Kelly Sparks
Contact information:
Education:
BS Wildlife Biology - Southeast Missouri State University
Research:
Supervisor: Stephen Peake
Started: January 2009
My proposed study area is a 41 km impounded section of the Winnipeg River between Slave Falls Generating Station upstream and Seven Sisters Generating Station downstream. A high abundance of juveniles and low abundance of adult lake sturgeon suggests that a recruitment bottleneck may exist between the juvenile and adult phase in this population. The general objective of this study will be to address these uncertainties by focusing on the sub-adult phase of lake sturgeon in this population and attempt to determine the fate of these fish once they leave the nursery areas and begin the transition to reproductive adults.
The objectives of this study are to (1) collect additional size at age data on juvenile lake sturgeon to strengthen observed relationships between density and growth, (2) use existing historical age/length relationships for adults to determine if there is evidence that adult recruitment is influenced by juvenile growth rate and therefore density, (3) collect data on sub-adult age/length that will allow information on abundance to determine if a recruitment bottleneck is occurring at this phase, and (4) fill behavioural and ecological knowledge gaps for sub-adult lake sturgeon.
