Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons^™

Habitat-Mediated Foraging Limitations Drive Survival Bottlenecks For Juvenile Salmon, Brian P. Kennedy, Keith H. Nislow, Carol L. Folt

Dartmouth Scholarship

Realistic population models and effective conservation strategies require a thorough understanding of mechanisms driving stage-specific mortality. Mortality bottlenecks for many species occur in the juvenile stage and are thought to result from limitation on food or foraging habitat during a "critical period" for growth and survival. Without a way to account for maternal effects or to measure integrated consumption rates in the field, it has been virtually impossible to test these relationships directly. Hence uncertainties about mechanisms underlying such bottlenecks remain. In this study we randomize maternal effects across sites and apply a new method for measuring consumption integrated over …

A Phylogeny Of The Snappers (Lutjanidae; Percoidei) Inferred From Cytochrome B Sequence Data, Matthew R. Semcheski

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

The Lutjanidae are economically and ecologically important fishes commonly known as snappers. A morphological study of Lutjanidae concluded that it contained four subfamilies and that together with the family Caesionidae, form the superfamily Lutjanoidea. Although this view was supported elsewhere in the literature, it was later contradicted, treating the caesionids as members of the Lutjanidae. In order to infer a phylogeny of genera within Lutjanidae, the complete cytochrome b gene (1140bp) of 21 lutjanid taxa was sequenced and analyzed along with 19 lutjanid, caesionid, and outgroup sequences obtained from GenBank. Data were analyzed for base composition stationarity and saturation. Phylogenetic …

Ecology Of The Missouri River: Missouri River Creel Survey, Bellevue Bridge To Camp Creek, 31 March Through 12 October 2007. Supplement I, Gerald Mestl

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: White Papers, Conference Presentations, and Manuscripts

This report describes Missouri River activities and results related to a channelized Missouri River creel survey conducted from 29 March through 10 October 2003. This is the fourth of a planned annual creel survey to be conducted on alternating sections of the channelized Missouri River to measure changes in recreational fishing activity, especially those changes due to large scale habitat restoration efforts. Future reports will contain additional analyses of these data.

Anglers spent over 30,000 hours fishing the Missouri River from Camp Creek (rk 883.5) to the Kansas state line (rk 790.2) during the survey period. Effort peaked during the …

Animal Welfare Perspectives On Recreational Angling, Steven J. Cooke, Lynne U. Sneddon

Animal Welfare Collection

Fish captured by recreational anglers are often released either voluntarily or because of harvest regulations in a process called ‘‘catch-and-release’’. Catch-and-release angling is thought to be beneficial for the conservation of fish stocks based on the premise that most of the fish that are released survive. However, expanding interest in animal welfare has promoted debate regarding the ethics of catch-and-release angling. There is a growing recognition that fish can consciously experience nociception and that they have some capacity to experience pain and fear. Indeed, empirical anatomical, physiological, and behavioural evidence supports the notion that fish could experience these two forms …

Anadromous Rainbow Smelt And Tomcod In Connecticut: Assessment Of Populations, Conservation Status, And Need For Restoration Plan, Heather A. Fried, Eric T. Schultz

EEB Articles

(beginning of rainbow smelt executive summary)

Evidence indicates that anadromous rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) populations in Connecticut and elsewhere in the northeast United States have severely declined. Several sampling programs have documented declines in Connecticut’s smelt populations over the last three decades (Marcy 1976a, Marcy 1976b, Millstone Environmental Laboratory 2005). Similar declines have also been documented in the Hudson River (ASA Analysis & Communication 2005) and in Massachusetts (personal communication, Brad Chase, MA Division of Marine Fisheries 2004). Recreational and commercial fisheries in the region for this species have virtually ceased (Blake and Smith 1984). The Connecticut Fish Advisory Committee …

Assessment Of Anadromous Alewife And Blueback Herring Populations In Connecticut Coastal Streams And Connecticut River Tributaries, Justin P. Davis, Eric T. Schultz

EEB Articles

Alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) and blueback herring (A. aestivalis) occur in anadromous populations that have a largely overlapping distribution from Florida to Newfoundland (Loesch 1987). Anadromous populations of these species are commonly collectively referred to as “river herring”. Adults inhabit coastal shelf waters until sexual maturity is reached at age 3-5 (Neves 1981). Sexually mature individuals make spawning migrations, commonly referred to as “runs”, into freshwater systems during spring months (Loesch 1987). Spawners can survive and return to spawn in subsequent years (Mullen et al. 1986). Juveniles reside in freshwater for 3-7 months, at which time they undertake a gradual migration …

Ecology Of The Missouri River. Progress Report, Dingell-Johnson Project F-75-R-24, Supplement I - Missouri River Creel Survey, Camp Creek To Kansas State Line, 1 April Through 13 October 2006., Gerald Mestl

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: White Papers, Conference Presentations, and Manuscripts

This report describes Missouri River activities and results related to a channelized Missouri River creel survey conducted from 29 March through 10 October 2003. This is the fourth of a planned annual creel survey to be conducted on alternating sections of the channelized Missouri River to measure changes in recreational fishing activity, especially those changes due to large scale habitat restoration efforts. Future reports will contain additional analyses of these data. Anglers spent over 30,000 hours fishing the Missouri River from Camp Creek (rk 883.5) to the Kansas state line (rk 790.2) during the survey period. Effort peaked during the …

Ecology Of The Missouri River: Missouri River Creel Survey, Bellevue Bridge To Camp Creek, 3 April Through 29 May 2004, Gerald Mestl

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: White Papers, Conference Presentations, and Manuscripts

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission's strategic plan has stated the following management goal for the Missouri River: Restore, protect, and maintain the diversity of historic Missouri River habitats, resources, and ecosystem functions in order that present and future generations may enjoy consumptive and non-consumptive outdoor recreational opportunities (NGPC 1996). To accomplish this goal the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission identified the following five objectives: • To restore terrestrial and aquatic floodplain habitat types by 2008. This would include old oxbows, chutes, side channels, sand bars, backwaters, wetlands, and other shallow water habitats. To restore ftows that reflect the natural …

Ecology Of The Missouri River. Progress Report, Dingell-Johnson Project F-75-R-23, Supplement I - Missouri River Creel Survey, Bellevue To Camp Creek, 2 April Through 14 October 2005, Gerald Mestl

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: White Papers, Conference Presentations, and Manuscripts

This report describes Missouri River activities and results related to a channelized Missouri River creel survey conducted from 2 April through 14 October 2005. This is the sixth of a planned annual creel survey to be conducted on alternating sections of the channelized Missouri River to measure changes in recreational fishing activity, especially those changes due to large scale habitat restoration efforts. We returned to the Bellevue to Camp Creek reach in 2005 because we had to cancel the creel on this reach in 2004 after the second creel period due to lack of personnel. Future reports will contain additional …

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.

Ecology Of The Missouri River: Missouri River Creel Survey, Bellevue Bridge To Camp Creek, 30 March Through 11 October 2002. Supplement I, Gerald Mestl

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: White Papers, Conference Presentations, and Manuscripts

This report describes Missouri River activities and results related to a channelized Missouri River creel survey conducted from 30 March through 11 October 2002. This is the third of a planned annual creel survey to be conducted on alternating sections of the channelized Missouri River to measure changes in recreational fishing activity, especially those changes due to large scale habitat restoration efforts. Future reports will contain additional analyses of these data. Anglers spent over 42,000 hours fishing the Missouri River from Bellevue (rkm 967.7) to Camp Creek (rkm 883.5) during the survey period. Effort was steady from late spring (4/27 …

Experimental Investigation Of Elemental Incorporation In The Otoliths Of Larval And Juvenile Fish: Implications For Use As Environmental Recorders, Gretchen Bath Martin

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Innovative techniques for discerning fish stocks, identifying nursery habitats, locating spawning sites, tracing larval transport pathways, and quantifying the degree of population connectivity are required to meet the goals of sustainable management of marine capture fisheries. One of the most promising techniques is the use of elemental signatures in fish otoliths (ear stones), which record valuable life history data and serve as the link between fish and their environment. To validate the assumption that otolith elemental composition is a function of water elemental concentrations, and to address the possible effects of external variables such as temperature and salinity, the composition …

The Diversity And Abundance Of Parasites In Age Groups Of Yellow Perch In Lake Bemidji, Mn Applied To A Whittaker Curve, Kelly J. Main

Honors Capstones

Capstone submitted as a graduation requirement for the BSU Honors Program.

Ecology Of The Missouri River. Progress Report, Dingell-Johnson Project F-75-R-19, Supplement 1- Missouri River Creel Survey, Camp Creek To Kansas State Line, 31 March Through 12 October 2001, Gerald Mestl

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: White Papers, Conference Presentations, and Manuscripts

This report describes Missouri River activities and results related to a channelized Missouri River creel survey conducted from 31 March through 12 October 2001. This is the second of a planned annual creel survey to be conducted on alternating sections of the channelized Missouri River to measure changes in recreational fishing activity, especially those changes due to large scale habitat restoration efforts. Future reports will contain additional analyses of these data. Anglers spent over 22,000 hours fishing the Missouri River from Camp Creek (rkm 883.5) to the Kansas state line (rkm 790.2) during the survey period. Effort peaked during the …

Reproduction Of Black Drum, Pogonias Cromis, From The Chesapeake Bay Region, Brian K. Wells, Cynthia M. Jones

Virginia Journal of Science

Ovaries of black drum, Pogonias cromis, collected from the Chesapeake Bay region in 1992, were used to describe reproductive strategy and fecundity. Histological examination showed that black drum spawn in the Chesapeake Bay region from April through early June. Distributions of oocyte diameter showed distinct oocyte-developmental groups indicating that Chesapeake Bay black drum are group-synchronous batch spawners. Female black drum are extremely fecund ranging from 414,000 to 3,736,000 hydrated oocytes (mean = 1,389,000) per batch with a spawning periodicity of 3.8 days. Estimates of spawning strategy, spawning periodicity, and batch fecundity for black drum from the Chesapeake Bay region …

Trophic Cascades, Nutrients, And Lake Productivity: Whole-Lake Experiments, Stephen R. Carpenter, Jonathan J. Cole, James R. Hodgson, James F. Kitchell, Michael L. Pace, Darren Bade, Kathryn L. Cottingham

Dartmouth Scholarship

Responses of zooplankton, pelagic primary producers, planktonic bacteria, and CO2 exchange with the atmosphere were measured in four lakes with contrasting food webs under a range of nutrient enrichments during a seven-year period. Prior to enrichment, food webs were manipulated to create contrasts between piscivore dominance and planktivore dominance. Nutrient enrichments of inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus exhibited ratios of N:P > 17:1, by atoms, to maintain P limitation. An unmanipulated reference lake, Paul Lake, revealed baseline variability but showed no trends that could confound the interpretation of changes in the nearby manipulated lakes. Herbivorous zooplankton of West Long Lake (piscivorous fishes) …

Do Naked Goby (Gobiosoma Bosci) Larvae Exhibit Periodic Vertical Movements In Order To Facilitate Upriver Migration In The Hudson River Estuary?, Megan C. Fencil, Eric T. Schultz

EEB Articles

Estuaries provide high quality nursery habitat for larval fishes due to high productivity, predator protection, and warm temperatures. Previous studies suggest that larval naked gobies (Gobiosoma bosci) are capable of upriver migration and estuarine retention despite net seaward flow. Gobiosoma bosci larvae were collected at a fixed site in the Hudson River estuary in late July of 1998 from 4 discrete depths to provide a time-series of depth-stratified abundance during both a spring and a neap tide. Larvae were concentrated at depth, indicating that depth preference behavior is present and will likely contribute to up-river transport. Harmonic regression …

Fisheries Occasional Publication No. 31 - Feeding Lupins To Fish: A Review Of The Nutritional And Biological Value Of Lupins In Aquaculture Feeds, Brett Glencross

Fisheries Occasional Publications

Lupins are the harvested seed of species from the Lupinus genus, a group within the leguminous bean and pea family Fabaceae. Legumes are particularly valuable agricultural crops because of their capacity to provide a grain crop and also fix and return nitrogen to soils and improve the soil value for further cropping. The oilseeds, soybeans and peanuts are also leguminous plants, though traditionally they have been cropped for their oil value, whereas lupins, are cropped for both their protein and nitrogen fixing value (Gladstones, 1998; Perry et al., 1998).

The three key commercial species of lupins are L. angustifolius (Narrow-leafed …

Comparison Of Larval Myomere Counts Among Species Of Nocomis In Virginia (Actinopterygii: Cyprinidae), Terre D. Green, Eugene G. Maurakis

Virginia Journal of Science

Larval myomere counts of Nocomis platyrhynchus were made using a dissecting light microscope equipped with polarizing filters, and then compared to those of the three other species of Nocomis (Nocomis leptocephalus, Nocomis micropogon, and Nocomis raneyi) found in Virginia. Average preanal myomere counts for N. platyrhynchus (26.9) were significantly different from those of the other three species (N. raneyi =28.7; N. micropogon =26.0; and N. leptocephalus =25.9). This is especially important as larvae of N. leptocephalus, the only other species of Nocomis syntopic with N. platyrhynchus in the upper New River drainage, can now …

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 …

Feeding Habits Of Juvenile Largemouth Bass Micropterus Salmoides (Lacepede), Thomas R. Goodwill

Honors Theses

The stomachs of 110 juvenile largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides (Lacepede) were examined to learn the early feeding habits of bass in a brackish environment. Bass were found to have five primary food sources: Taphromysis bowmani, Cloeon sp., Gammarus mucronatus, Micropterus salmoides, and Lepidophthalmus louisianum. Three feeding trends were observed during the course of the study. First, bass seemed to display prey selection. Second, bass length increased as prey size increased. Third, the types of prey eaten by the bass changed as the bass increased in size.

Community Responses To Variable Predation: Field Studies With Sunfish And Freshwater Macroinvertebrates, Mark J. Butler Iv

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The impact of variable predation by bluegill sunfish on macroinvertebrate prey in a North Florida lake is examined. Variable predation may occur in many systems and may contribute substantially to the spatial heterogeneity, temporal inconstancy and species composition of prey communities.

Patchy, temporally variable predation characterized middepth and deep lake habitats, whereas in the shallow zone predation was relatively constant and homogeneous. Predation varied significantly every 2-4 wk in the mid-depth zone, but varied little between consecutive weeks or days. Caging experiments revealed that variable predation altered prey community composition and increased the mean size and size range of some …

Morphological Variation Among 14 Species Of Callogobius Bleeker (Pisces: Gobiidae), James Francis Mckinney

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

A survey of the variation among the species of the Callogobius complex has been accomplished in order to determine if recognition of more than one genus is warranted for this assemblage of species. Emphasis has been placed on the osteological variation. Relationships among certain species within the Callogobius complex have been exposed. Although there are two well defined species groups within the complex, it is felt that inclusion of all of the examined species within the single genus Callogobius is the most parsimonious course of action.

An Analysis Of The Heavy Metal Content Of The Scales Of Several Fishes In Southwestern Kentucky, Thomas Dahl

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Scales of the stoneroller, Campostoma anomalum (Rafinesque), common shiner, Notropus cornutus (Mitchill), and the bluntnose minnow, Pimephales notatus (Rafinesque) were analyzed by means of atomic absorption spectrophotometry to determine levels of cadmium, calcium, copper, iron, lead, manganese, nickel and zinc. Metal concentrations were determined seasonally and relationship established between scale metal content and environmental water metal levels.

Calcium, iron manganese and zinc were found in all samples analyzed. Cadmium, copper, lead and nickel were not observed in measurable quantities.

Metal concentrations varied interspecifically, but most showed little fluctuation in response to increased metal content of the water. Elemental composition of …

Contributions To The Reproductive Biology And Natural History Of The Pirateperch, Aphredoderus Sayanus, Edward O. Murdy

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to describe the micro and macro-anatomy of the reproductive system and the testicular and ovarian development in Aphredoderus sayanus.

Specimens were collected at least once a month from September, 1976, through May, 1977, in Cypress Pond, a part of the Dismal Swamp drainage, outside of Suffolk, Virginia. Forty-three specimens had their gonads examined histologically, of these 13 were males, 29 were females and in one specimen the sex was not determinable.

Aphredoderus sayanus is a spring spawner, spent gonads were found on and after April 13, 1977. Gonads began to ripen in the …

Inventory Of Lake Studies In Maine, Charles F. Wallace Jr., James M. Strunk

Maine Collection

Inventory of Lake Studies in Maine

By Charles F. Wallace, Jr. and James M. Strunk

State Planning Office, Water Resources Planning Division, July 1973.

"Printed under Appropriation Number 4248.5 and financially assisted by planning grants from the United States Water Resources Council Title III funds."

Contents: Introduction / Investigating Agencies / Federal Agencies / State Agencies / Regional Planning Commissions and Economic Development Districts / Maine Colleges and Universities / Private / Other Private / Other / Appendices

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, …