The inclusion of sublethal behavioral effects in population models has predicted lower estimates of cohort abundance and survival. Methylmercury, a persistent contaminant in the Great Lakes, has been shown to alter foraging and predator avoidance behaviors of larval Yellow Perch Perca flavescens, which may have indirect effects on recruitment. Poor recruitment of Yellow Perch in Lake Michigan has been associated with changes in trophic structure and adverse habitat conditions, but the potential effects of contaminants have not been fully explored. To test this, we adapted existing larval fish individual‐based models to incorporate laboratory‐derived methylmercury behavioral impairments on a larval Yellow Perch cohort in Lake Michigan. Overall, swimming speed reductions following methylmercury exposure did not drastically affect cohort survival. In contrast, the impairment to prey capture success resulted in an additional 8, 45, and 28% starvation of the cohort in simulations with tissue concentrations of 0.21, 0.95, and 3.14 μg/g total mercury whole‐embryo wet weight, respectively. While our experimental methylmercury concentrations were higher than those typically found in Lake Michigan, our findings suggest that contaminants could be an additional factor impacting recruitment of Yellow Perch in systems highly contaminated with mercury.

中文翻译：

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使用基于个体的模型探索密歇根湖幼虫黄鲈中甲基汞诱导的行为变化的影响

在人群模型中纳入亚致死行为的影响预示着队列丰富度和生存率的估计值较低。甲基汞是五大湖中的一种持久性污染物，已被证明能改变幼体黄鲈（Perka flavescens）的觅食和捕食行为，这可能对招聘产生间接影响。密歇根湖黄鲈的募集不良与营养结构的变化和不利的生境条件有关，但尚未充分探索污染物的潜在影响。为了测试这一点，我们对现有的幼虫个体模型进行了调整，以将实验室衍生的甲基汞行为障碍纳入密歇根湖幼体黄鲈种群中。总体而言，甲基汞暴露后游泳速度的降低并没有严重影响队列的生存。相比之下，在模拟中，猎物捕获成功的障碍导致该队列的饥饿人数分别增加了8％，45％和28％，组织总汞全胚湿重分别为0.21、0.95和3.14μg/ g。