drivers of growth and recruitment of largemouth bass...
TRANSCRIPT
Introduction
• Emiquon is a restored Illinois River backwater owned by
the Nature Conservancy, located on the La Grange reach
(Figure 1) (Lemke et al. 2017)
• Restoration began in 2007, the Department of Natural
Resources and the Nature Conservancy stocked an initial 36
fish species (Lemke et al. 2017)
• Illinois River Biological Station (IRBS) staff have
monitored fish and vegetation of the Emiquon preserve
since restoration began in 2007
• A water control structure was installed in 2016, allowing
the Nature Conservancy to control water levels, which can
affect vegetation abundance
• Emiquon has a good sport fishery but little is known about
how different factors are affecting sport fish (Pictures 1-3)
Preliminary Results
• The results show that there could be some density
dependance between year and cohort in largemouth bass in
2008 and 2009
• Both largemouth bass and black crappie show significantly
poor growth during 2019
• The results show all three species had different years of good
growth largemouth bass had good growth in 2008 and 2009,
black crappie had good growth in 2012, and 2013, while
bluegill had good growth in 2015, and 2016 (Figure 5)
Future Work and Collection
• Covariate data will be used to determine the effects on
annual growth
• Analysis of Year-class strength, Mortality, and Individual
growth will begin
• Collection and processing of 2021 otolithsReferences
Lemke, M. J., et. Al. (2017). Introduction: The ecology of a river floodplain and the Emiquon preserve. Hydrobiologia. 804, 1-17.
Ratcliff, E. N., E. J. Gittinger, T. M. O’Hara, and B. S. Ickes. 2014. Long Term Resource Monitoring Program Procedures: Fish Monitoring, 2nd edition. A program
report submitted to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Upper Mississippi River Restoration Environmental Management Program, June 2014. Program Report
LTRMP 2014-P001, 88 pp. including Appendixes A–G, http://pubs.usgs.gov/mis/ltrmp2014-p001/.
Campana, S. E., and Thorrold, S. R. (2001). Otoliths, increments, and elements: keys to a comprehensive understanding of fish populations?. Canadian Journal of
Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 58. 30-38.
Campana, Steven. E., et. al. “Thin Sectioning of Fish Otoliths and Shark Vertebrae.” YouTube, Otolith Laboratory. 3 Jan. 2017.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEw9UQDsT1I&t=12s
Hoyer, M.V., et. al. (1985). Use of Otoliths to Determine Age and Growth of Largemouth Bass in Florida. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society. 114, 307-309.
Smolinski, S., Mirny, Z. (2017). Otolith biochronology as an indicator of marine fish responses to hydroclimatic conditions and ecosystem regime shifts. Ecological
Indicators. 79, 286-294.
https://www.covnews.com/living/agriculture/february-prime-time-fish-crappie/
https://www.maine.gov/ifw/fish-wildlife/fisheries/species-information/largemouth-bass.html
https://www.ncwildlife.org/Learning/Species/Fish/Bluegill
Drivers of Growth and Recruitment of Largemouth Bass, Bluegill, and Black Crappie at the Emiquon Preserve
Amber Blackert1,2, Levi Solomon1, Elizabeth Myers1, Julia Thulander1, Tih-Fen Ting2,
Jason DeBoer1, TD VanMiddlesworth6, Rich Pendleton5, Mark Fritts4, Andrea Fritts3, and James Lamer1
1Illinois River Biological Station, Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2University of Illinois Springfield, 3US Geological Survey, 4US Fish and Wildlife Service, 5Department of Natural Resources, and 6Division of Inland Fisheries Management
Methods
• Samples were collected in 2010, 2015, 2016, 2020, and
planned sampling for 2021, using pulsed- DC
electrofishing, fyke nets, mini fyke nets, and tandem fyke
nets (Table 1)
• Otoliths were extracted, embedded in epoxy and sectioned
using a Buehler low-speed saw, with a double-blade method (Figure 2)
• Otoliths were aged, photographed, and annuli were
measured using a dissecting microscope and Leica V4
software (Figure 3 and Picture 4)
• Biochronology analysis will use linear mixed-effect models
to determine what factors are influencing incremental
growth (Figure 5)
• Covariates including vegetation abundance, water elevation,
and zooplankton abundance data will be added to assess
their influence on growth and survival
Objectives
Using Largemouth Bass, Bluegill, and Black Crappie otoliths
and catch data to determine what environmental, or
management factors are affecting:
1. Biochronology or annual growth
2. Year-Class Strength
3. Mortality and Individual growth
Contact Information
Figure 1: Map of the Emiquon Preserve
Figure 2: Double blade set up on a
Buehler low-speed saw used to section
otoliths
Pictures 1-3: Study Species starting at top
Black Crappie, Largemouth Bass, and
Bluegill
Figure 3: Black Crappie otolith being measured
using Leica software
Picture 4: Thirteen-year-old Largemouth
bass otolith, captured in 2020
Figure 5: Growth as a function of year in relation to the preliminary linear mixed-
effect models. From left to right are Largemouth Bass, Black Crappie, and Bluegill
1
3
2
Table 1: The number of otoliths collected over all years 2010, 2015,2016, and 2020