1. Zooplankton Community Mr. Don Ingles’ Pond
Final Lab Report
Fish 415 Limnology
Jordan Nielson
KC Deife
Eric Johnson

2. Outline Introduction /Objectives Methods Results/Analysis Discussion
Recommendations

3. Introduction Location Age of the Pond Stocking History
Problems with the pond – Mr. Ingles
Located south of Kendrick off of the Freeman Creek Road
Built in 1995 and filled in 1996
Stocking History – Initial
1500 Trout in 3 size classes
50 breeding bluegill
50 Largemouth bass
Later
250 catfish
50 smallmouth
250 bullfrog tadpoles
500 trout
Problems include poor fishing, stunted growth of bluegills, parasites, and past cattail invasions.
The pond has not been examined for water quality/fish food availability/sediment filling.

4. Objectives Determine the zooplankton types and abundance
Littoral and Pelagic Areas

5. Methods – Schindler trap
Schindler Trap
At surface and every meter in three spots on the north side of the pond

6. Methods – Kick net Kick net at shoreline from the three sites
3 meters from shoreline
3 – 1 meter sweeps at each site
% visual analysis of large macros

7. Methods – Beach seining
Seine at each shore location for presence/absence of species

8. Methods – Analysis of Pelagic Zooplankton Counts
MANOVA
Data examined for site, depth, and zooplankton type effects on count
Kruskal-Wallis and Jonckheere-Terpstra on depth in deep and mid sites
2-Way ANOVA – Data from entire pond
Site and Zooplankton weighted by count
Tukey classification on zooplankton

9. Results – Schindler trap
MANOVA
No site or depth effect
Zooplankton type effect*
KW and JT showed difference in depth at mid site*
2-way ANOVA
Copepods more abundant than all other types counted*
Only Asplanchna were counted in the rotifer category
Too many small rotifers to count – the most abundant zooplankton
*All significant differences have P<0.05

10. Average Zooplankton by Depth and Type at Mid-Site
100 90 80
Surface 70 60
1-Meter
# per liter 50 40 30 20 10
Cladocera
Copepoda
Chaoborus
Rotifera

11. Results – Schindler trap
MANOVA
No site or depth effect
Zooplankton type effect*
KW and JT showed difference in depth at mid site*
2-way ANOVA
Copepods more abundant than all other types counted*
Only Asplanchna were counted in the rotifer category
Too many small rotifers to count – the most abundant zooplankton
*All significant differences have P<0.05

12. Average Zooplankton per Liter for Pelagic Area90 80 70 B
Different letters indicate levels of significance P<0.05 60 50
# per liter 40 A 30 A 20 A 10
Cladocera Copepoda Chaoborus Rotifera

13. Results – Kick Net Several large macroinvertebrates found at each site
Odonata/Hemiptera
Diptera
Mollusca
Deep
Mid
Shallow
10%
10%
15%
40%
60%
75%
90%

14. Results – Beach Seining
Approximately 15 larval bluegill were caught at each site

15. Discussion Lack of habitat/cover – only a few rocks
Fish structure – only small bluegill found
No lack of food for larval fish
High number of rotifers – Non – Asplanchna
Too many to count in all of the samples
There was only a few rocks stacked together around the shoreline in a few places and they are now dried up and above the waterline. Only found ~15 crappie in each beach seine sample, probably should have found hundreds.

16. Discussion
Possible large fish eating all of the smaller fish – stocking frequency of fish
IDFG Spring Valley Stocking Records
Trout fishing might be bad because there is no cover and they are getting eaten by large fish
Heating/ O2 in the pond – Summer months
Spring valley stocking 2006 – trout 6+ inches = 32,303 trout fingerlings = 33,060 trout fry 0-3 inches = 29,988. Each of the different sizes of trout were from different stocks of fish. All trout are stocked at different times through out the year inch bluegill stocked
No bushes or trees to provide shade during summer months. Very shallow so water will heat up to upper limits of salmonid tolerance range.

17. Recommendations
Add vegetation on a large portion of banks and in littoral area to provide cover for smaller fish that are stocked.
Just talk about how vegetation provides shade and cover near the shoreline for spawning and fish

18. Recommendations Man made structure throughout pond
Horizontal at shore, Vertical in pond
Add horizontal structure at shore around the pond for spawning habitat. Place vertical habitat out from shore habitat for juvenile fish to hide from predators and to forage in and around.

19. Recommendations Don’t overstock fish Trophic Cascading
Cause disease/parasitism die offs
Plot stock recruitment curves
Trophic Cascading
I am not really sure what you had in mind for this one. He did say there was an over abundance of stunted bluegill so maybe he would want to do all of the above recommendations and then add largemouth bass again to control the bluegill population.

20. Recommendations Ray Scott’s video
"Complete Guide to Creating GREAT SMALL WATERS"
(1) "Build World Class Fishing Ponds & Lakes," (2) "How-To Stock & Manage Small Waters for Trophy Bass," and (3) "Rehabilitate Old or Unproductive Waters."
The video explains step by step how to accomplish each goal. Cost of video is $90 + $7 shipping

21. Questions?