Survey of Fishes, Semi-Aquatic Turtles, and Crayfishes on the Emporia State University Natural Areas

Dam construction affects freshwater ecosystems worldwide. While there is much focus on large impoundments, farm ponds are overlooked despite their near-ubiquity across human-altered landscapes. Within the Great Plains of North America, there are millions of farm ponds, yet little is known about the fish communities and factors structuring them. We propose a conceptual model where fish, amphibian, and crayfish abundances differ along a pond size and water permanency gradient and are further influenced by interactions among species. In the summer of 2021, we sampled 100 farm ponds across central Kansas, primarily on private land. Pond size and permanency explained community structure with smaller and less permanent ponds being dominated by amphibians and crayfish while larger ponds were dominated by stocked sportfish. Distribution modeling revealed a negative correlation between stocked fish and other community components indicating potential interactions. If we are to conserve headwater stream species, especially those that are threatened or endangered, strategies that integrate farm ponds seem necessary given their prevalence on the landscape.

show abstract

Community assembly of prairie farm ponds: build it and they will come, stock it and they won't

Pfaff

Hase

Gido

2023

Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Ross Natural History Reservation: A Review of Recent Dynamics from Aerial Photography

Aber

Jensen

Allison

et al. 2020

Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.

Contact Info

customersupport@researchsolutions.com

10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614

Henderson, NV 89052, USA

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Blog Terms and Conditions API Terms Privacy Policy Contact Cookie Preferences Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

Made with 💙 for researchers

Part of the Research Solutions Family.

Survey of Fishes, Semi-Aquatic Turtles, and Crayfishes on the Emporia State University Natural Areas

Cited by 2 publications

References 15 publications

Community assembly of prairie farm ponds: build it and they will come, stock it and they won't

Community assembly of prairie farm ponds: build it and they will come, stock it and they won't

Ross Natural History Reservation: A Review of Recent Dynamics from Aerial Photography

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About