A bioenergetics model for zander Sander lucioperca was constructed using data from respirometer and feeding experiments to estimate temperature and mass‐specific functions of metabolic and food consumption (C) rates. Other parameters were taken from the literature. The model, together with a previously published model for walleyes S. vitreus (Kitchell et al. 1977) and its modification for zander (Salonen et al. 1996), was validated with independent feeding experiments in the laboratory and was field evaluated in two lakes by using mercury (Hg) as a marker. Both validation procedures gave high modeling efficiency, indicating that the model was able to predict zander C under field conditions. The effect of uncertainty in 29 input parameters on Hg concentration and C was estimated using the Latin hybercube sampling technique (a modified Monte Carlo approach that uses a form of stratified sampling). The simulation results showed that our model was rather insensitive to given uncertainties in input parameters. Parameters in respiration function were responsible for producing the highest uncertainty for C. Parameters in Hg balance model produced the highest uncertainty for Hg concentration. Furthermore, both output variables were sensitive to the activity multiplier, which supported earlier results on the central role of activity in bioenergetics models. The field test of our model with different growth rates and Hg concentrations indicated that in the long term, our experimentally measured routine metabolic rate satisfactorily described the activity of fish in the field. The original walleye model and its revision for zander underestimated zander C relative to the bioenergetics model developed here. Our new model offers a validated tool for estimating C and trophic impact of the zander population.

Publications with shared reference:

0 publications found