Initial Insights on the Thermal Ecology of Lake Whitefish in Northwestern Lake Michigan

Abstract

Lake whitefish (LWF) Coregonus clupeaformis are a coldwater species native to the Great Lakes that support important fisheries in many parts of the basin. Sustainability of LWF stocks may be threatened by climate-induced changes in thermal habitat availability. Potential loss of thermal habitat could be particularly important in the warm, shallow waters of southern Green Bay, Lake Michigan. Current predictions of how LWF may respond to changes in water temperature are based on temperature ranges defined from laboratory studies. Prior research describing the temperatureuse of LWF outside of the laboratory setting has been limited.