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Environmental Sciences

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

2004

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Relationship Between Lake-Record Weights Of Fishes And Reservoir Area And Growing Season, Gene R. Wilde, Kevin L. Pope Jan 2004

Relationship Between Lake-Record Weights Of Fishes And Reservoir Area And Growing Season, Gene R. Wilde, Kevin L. Pope

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

We used information from an angler recognition program to assess the relationship between lake-record weights of freshwater fishes captured by Texas anglers and two predictors of fish production and growth: reservoir surface area and growing-season length. The lake-record weights of two species, largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides and flathead catfish Pylodictis olivaris, were directly related to the logarithm of surface area. The record weights of all species studied were unrelated to growing-season length. Regardless of the statistical significance of individual correlations, there was a significant excess of positive correlations across all species between lake-record weights of fish and log surface area. …


Effect Of Catch-And-Release Angling On Growth Of Largemouth Bass, Micropterus Salmoides, K. L. Pope, G. R. Wilde Jan 2004

Effect Of Catch-And-Release Angling On Growth Of Largemouth Bass, Micropterus Salmoides, K. L. Pope, G. R. Wilde

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Catch-and-release angling is popular in many parts of the world and plays an increasingly important role in management of recreational fisheries. Although the magnitude of catch-and-release mortality is well documented for many species, potential sublethal effects have been little studied. An experiment was conducted to assess directly the effects of catch-and-release angling on growth of largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides Lacépède. Angling mortality was 0.00 ± 0.092% for largemouth bass caught on plastic grubs. There was no difference (P = 0.57) in weight gain between caught and uncaught fish over a 40-day angling and recovery period. Although catch-and-release angling appears to …


Age-Specific Patterns In Density-Dependent Growth Of White Crappie, Pomoxis Annularis, K. L. Pope, G. R. Wilde, B. W. Durham Jan 2004

Age-Specific Patterns In Density-Dependent Growth Of White Crappie, Pomoxis Annularis, K. L. Pope, G. R. Wilde, B. W. Durham

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

The relationship between growth in white crappie, Pomoxis annularis Rafinesque, and climate, lake morphometry and population density was studied in 103 Texas reservoirs. Growth of age-0 through age-3 white crappie was significantly (P≤ 0.05) related to latitude, growing season and surface area. Growth of age-1 through age-5 white crappie also was related to annual precipitation. Multiple linear regression models with precipitation and mean catch per unit effort (CPUE) of white crappie as independent variables explained 14–22% of the variation in growth of age-0, -1 and -2 white crappie. By contrast, growth of age-3, -4 and -5 white crappie was unrelated …


Anglers’ Probabilities Of Catching Record-Size Fish, Gene R. Wilde, Kevin L. Pope Jan 2004

Anglers’ Probabilities Of Catching Record-Size Fish, Gene R. Wilde, Kevin L. Pope

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Most state fishery management agencies publish lists of the largest (e.g., 10, 25, and 50) specimens of each species captured by anglers. We fitted normal
distributions for smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu and striped bass Morone saxatilis and a mixture of two normal distributions of largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides to the length of time that individual fish had been present on lists of the largest 50 specimens of each species caught by Texas anglers using rod and reel. In any given year, there is only a probability (p) of 0.102 that a largemouth bass large enough to make the recordweight list …


Red Imported Fire Ant Impacts On Wildlife: A Decade Of Research, C. R. Allen, D. M. Epperson, A. S. Garmestani Jan 2004

Red Imported Fire Ant Impacts On Wildlife: A Decade Of Research, C. R. Allen, D. M. Epperson, A. S. Garmestani

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

The negative impacts of biological invasion are economically and ecologically significant and, while incompletely quantified, they are clearly substantial. Ants (family Formicidae) are an important, although often overlooked, component of many terrestrial ecosystems. Six species of ants are especially striking in their global ability to invade, and their impacts. This paper focuses on the impacts of the most destructive of those species, the red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta), and focuses on impacts on native vertebrates. Red imported fire ants often become the dominant ant species in infested areas outside of their native range due to their aggressive …