Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation
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- Crayfishes of the New River watershed and Factors Affecting Their DistributionsMouser, Joshua; Loughman, Zachary; Frimpong, Emmanuel A. (New River Symposium, 2024-04-12)Crayfishes are keystone species within aquatic ecosystems and many species require conservation efforts to support their continued persistence. Unfortunately, we lack basic data needed to make effective conservation decisions for many crayfishes, especially those that occur in the New River watershed (hereafter New River). Therefore, we investigated coarse-scale drivers of crayfish occurrence in the New River. We used generalized linear mixed effects models to predict occurrence of eight taxa based on instream and landscape-scale environmental data and biotic interactions. There are at least 10 species of crayfishes that occur in the New River. Faxonius cristavarius, F. virilis, Cambarus appalachiensis, and C. chasmodactylus are found in larger tributaries throughout the New River. The following species occupy smaller tributaries of the New River: F. spp. (either F. sanbornii or F. obscurus), C. aff. robustus, C. cf. bartonii, and C. smilax. We found that increasing anthropogenic disturbance led to declines in F. spp., C. cf. bartonii, and C. smilax but had a positive relationship with F. cristavarius. The presence of the potentially invasive species, F. cristivarius, was negatively associated with most species. Embeddedness, substrate, proportion riffle habitat, and lithology were additional variables that structured crayfish assemblages. Our results reveal that increasing human-mediated changes and invasive crayfishes threaten the persistence of native crayfishes in the New River.
- Fish, Fishing, and Ecosystem Services and Dysfunctions in the New RiverOrth, Donald J. (New River Symposium, 2019-04-12)This paper reviews the selected ecosystem services provided by New River to riverside communities. I also highlight threats to sustaining these services and dysfunctions and possibilities for restoration. A framework of ecosystem services is useful for examining threats to future sustainability. These services include four broad categories: provisioning, such as the production of food and water; regulating, such as the control of climate and disease; supporting, such as nutrient cycles and oxygen production; and cultural, such as spiritual and recreational benefits. Present day threats to New River ecosystem services include dams, legacy pollutants, non-native plants and animals, and agricultural runoff. Social justice issues are too often ignored in present management paradigms and we forget to ask, “What do we care about?” If we care about human well-being, it is important that we foster more effective collaborations with the people whose well-being is to be assessed.
- Marker-assisted restoration of native New River walleyeHarris, Sheila; Copeland, John R.; Palmer, George Caleb; Hallerman, Eric M. (New River Symposium, 2017-05-16)Walleye (Sander vitreus) is an important game fish in the Upper New River, with March and April walleye fishing effort from Buck Dam to Claytor Lake increasing from 49 to 66% of total fishing effort between 2007 and 2016. Population genetics research has shown the persistence of the presumptive native stock in the New River. Although the river had been stocked from sources in the Great Lakes region, unique genetic markers (microsatellite alleles at the Svi17 and Svi33 loci and mitochondrial restriction fragment haplotype 43) were observed, indicating that the native stock had persisted. Native walleye is of conservation interest due to their adaptation to a southern river system and their large ultimate size. Genetic marker-assisted selection of presumptive native walleye has been carried out since 2000, and has led to an increase in native allele frequencies from 16% and 14% in the 1997 and 1999 genetic surveys to 46% and 58% in the 2004 and 2006 surveys. Walleye abundance and angler catch increased over this time period in relation to annual stocking success. Ongoing work is aimed at deepening our understanding of population genetics and natural history of walleye in the southeast.
- No Stone Unturned: Studying Bluehead Chubs at Virginia TechBustamante, Thomas; Betts, Madison; Brooks, Samantha; Frimpong, Emmanuel A. (New River Symposium, 2022-04)The bluehead chub (Nocomis leptocephalus) is a common, medium-sized freshwater minnow found in streams across the southeastern United States. Each summer, mature male chubs construct mound nests out of thousands of pebbles using only their mouths, a behavior only thirteen known species are capable of. These mound nests attract other “nest associates,” of which there can be as many as a few hundred fishes representing up to a dozen species on any one nest at a time. Thus, bluehead chubs play an active role in the persistence of the aquatic ecosystems they inhabit. The Frimpong Lab at Virginia Tech seeks to understand the complex relationships between bluehead chubs and their environment. To do this, members of the lab investigate concepts such as symbiotic interactions, behavior, and adaptive responses of bluehead chubs. Further, the Frimpong Lab strongly advocates for the use of an arts-science connection to engage the local community and emphasize the importance of this fascinating species.