Donald Pereira

My research efforts are divided between Minnesota's large walleye lakes and other water bodies, including smaller lakes as well as large rivers. On the large walleye lakes, I am studying recruitment mechanisms of percid fishes, primarily walleye and yellow perch. I am assisting with the development of management regimes to control harvest. My large lake research also entails a variety of modeling methodologies, including simulation and operational models to evaluate management strategies. I maintain an interest in climate effects on fish dynamics, and I plan to continue my earlier work on freshwater drum dynamics by estimating growth and recruitment chronologies for this species (i.e., biochronology) from a variety of sites and at several spatial scales.

I am also developing new interests in watershed management and restoration. One of my current research projects involves development of an index of biotic integrity for lakes, and will use the stateÍs extensive fish community database. Future research may involve development of spatially explicit models to assist watershed management programs; these models may be used heuristically to compare metropolitan area as needed to protect water quality.