Author : Sydney Stark
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (138 download)
Book Synopsis Ecological Impacts and Social Perceptions of the Invasive Flathead Catfish in Pennsylvania by : Sydney Stark
Download or read book Ecological Impacts and Social Perceptions of the Invasive Flathead Catfish in Pennsylvania written by Sydney Stark and published by . This book was released on 2023 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: AIS not only negatively affect aquatic ecosystems, but also often have negative socioeconomic consequences, quantifying impacts and assessing the public's knowledge and level of concern is extremely important. Flathead Catfish are voracious piscivores that have decimated native and recreational fisheries in other systems making the recent invasion into the Susquehanna River Basin highly concerning. In addition, Flathead Catfish represent a fish species closely tied to the public given its recreational appeal. Yet, it is not well known how the public perceive the introduction of Flathead Catfish or if they even know that it has been introduced in the system. To date, there has been no study of the diet or of the angler population's perceptions of the Flathead Catfish in this system. The Susquehanna River is unique compared to other systems Flathead Catfish have invaded -- it is one of the most northern introduced populations and the aquatic community in the Susquehanna River differs substantially from other invaded river systems. For example, the Susquehanna River has species like Muskellunge, which are not present in other more coastal and southern rivers the Flathead Catfish is invasive in. These unique aspects of the Susquehanna River make it impossible to simply extrapolate information on the impacts of Flathead Catfish from other invaded systems. Importantly, current knowledge of what they are eating is anecdotal and this is important to understand because prey composition identifies species that could be most impacted and elucidates predator prey interactions occurring in the system. In Chapter 1, I combined molecular and morphometric analyses to identify vulnerable prey species to Flathead Catfish predation in the Susquehanna River Basin. As expected, I found that Flathead Catfish consumed a mix of fish and invertebrates, with certain species occurring more frequently in the diets. A total of 47 species were identified in Flathead Catfish diets. The most frequently detected species included Margined Madtoms (Noturus insignis), Mimic Shiners (Notropis volucellus), Tessellated Darters (Etheostoma olmstedi), Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus), Lepomis sp., Rock bass (Ambloplites rupestris), and Rusty Crayfish (Faxonius rusticus). I used a Bayesian hierarchical multivariate probit model to identify variables that influenced prey species occurrence probabilities in diets. I found that prey items observed within diets sometimes varied as a function of Flathead Catfish size (total length). The probability of a prey species being consumed by Flathead Catfish was most often related to the length of the Flathead Catfish. My findings identified which species within the aquatic community are most at risk to predatory impacts by Flathead Catfish. This is important because I can inform resource managers which species need to have prioritization in assessing population changes. Further, this work elucidates the species who may be negatively impacted by this species in a major river system within the United States and informs future efforts to understand the long-term effects of Flathead Catfish predation on the aquatic community. In Chapter 2, I conducted a human dimensions survey of Pennsylvania anglers to understand the current level of knowledge, concern, and perception on AIS and the Flathead Catfish. I used Qualtrics (Qualtrics, Provo, UT) to send an online survey to 450,547 anglers in Pennsylvania with 18,666 anglers responding. The survey consisted of two sections asking about -- (1) general AIS knowledge and (2) Flathead Catfish angler behavior and perceptions. I found that most anglers knew some about AIS with only a few (3.2%) identifying themselves experts on the subject. I presented two scenarios that gauged level of concern for impacts of newly introduced species on target species as well as concern regarding distance moved when introduced. When presented with these scenarios, participants tended to be concerned about AIS introductions regardless of if the effects were known or not. However, anglers were slightly more concerned with known effects than unknown effects. Additionally, anglers were more concerned with species moving long distances (e.g., between continents) than short distances (e.g., 5 miles upstream). I found that most anglers (69.9%) in PA do not directly target Flathead Catfish, with differing reasons as to why. Those that did fish for Flathead Catfish mostly fished in the Susquehanna River Basin (41.0%) and did not travel more than 50 miles to fish for Flathead Catfish. While a lesser amount of Flathead Catfish anglers actively harvested them, anglers also indicated that they would support population control and would harvest populations if state management recommended it. Our survey shows that the public is concerned about AIS and helps highlight knowledge gaps in angler understanding of AIS ecology. Additionally, this survey helps to inform state management agencies of the behaviors of Flathead Catfish anglers in a recreational fishery for an invasive species. AIS is a growing problem both within the United States and globally. Once an AIS is established, it's costly and often impossible to eradicate making understanding their effects and how the public perceives their impacts and interacts with them imperative. This work helps to elucidate negative ecological consequences and societal interactions of AIS by investigating predatory impacts and surveying the angler population in the same region. I provide valuable knowledge that can be used to develop effective outreach material that addresses knowledge gaps within the public as well as insight into how willing the public is to support management efforts. This work provides information not only on which species Flathead Catfish actively prey upon, but also on how our angling community perceives this AIS, both of which can be used to inform management strategies and AIS prevention measures.
