Theses and Dissertations

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Miranda, Leandro E.

Committee Member

Schramm, Harold L., Jr.

Committee Member

Neal, Jason Wesley

Committee Member

Pugh, Larry L.

Date of Degree

12-14-2013

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Open Access

Major

Wildlife and Fisheries Science

Degree Name

Master of Science (M.S.)

College

College of Forest Resources

Department

Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture

Abstract

Crappie fisheries in northwest Mississippi flood control reservoirs are valued from social and economic standpoints. To mitigate variable recruitment rates of these recreationally valuable species, I sought to gain a better understanding of the population dynamics of these fish during their first year of life. My analyses indicate that embayment habitats in the study reservoirs display a longitudinal distribution gradient of both habitat composition and age-0 crappie abundance during late summer. Additionally, age-0 crappies inhabiting uplake floodplain areas grow to a larger size than downlake embayment-inhabiting conspecifics. The results from this study provide direction on potential management strategies to promote annual recruitment of age-0 crappies in these reservoirs.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11668/19516

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