Bluegill Life History Parameters Respond to Natural and Anthropogenic Environmental Gradients

Recreational fisheries are characterized by their complex interactions amongst natural systems, those who use them, and those who manage them (Ward et al. 2016). Fisheries provide an opportunity for individuals to interact with the natural world and generate direct economic benefits through the utilization of these systems. To maintain healthy populations, and have continued angler engagement, management decisions need to weigh the health of fisheries currently with the potential for impact of global change over time. The resilience and self-regulation of fisheries are influenced by outside forces interacting with them, such as anthropogenic and environmental changes to the ecosystem (Embke et al. 2019). Systems are subject to change naturally but can be hastened via changes in climate and external anthropogenic interactions (Drake et. al. 1997, Jacobson 2005, White, Colombo & Wahl 2020). Variation in life history can be a source of resiliency for inland fisheries. Given the potential for life history to act as source of resiliency for populations of fishes targeted in recreational fisheries, I investigated how environmental gradients can impact life history and energy allocation in a popular sport fish. I used a comparative study to address my central goals of 1. quantifying the extent of life history variation amongst Bluegill populations and 2. testing whether Bluegill life histories vary along environmental gradients, including harvest, productivity, and habitat.