KDFWR Annual Research Highlights 2015
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Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources Annual Research Highlights 2015 Volume IX, Nov. 2016 Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources Annual Research Highlights 2015 Volume IX, Nov. 2016 Our Mission: To conserve and enhance fish and wildlife resources and provide opportunity for hunting, fishing, trapping, boating and other wildlife related activities. COVER: Catfish shocking at Taylorsville Lake / Obie WilliamsAnnual Research Highlights 2015 1 Foreword Ultraviolet light examination of bat in Saltpeter Cave reveals wing damage caused by white-nose syndrome / Kevin Kelly Research and monitoring are key vigilance in the conservation of the fish federal programs to fund the seven di- steps towards conserving and enhanc- and wildlife resources that we hold in visions within KDFWR. Nearly all of ing fish, wildlife, and habitat resources trust for the public. The 2015 KDFWR the projects included in this document throughout the Commonwealth. In Research Highlights document repre- are partially or fully funded by federal order to effectively manage a species it sents targeted efforts by KDFWR and programs including the Wildlife Res- is vital to fully understand its ecology partners to fulfill statewide conserva- toration Act (Pittman-Robertson), the and behavior along with its responses tion goals. Sport Fish Restoration Program (Ding- to management activities. As stewards ell-Johnson), the State Wildlife Grant of Kentucky’s fish and wildlife, it is our Funding Sources and Guide to Program (SWG), and the Cooperative job to ensure seasons and bag limits are Federal Programs Endangered Species Conservation Fund sustainable and to determine if man- KDFWR receives no general fund (Section 6). agement actions are achieving desired taxpayer dollars. As a result, the De- These federal programs serve a va- goals. The following project summa- partment relies on hunting and fishing riety of purposes; however, each has an ries serve as a testament to KDFWR’s license fees, boat registration fees, and underlying goal of fish, wildlife, and/ 2 Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources FOREWORD Federal Funding Source Program Goal Wildlife To restore, conserve, manage and Restoration Act enhance wild birds and mammals (Pittman-Robertson) and their habitats To fund fishery management Sport Fish Restoration projects, boating access, and aquatic (Dingell-Johnson) Program education Cooperative To fund conservation projects Endangered Species for candidate, proposed, or listed Conservation Fund species (Section 6) To develop and implement programs that benefit wildlife and State Wildlife Grant their habitats; specifically, species (SWG) Program and habitats of conservation concern Deer tissue being monitored for CWD / Obie Williams or habitat conservation. Brief descrip- KDFWR in 2015, while the sale of of Fish and Wildlife involvement are tions of each of these programs are as hunting and fishing licenses provided included in the Table of Contents. For follows: 27.4 million dollars, over half of KD- projects that have been completed These federal programs provided FWR’s budget (see Figure 1). For and not yet published, a detailed approximately 15.3 million dollars to reference, we have included the state summary will be included in the first and federal funding sources portion (“completed projects”) of the $674,270 $3,708,422 for each project; however, document. For projects that began in $933,792 these projects may be ad- 2015, a brief 1-page overview of the $3,477,219 ditionally supplemented by project is included in the second portion outside funding provided (“new projects”) of the document. For by non-profit organiza- select ongoing projects, brief status tions or universities. For updates are included in the last section each project summary, we (“project updates”) of this document. also identify the specific This will facilitate looking up detailed $28,872,082 goals addressed by either $15,699,579 summaries of completed projects in Kentucky’s Strategic Plan later years. A comprehensive project or Kentucky’s State Wild- reference guide lists all projects life Action Plan, the two included in Research Highlights guiding documents for our documents, beginning with publication agency. year 2007. Wildlife How to Use This Hunting & Fishing Licenses Management Areas Document Please use the following Federal Reimbursement Camp Fees This document is divided citation when referencing this into four main sections: Boat Registration document: Other published research, Kentucky Department of Fish completed projects, new and Wildlife Resources Annual Re- projects, and project search Highlights, 2015. Volume Figure 1. Kentucky Department of Fish and updates. Citations for all IX. Publication of the Wildlife and Wildlife Resources Funding Sources 2015. published research with Fisheries Divisions. November, 2016, Total revenues for 2015 were $53,365,365. Kentucky Department 85 pp. Annual Research Highlights 2015 3 Table of Contents Published Research Contact Program Coordinator, Paul Wilkes Completed Projects ([email protected]) for reprints of these publications. and Monitoring Bird, W.M., P. Peak, and D.L. Baxley. 2015. Natural history and meristics of an allopatric population of red Summaries cornsnakes, Patherophis guttatus (Linnaeus, 1866) in central Kentucky, USA. Journal of North American Wildlife Herpetology 2015:6-11. Effects of Native Grassland Restoration on Raptor Brooke, J.M., D.C. Peters, A.M. Unger, E.P. Tanner, Habitat Use and Prey Abundance on Peabody Wildlife C.A. Harper, P.D. Keyser, J.D. Clark, and J.J. Morgan. Management Area 2015. Habitat manipulation influences northern bobwhite resource selection on a reclaimed surface mine. Journal of Wildlife Management 79:1264-1276. Fisheries Murphy, S.M., J.J. Cox, J.D. Clark, B.C. Augustine, J.T. Hast, D. Gibbs, M. Strunk, and S. Dobey. 2015. Rapid Ohio River Supplemental Stocking Survey- Markland growth and genetic diversity retention in an isolated and Meldahl Pools reintroduced black bear population in the Central Appalachians. Journal of Wildlife Management Preliminary Assessment of a Newly Established Blue 79:807-818. Catfish Population in Taylorsville Lake Near, T.J., and Thomas, M.R. 2015. A New Barcheek Darter Species from Buck Creek (Cumberland River Evaluation of Sauger Stockings in the Kentucky, Green, System), Kentucky (Percidae: Etheostomatinae: Barren, and Salt Rivers Catonotus: Oopareia). Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History 56(2):127-146. Surveys for the Diamond Darter (Crystallaria cincotta), an Endangered Species Known Historically from the Peters, D.C., J.M. Brooke, E.P. Tanner, A.M. Unger, P.D. Green River in Kentucky Keyser, C.A. Harper, J.D. Clark, and J.J. Morgan. 2015. Impact of experimental habitat manipulation Survey of the Fish Fauna of the Laurel River Drainage on northern bobwhite survival. Journal of Wildlife Management 79:605-617. with Emphasis on Species of Greatest Conservation Need Thomas, M.R. and S.L. Brandt. 2016. Surveys for the Diamond Darter (Crystallaria cincotta), an endangered species known historically from the Green River in Kentucky. Proceedings for Celebrating the Diversity of Research in the Mammoth Cave Region: New Projects th 11 Research Symposium at Mammoth Cave National These projects began in 2015 Park. April 18, 2016 50-58 Unger, A.M., E.P. Tanner, C.A. Harper, P.D. Keyser, Fisheries F.T. VanManen, J.J. Morgan, and D.L. Baxley. 2015. Northern bobwhite seasonal habitat selection on a Survey and Assessment of the Fish Fauna of the reclaimed surface coal mine in Kentucky. Journal Clarks River National Wildlife Refuge in Marshall, of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife McCracken, and Graves Counties, Kentucky Agencies 2015: 235-246. Distribution and Status of the Goldstripe Darter, Yeiser, J.M., D.L. Baxley, B.A. Robinson, J.J. Etheostoma parvipinne, in Kentucky Morgan, J.N. Stewart, and J.O. Barnard. 2015. A comparison of coal mine reclamation seed mixes in Evaluation of Stocking Original and Reciprocal Kentucky: Implications for grassland establishment Cross Hybrid Striped Bass in Three Kentucky in Appalachia. International Journal of Mining, Impoundments Reclamation, and Environment 2015:2-11. Status update of the Redside Dace in Kentucky 4 Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources TABLE of CONTENTS Project Updates Control and Removal of Asian Carp in the Ohio River This section includes brief updates for selected projects that Monitoring and Response to Asian Carp in the Ohio began prior to 2015. River Impacts of Asian Carp Harvest Program on Sportfish in FISHERIES Kentucky Warm Water Stream Sport Fish Surveys Assessment of Statewide Size and Creel Limits on WILDLIFE Smallmouth Bass in Pool 6 of Green River Exploring Methods for Monitoring Bobcats in Kentucky Investigation of the Restoration of Native Walleye in the Upper Barren River Resource Selection, Movement Patterns, Survival, and Cause-specific Mortality of Adult Bull Elk in Evaluation of Muskellunge Stockings in the Kentucky Kentucky River Cause-Specific Mortality, Behavior, and Group Evaluation of New Commercial and Recreational Dynamics of Cow Elk in Kentucky Regulations on Catfish in the Ohio River Effects of the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Lake Sturgeon Restoration in the Upper Cumberland Program on Grassland Birds in Kentucky River Drainage in Kentucky Population Dynamics of Adult Female White-tailed Deer Assessment of the Lake Sturgeon Restoration in the in Southeast Kentucky Cumberland River Survival of White-tailed