Influence of the aquatic vegetation landscape on larval fish abundance

Aquatic vegetation (AV) is an important component of aquatic system, affecting habitat carrying capacity and fish productivity. By modulating habitat complexity, AV has the potential to influence the early ontogenetic stages of many fish species. However, understanding how variations in AV abundance influence fish distribution and abundance at the landscape scale of freshwater ecosystems is a considerable challenge due to the difficulty of collecting the high-resolution data needed for such analyses. We used yellow perch (Perca flavescens) as a biological model to test the hypothesis that larval fish abundance is positively related to a AV-rich landscape. Combining seven years of extensive larval sampling and satellite imagery, our results suggest that fish larvae tend to be associated with AV habitats after hatching. Based on zero-inflated binomial models, the probability of observing perch larvae increased from approximately 20% in low AV habitats to nearly 100% in dense AV habitats (pseudo-R2 = 0.54). Our results also show that the probability of observing yellow perch larvae was lower during years of low water level and low AV biomass, likely limiting the availability of proper spawning or nursery habitats for fish. Furthermore, we demonstrate that larvae use both new AV as well as vegetative debris from the previous year that persisted through the winter. In agreement with a growing literature, our study gives additional support to the idea that AV plays a key role in freshwater fish recruitment.