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Aquatic Diversity Makes A Comeback, Pat Rakes at Abrams Creek


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#1 Guest_fundulus_*

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Posted 15 September 2012 - 11:52 AM

http://www.wbir.com/...king-a-comeback Click this link for a local TV interview with Pat Rakes of Conservation Fisheries about CFI's work on Abrams Creek in the Smoky Mountains National Park in particular. It's an unusually well-done piece for a local television station.

#2 Guest_Casper_*

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Posted 17 September 2012 - 10:44 AM

Thanks Bruce.
Note Pat's comment... snorkel observe vs electro shock!

#3 Guest_IsaacSzabo_*

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Posted 17 September 2012 - 01:53 PM

Interesting video. Thanks for posting the link.

#4 Guest_fundulus_*

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Posted 17 September 2012 - 02:52 PM

Yeah, snorkel's the way to go to look for the nice darters, ain't no lie.

#5 Guest_Kanus_*

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Posted 17 September 2012 - 07:57 PM

I've been out quite a bit doing overall biodiversity studies and been very disappointed by how low our catch rates for darters seemed to be. It's hard to be efficient when the electricity just makes them wedge into the rocks even more. I think even kick seining would be a better method, but I suppose it all has to be standardized.

#6 Guest_fundulus_*

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Posted 17 September 2012 - 08:10 PM

I'm here to testify in favor of kick seining for darters myself, especially if you can field a good team for doing it (and it really IS a team sport).

#7 Guest_Doug_Dame_*

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Posted 17 September 2012 - 11:59 PM

I'm here to testify in favor of kick seining for darters myself, especially if you can field a good team for doing it (and it really IS a team sport).

Correctamundo !!! Two brail holders, two crazy water-dancers, a bucket/cooler porter, a photographer and a note-taker seems about right.

#8 Guest_ashtonmj_*

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Posted 18 September 2012 - 07:07 AM

Don't lump all darters together in this discussion. Casper knows exactly what I'm talking about...are you going to kick seine or electrofish for olive darter? I think not, unless you want to straddle the line of safety. I've not detected snail darters only to turn around and snorkel the same habitat immediately afterwards and detect them. I've also documented quite variable differences in relative abundance between the two methods. There are trade offs with all methods. Finding ONE fish is very different than trying to find many fish, or specific cohorts, gender, etc. With many improvements visual observation can actually quantify species abundance quite nicely now, if you incorporate specific sampling design aspects. It can also be a quite weak method if it is not standardized over space and time.

Edited by ashtonmj, 18 September 2012 - 07:08 AM.


#9 Guest_fundulus_*

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Posted 18 September 2012 - 08:13 AM

That's true, tangerine darters would be another one not easily seined for. If you're working in mid-winter with high fast water in a riffle system, snorkeling is out, electrofishing would be interesting, and a seine might work if you have an able-bodied group who are also a little lucky. It all depends.

#10 Guest_UncleWillie_*

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Posted 18 September 2012 - 10:04 AM

I frequent Abram's Creek campground (usually once or twice a year) to camp and hike to the falls. My friends used to make fun of me for snorkeling in the creek at the campground to cool off at the end of the day ("snorkeling is for the ocean!"). After they took a look for themselves, they quit thinking it strange that I brought a mask when going camping.

When I lived in TN, I observed the EXACT same thing Matt was describing with the olive and snail darters in the Holston River. Also see the same thing Bruce described with tangerines. Years ago, these were two focal species (tangerines and olives, along with wounded darters and blotched chubs) in a study that I worked on with GA DNR. We used and occupancy modeling approach and also compared detection probabilities when using electrofishing / seining vs. snorkeling. We detected tons of tangerine darters when snorkeling, but never caught any when seining / electrofishing. If anyone is interested, paper is Albanese, Owers, Weiler, Pruitt (2011) Estimating Occupancy of Rare Fishes Using Visual Surveys, with a Comparison to Backback Electrofishing. Southeastern Naturalist 10, 3:423-442

#11 Guest_wargreen_*

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Posted 20 September 2012 - 09:22 PM

Great article....thanks.

#12 Guest_fruitloverlady_*

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Posted 25 October 2012 - 04:49 AM

http://www.wbir.com/...king-a-comeback Click this link for a local TV interview with Pat Rakes of Conservation Fisheries about CFI's work on Abrams Creek in the Smoky Mountains National Park in particular. It's an unusually well-done piece for a local television station.


Thanks for sharing this!



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