Yellowstone Lake Ecosystem Restoration: A Case Study for Invasive Fish Management
Koel TM, Arnold JL, Bigelow PE, Brenden TO, Davis JD, Detjens C, Doepke PD, Ertel BD, Glassic HC, Gresswell RE, Guy CS, MacDonald DJ, Ruhl ME, Stuth T, Sweet DP, Syslo JM, Thomas NA, Tronstad LM, White PJ, Zale A. 2020. Yellowstone Lake Ecosystem Restoration: A Case Study for Invasive Fish Management. Fishes. 5(2)
Invasive predatory lake trout Salvelinus namaycush were discovered in Yellowstone Lake in 1994 and caused a precipitous decrease in abundance of native Yellowstone cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarkii bouvieri. Suppression efforts (primarily gillnetting) initiated in 1995 did not curtail lake trout population growth or lakewide expansion. An adaptive management strategy was developed in 2010 that specified desired conditions indicative of ecosystem recovery. Population modeling was used to estimate effects of suppression efforts on the lake trout and establish effort benchmarks to achieve negative population growth (λ < 1).
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Koel, Todd; Arnold, Jeffery; Bigelow, Patricia; Brenden, Travis; Davis, Jeffery; Detjens, Colleen; Doepke, Philip; Ertel, Brian; Glassic, Hayley; Gresswell, Robert; Guy, Christopher; MacDonald, Drew; Ruhl, Michael; Stuth, Todd; Sweet, David; Syslo, John; Thomas, Nathan; Tronstad, Lusha; White, Patrick; Zale, Alexander
- Units
- YELL
- Keywords
- Invasive Fish, Invasive Species, Lake Trout, Management, Oncorhynchus clarkii bouvieri, Salvelinus namaycush, Yellowstone, Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout, Yellowstone National Park