Suppression of Native Fish Populations by Green Sunfish in First-Order Streams of Piedmont North Carolina

1985 ◽  
Vol 114 (5) ◽  
pp. 705-712 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Dennis Lemly
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
Fish Populations ◽  
Native Fish ◽  
First Order ◽  
Green Sunfish

Freshwater, Fish and the Future: Proceedings of the Global Cross-Sectoral Conference

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Fish Populations ◽  
Native Fish ◽  
Partnership Model ◽  
European Settlement ◽  
Southeastern Australia ◽  
Murray Darling Basin ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Funding Opportunities ◽  
Funding Cuts

<em>Abstract</em> .—The Murray–Darling basin (MDB) in southeastern Australia, covers 1.1 million km<sup>2</sup>, involves six partner jurisdictions with a myriad of different government agencies, and, hence, provides an excellent example of the complexities of multijurisdictional management across a range of social and political tiers. In the MDB, fish and fisheries compete for water with agriculture, which is the traditional water user and is driven by national economics. Murray–Darling basin rivers are now highly regulated and generally in poor health, with native fish populations estimated to be at only about 10% of their pre-European settlement abundances. All native commercial fisheries are now closed, and the only harvest is by a recreational fishery. The six partner jurisdictions developed a Native Fish Strategy (NFS) to rehabilitate native fish populations to 60% of pre-European settlement levels after 50 years of implementation by addressing priority threats through a coordinated, long-term, whole-of-fish-community (all native fishes) approach. As there are a wide range of stakeholders, broad engagement was needed at a broad range of government and community levels. The NFS funding was discontinued after 10 years, not because of its lack of successes or project governance, but due to jurisdictional political changes and funding cuts that resulted in a failure of the collaborative funding structure. The withdrawal of considerable funding by one jurisdiction led to collective decline in monetary contributions and posed a threat to the multijurisdictional structures for both water and natural resource management (NRM) within the MDB. As a consequence, there was a review and reduction in NRM programs and a subsequent reduction in focus to the core business of water delivery. Reflection on the NFS, however, provides some useful insights as to the successes (many) and failures (funding) of this partnership model. Overall, the strategy and its structure was effective, as exhibited by an audit of outputs, outcomes, and networks; by the evident ongoing advocacy by NRM practitioners and the community; and by the continuation of ideas under other funding opportunities. This has provided a powerful legacy for future management of fishes in the MDB.

Ecology of juvenile Northern watersnakes (Nerodia sipedon) inhabiting low-order streams

2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen Cecala ◽  
Michael Dorcas ◽  
Steven Price
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
Natural History ◽  
Stream Water ◽  
Juvenile Stage ◽  
Nerodia Sipedon ◽  
Order Stream ◽  
First Order ◽  
High Survivorship ◽  
History Of ◽  
Low Order

AbstractThe juvenile stage for many reptiles is considered “the lost years” because of low capture probabilities, however understanding factors impacting juvenile survivorship and recruitment is critical for conservation of populations. We studied the ecology of juvenile Northern watersnakes, Nerodia sipedon, by intensively sampling a first-order stream and determined the occupancy of juveniles in 30 low-order streams in the Piedmont of North Carolina. Juveniles were relatively abundant within a single stream (n = 62 ± 9), and their capture probabilities were positively related to increasing stream-water temperatures. We also found that juveniles had high survivorship (ϕ = 0.87 ± 0.017). Occupancy of juvenile N. sipedon in low-order, Piedmont streams may be greater at streams that have confluences with high order streams or lakes, which potentially support adult N. sipedon populations. This study provides important information regarding the natural history of juvenile reptiles and indicates the importance of low order streams as habitat for N. sipedon populations.

scholarly journals Alien pathogens and parasites impacting native freshwater fish of southern Australia: a scientific and historical review

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Kaminskas
Keyword(s):  
Freshwater Fish ◽  
Fish Species ◽  
Fish Populations ◽  
Native Fish ◽  
Freshwater Species ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Murray Darling Basin ◽  
General Decline ◽  
Alien Fish ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACT Native freshwater fish of Australia have a diverse but largely undescribed endemic pathogen and parasite fauna. However, due to long-shared evolutionary histories and virulence/transmissibility trade-offs, effects of these endemic pathogens and parasites appear to be subtle: significant impacts are rarely observed and epizootics have not been recorded. In contrast, a number of alien pathogens and parasites are now established across southern Australia, causing manifestly harmful effects to native fish species and known or suspected epizootics in native fish populations. Undetected and/or undescribed alien viral pathogens are also suspected of being present. Alien pathogens and parasites were introduced to Australia with imports of live alien fish or their fertilised eggs. A review of the scientific and historical evidence indicates that they have had, and continue to have, greater impacts on native fish species than previously realised—especially for freshwater species. This review also documents a previously unknown, Murray-Darling-Basin-wide epizootic of Murray cod Maccullochella peelii in 1929–30, which may have contributed to strong declines in the related eastern freshwater cod Maccullochella ikei. A serious Chilodonella epizootic of M. peelii in 1982 is also examined. In addition, a possible role for alien viruses of the family Iridoviridae (Ranavirus and Megalocytivirus) in the general decline of the critically endangered silver perch Bidyanus bidyanus, and the rapid collapse of two specific native fish populations—upper Murrumbidgee River B. bidyanus and Shoalhaven River Macquarie perch Macquaria australasica—is suggested. It is argued that the severity of the impact of the virulent alien oomycete Saprolegnia parasitica, both historical and present day, has been underestimated. Finally, action is recommended against emerging new pathogen and parasite threats, and the extreme risk current alien fish importations pose in introducing them. These will further threaten already stressed native fish populations in southern Australia, particularly across the Murray-Darling Basin.

scholarly journals First record of non-native platyfish, Xiphophorus maculatus (Günther, 1866) (Cyprinodontiformes, Poeciliidae), in the Jaguaribe River basin, northeastern Brazil

Check List ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 1159-1164
Author(s):  
Telton Pedro Anselmo Ramos ◽  
Yuri Gomes Ponce de Carvalho Rocha ◽  
Silvia Yasmin Lustosa Costa ◽  
José Etham de Lucena Barbosa
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
First Record ◽  
Northeastern Brazil ◽  
Fish Populations ◽  
Native Fish ◽  
Total Length ◽  
Xiphophorus Maculatus

We provide the first record of Xiphophorus maculatus (G&uuml;nther, 1866) in a river basin in the northeastern Brazil. Specimens were collected in the Jaguaribe River basin, Jo&atilde;o Pessoa, Para&iacute;ba state, Brazil. Two hundred eighty-one specimens, corresponding to 143 males and 138 females of X. maculatus, were collected at nine sites along the basin, from 2017 to 2019. Specimens total length ranged from 17.5 to 26.6 mm in males and from 11.7 to 32.7 mm in females. Introduction of non-native species greatly threatens the biological diversity worldwide. When introduced into a new habitat, X. maculatus usually decreases microcrustacean, macroinvertebrate and native fish populations.

scholarly journals A Decade in Review: Alaska’s Adaptive Management of an Invasive Apex Predator

Fishes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 12
Author(s):  
Kristine Dunker ◽  
Robert Massengill ◽  
Parker Bradley ◽  
Cody Jacobson ◽  
Nicole Swenson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Adaptive Management ◽  
Northern Pike ◽  
Fish Populations ◽  
Native Fish ◽  
Apex Predator ◽  
Cook Inlet ◽  
Kenai Peninsula ◽  
Control Actions ◽  
Southcentral Alaska ◽  
Population Suppression

Northern pike are an invasive species in southcentral Alaska and have caused the decline and extirpation of salmonids and other native fish populations across the region. Over the last decade, adaptive management of invasive pike populations has included population suppression, eradication, outreach, angler engagement, and research to mitigate damages from pike where feasible. Pike suppression efforts have been focused in open drainages of the northern and western Cook Inlet areas, and eradication efforts have been primarily focused on the Kenai Peninsula and the municipality of Anchorage. Between 2010 and 2020, almost 40,000 pike were removed from southcentral Alaska waters as a result of suppression programs, and pike have been successfully eradicated from over 20 lakes and creeks from the Kenai Peninsula and Anchorage, nearly completing total eradication of pike from known distributions in those areas. Northern pike control actions are tailored to the unique conditions of waters prioritized for their management, and all efforts support the goal of preventing further spread of this invasive aquatic apex predator to vulnerable waters.

scholarly journals Reservoir refilling enhances growth and recruitment of an endangered remnant riverine fish

2014 ◽  
Vol 71 (12) ◽  
pp. 1888-1899 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zeb Tonkin ◽  
Jarod Lyon ◽  
David S.L. Ramsey ◽  
Nick R. Bond ◽  
Graeme Hackett ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Conservation Management ◽  
Population Expansion ◽  
Fish Growth ◽  
Fish Populations ◽  
Native Fish ◽  
Similar Response ◽  
Lake Levels ◽  
Reservoir Construction ◽  
Height Change ◽  
Riverine Fish

Rapid increases in native riverine fish populations associated with trophic upsurge immediately following reservoir construction are well documented. Repeated upsurge periods and extended benefits to populations are, however, less understood. We used sclerochronology to investigate fish growth and netting surveys to estimate recruitment and abundance of a lacustrine population of an Australian riverine fish, the Macquarie perch (Macquaria australasica) in Lake Dartmouth. Record low inflows from 1997 to 2008 caused the reservoir to shrink to its lowest volume since construction. Refilling began in 2008, reaching 99% capacity in 2013. We hypothesized that fish growth, recruitment, and abundance would increase in response to the refilling of the lake, reproducing a similar response to the initial filling period. Our findings supported this hypothesis. Macquarie perch growth, recruitment, and abundance were enhanced during the refilling of Lake Dartmouth. Growth, best explained by the effects of dam height, change in dam height, temperature (and their interactions), and recruitment, were highest during the first years of refilling when lake levels and temperatures were low. We propose one or a combination of varying levels of intraspecific competition (low during initial filling and high following population expansion) and improved riverine conditions for reproductive success as the most plausible explanation. Our results suggest extended periods of low lake levels followed by rapid inundation events are likely to enhance recruitment and population growth opportunities for this species. While reservoir construction in general impacts negatively on native fish populations, the potential to offset these impacts for conservation management purposes should be considered.

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