Small-bodied fish response to Environmental Pool Management in Pool 26 of the Mississippi River
Weldon, Courtney R.
This item is only available for download by members of the University of Illinois community. Students, faculty, and staff at the U of I may log in with your NetID and password to view the item. If you are trying to access an Illinois-restricted dissertation or thesis, you can request a copy through your library's Inter-Library Loan office or purchase a copy directly from ProQuest.
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/116132
Description
Title
Small-bodied fish response to Environmental Pool Management in Pool 26 of the Mississippi River
Author(s)
Weldon, Courtney R.
Issue Date
2022-07-22
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Chick, John H
Committee Member(s)
Lamer, James T
Suski, Cory
Brawn, Jeffrey
Department of Study
Natural Res & Env Sci
Discipline
Natural Res & Env Sciences
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
M.S.
Degree Level
Thesis
Keyword(s)
EPM
small-bodied fishes
drawdown
throw trap
Abstract
Seasonal drawdowns of water levels in the Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS), known as Environmental Pool Management (EPM), have been performed since 1994 to harden sediments in backwater lakes to promote the growth of emergent vegetation within the Pools that would otherwise not have vegetation. I used a 1.0 m2 throw trap to sample small-bodied fishes in emergent vegetation within several backwater habitats where EPM had been successful in hardening sediments and producing vegetation. I also collected a representative taxon of macroinvertebrates that were captured in the throw traps, and measured dissolved oxygen, conductivity, and depth for each sample. I analyzed the frequency of occurrence of fishes and species richness among sampling locations. Western Mosquitofish were the most frequently caught fish across all the backwaters, and Ellis Bay was the location with the highest species richness. I compared fish density across sampling locations and mean vegetation biomass from each location. I found an inverse relationship between vegetation biomass and fish density. This suggests that highly vegetated areas in the shallow, no-flow backwater habitats may not be suitable to many fish species. Additional sampling across different year conditions and Pools within the UMRS should be considered going forward to truly understand how fish are responding to EPM-produced vegetation
Use this login method if you
don't
have an
@illinois.edu
email address.
(Oops, I do have one)
IDEALS migrated to a new platform on June 23, 2022. If you created
your account prior to this date, you will have to reset your password
using the forgot-password link below.