| Popis: |
The age at which male smallmouth bass, Micropterus dolomieui, in Pallette Lake first spawn is variable, with some individuals reproducing as early as two years of age while others delaying their reproduction until four years of age. This life history decision was explored by Baylis et al. (1993) and Wiegmann et al. (1997) and later modeled by Wiegmann et al. (2004), using data from nearby Nebish Lake. The results of this study confirm that the model is robust enough to apply to Pallette Lake, despite differences in the smallmouth bass populations, most notable of which deals with the different earliest age of first reproduction. This paper also found that the one major difference between the two cohorts examined, the age at which two- and four-year old first spawning individuals show a difference in length, is explained when the different spawning seasons in which the two cohorts were, themselves, spawned are taken into account. |
