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Assessing Forest Features And Nocturnal Flying Insect Diversity As Predictors Of Eastern Whip-Poor-Will Occupancy In Foraging Habitat, Clark D. Alexander Jan 2023

Assessing Forest Features And Nocturnal Flying Insect Diversity As Predictors Of Eastern Whip-Poor-Will Occupancy In Foraging Habitat, Clark D. Alexander

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Eastern whip-poor-will (Antrostomus vociferus), an insectivorous caprimulgid, have seen an approximate 2.76% annual population decrease since the 1960s, with their breeding and foraging ecology largely unknown due to their nocturnal and cryptic behavior. I conducted research to assess abiotic and biotic variables correlated with detection, and occupancy probability, and prey species diversity on ~104,000 hectares of forest in West Virginia, owned by the private timber company Weyerhaeuser. Previous literature indicates that Eastern whip-poor-will, and their prey, require ephemeral habitat such as recently cleared and early successional forests, like those historically created by forest fires, wind shears, hurricanes, and …


Emily Dickinson's Echology: A Listener's Reconceptualization Of Citizenship, Consciousness, And The World, Beth Ann Staley Jan 2019

Emily Dickinson's Echology: A Listener's Reconceptualization Of Citizenship, Consciousness, And The World, Beth Ann Staley

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

What I call Emily Dickinson’s “echology” combines the terms “echo” and “ecology” to understand how Dickinson’s work echoes – and is an echo – of the world and how, consequently, her work resides not just in her handwritten documents and their publication in various editions but in an ecology that’s tied to the earth that hosted her, the air that faced her, and the sea kept her listening. To assess the critical value of Dickinson’s echology, this dissertation begins by apprehending how the story of the echo is a story about sound masking, specifically about how the echo that is …


Adult Atlantic Sturgeon Population Dynamics In The York River, Virginia, Jason E. Kahn Jan 2019

Adult Atlantic Sturgeon Population Dynamics In The York River, Virginia, Jason E. Kahn

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Sturgeon first appear in the fossil record in the Triassic Period just over 200 million years ago and are among the most primitive of the bony fishes. Despite their large size and historic presence along the East Coast, Atlantic sturgeon were not targeted for their meat and caviar as a commercial fishery until 1880. By 1905 they had declined to less than one percent of their pre-fishing abundance but the fishery continued. Prior to 1980, there had been very little research on Atlantic sturgeon, primarily limited to documenting landing location and poundage, maximum longevity, or weight of eggs per fish. …


American Chestnut Soil Carbon And Nitrogen Dynamics: Implications For Ecosystem Response Following Restoration, Geoffrey W Schwaner Jan 2018

American Chestnut Soil Carbon And Nitrogen Dynamics: Implications For Ecosystem Response Following Restoration, Geoffrey W Schwaner

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

No abstract provided.


The Influence Of White-Tailed Deer On Plant Communities In West Virginia And Stakeholder Attitudes Toward Deer Management With Respect To Plant Conservation, Kelley Lynne Flaherty Dec 2014

The Influence Of White-Tailed Deer On Plant Communities In West Virginia And Stakeholder Attitudes Toward Deer Management With Respect To Plant Conservation, Kelley Lynne Flaherty

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) may impact plant species by reducing individual survival or reduce reproductive potential by feeding on flowering parts or seeds. Herbivory may benefit plant populations by increasing dispersal of seeds. The combination of these factors may influence the composition of native plant communities. The recovery of deer populations from near extirpation was seen as a wildlife management success story. However, the maintenance of abnormally high deer density levels over many years may have taken a toll on plant communities. Some biologists now question whether or not white-tailed deer could be considered overabundant in some parts of their …


Functional Equivalency Of Created And Natural Wetlands In The Central Appalachians: Reproductive Success, Call Phenology, And Diet Composition Of Amphibians, Gabriel F. Strain Aug 2014

Functional Equivalency Of Created And Natural Wetlands In The Central Appalachians: Reproductive Success, Call Phenology, And Diet Composition Of Amphibians, Gabriel F. Strain

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Evaluating the adequacy of created wetlands to replace the functions of lost natural wetlands is important because wetland mitigation is a major tool used to offset wetland losses. However, measurements such as vegetative cover and presence of wildlife may not provide sufficient evidence that created wetlands are functioning properly and thus examining the ecology of wetland biota such as that of amphibians may be a more useful surrogate for function. The objectives of this study were to assess the reproductive success, temporal calling patterns, and diet composition of amphibians inhabiting created wetlands relative to natural wetlands in order to facilitate …


Local And Regional Controls Of Brook Trout (Salvelinus Fontinalis) Metapopulation Dynamics Within A Complex Appalachian Riverscape, Brock Miles Huntsman May 2014

Local And Regional Controls Of Brook Trout (Salvelinus Fontinalis) Metapopulation Dynamics Within A Complex Appalachian Riverscape, Brock Miles Huntsman

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Brook trout have recently become a species of conservation focus due to their unique spatial structure and restricted thermal requirements. These life history characteristics make brook trout particularly vulnerable to major biodiversity threats, such as climate change and habitat loss. For appropriate conservation actions to be taken, it is imperative to identify the scale that limits brook trout productivity. The popular view of brook trout ecology indicates that populations exist as isolated fragments within watersheds, where productivity is concentrated in small, cold tributaries. This has led to management resources being allocated towards small tributaries with a goal to enhance local …


Modeling Migration And Citizen-Science Data To Estimate Golden Eagle Abundance In Eastern North America, Andrew J. Dennhardt May 2014

Modeling Migration And Citizen-Science Data To Estimate Golden Eagle Abundance In Eastern North America, Andrew J. Dennhardt

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Understanding animal movements is fundamental to ecology and conservation, yet direct measurement of movements of birds is both challenging and costly. Raptor populations are especially difficult to monitor, but movement models can provide information toward this goal. The golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos canadensis) in eastern North America is a species of regional conservation concern, and little is known about its population ecology, movements, or behavior. Because of their rarity and role as apex predators, improving monitoring of this small population is of great importance. Similar to using movement models to help improve monitoring, developing new methods to estimate the size …


Effects Of Culverts On Brook Trout Genetic Diversity, Darren M. Wood May 2014

Effects Of Culverts On Brook Trout Genetic Diversity, Darren M. Wood

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) are a species of concern within their native range due to a historical loss of habitat, overfishing, and stocking of non-native salmonids. Road culverts have been recognized as an additional impediment to population persistence as movement between diverse habitat types has been identified as an alternative life-history strategy to maximize spawning and growth. Brook trout were genetically analyzed using a suite of 13 microsatellite loci above 7 culverts with varying levels of passability classified through a physical protocol. While most sites were not found to have losses in genetic diversity, populations above culverts with a high …


The Effects Of Accelerated Soil Acidification On Aggrading Temperate Deciduous Forests: The Fernow Experimental Forest Long Term Soil Productivity (Ltsp) Study At 13 Years, Zachariah K. Fowler May 2014

The Effects Of Accelerated Soil Acidification On Aggrading Temperate Deciduous Forests: The Fernow Experimental Forest Long Term Soil Productivity (Ltsp) Study At 13 Years, Zachariah K. Fowler

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Many temperate forests in the Eastern US are young and have experienced decades of elevated inputs of acidic compounds from the atmosphere. As a result, I used the Fernow Experimental Forest Long Term Soil Productivity (LTSP) experiment near Parsons, WV to determine how ongoing acidic deposition may affect total ecosystem carbon (C) storage, stand level dynamics, and soil and foliar chemistry in a young regrowing temperate deciduous forest. I also assessed the potential for acidic deposition effects to cascade up into higher trophic levels through its effects on a soil invertebrate. The LTSP experiment is a randomized block design in …


An Ecological Assessment Of Restoration Efforts Developed To Recover An Intensively Mined Appalachian Watershed, Andrew S. Watson Jan 2014

An Ecological Assessment Of Restoration Efforts Developed To Recover An Intensively Mined Appalachian Watershed, Andrew S. Watson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Assessments of watershed-based restoration efforts are rare. Monitoring of projects pre- and post-treatment are essential for the science of stream restoration ecology to advance. We took an experimental approach, following adaptive watershed management principles, to evaluate the effectiveness of watershed-based restoration efforts developed to maximize the ecological recovery of acid mine drainage (AMD) impaired streams. We sampled water chemistry, physical habitat, and benthic macroinvertebrate and fish community structure in 3 stream types: AMD (14 streams), AMD-treated (13 streams), and unimpaired reference (4 streams). Treatment technology implemented on impaired streams included in-stream active treatment dosers, limestone sand applications, and an at-source …


Phosphorus Retention And Transformation In Floodplain Forests Of The Southeastern United States, John A. Navaratnam May 2013

Phosphorus Retention And Transformation In Floodplain Forests Of The Southeastern United States, John A. Navaratnam

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Phosphorus (P) commonly limits productivity in freshwater ecosystems; thus, increased P loading, either in dissolved (DP) or particulate (PP) form, can lead to eutrophication. The central goal of my dissertation research is to understand these biogeochemical mechanisms of P retention and transformation in rivers and streams and their associated FFs in the Atlantic Coastal Plain of the southeastern US (VA, NC, SC, GA).;To assess the nature of P removal during flooding events, I conducted a detailed study of DP and PP forms (inorganic, Pi and organic, Po) in waters from alluvial (AL) and blackwater (BW) FFs. At each FF site, …


Assessment Of Age, Diet, And Growth Of Yellow Perch ( Perca Flavescens) In Cheat Lake, West Virginia, Nate Taylor May 2013

Assessment Of Age, Diet, And Growth Of Yellow Perch ( Perca Flavescens) In Cheat Lake, West Virginia, Nate Taylor

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

This thesis evaluates population characteristics of yellow perch ( Perca flavescens) in Cheat Lake, West Virginia, and is comprised of two chapters: 1) an introduction and literature review on the biology, ecology, and life history of yellow perch and studies regarding diet growth, and condition and 2) a study examining age and length, summer diet composition, and growth of yellow perch in Cheat Lake, West Virginia. Owing partly to recent mitigation of acidic conditions in the Cheat River watershed, populations of yellow perch and other fishes have increased in Cheat Lake. For this study, I evaluated age and length, summer …


Northern Myotis Roosting Ecology And Use Of Prescribed Fire And Herbicide Treatment To Enhance Roost Availability In Hardwood Forests, Milu Karp Jan 2013

Northern Myotis Roosting Ecology And Use Of Prescribed Fire And Herbicide Treatment To Enhance Roost Availability In Hardwood Forests, Milu Karp

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Recent declines in myotis populations throughout the mid-Atlantic region due to habitat degradation and the spread of white-nose syndrome have led to the increased need for understanding of roost ecology to aid in population recovery. Land management agencies in the Central Appalachian Hardwood Region can contribute to the conservation and possible recovery of northern myotis through habitat creation by means of prescribed fire. Within the Fernow Experimental Forest in West Virginia, three separate compartments were subjected to prescribed fire to better understand the effects of disturbance on summer roost tree use. During the summer of 2011 and 2012, Northern myotis …


Selection Of Benthic Habitat By Yellow-Phase American Eels (Anguilla Rostrata), Melissa A. Braham Dec 2012

Selection Of Benthic Habitat By Yellow-Phase American Eels (Anguilla Rostrata), Melissa A. Braham

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

This thesis examines habitat preference of yellow-phase American eels (Anguilla rostrata) and relationships between age and length with that preference. The thesis is comprised of two chapters: (1) an introduction and literature review on American eel life history, their habitat selection, and the study of resource selection, and (2) an experimental study of yellow-phase American eel habitat preference and relationships between preference and age and length. Given widespread habitat alteration of North American rivers, an understanding of the use and selection of habitat is important to conservation and management of the American eel. Yellow-phase American eels are often considered as …


Stream Restoration: Project Evaluation And Site Selection In The Cacapon River Watershed, West Virginia, Jonathan L. Pitchford Dec 2012

Stream Restoration: Project Evaluation And Site Selection In The Cacapon River Watershed, West Virginia, Jonathan L. Pitchford

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Stream restoration is being conducted throughout the world at unprecedented rates to address stream channel degradation and water quality concerns. Natural Channel Design (NCD) is a common method used for restoration and has received governmental endorsement; however, the effects of NCD on channel stability and ecosystem functioning are poorly studied. We examined the effects of a reach-scale NCD project on channel stability, riparian vegetation, and water quality along the Cacapon River, West Virginia using a before-after-control-impact design and determined that restoration increased the abundance and diversity of woody vegetation, but had minimal effects on streambank stability and water quality. Increased …


Dna-Based Population Estimation, Harvest Vulnerability, And Home Range Dynamics Of Black Bears In Western Maryland, Michael D. Jones Dec 2012

Dna-Based Population Estimation, Harvest Vulnerability, And Home Range Dynamics Of Black Bears In Western Maryland, Michael D. Jones

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

After nearly being extirpated from the state, black bears in Maryland have rebounded to a point where recreational harvest has now become an important management tool. Having a better understanding of bear population parameters, movements, and harvest vulnerability allows managers to implement hunting more effectively and responsibly. To estimate demographics of the Maryland bear population, we implemented noninvasive genetic sampling of bear hair during summer 2011. We used a model-based sampling design that allowed us to collect samples more efficiently. We used presence-only maximum entropy (Maxent) modeling to classify the study area based on predicted probability of bear occurrence, and …


Investigating Changes In Productivity Of An Old Growth Juniperus Stand: A Physiological And Isotopic Approach, Scott E. Spal Aug 2012

Investigating Changes In Productivity Of An Old Growth Juniperus Stand: A Physiological And Isotopic Approach, Scott E. Spal

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Forest ecosystems play a central role in the global carbon cycle and are a major part of the terrestrial carbon sink. For more accurate predictions of terrestrial C sequestration models require a mechanistic understanding of how carbon cycling in trees and forests responds to atmospheric CO 2, temperature, and precipitation. With this comes a need for a greater understanding of the physiological mechanisms involved with changes in forest productivity as trees and forests age. This research used an old growth stand of Juniperus virginiana (Eastern red cedar) in the Central Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia to examine how carbon assimilation …


Cliff Ecology: Extent, Biota, And Recreation Of Cliff Environments In The New River Gorge, Wv, Peter W. Clark Aug 2012

Cliff Ecology: Extent, Biota, And Recreation Of Cliff Environments In The New River Gorge, Wv, Peter W. Clark

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The New River Gorge National River (NERI) contains an extensive network of exposed cliff-forming sandstone units, the most extensive in West Virginia and possibly within the entire Appalachian range. These cliff resources are critical to NERI's national significance, and contain specialized and potentially rare plant communities (Vanderhorst 2001; Mahan 2004; Vanderhorst, Jeuck, and Gawler 2007). This project investigates the spatial distribution of cliffs, associated plant (vascular and non-vascular) and lichen communities, and the impacts to cliff environments caused by recreational rock climbing.;Using LiDAR in a GIS, we mapped all cliffs in the northern extent of NERI, from Keeney's Creek to …


Habitat Selection Of Male Eastern Wild Turkey (Meleagris Gallopavo Silvestris) In West Virginia, Jesse L. De La Cruz Aug 2012

Habitat Selection Of Male Eastern Wild Turkey (Meleagris Gallopavo Silvestris) In West Virginia, Jesse L. De La Cruz

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Eastern wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) have been the focus of widespread research throughout their range, but research on male wild turkey home range size and habitat resource selection is limited in West Virginia. To address this lack of knowledge, I proposed the quantification of home range within a region (second-order) and core home range within a periphery (third-order) resource selection. Home ranges estimates and regional vector sampling grids were modeled against anthropomorphic land use and landscape cover features, land fragmentation, slope, and aspect raster data within the Geospatial Modeling Environment (GME) to derive proportional resource use and availability data.;West …


Ecological Effects Of And Recovery Following Surface Mining And Pasture Reclamation, Michael Levy May 2012

Ecological Effects Of And Recovery Following Surface Mining And Pasture Reclamation, Michael Levy

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Surface mining with concurrent reclamation to pasture is a major driver of land use and cover change in Appalachia and constitutes a massive disturbance. Prior research suggests that some aspects of recovery are either slow or incomplete. We examined ecosystem structure---including soil physical and chemical properties, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) infectivity and community, and plant diversity and community composition---on a chronosequence of pasture-reclaimed surface mines and an unmined pasture in northern West Virginia. We also examined the effect of inoculating red clover, grown with high or low phosphorus, with AMF communities from old and young pasture-reclaimed surface mines and an …


Habitat Use By Northern Dusky Salamanders In Riparian Corridors Of Southwestern Pennsylvania, Robert Joseph Michalow Jan 2012

Habitat Use By Northern Dusky Salamanders In Riparian Corridors Of Southwestern Pennsylvania, Robert Joseph Michalow

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Amphibian populations have decreased in many parts of the world and the rate of decline has increased over the past 25 years. Much of the population decline can be attributed to habitat fragmentation, thus, possibly forming metapopulations. The semi-aquatic northern dusky salamander belongs to the family Plethodontidae and the genus Desmognathus. Amphibians, such as salamanders, may occupy undisturbed forest floors with biomass equal to, or exceeding, the biomass of other vertebrate groups and they can achieve their highest densities in ancient or undisturbed forests. Salamander densities can be estimated using cover items and this method has become a more common …


Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis Methods For Prediction Of Brook Trout Salvelinus Fontinalis Percent Dry Weight, Andrew William Hafs Dec 2011

Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis Methods For Prediction Of Brook Trout Salvelinus Fontinalis Percent Dry Weight, Andrew William Hafs

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Reliable fish condition estimates are valued by fisheries ecologists and managers. Fish condition is used as an indicator of ecosystem health or to assess the population status for a species of interest. In aquaculture, proximate composition estimates are often wanted because of their relationship to fillet quality. Past researchers have used bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) to provide nonlethal mass based estimates of proximate composition for fish. Percent dry weight (PDW) of a fish is highly correlated to proximate composition values and energy density, therefore reliable predictions of PDW would eliminate the need for costly and laboratory analyses lethal to the …


Restoration Of Forested Ecosystems On The Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia, Melissa A. Thomas-Van Gundy Dec 2011

Restoration Of Forested Ecosystems On The Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia, Melissa A. Thomas-Van Gundy

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The focus of resource management on National Forests is slowly changing to restoration of ecosystems and habitats. In West Virginia, the revised Land and Resource Management Plan for the Monongahela National Forest (MNF) guides resource management on the MNF. The MNF revised Forest Plan restructured management areas and goals toward restoration of red spruce dominated forests and oak and oak-pine forests in two separate management prescriptions that cover approximately 48% of the MNF. Incorporating ecosystem restoration in forest management may be guided by goals and objectives based on known previous conditions and the range of natural variability of those conditions. …


Avian Assemblages And Red-Eyed Vireo Nest Survival Within Mineland Forest, Jeremy Mizel Dec 2011

Avian Assemblages And Red-Eyed Vireo Nest Survival Within Mineland Forest, Jeremy Mizel

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Since the passage of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) in 1977, mined lands have generally been reclaimed to an environment characterized by severely compacted minesoils, a growth medium comprised largely of unweathered materials, and a predominance of aggressive groundcovers that inhibit native species colonization. Under these conditions, succession is arrested. Within landscapes that are fragmented by traditionally reclaimed surface mines, forest patches are smaller and forest cover on the landscape scale is reduced. As a result, forest songbirds that require large, continuous blocks of forest are negatively affected.;Some pre-SMCRA abandoned minelands contain areas of uncompacted minesoils on …


Nesting Biology Of Osmia Cornifrons: Implications For Population Management, Matthew Mckinney Dec 2011

Nesting Biology Of Osmia Cornifrons: Implications For Population Management, Matthew Mckinney

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The Japanese hornfaced bee, Osmia cornifrons (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) is a palearctic mason bee managed for the pollination of early season fruit crops such as apple and blueberry. Since its adoption as a managed pollinator in Japan during the 1940s, a large body of literature has amassed with the goal of enhancing O. cornifrons management practices. This research makes important contributions to that literature in two ways. First, the research describes the in-nest relationship of O. cornifrons and the cleptoparasitic mite pest Chaetodactylus krombeini. Distribution of male and female O. cornifrons and of C. krombeini was determined using linear and non-linear …


Relationships Among Fish Assemblages, Hydroperiods, Drought, And American Alligators Within Palustrine Wetlands Of The Blackjack Peninsula, Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, Texas, Darrin M. Welchert Aug 2011

Relationships Among Fish Assemblages, Hydroperiods, Drought, And American Alligators Within Palustrine Wetlands Of The Blackjack Peninsula, Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, Texas, Darrin M. Welchert

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The following thesis contains two chapters. In Chapter 1, I have reviewed and summarized literature pertaining to fishes and habitats of palustrine wetlands, the influence of hydroperiods on wetland fishes, the impacts of drought on wetland fishes, the importance of American alligators as ecological engineers of fish habitats within wetlands, and fish sampling within wetland habitats. Chapter 2 is a manuscript representing my thesis research. In this study, primary focus is placed on how fish diversity and how fish abundances of palustrine wetlands are influenced by drought conditions within the Blackjack Peninsula of the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in southwestern …


Edaphic And Land Use Influences On Central Appalachian Fens, Sarah Deacon Aug 2011

Edaphic And Land Use Influences On Central Appalachian Fens, Sarah Deacon

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Local and landscape-scale factors influence peatland floristic assemblages. Our goal in this paper was to assess the interactions between wetland vegetation communities, edaphic factors, and surrounding land cover in central Appalachian peatlands. Specifically we quantified plant community dynamics in relation to edaphic factors and land cover and identified species level responses to human altered landscapes. Cluster analysis on vegetation data identified 3 vegetation groups; an emergent floristic assemblage, a shrub dominated group, and a group with mixed shrub and emergent vegetation. We found that wetlands with emergent vegetation cover were more often associated with natural land cover, higher pH and …


Evaluating The Effects Of Morrow's Honeysuckle Control On Vertebrate And Vegetation Assemblages, And Small Mammal Foraging Ecology At Fort Necessity National Battlefield, Charnee Lee Rose Aug 2011

Evaluating The Effects Of Morrow's Honeysuckle Control On Vertebrate And Vegetation Assemblages, And Small Mammal Foraging Ecology At Fort Necessity National Battlefield, Charnee Lee Rose

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Exotic, Japanese bush honeysuckles (Lonicera spp.; Caprifoliaceae) are tied to a variety of impacts on wildlife and ecosystems. Morrow's honeysuckle (Lonicera morrowii) has become a persistent invader in eastern North America. We organized a restoration initiative at Fort Necessity National Battlefield (FONE), Pennsylvania, USA from 2004--2010. Concurrently, we studied the consumption of Morrow's honeysuckle fruits by small mammals from October--November 2009 and July--August 2010, and determined habitat variables that affected visitation rate to foraging stations. Areas of FONE were invaded by Morrow's honeysuckle after the land had been cleared for agriculture, and routine mowing ceased in the mid-1980s. Our restoration …


Fish And Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Communities In The Cacapon River, West Virginia, Stephen Selego Aug 2011

Fish And Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Communities In The Cacapon River, West Virginia, Stephen Selego

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Stream restoration, involving both in-stream and riparian techniques, was conducted on an impaired stretch of the Cacapon River, West Virginia. Fish and aquatic macroinvertebrate communities were sampled before, during, and after restoration at the restoration site and four other sites (two impaired, two natural) to determine the success of the restoration project. Overall, bluntnose minnows (Pimephales notatus) were the most abundant fish, and riffle beetles (Stenelmis sp.) were the most abundant macroinvertebrates collected. Both communities were negatively impacted by the restoration efforts in the short-term, but recovered quickly. Fish communities returned roughly to the state observed pre-restoration. Macroinvertebrate communities increased …