Very good points Snipe.

Understanding changes in the food web (not a chain as it is not a straight line link to link concept) is very complicated. Each one is different and "it depends" is most obvious in this area of management.

What you are referencing is - Trophic cascade, an ecological phenomenon triggered by the addition or removal of top predators and involving reciprocal changes in the relative populations of predator and prey through a food web, which often results in dramatic changes in ecosystem structure and nutrient cycling.

Snipe says " One thing I feel fairly confident in saying is that the younger the fish the more diverse it's diet is, which I can also say with some certainty that as a fish grows, it "can" and usually does begin to use prey items that are not as frequently used by smaller fish. Behavior and patterns change and I am no expert at putting my fingers on that in this case."

Most species are opportunist feeders - they eat what the can. Some are limited by physiology others are more generalists. Lots of variables there. Also time is a critical element - some species at a certain time (usually as yoy fish) are dependent on the hatch of a specific food source (plankton/fish). If that food source is not there or late a whole year class of the feeding fish can be decimated. Crappie are known for large shifts in population structure , spawning success and reproduction. That is why they are usually not suggested for ponds.

Last edited by ewest; 08/05/20 11:13 AM.