Three Presentations: 1) Climate Change Decreasing Diversity of Fishing Opportunities 2) Overview of Environmental Risks Neonicotinoid Insecticides Pose to WI's Aquatic Ecosystems 3) Climate Change is Altering Lake Ice Phenology and Affecting WI Fisheries
Stream: Wildlife/Fish/Natural History
10:40 AM - 12:00 PMThu
Expo 2
Climate ChangeStream: Wildlife/Fish/Natural History
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Presentation #1: Climate Change Decreases the Diversity of Fishing Opportunities in Wisconsin: What Can We Do About It?
(Topic: CC)
Wisconsin’s cherished fisheries depend on fishes adapted to thrive in our lakes. Temperature is a ‘master factor’ that structures fish communities, but Wisconsin’s lake temperatures are warming. As they get warmer, certain fish populations may become threatened or disappear. I will share analyses of climate change and its effects on projected lake temperatures, and how those shifts will affect Wisconsin’s lake classes. A lake classification system was recently developed by the Wisconsin DNR Bureau of Fisheries Management, and groups together similar lake habitats that support similar fisheries. Each lake class represents certain fishing opportunities that are well-suited for that habitat – for instance, action walleye lakes, or trophy muskellunge lakes. I will show how the diversity of fishing opportunities will decrease, making some types of fishing rarer and harder to access. Finally, I will share ideas for how to respond to this landscape-level change to best conserve diversity in fishing opportunities.
Presenter: Alexander Latzka
Presentation #2: Overview of Environmental Risks Neonicotinoid Insecticides Pose to Wisconsin's Aquatic Ecosystems
Neonicotinoids are the most widely used insecticides both in Wisconsin and globally. Over 500 different products labeled for use in Wisconsin contain “neonics,” and the quantities used are not accurately tracked. The vast majority of neonic usage in the Upper Midwest is for treating corn and soybean seeds prior to planting, despite an increasing number of studies showing little or no improvements in crop yields associated with these seed treatments. Neonics are highly toxic to many invertebrate species and have been implicated in honeybee colony collapse and for vast reductions in many other terrestrial and aquatic insect populations. Neonics are found in Wisconsin’s surface waters at concentrations shown in laboratory studies to be chronically or acutely toxic to numerous aquatic insect species.
Presenter: Michael Miller
Presentation #3: Climate Change is Altering Lake Ice Phenology and Affecting Wisconsin Fisheries
(Topic: CC)
Climate change is influencing the timing of ecological events (in other words, their phenology) in natural systems throughout Wisconsin. In lakes, the timing of important events like ice off, fish spawning, and plankton blooms are not only shifting earlier; they are also becoming much more unpredictable in their phenology from year to year. Such variability has the potential to alter lake habitats, change food web connections, and impact fish recruitment. Here, we discuss trends and variability in ice-off dates in Wisconsin lakes and the potential for these climate-induced changes to influence spawn timing in walleye and subsequent food web mismatches that may negatively influence walleye recruitment.
Presenter: Zachary Feiner