Realm: Freshwater
Climate: Temperate
Biome: Small Lake Ecosystems
Central latitude: 44.336770
Central longitude: -89.564380
Duration: 40 years, from 1981 to 2021

2776 records

59 distinct species

Across the time series Lepomis macrochirus is the most frequently occurring species

Methods

The same sampling sites are used each year. All sampling occurs between the 3rd week of July and Labor Day. Sampling sites were chosen by random process in 1981 for the Northern lakes (Trout, Allequash, Sparkling, Crystal, and Big Muskellunge). Sites for Lake Mendota were chosen in 1981, and for the other Madison lakes (Monona, Fish, and Wingra) in 1995. All sites are identified with GPS coordinates, except on the bog lakes (Trout Bog and Crystal Bog) where nets are placed equal distances apart around the entire circumference of the lake in approximately the same locations each year. Fyke nets are deployed at six littoral sampling sites in each lake, and fished for approximately 24 hours. In Crystal Bog and Trout Bog lakes the fyke nets are suspended by placing floats on the hoops and frames to prevent the nets from sinking into the sediments. For the northern lakes, each fyke net is approximately 12 m long and consists of two rectangular steel frames 90 cm wide by 75 cm high and 4 steel hoops, all covered by 7 mm delta stretch mesh nylon netting. An 8 m long by 1.25 m deep leader net made of 7 mm delta stretch mesh nylon netting is attached to a center bar of the first rectangular frame (net mouth). The second rectangular frame has two 10 cm wide by 70 cm high openings, one on each side of the frame center bar. The four hoops follow the second frame. Throats 10 cm in diameter are located between the second and third hoops. The net ends in a bag with a 20.4 cm opening at the end, which is tied shut while the net is fishing. New nets of the same dimensions were purchased for the Northern Highland lakes in 2000. Fyke nets for the Madison lakes are 10 m long (including lead) with 1 rectangular aluminum frame followed by 2 aluminum hoops. The aluminum frame is 98 cm wide x 82 cm tall, and is constructed of 2.5 cm tubing, with an additional center vertical bar. The hoops are 60 cm in diameter and constructed of 5 mm diameter aluminum rod. The single net funnel is between the first and second hoops and is 20 cm in diameter. The lead is 8 m long and 1.25m deep, constructed from 7mm delta stretch mesh. Abundance is Catch per unit effort, so the total yearly catches have been divided by effort. This data is only referring to Fyke nets' catches and it's part of the North Temperate Lakes LTER sampling. For Fyke nets sampling, effort is given by the number of nets used, so abundance as Catch Per Unit Effort is the total yearly catch divided by the number of nets deployed and recollected each year.

Citation(s)

@Dataset{BioTIME_cit22, Study_id = {870}, Citation_id = {22}, Author = {Magnuson, J. J. and Carpenter, S. R. and Stanley, E. H.}, Publisher = {Environmental Data Initiative}, Title = {North Temperate Lakes LTER: Fish Abundance 1981 - current ver 44}, Year = {2022}, Doi = {10.6073/pasta/a67e0c820fd507f62eee2e5f675b35da}, Url = {doi.org/10.6073/pasta/a67e0c820fd507f62eee2e5f675b35da}, Language = {English}, Version = {ver 44} }