Recent advancements in telemetry have allowed managers and researchers to conduct comprehensive studies on the movement ecology of lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens), a species of conservation concern in most of the Laurentian Great Lakes basin. In Michigan waters of Lake Michigan, drowned river mouth systems (a protected lake‐like habitat that connects a river to lake) support 4 of 11 remaining lake sturgeon populations. One of those remnant populations is supported by the Muskegon River, a drowned river mouth system consisting of both Muskegon Lake and the Muskegon River. The objectives of this 6‐year telemetry study were to determine whether adult lake sturgeon occupied the Muskegon River system outside of the spawning season (defined as March to July), to quantify their use of the system annually, and to identify and characterize patterns in occurrence. A total of 21 adult lake sturgeon implanted with acoustic transmitters were passively monitored throughout the year during 2012–2017. Eighty‐two percent of tagged fish at large were detected ≥1 day in the Muskegon River system annually, and tagged lake sturgeon were frequently detected during both spawning and non‐spawning time periods. Residency index (i.e., no. detection days/365 days) values indicated that adult lake sturgeon were not only detected throughout the year but that they occupied the Muskegon River system for an average of 130 days each year (residency index = 0.36 ± 0.05 SE) during our most spatially intensive acoustic monitoring in 2016–2017. Additionally, 24% of tagged lake sturgeon were primary residents (i.e., residency index >0.5) of the Muskegon River system in both years. Adult lake sturgeon followed 1 of 3 patterns of occurrence based on individual detection histories, and those patterns varied temporally and by the relative amount of use (i.e., high, medium, and low). Our findings build on previous research that found drowned river mouth systems in Lake Michigan can be important nursery habitats for juvenile lake sturgeon by showing that these habitats also can be used extensively by adult lake sturgeon throughout the year.

中文翻译：

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成年的st鱼（Acipenser fulvescens Rafinesque，1817）发生在美国密歇根湖淹死的河口马斯基根河系中

遥测技术的最新进展使管理人员和研究人员能够对st鱼的运动生态学进行全面的研究（Acipenser fulvescens），这是劳伦式大湖流域大部分地区的保护重点物种。在密歇根湖的密歇根州水域，淹没的河口系统（连接河流和湖泊的受保护的类似湖的栖息地）为11个剩余的st鱼种群提供了支持。这些残余人口之一得到了马斯基根河的支持，马斯基根河是一个淹没的河口系统，由马斯基根湖和马斯基根河组成。这项为期6年的遥测研究的目标是确定成年lake鱼是否在产卵季节（定义为3月至7月）之外占领了马斯基根河系统，每年对它们的使用进行量化，并确定并表征了发生。在2012-2017年期间，全年共对21具植入声发射器的成年湖st进行了被动监测。每年在马斯基根河系统中检测到≥1天的有标签鱼的数量为82％，并且在产卵期和非产卵期都经常检测到有标签的lake鱼。居住指数（即，检测天数/ 365天）值表明，不仅全年都检测到成年lake鱼，而且它们平均每年在马斯基根河系统中占据130天（居住指数= 0.36±0.05 SE ）在2016-2017年进行的空间密集度最高的声学监测中。另外，在这两年中，有标签的lake鱼中有24％是马斯基根河系统的主要居民（即居住指数> 0.5）。成年lake鱼遵循三种检测模式中的一种，这是根据个人的检测历史而定的，这些模式随时间和使用的相对量（即高，中，低）。我们的发现基于先前的研究，发现密歇根湖淹没的河口系统可能是幼年lake鱼重要的苗圃栖息地，这表明成年lake鱼也可以广泛使用这些栖息地。