On December 9 at 16:00 (CET), the World Fish Migration Platform will organize a webinar titled “Fish migrations, dams and food security in the Mekong”.  Eric Baran will present an overview of the Mekong, fish migrations and development perspectives.  Learn more about the webiner and register here. A recording of the presentation will also be available online at the World Fish Migration Plattform.

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På onsdag, den 25:e November, klockan 13:15 kommer ett seminarium med temat “Wildlife research in Alaska” att organiseras vid Karlstads universitet. Två föreläsningar kommer att ges: ”Linking marine predator behaviour to prey fields in contrasting habitats in a subarctic glacial fjord in Alaska” av Jamie Womble och ”Why do moose migrate? Testing nutrition and predation risk hypotheses in a partially migratory moose population in coastal Alaska” av Kevin White.

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Seminariet ges i sal 5F416 på Karlstads universitet. Alla är välkomna!

Earlier in the autumn I visited the fish passage project ”Segura Riverlink” in the Segura River, Spain. While in Murcia I also visited researchers at Universidad de Murcia who are involved in studying effects of the newly constructed fishways on the local fishes. I joined Francisco Oliva Paterna, Ana Sanchez Perez and Juan Franco Galera to sample fish in areas affected by the migration obstacles and the new fishways, both in the Segura River and in a tributary. They are sampling fish in affected river stretches before and after the construction of the fishways to study potential changes in species composition and fish distribution. During my visit we sampled fish using electrofishing and minnow traps. The Andalusian barbel (Luciobarbus sclateri) is the star of the Segura Riverlink project and was caught in high numbers. Exotic species are abundant in the Segura River. By electrofishing, we sampled plenty of Iberian gudgeon (Gobio lozanoi) and Iberian nase (Pseudochondrostoma polylepis), both species native to Spain but most likely introduced by humans to the Segura River basin. Other exotic species caught were pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus), northern pike (Esox lucio), common bleak (Alburnus alburnus) and common carp (Cyprinus carpio). The minnow traps were used in the smaller tributary. Here we caught principally Iberian gudgeon and Andalusian barbel but also a couple of Mediterranean turtles (Mauremys leprosa). It was an interesting and pleasant visit. I wish the group good luck in their future work and hope to return.

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An Andalusian barbel tagged with an external mechanical tag with a unique ID-number. Future recaptures of this individual fish will result in information of its movement and growth.

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Iberian nase (Pseudochondrostoma polylepis).

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Iberian gudgeon (Gobio lozanoi)

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Mediterranean turtle (Mauremys leprosa).

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A minnow trap in the tributary.

John Piccolo writes about the ongoing Masters course Ecological Resource Management at Karlstad University:

“Our Masters course on Ecological Resource Management is now underway for fall 2015.  Students can read the course on campus or by distance, and we have a field and lab study week in the beginning of November. This year we discussed watershed management and invasive species in the historic Alsterdalen, home of reknowned poet Gustaf Fröding. Professor Lutz Eckstein led the discussion on invasive plants (such as late-blooming Lupine, see group foto). Then we drove over the divide to Klarälvsdalen and downriver to the Almar Forest (Almar skogen). There we discussed forest management with Ove Nystrand, forester for Svenska Kyrkan. 

On the second day we traveled down the River Gullspångsäven, home of the world-reknowned landlocked salmon, Gullspångslaxen. We met Robert Skogh, Mariestads kommun, and got a great overview of his efforts over the past 20 years to protect Gullspångslaxen. Then it was back up to the River Klarälven, where Johnny Norrgård and Olle Calles led the discussion on migration and conservation of Klarälvslaxen (Klarälven salmon).  In the course we use Lake Vänern salmon and trout as a case study for resource management. The students follow up with their own case studies, which will include diverse topics such as Lynx, Lupine, woodpeckers and windpower/bat interactions. It is an exciting course and educational for the teachers and well as the students. “

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John Piccolo (far left) and students at the Masters course “Ecological Resource Management”.

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Invasive Canadian goldenrod (Solidago canadensis) by the River Klarälven.

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Small stream in the Almar forest.

The golden mussel (Limnoperna fortunei) has invaded rivers in South America. The mussel, like many invasive species, has few natural enemies and reproduce rapidly. Below is a YouTube-video with information about the mussel and its ecological effects. The video is part of a crowdfunding project from the Laboratório de Biologia Molecular Ambiental BioMA, with the aim to sequence the mussels DNA to better understand the organism.

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Read more about the golden mussel and the sequencing of its DNA here.

Last Friday, Joacim Näslund, Gothenburg University defended his thesis: “The Pace of Life of Juvenile Brown Trout – Inter- and Intra-individual Variation in Growth and Behaviour“. Opponent was Robert McLaughlin from University of Guelph, Canada. John Piccolo, from Karlstads Universiy was part of the “betygsnämnd” (evaluation committee) together with Petronella Kettunen, GU och Fredrik Nordwall, HaV

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In relation to the defense, a workshop on “Ecology of Stream Salmonids” was organized. At the workshop, John Piccolo presented an overview of foraging and habitat selection models for salmonid restoration.