About
[Intro] [Field Suveys] [Otolith Age & Growth] [Otolith Chemistry] [Gallery]
The Otolith Geochemistry & Fish Ecology Laboratory (“OG Fish Lab”, “OGFL”)
The OGFL @ UC Davis specializes in using otolith imaging & geochemical analyses and field surveys to examine growth rates, hatch distributions, movement patterns, life-history diversity, and geospatial distributions of exploited and endangered fishes across the San Francisco Estuary (CA, USA) and the globe. The OGFL is housed in the Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology, where field operations are based and laboratory processing of specimens and otoliths is conducted.
The OGFL partners with researchers at the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences to analyze the chemistry of calcified structures using laser-ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). Additional collaborators and science partners include a variety of departments across UC Davis, federal and state agencies, local municipalites, non-profit organizations, and environmental consulting firms.
The OGFL specializes in three primary methods of fisheries research:
Field Surveys & Monitoring
Field surveys focus on monitoring the distributions of larval, juvenile, and adult fishes and associated invertebrates in wetland habitats throughout the San Francisco Estuary using a variety of sampling gears. These surveys have facilitated the first regional comparisons of aquatic wetland communities across the Estuary, as well as the first regional assessment of the use of wetland habitats bay an endangered Longfin Smelt including habitat use, food availability, and reproduction.
Otolith Age & Growth
Otolith increment analyses focus on quantifying variation in hatch dates, growth rates, and age structure (daily and annual) of fishes across species, regions, habitats, years, and in relation to environmental variability. Otolith-based studies have documented the responses of species vital rates and phenology to variation in climate and help address how human impacts that are likely to have population-level consequences for imperiled populations.
Otolith Geochemistry
Geochemical studies of otoliths utilize lasers and mass spectrometers to quantify variation in elemental concentrations, strontium isotopes, and oxygen isotopes to retrace the natal origins and migratory behaviors of exploited and endangered fishes including White Sturgeon, Chinook Salmon, Longfin Smelt, and Delta Smelt. Results have documented diverse life histories expressed by each of these species, each with important implications for fisheries management, conservation, and water management in the San Francisco Estuary.
Image Gallery:
