A new article in Aquatic Conservation from the Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology Laboratory at Carleton University reports on research funded by the RLEF (Dusevic et al., 2024).
Fish sanctuaries on Big Rideau Lake and two neighbouring lakes benefit a much wider range of wildlife than they were designed to protect.
The five sanctuaries studied were established in the 1940s to give largemouth bass a protected place to breed, free from recreational fishing. Camera traps and boat surveys along the sanctuary shorelines recorded 61 species of birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles; this was significantly more than in comparable unprotected areas on the same lakes. Three species of conservation concern — golden eagle, black tern and snapping turtle — were found only inside the sanctuaries.
The likely explanation? Sanctuaries have less cottage development, less boat traffic, and more intact shoreline vegetation than the rest of the lake. That combination of factors results in lower human disturbance and higher habitat complexity, and appears to benefit a broad range of species, not just fish.
The authors note that this “umbrella effect,” where protecting one species ends up sheltering many others, was entirely unintentional. While sanctuaries may not have been designed with broader biodiversity in mind, but they delivered it anyway.
Full citation: Dusevic MR, Etherington BS, Twardek WM, Lepine T, Zolderdo AJ, Gallagher AJ, Peiman K, Cooke SJ. Freshwater fish sanctuaries provide benefits for riparian wildlife. Aquatic Conserv: Mar Freshw Ecosyst. 2024;34:e4232. https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.4232