Abstract
The resilience of aquatic ecosystems hinges on our ability to protect the native species that reside within them. The river redhorse (Moxostoma carinatum) is one such example and populations have become low enough to warrant a threatened status by the State of Michigan. An insufficient understanding of the species’ habitat use outside of its spawning season hinders the ability of fisheries managers to implement appropriate habitat protection and restoration measures. To enhance our understanding of river redhorse habitat use, we implanted 15 individuals with radio transmitters during the spring spawning run and tracked their locations over the course of a summer. River redhorse movement varied greatly with some individuals remaining within the spawning area throughout the summer and others traveling as far as 50 km down river. Once post-spawn movement ceased, river redhorse established themselves in small home ranges between 0.04 and 0.12 km2. We found no obvious selection for depth, sediment type, macrophyte presence, or water velocity. Instead, river redhorse strongly selected for habitat containing freshwater mollusks, the primary food source for the species. This suggests that they were seeking foraging habitat during this time period. These findings provide insight into river redhorse management, indicating that the recovery of the species may depend on our ability to protect these newly discovered feeding areas. Future river redhorse management efforts should therefore focus on the protection of native mussels and snails and the maintenance of migration routes between spawning and summer habitats.
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The data that support the findings are available in GVSU’s Scholar Works at https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/theses/942/
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Sarah Lamar, Barney Boyer, Katy Sheets, Ana Wassilak, Hailee Pavisich, and all our other field work volunteers. Funding for this project was provided by GVSU’s presidential research grant, Michigan Space Grant Consortium’s graduate research grant, and the GVSU Metropolitan council.
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Funding for this project was provided by the Michigan Space Grant Consortium and Grand Valley State University.
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Collection and surgery of river redhorse took place in accordance with the Grand Valley State University Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, study number 18-12-a, and with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Threatened and Endangered Species permit number 2231.
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Preville, N.M., Snyder, E.B., O’Keefe, D. et al. Habitat use of the threatened river redhorse (Moxostoma carinatum) in the Grand River, MI, USA. Aquat Sci 84, 43 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-022-00870-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-022-00870-7