Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Graduate Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 2016 Asian Carp population characteristics and dynamics in the Mississippi River watershed Christopher Jerod Sullivan Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd Part of the Natural Resources Management and Policy Commons Recommended Citation Sullivan, Christopher Jerod, "Asian Carp population characteristics and dynamics in the Mississippi River watershed" (2016). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 16024. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/16024 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Asian Carp population characteristics and dynamics in the Mississippi River watershed by Christopher Jerod Sullivan A thesis submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Major: Fisheries Biology Program of Study Committee: Michael J. Weber, Major Professor Clay L. Pierce Heike Hofmann Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2016 Copyright © Christopher Jerod Sullivan, 2016. All rights reserved. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................................... iv ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................ 5 CHAPTER 1. GENERAL INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 7 Background ............................................................................................................................................... 7 Research Needs ....................................................................................................................................... 11 Goals and Objectives .............................................................................................................................. 12 Thesis Organization ................................................................................................................................ 12 Literature Cited ....................................................................................................................................... 13 CHAPTER 2. INTRA-ANNUAL VARIABILITY OF ASIAN CARP POPULATIONS IN THE DES MOINES RIVER, USA .......................................................................................................... 16 Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... 16 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 17 Materials and Methods ............................................................................................................................ 20 Study Area .......................................................................................................................................... 20 Data Analysis ...................................................................................................................................... 21 Results ..................................................................................................................................................... 23 Discussion ............................................................................................................................................... 26 Literature Cited ....................................................................................................................................... 31 Tables and Figures .................................................................................................................................. 36 CHAPTER 3. FACTORS REGULATING YEAR-CLASS STRENGTH OF SILVER CARP THROUGHOUT NORTH AMERICA ................................................................................................... 41 Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... 41 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 42 Materials and Methods ............................................................................................................................ 45 Study Area .......................................................................................................................................... 45 Field Sampling .................................................................................................................................... 47 Environmental Data ............................................................................................................................ 47 Data Analysis ...................................................................................................................................... 49 Results ..................................................................................................................................................... 51 Discussion ............................................................................................................................................... 53 Literature Cited ....................................................................................................................................... 59 Tables and Figures .................................................................................................................................. 65 iii CHAPTER 4. GENERAL CONCLUSIONS .......................................................................................... 76 Summary ................................................................................................................................................. 76 Literature Cited ....................................................................................................................................... 79 APPENDIX A. BIGHEAD CARP ELECTROSHOCKING CATCH-PER-UNIT-EFFORT (CPUE; MEAN ± SE) BY SAMPLING LOCATION AND MONTH DURING 2014 AND 2015 ..... 80 APPENDIX B. BIGHEAD CARP LENGTH-FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTIONS AND PROPORTIONAL SIZE DISTRIBUTION (PSD; P – PREFERRED, M – MEMORABLE, T – TROPHY) INDICES DURING 2014 AND 2015 FROM ELECTROSHOCKING AND TRAMMEL NETS FROM FOUR SITES WITHIN THE DES MOINES RIVER, USA. N = NUMBER OF BIGHEAD CARP CAPTURED AT EACH SITE ........................................................ 81 APPENDIX C. BIGHEAD CARP Wr (MEAN ± SE) BY SAMPLING MONTH COLLECTED AT EDDYVILLE, CLIFFLAND, KEOSAUQUA, AND KEOKUK DURING 2014 AND 2015 ....... 82 APPENDIX D. LEAST SQUARE REGRESSION ANALYSIS AND ASSOCIATED SPEARMAN’S RANK CORRELATION COEFFICIENT (ρ) OBTAINED WHEN REGRESSING RESIDUAL VALUES OBTAINED FOR SILVER CARP POPULATIONS CAPTURED FROM THE UPPER (X AXIS) AND LOWER (Y AXIS) WABASH RIVERS. THE ρ VALUES OBTAINED FROM THIS AND THE OTHER BIVARIATE COMBINATIONS (N = 21) WERE USED TO ASSESS THE SPATIAL EXTENT TO WHICH SILVER CARP SYNCHRONOUSLY RECRUIT ................................................................................. 83 iv ACKOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank Carlos Camacho for all of your help along the duration of the project and being my “mentor”. I could not have imagined being where I am today without your guidance, patience, and your willingness to talk fish with me. More importantly, I couldn’t have asked for a better role model and I am forever in debt to you. I would also like to thank our fantastic suite of technicians who were assigned to the Asian Carp project: Dray Carl, Wes Sleeper, Trevor Blankman, Jed Seigworth, and Marie Todey. The countless hours in the field colleting fish and in the lab processing samples has made this project possible and I cannot thank you enough. Thank you to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for funding this project through the Fish and Wildlife Trust Fund to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. In addition, I would like to thank Kim Bogenschutz and Jason Euchner of the Iowa DNR for their endless support, guidance, and willingness to collaborate on field work. I have truly enjoyed spending time sampling with you all and talking about anything fish related. I am grateful to Quinton E. Phelps from the Missouri Department of Conservation, David H. Wahl from the Illinois Natural History Survey, and Robert E. Colombo from Eastern Illinois University for their assistance with Silver Carp collections for my second chapter. I cannot express the gratitude I have towards you all for taking your time to collect and process Silver Carp from multiple sampling locations. I hope that I can repay you all through future collaborations. I would like to thank my advisor, Michael Weber, for taking me as a master’s student. Thank you for your support and guidance throughout the duration of this project. I truly appreciate your willingness to be flexible and allowing me to operate independently. Thank you to Clay Pierce