Over 50 years of fish community monitoring in Illinois’ large rivers: The evolution of methods used by the Illinois Natural History Survey’s Long-term Survey and Assessment of Large-River Fishes in Illinois

Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act (F-101-R), administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Illinois Department of Natural Resourcesis peer reviewedOpe

Status, trends, and population demographics of selected sportfish species in the La Grange Reach of the Illinois River

Sportfish species, specifically Yellow Bass Morone mississippiensis, White Bass Morone chrysops, Largemouth Bass Micropterus salmoides, Bluegill Lepomis macrochirus, Black Crappie Pomoxis nigromaculatus, and White Crappie P. annularis, often drive economically valuable fisheries in large river systems, including the Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS). Within the Illinois River, part of the UMRS, these species are routinely sampled by an ongoing long-term fisheries monitoring program. Through this program, we investigated long-term trends (1993-2017) in catch rates and relative weights and quantified demographic rates from 2012-2016. We found all six species, with the exception of Yellow Bass, to have declining catch rates with this decline being most stark in larger, older fishes. Population demographics for Yellow Bass, White Bass, Bluegill, and Black Crappie suggest populations are dominated by younger individuals, with only Black Crappie regularly living to age 3 and older, which may be driving population declines. There are many environmental stressors acting on the Illinois River that could be contributing to the lack of older and larger fishes, including, but not limited to, navigation efforts, altered hydrology, pollution, sedimentation, lack of overwintering habitat, and introduction of invasive species. Results of this study demonstrate that additional research to understand mechanisms driving reduced abundance and stunted age structure are needed to identify effective management actions that would benefit populations of recreationally valuable sportfish species.is peer reviewedOpe

Long-term Survey and Assessment of Large-River Fishes in Illinois, 2017

This report presents a summary of those data collected during segment 29 (2017-18) of the Long-term Survey and Assessment of Large-River Fishes in Illinois (LTEF), an annual survey by members of the Illinois Natural History Survey,with funds administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Sampling for the LTEF program was conducted on: six reaches of the Illinois River Waterway, four segments or pools of the Mississippi River, and navigable portions of the Iroquois and Kankakee Rivers. In all segments of the LTEF program, all fish species collected were accurately identified, tallied, measured, and weighed. The catch rates of sportfish species were calculated as the number of individuals collected per hour (CPUEN± standard error). Structural indices [Proportional Size Distribution (PSD) and Relative Weight (Wr)] were also calculated for several species of interest to regional managers. Catch rates and species varied among all sampling locations and sampling periods. Gizzard Shad and Emerald Shiners comprised the majority of the individuals caught, and Silver Carp and Common Carp accounted for the greatest proportion of the biomass collected in most sampling areas of the survey. Future analysis of CPUEN and PSD trends in sportfish populations sampled by the program may indicate inter-annual recruitment patterns or/andlong-term trends in Illinois sportfish populations.Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration project F-101-Runpublishednot peer reviewe

Long-term Survey and Assessment of Large-River Fishes in Illinois, 2015

This report presents a summary of those data collected during segment 26 (2014-15) of the Long-term Survey and Assessment of Large-River Fishes in Illinois (LTEF), an annual survey executed by members of the Illinois Natural History Survey with funds administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Sampling for the LTEF program was conducted on: six reaches of the Illinois River Waterway, six segments or pools of the Mississippi River, and navigable portions of the Iroquois and Kankakee Rivers. In all segments of the LTEF program, all fish species collected were accurately identified, tallied, measured, and weighed. The catch rates of sportfish species were calculated as the number of individuals collected per hour (CPUEN± standard error). Structural indices [Proportional Size Distribution (PSD) and Relative Weight (Wr)] were also calculated for species of interest to regional managers. Catch rates and species richness varied greatly among all sampling locations and sampling periods. Emerald Shiners and Gizzard Shad comprised the majority of the individuals caught, and Silver Carpand Common Carp accounted for the greatest proportion of the biomass collected in most sampling areas of the survey. The analysis of CPUEN and PSD trends in sportfish populations sampled by the program may indicate inter-annual recruitment patterns or long-term trends in sportfish populations around the state. Shovelnose Sturgeon was the species most commonly encountered in the gill net surveys; sampling was substantially reduced during the 2015-2016 winter season relative to previous years due to moderate to major flooding during the majority of the field season.IDNR Division of Fisheries U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service F-101-R, Segment 27unpublishednot peer reviewe

Long-term Survey and Assessment of Large-River Fishes in Illinois, 2016

3EXECUTIVE SUMMARYThis report presents a summary of those data collected during segment 28(2016-17) of the Long-term Survey and Assessment of Large-River Fishes in Illinois(LTEF), an annual survey by members of the Illinois Natural History Survey,with funds administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Sampling for the LTEF program was conducted on: six reaches of the Illinois River Waterway, foursegments or pools of the Mississippi River, and navigable portions of the Iroquois and Kankakee Rivers. In all segments of the LTEF program, all fish species collected were accurately identified, tallied, measured, and weighed. The catchrates of sportfishspecies were calculated as the number of individuals collected per hour (CPUEN± standard error).Structural indices [Proportional Size Distribution (PSD) and Relative Weight (Wr)] were also calculated for several species of interest to regional managers. Catch rates and species varied among all sampling locationsand sampling periods. Emerald Shiners and Gizzard Shad comprised the majority of the individuals caught, andSilverCarpand Common Carp accounted for the greatest proportion of the biomass collected in most sampling areasof the survey. Futureanalysis of CPUENand PSD trends in sportfish populations sampled by the program may indicate inter-annual recruitment patterns or/andlong-term trends in Illinois sportfish populations.Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration F-101-R, Segment 28Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Division of Fisheriesunpublishednot peer reviewe

Bigheaded Carp Catch Data

Data on bigheaded carp sampled between 2000 and 2014 in the Illinois River, Illinois, USA, as part of the Long-Term Resource Monitoring Element of the Army Corps of Engineers Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program

Inconsistent Range Shifts within Species Highlight Idiosyncratic Responses to Climate Warming

<div><p>Climate in part determines species’ distributions, and species’ distributions are shifting in response to climate change. Strong correlations between the magnitude of temperature changes and the extent of range shifts point to warming temperatures as the single most influential factor causing shifts in species’ distributions species. However, other abiotic and biotic factors may alter or even reverse these patterns. The importance of temperature relative to these other factors can be evaluated by examining range shifts of the same species in different geographic areas. When the same species experience warming in different geographic areas, the extent to which they show range shifts that are similar in direction and magnitude is a measure of temperature’s importance. We analyzed published studies to identify species that have documented range shifts in separate areas. For 273 species of plants, birds, mammals, and marine invertebrates with range shifts measured in multiple geographic areas, 42-50% show inconsistency in the direction of their range shifts, despite experiencing similar warming trends. Inconsistency of within-species range shifts highlights how biotic interactions and local, non-thermal abiotic conditions may often supersede the direct physiological effects of temperature. Assemblages show consistent responses to climate change, but this predictability does not appear to extend to species considered individually.</p></div

Derivation of expected values for the χ² test.

<p>Each of four possible scenarios for paired range shifts are depicted.</p

Development and Assessment of a New Method for Combining Catch per Unit Effort Data from Different Fish Sampling Gear: Multi-Gear Mean Standardization (MGMS)

Abstract: Fish community assessments are often based on sampling with multiple gear types. However, multivariate methods used to assess fish community structure and composition are sensitive to differences in the relative scale of indices or measures of abundance produced by different sampling methods. This makes combining data from different sampling gears and methods a serious challenge. We developed a method of combining catch per unit effort data that standardizes catch per unit effort data across gear types, which we call multi-gear mean standardization (MGMS). We evaluated how well MGMS and other types of standardization reflect underlying community structure through a computer simulation that generated model riverine-fish communities and simulated sampling data for two gears. In these simulations, combining sampling observations from two gears with MGMS produced community structure estimates that were highly correlated with true community structure under a variety of conditions that are common in large rivers. Our simulation results indicate that the use of MGMS to combine data from different sampling gears is an effective data manipulation method for the analysis of fish community structure.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

Elevational range shifts among 58 species of birds in California.

<p>Positive numbers indicate uphill shifts. Yosemite National Park is area A in the inset map, and Southern California is area B in the inset map. Both areas were reported in [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0132103#pone.0132103.ref011" target="_blank">11</a>]. Scatterplots for all paired studies are available in the Supporting Information Figures (<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0132103#pone.0132103.s003" target="_blank">S1</a>–<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0132103#pone.0132103.s016" target="_blank">S14</a> Figs).</p