Modelling co-occurrence: Can species interactions influence Lake Chubsucker distribution?

Session: Imperiled Species in the Great Lakes Basin: Identifying Threats and Restoring Populations (3)

Jennifer Bontje, University of Toronto, [email protected]
Don Jackson, University of Toronto, [email protected]
Andrew Drake, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, [email protected]

Abstract

         Species distribution models (SDMs) can be an effective way to explore the influence of environmental factors on aquatic species, potentially leading to strong inferences about habitat requirements and community structure. However, most SDMs focus on abiotic factors (e.g. water temperature, depth), while ignoring biotic information such as the incidence of prey, competitors or predators. These limitations are especially prevalent for imperiled species. Here, the majority of SDMs omit biotic factors, even though their inclusion could provide substantial insight about the prevalence of antagonistic or synergistic interactions and their effect on species persistence. We evaluate whether the inclusion of biotic factors can increase the predictive validity of SDMs at multiple scales, focusing on whether biotic factors lead to new hypotheses about structuring influences of Lake Chubsucker (Erimyzon sucetta), an endangered warm water fish found in coastal wetlands of the lower Great Lakes.