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A multigear protocol for sampling crayfish assemblages in Gulf of Mexico coastal streams

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Abstract

Identifying an effective protocol for sampling crayfish in streams that vary in habitat and physical/chemical characteristics has proven problematic. We evaluated an active, combined-gear (backpack electrofishing and dipnetting) sampling protocol in 20 Coastal Plain streams in Louisiana. Using generalized linear models and rarefaction curves, we evaluated environmental and gear (separate and combined) effects on crayfish catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE), orbital carapace lengths, sex ratios, frequencies of rare species, and sample richness. Although pooled data from combined gears showed greater total numbers of crayfishes, CPUE, and richness compared to either gear individually, combined gear and backpack electrofisher results differed minimally. Overall, richness was negatively related to specific conductance, indicating potential agricultural influence. Neither crayfish sex ratios, lengths, nor frequencies of rare species differed by gear; however, combining data from both gears ensured crayfish were captured in all study streams, which was not found for electrofishing or dipnetting alone. Species accumulation and rarefaction curves indicated sampling was sufficient for recording crayfish diversity at the scale of the study and that adding streams (versus sites within streams) would be most effective for watershed-scale studies. Our results suggested the combined gear protocol was effective for assessing crayfish population and assemblage characteristics in these Coastal Plain streams.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Brad Hester, Michael Baker, Kayla Smith, Samantha Lott, and Ivan Vargas-Lopez for their assistance with field work and collections; and Tiffany Pasco, A. Raynie Harlan, and Joshua Herron for their assistance with equipment and vehicles. We also thank our two anonymous reviewers for their very helpful suggestions, which improved this manuscript. Animals sacrificed for this study were deposited in the Louisiana State University School of Renewable Natural Resources, the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, Freshwater Ecology Laboratory. The research was supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, under the McIntire-Stennis Cooperative Forestry Program as project number LAB-94171. This manuscript was approved for publication by the Director of the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station as manuscript 2016-241-25986.

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  1. William R. Budnick

    Present address: Department of Biology, University of Texas – Arlington, 519 S. Nedderman Dr, Arlington, TX, 76019, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Renewable Natural Resources, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, 227 Renewable Natural Resources Building, Baton Rouge, LA, 70803, USA

    William R. Budnick, William E. Kelso & Michael D. Kaller

  2. USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Center for Bottomland Hardwoods Research, 1000 Front St., Oxford, MS, 38655, USA

    Susan B. Adams

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  1. William R. Budnick
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Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 22 kb)

10750_2018_3619_MOESM2_ESM.tif

Supplementary material 2 Fig. S1 Frequency histograms of crayfish total length distributions (4 mm bin width) by time of day and gear type (TIFF 73 kb)

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Budnick, W.R., Kelso, W.E., Adams, S.B. et al. A multigear protocol for sampling crayfish assemblages in Gulf of Mexico coastal streams. Hydrobiologia 822, 55–67 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-018-3619-7

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