Effects of Climate and Human Aquatic Activity on Early Life-history Traits in Fish

Who-Seung Lee
2013 Korean Journal of Lomnology  
Environmental condition can induce changes in early life-history traits in order to maximise the ecological fitness. Here I investigated how temperature change and variation in human aquatic activity/behaviour affect early life-history consequences in fish using a dynamic-state-dependent model. In this study, I developed a general fish's life-history model including three life-history states depend-ing on foraging activity, such as body mass, mass of reproductive tissue (i.e., gonadal
more » ... t) and accumulated stress (i.e., cellular or physiological damage). I assumed the level of foraging activity maximises reproductive success-ultimately, fitness. The model predicts that growth rate, development of reproductive tissues and damage accumulation are greater in higher temperature whereas higher human aquatic activity rapidly reduced the growth rate and development of reproductive tissue and increased damage accumulation. While higher foraging activity in higher temperature is less affected by human aquatic activity, the foraging activity in lower temperature rapidly declined with human aquatic activity. Moreover, lower survival rate in higher temperature or human aquatic activity was independent on mortality rate due to human aquatic activity or mortality rate when foraging activity, respectively. However, the survival rate in lower temperature or human aquatic activity was dependent on these mortality rates. My findings suggest that including of early life-history traits in relation to climate-change and human aquatic activity on the analysis may improve conservation plan and health assessment in aquatic ecosystem.
doi:10.11614/ksl.2013.46.3.395 fatcat:vlxnp6di65cghmrojhwta2o3ze