Research of fish distribution in Czech reservoirs: from classic methods to acoustic positioning system
Abstract: Over the last few decades, FishEcU team of the Institute of Hydrobiology devoted considerable effort to understand distribution and habitat use patterns of fish in Czech reservoirs, by using a large variety of standard fish sampling methods. However, these methods provided mostly insights at the population level, with a low emphasis to individual and spatio-temporal variability. To get a better picture of fish behaviour and its relation to environmental conditions, our team has recently implemented acoustic positioning system to perform long-term detailed observation of fish habitat use and activity. During the last three years we tagged more than 360 fish from 8 species in three middle sized waterbodies (from 210 – to 310 ha) and obtained around 50 million precise 3D fish positions. Moreover, detailed background environmental data were collected (temperature, light intensity, structural complexity, weather conditions, etc.) in fine temporal resolution. Lecture will sum up previous findings about fish distribution in reservoirs, adaptation of positioning system to midsize lakes and first results from detailed observations of fish habitat use and distribution. These results include comparisons of pike and catfish habitat use and activity in two lakes and the effects of structural complexity on their behaviour. We expect that the research topics discussed in the lecture will represent a good opportunity for future collaboration between our institutions.
Host: Ivan Jaric