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Population Structure And Habitat Use Of Bluegill In The Upper Mississippi River, Ethan Allyn Rutledge

MSU Graduate Theses

Fish populations are driven by the dynamic rate functions (i.e., recruitment, growth, and mortality). Knowledge of these vital rates can provide critical information to determine spatiotemporal population-level changes in the system. Therefore, understanding these vital rates are important in the proper management of any fishery. Anthropogenic modifications to the environment have had damaging effects on the organisms within these ecosystems. Specific to Upper Mississippi River fishes, channelization, dams, and loss of floodplain connectivity have all been purported as deleterious. In the face of these modifications, understanding habitat use and vital rates of individual species is needed to help guide management …