New article: “Juvenile and Adult Three-Spined Sticklebacks Exhibit Different Habitat Use in Shallow Baltic Sea Bays”
The spiggen prioritizes different environmental factors at various stages of its development. While young spiggens are more commonly found in various types of vegetation, older spiggens appear to prioritize access to invertebrate prey. This is shown in a new article—co-funded by Blå mat—by doctoral student Chiara D’Agata of Uppsala University and Thomas Staveley of SLU.
The study was conducted in shallow Baltic Sea bays by counting gudgeon and other fish of various sizes to determine their abundance in relation to various environmental factors. Where there was more vegetation of various types, there were also more young gudgeon, even when the availability of prey was lower. For older gudgeons, there was no correlation with vegetation; however, they were more likely to be found in areas with more prey.
In recent decades, the abundance of stickleback has increased significantly in the Baltic Sea, at the expense of predatory fish such as pike and perch. Much is known about the stickleback, but there are still gaps in our knowledge, including how it utilizes different habitats. The current study helps to fill that knowledge gap and is part of Chiara D’Agata’s doctoral dissertation, which she will defend on August 28 of this year.