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.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:MSSTATE/oai:scholarsjunction.msstate.edu:td-2891 |
| Date | 14 December 2013 |
| Creators | Kaczka, Levi Joseph |
| Publisher | Scholars Junction |
| Source Sets | Mississippi State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Theses and Dissertations |
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