klobucar, W. Carl Saunders, Phaedra Budy

Watershed Sciences Student Research

Unintentional and illegal introductions of species disrupt food webs and threaten the success of managed sport fisheries. Although many populations of Burbot Lota lota are declining in the species’ native range, a nonnative population recently expanded into Flaming Gorge Reservoir (FGR), Wyoming–Utah, and threatens to disrupt predator–prey interactions within this popular sport fishery. To determine potential impacts on sport fishes, especially trophy Lake Trout Salvelinus namaycush, we assessed the relative abundance of Burbot and quantified the potential trophic or food web impacts of this population by using diet, stable isotope, and bioenergetic analyses. We did not detect a significant …