Brian C Weidel, PhD
Brian Weidel is a research fishery biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey Great Lakes Science Center where he leads collaborative research on prey fishes and native fish restoration ecology.
Brian works with state and provincial agencies in Lake Ontario to annually assess prey fish stocks, like Alewife, which informs the decisions that sustain that lake’s world class trout and salmon fisheries. Brian’s research also addresses prey fish conservation for species like Deepwater Sculpin, a bottom-dwelling fish that inhabits depths from 80 – 240 meters (165-792 feet) and is prey for native predators including Burbot and Lake Trout. This species was likely extirpated from Lake Ontario for decades, but the research done by Brian and colleagues has documented the remarkable natural recovery of the species. Most recently Brian joined a multi-agency international effort to study and restore Great Lakes fishes from the genus Coregonus. Populations of Cisco, Lake Whitefish, and Bloater were among the Great Lakes’ most abundant fishes prior to European colonization and supported critical fisheries; but human driven changes have caused extirpations and population declines. Brian’s research is among the to quantify how habitats and conditions influence incubation success for these species that spawn in late fall and winter and emerge from the lake bottom substrates just after ice out. Research teams are evaluating the efficacy of rehabilitating lake spawning habitat substrates for improving reproduction and evaluating these actions as potential tools for coregonine restoration and conservation.
Professional Experience
Research Fishery Biologist, United States Geological Survey, Great Lakes Science Center, Lake Ontario Biological Station, 2010 – present
Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Wisconsin, Madison 2009 - 2010
Graduate Research Assistant, University of Wisconsin, Madison 2005 - 2008
Graduate Research Assistant, Cornell University, Department of Natural Resources, 2000 - 2003
Research Assistant, Cornell University, Adirondack Fishery Research Program, 1998 - 2000
Research Assistant, Cornell University, Cornell Biological Field Station, 1997 - 1998
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. in Limnology and Marine Science, Center for Limnology, Univerisity of Wisconsin-Madison, 2009
M.S. in Natural Resources, Department of Natural Resources, Cornell University, 2003
B.S. in Natural Resources, Department of Natural Resources, Cornell University, 1997
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Habitat, not resource availability, limits consumer production in lake ecosystems
Natural trophic variability in a large, oligotrophic, near-pristine lake
Ecosystem consequences of changing inputs of terrestrial dissolved organic matter to lakes: current knowledge and future challenges
2014 status of the Lake Ontario lower trophic levels
Lake Ontario benthic prey fish assessment, 2014
Fish community dynamics following dam removal in a fragmented agricultural stream
Lake Ontario zooplankton in 2003 and 2008: Community changes and vertical redistribution
The offshore benthic fish community
Spatial extent and dissipation of the deep chlorophyll layer in Lake Ontario during the Lake Ontario lower foodweb assessment, 2003 and 2008
Offshore pelagic fish community
Dissolved organic carbon concentration controls benthic primary production: results from in situ chambers in north-temperate lakes
Great Lakes prey fish populations: a cross-basin overview of status and trends based on bottom trawl surveys, 1978-2013
Non-USGS Publications**
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
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Filter Total Items: 112Habitat, not resource availability, limits consumer production in lake ecosystems
Food web productivity in lakes can be limited by dissolved organic carbon (DOC), which reduces fish production by limiting the abundance of their zoobenthic prey. We demonstrate that in a set of 10 small, north temperate lakes spanning a wide DOC gradient, these negative effects of high DOC concentrations on zoobenthos production are driven primarily by availability of warm, well-oxygenated habitaAuthorsNicola Craig, Stuart E. Jones, Brian C. Weidel, Christopher T. SolomonNatural trophic variability in a large, oligotrophic, near-pristine lake
Conclusions drawn from stable isotope data can be limited by an incomplete understanding of natural isotopic variability over time and space. We quantified spatial and temporal variability in fish carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes in Lake Hövsgöl, Mongolia, a large, remote, oligotrophic lake with an unusually species-poor fish community. The fish community demonstrated a high degree of trophic lAuthorsTalia Young, Olaf P. Jensen, Brian C. Weidel, Sudeep ChandraEcosystem consequences of changing inputs of terrestrial dissolved organic matter to lakes: current knowledge and future challenges
Lake ecosystems and the services that they provide to people are profoundly influenced by dissolved organic matter derived from terrestrial plant tissues. These terrestrial dissolved organic matter (tDOM) inputs to lakes have changed substantially in recent decades, and will likely continue to change. In this paper, we first briefly review the substantial literature describing tDOM effects on lakeAuthorsChristopher T. Solomon, Stuart E. Jones, Brian C. Weidel, Ishi Buffam, Megan L. Fork, Jan Karlsson, Soren Larsen, Jay T. Lennon, Jordan S. Read, Steven Sadro, Jasmine E. Saros2014 status of the Lake Ontario lower trophic levels
Soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) concentrations have been stable in nearshore and offshore habitats since 1998 (0.4 – 3.3 μg/L). SRP concentrations were low in 2014; Apr/May – Oct mean values were <1 μg/L at most sites. Spring TP concentrations at individual sites exceeded 10 μg/L on occasion, but spring means were below the 10 μg/L target set by the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement of 1978 foAuthorsKristen T. Holeck, Lars G. Rudstam, Christopher Hotaling, Russ D. McCullough, Dave Lemon, Web Pearsall, Jana Lantry, Michael J. Connerton, Steve LaPan, Zy Biesinger, Brian F. Lantry, Maureen Walsh, Brian C. WeidelLake Ontario benthic prey fish assessment, 2014
Benthic prey fishes are an important component of the Lake Ontario fish community and serve as vectors that move energy from benthic invertebrates into native and introduced sport fishes. Since the 1970’s, the USGS Lake Ontario Biological Station has assessed benthic fish populations and community dynamics with bottom trawls at depths ranging from 8 m out to depths of 150-225 m along the south andAuthorsBrian C. Weidel, Maureen WalshFish community dynamics following dam removal in a fragmented agricultural stream
Habitat fragmentation impedes dispersal of aquatic fauna, and barrier removal is increasingly used to increase stream network connectivity and facilitate fish dispersal. Improved understanding of fish community response to barrier removal is needed, especially in fragmented agricultural streams where numerous antiquated dams are likely destined for removal. We examined post-removal responses in twAuthorsMatthew Kornis, Brian C. Weidel, Stephens Powers, Matthew W. Diebel, Timpthy Cline, Justin Fox, James F. KitchellLake Ontario zooplankton in 2003 and 2008: Community changes and vertical redistribution
Lake-wide zooplankton surveys are critical for documenting and understanding food web responses to ecosystem change. Surveys in 2003 and 2008 during the binational intensive field year in Lake Ontario found that offshore epilimnetic crustacean zooplankton declined by a factor of 12 (density) and factor of 5 (biomass) in the summer with smaller declines in the fall. These declines coincided with anAuthorsLars G. Rudstam, Kristen T. Holeck, Kelly L. Bowen, James M. Watkins, Brian C. Weidel, Frederick J. LuckeyThe offshore benthic fish community
Lake Ontario’s offshore benthic fish community includes primarily slimy sculpin, lake whitefish, rainbow smelt, lake trout, burbot, and sea lamprey. Of these, lake trout have been the focus of an international restoration effort for more than three decades (Elrod et al. 1995; Lantry and Lantry 2008). The deepwater sculpin and three species of deepwater ciscoes (Coregonus spp.) that were historicalAuthorsBrian F. Lantry, Jana R. Lantry, Brian C. Weidel, Maureen Walsh, James A. Hoyle, Teodore Schaner, Fraser B. Neave, Michael KeirSpatial extent and dissipation of the deep chlorophyll layer in Lake Ontario during the Lake Ontario lower foodweb assessment, 2003 and 2008
Increasing water clarity in Lake Ontario has led to a vertical redistribution of phytoplankton and an increased importance of the deep chlorophyll layer in overall primary productivity. We used in situ fluorometer profiles collected in lakewide surveys of Lake Ontario in 2008 to assess the spatial extent and intensity of the deep chlorophyll layer. In situ fluorometer data were corrected with extrAuthorsJ. M. Watkins, Brian M. Weidel, L. G. Rudstam, K. T. HolekOffshore pelagic fish community
Lake Ontario’s offshore zone, as defined by Stewart et al. (2013), comprises all waters of the lake where the bottom depth is greater than 15 m excluding those in embayments. When the lake is thermally stratified during June-October, the offshore pelagic zone includes the upper-warm and middle-cool layers of water which serve as important habitat for Alewife and other prey fishes, and for predatorAuthorsMichael Connerton, Jana Lantry, Maureen Walsh, M. E. Daniels, James Hoyle, James Bowlby, James H. Johnson, Daniel Bishop, Ted SchanerDissolved organic carbon concentration controls benthic primary production: results from in situ chambers in north-temperate lakes
We evaluated several potential drivers of primary production by benthic algae (periphyton) in north-temperate lakes. We used continuous dissolved oxygen measurements from in situ benthic chambers to quantify primary production by periphyton at multiple depths across 11 lakes encompassing a broad range of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and total phosphorous (TP) concentrations. Light-use efficiencyAuthorsSean C. Godwin, Stuart E. Jones, Brian C. Weidel, Christopher T. SolomonGreat Lakes prey fish populations: a cross-basin overview of status and trends based on bottom trawl surveys, 1978-2013
The assessment of Great Lakes prey fish stocks have been conducted annually with bottom trawls since the 1970s by the Great Lakes Science Center, sometimes assisted by partner agencies. These stock assessments provide data on the status and trends of prey fish that are consumed by important commercial and recreational fishes. Although all these annual surveys are conducted using bottom trawls, theAuthorsOwen T. Gorman, Brian C. WeidelNon-USGS Publications**
Weidel, B. C., S.R. Carpenter, J.F. Kitchell, M.J. Vander Zanden. 2011. Rates and components of carbon turnover in fish muscle: insights from bioenergetics models and a whole-lake 13C addition. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 68:387-399.Tetzlaff, J.C., Roth, B.R., Weidel, B.M., and J.F. Kitchell. 2011. Predation by native sunfishes (Lepomis spp.) on the invasive crayfish Orconectes rusticus in four northern Wisconsin lakes. Ecology of Freshwater Fish. 20:133-143.Carpenter, S.R., J.J. Cole, M.L. Pace, R.D. Batt, W.A. Brock, T. Cline, J. Coloso, J.R. Hodgson, J.F. Kitchell, D.A. Seekell, L. Smith and B. Weidel. 2011. Early warnings of regime shifts: A whole-ecosystem experiment. Science 332: 1079-1082.Robinson, J.M., D.C Josephson, B.C. Weidel and C.E. Kraft. 2010. Influence of variable interannual summer water temperatures on brook trout growth, consumption, reproduction, and mortality in an unstratified Adirondack lake. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 139:685-699.Solomon, C.T., J. Cole, R. Doucett, M. Pace, N. Preston, L. Smith, and B. Weidel. 2009. The influence of dietary water on the hydrogen stable isotope ratio in aquatic consumers. Oecologia 161:313-324.Jensen, O., D. Gilroy, Z. Hogan, B. Allen, T. Hrabik, B. Weidel, S. Chandra, and M.J. Vander Zanden, 2009. Evaluating recreational fisheries for an endangered species: a case study of taimen, Hucho taimen, in Mongolia. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 66:1707-1718.Biggs, R., Diebel, M., Gilroy, D., Kamarainen, A., Kornis, M., Preston, N., Schmitz, J. Uejio, C., Van De Bogert, M., Weidel, B., West, P., Zaks, D. and S. Carpenter 2009. Preparing for the future: Teaching scenario planning at the graduate level. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.Weidel, B., S. Carpenter, J. Cole, J. Hodgson, Kitchell, M. Pace, and C. Solomon. 2008 Carbon sources supporting fish growth in a north temperate lake. Aquatic Sciences. 70: 446-458.Zipkin, E., Sullivan, P., Cooch, E., Kraft, C., Shuter, B., Weidel, B. 2008. Overcompensatory response of a smallmouth bass population to harvest: release from competition? Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Society 65:2279-2292.Josephson, D., J. Robinson, B. Weidel and C. Kraft. 2008. Long-term retention and visibility of visible implant elastomer tags in brook trout. North American Journal of Fisheries Management. 28:1758-1761.Weidel, B., Ushikubo, T., Carpenter, S., Kita, N., Cole, J., Kitchell, J., Pace M., Valley, J. 2007. Diary of a bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus): daily δ13C and δ18O records in otoliths by ion microprobe. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 64:1641-1645.Pace, M.L., S.R. Carpenter, J.J. Cole, J.J. Coloso, J.F. Kitchell, J.R. Hodgson, J.J. Middelburg, N.D. Preston, C.T. Solomon, and B.C. Weidel. 2007. Does terrestrial organic carbon subsidize the planktonic food web in a clear-water lake? Limnology and Oceanography 52: 2177-2189.Weidel, B.C., Josephson, D.C., and Kraft, C.E. 2007. Fish community response to removal of introduced smallmouth bass in an oligotrophic Adirondack lake. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 178: 778-789Lepak, J.M., C.E. Kraft, and B.C. Weidel. 2006. Rapid food web recovery in response to removal of an introduced apex predator. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 63: 569-575.Weidel, B.C., D.C. Josephson, C.C. Krueger. 2000. Diet and prey selection of naturalized smallmouth bass in an oligotrophic Adirondack lake. J. Freshwater Ecol. 15:411-420.Cline, T., D. Seekell, S. Carpenter, J. Hodgson, J. Kitchell, M.L. Pace, B. Weidel. 2014. Early warnings of regime shifts: evaluation of spatial indicators from a whole‐ecosystem experiment. Ecosphere 5(8).Cline, T.J., B.C. Weidel, J.F. Kitchell, and J.R. Hodgson. 2012. Growth response of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) to catch-and-release angling: a 27-year mark-recapture study. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 69:224-230. 10.1139/f2011-150.Ahrenstorff, T.D., O.P. Jensen, B.C. Weidel, B. Mendsaikhan, and T.R. Hrabik. 2012. Abundance, spatial distribution, and diet of endangered Hovsgol grayling (Thymallus nigrescens). Environmental Biology of Fishes.Tetzlaff, J.C., Roth, B.R., Weidel, B.M., and J.F. Kitchell. 2011. Predation by native sunfishes (Lepomis spp.) on the invasive crayfish Orconectes rusticus in four northern Wisconsin lakes. Ecology of Freshwater Fish. 20:133-143.**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
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