Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons^™

The Utility Of Environmental Dna And Species Distribution Models In Assessing The Habitat Requirements Of Twelve Fish Species In Alaskan North Slope Rivers, James B. Eddings

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Subsistence fishing is a vital component of Alaska’s North Slope borough economy and culture that is being threatened by human disturbance. These threats mean the fish must be protected, but the size of the region makes conservation planning difficult. Fortunately, advances in species distribution models (SDMs), environmental DNA (eDNA), and remote sensing technologies provide potential to better understand species’ needs and guide management. The objectives of my study were to: (1) map the current habitat suitability for twelve fish species, occurring in Alaska’s North Slope, (2) determine if SDMs based on eDNA data performed similarly to, or improved, models based …

Do Didymosphenia Geminata Blooms Affect Fishes In The Kootenai River Basin?, Niall G. Clancy

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Didymosphenia geminata (Didymo) is a nuisance algae that can cover entire streambeds under certain environmental conditions. Numerous studies have shown that it changes the composition of stream invertebrates. Fishes in many headwaters are known to feed almost exclusively on invertebrates. Thus, there is concern changes to the amount or type of invertebrates caused by Didymo blooms will impact fishes such as trout, charr, and sculpin. In the Kootenai River basin of Montana and British Columbia, we examined stream invertebrates and fish diets, condition, and growth across 25 streams during the summers of 2018 and 2019. The severity of Didymo blooms …

The Macroinvertebrate And Fish Communities Of In-Stream Beaver Ponds In Northeastern Utah, Susan Washko

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Beavers were virtually extirpated from North America during the fur trade, but populations have since recovered. Dams built by recolonizing beaver alter stream habitat by forming deep, slow ponds within the streams. Such changes to the habitat is likely to have consequences for organisms such as macroinvertebrates and fish. The objective of this study was to identify the differences in the macroinvertebrate and trout community in beaver ponds and lotic (e.g. flowing reaches of a stream) reaches in tributaries to the Logan River in northeastern Utah. The macroinvertebrate community of beaver ponds had fewer species, fewer numbers, and lower biomass …

An Evaluation Of Bull Trout Movement Dynamics In The Walla Walla River, Courtney Newlon

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Bull trout are a fish species listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Historically, they ranged from Northern California at the southernmost extent, into Canada at the northern most extent, and east into Nevada and Montana. Bull trout are highly migratory and require large, unfragmented habitats to persist and are thus highly susceptible to human induced land-use practices. The goal of my thesis was to obtain a better understanding of bull trout movement patterns in the Walla Walla River, Washington using complimentary techniques; Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) technology and otolith microchemistry. PIT tags can be injected into a fish …

The Invasion Of The Exotic Cladoceran Daphnia Lumholtzi To Willard Bay Utah: Alterations Of The Pelagic Food Web., Olivia Lester

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Willard Bay, a freshwater impoundment of one of the arms of the Great Salt Lake, is shallow, with a mean volume of 9,900 acres and a maximum summer depth of six meters. This reservoir is highly productive, with a mean secchi depth of 4 meters and chlorophyll a concentrations peaking in summer at 9 micrograms per liter.

Selenium Poisoning Of Wildlife And Western Agriculture: Cause And Effect, N. E. Korte

All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository)

This project examined the hypothesis that selenium contamination is not the principal cause of the decline of endemic fish species in the Upper Colorado Basin. Activities employed to test this hypothesis included a reconnaissance of locations altered by recent road construction, a reinterpretation of available literature regarding selenium toxicity, and the interpretation of unpublished data obtained from the Upper Colorado Basin Fish Recovery Program. The project demonstrates that most of the evidence implicating selenium is circumstantial. Specifically, this research demonstrates that neither the historical record nor the technical literature consistently supports the emphasis given selenium toxicity. For example, many locations …

Limitations On Canada Goose Production At Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge, Utah, Dorie S. Stolley

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Canada geese (Branta canadensis) recently have become management problems in some areas due to overpopulation. At Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), managers are concerned with the opposite situation. Despite attempts to boost production, only 18 to 34 goslings of the western Canada goose (B. c. moffitti) were produced per year, from 1989 to 1993. I studied the breeding population from March to July in 1996 and 1997. Results suggest that production is limited in 3 ways: low gosling survival, low nesting success for ground nests, and low number of breeding pairs.

Gosling survival to fledging …

Ecological Studies Of Native Green River Fishes Below Flaming Gorge Dam, 1964-1966, Charles David Vanicek

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Investigations to study (1) the species composition and distribution of Green River fishes between Flaming Gorge Dam and Ouray, Utah and (2) the ecology and life history of selected native species (Colorado squafish, Ptychocheilus lucius; Colorad chub, Gila robusta; bluehead sucker, Pantosteus delphinus; and humpback sucker, Xyrauchen texanus) in Dinosaur National Monument were conducted from May, 1964, to October, 1966. A total of 23,735 fish consisting of 9 indigenous and 11 exotic species, were taken in 639 collections by electrofishing gear, gill nets, seines, and fry gear. Flaming Gorge Dam has caused a major change in …

The Food Of Pond Fish In Northern Utah, Robert L. Eberhardt

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A series of ponds in northern Utah supplied mainly by artesian water was poisoned with rotenone during 1949-50. Four hundred and seventy-three fish were obtained for a food habits study, and of these fish, 423, or 89 percent, had food in their stomachs. The species studied were largemouth bass, green sunfish, common bluegill, and black bullhead. Largemouth bass had the widest variety of diet throughout the year but also had the highest percentage of empty stomachs. Green sunfish and black bullhead had the least diverse food habits. Twenty-nine different food items were recorded; those used most commonly were green sunfish, …