Carp Food Web

A spatially explicit modeling approach allows a more detailed look at the effects of asian carps on key members of the food web.

Carp food web. We used stable isotope analysis of carbon and nitrogen to compare food webs in sections of the illinois river with high and low densities of asian carps. Silver and bighead carp can dramatically alter the food web in aquatic ecosystems. Asian carp of all types have white firm mild flesh which is excellent table fare but all asian carp also have intramuscular bones in the filets that many people find undesirable. Their rapid population increase is disrupting the ecology and food web of the large rivers of the midwest.

In areas where asian carp are abundant they have harmed native fish communities and interfered with commercial and recreational fishing. Asian carp are in direct competition with native aquatic species for food and habitat. Almost nothing is known about the effects of different densities of common carp on pond ecology in the presence of planktivorous fish. Natural food grass carp are herbivorous and feed primarily on aquatic plants but also take insects and other invertebrates ni and wang 1999 and readily accept formulated pellets under culture conditions.

Our objectives were thus to determine the impacts of invasive asian carps on native fishes and aquatic food webs. Certainly this fish is a big one since it is the size and weight of a human child on average while sometimes weighing as much as an adult human. The carp will eat the fish at the bottom of the food chain leaving very little for other fish to eat. Most asian carp when introduced outside their native water in asia and india are invasive species and do great damage to the local food web.

Asian carp feed low on the food web are fast growing are low in fat in the filets and are not usually bottom feeders all properties of fish that are lower in contaminants. The mouth gape of larvae is small and pharyngeal teeth are not developed. Goldfish are one type of asian carp that are usually. Grass carp are often used for aquatic weed control george 1982.

Changes in food webs and to quantify the effects of the asian carp invasion. Impacts of asian carp on aquatic food webs are potentially complex and require spatially explicit models of trophic interactions to assess direct and indirect influences. Also asian carp reproduce quickly and are exceptionally fast swimmers. Considering both the positive and negative effects of common carp on nutrient and food web dynamics stocking density of common carp is important for understanding pond ecology.