Pallid Sturgeon Research Project

For the Honors World History midterm project the class was put into groups and we were to make a poster with information about one topic from the first semester. We started with three topics and then picked which idea would be best to transfer to a poster. My group started with the three categories, people, revolutions and countries. We chose countries for our poster. Even though this project was very intimidating and stressful at first, I ended up enjoying it because we worked with other classmates which allowed for more creativity as well as a more complete poster since more people worked on it.

The project our group conducted was a poster series, which was focused on the topic of animal testing, how it is unethical, and how some sort of solution should be implemented in order to discourage it. We chose this topic from our pool of topics because we all had views that aligned with this issue, as opposed to other topics found in our pool, such as net neutrality and money in the sports industry. While completing this project, a small number of issues did come up regarding the audience and style in which we would make these posters, as well as what their content should be.

Crayfish are crustaceans that are a part of the phylum arthropoda. Similar to the lobster, an organism within the same phylum, crayfish breathe via feathered gills. It is the use of these gills that allows oxygen uptake and thus the ability to survive in freshwater environments.

The Purple Marsh Crab, or simply known as the Marsh Crab, is a small crab that is native to the Eastern United States. They live in the salt marshes and mud flats of brackish estuaries, and create networks of connected tunnels within the flats.

Commercial fishing boats are pushing to catch as many Atlantic salmon as they can after a net pen broke near Washington's Cypress Island. Fishermen reported thousands of the non-native fish jumping in the water or washing ashore. The pen, in the state's northwestern San Juan Islands, contained about 305,000 Atlantic salmon. Environmentalists are concerned that the escaped Atlantic salmon could potentially mate and crossbreed with the Pacific salmon or compete with them for food but they are not completely sure what the ramifications will be. Now, owner Cooke Aquaculture and the Washington department of fish and wildlife are trying to determine how many escaped. The director of the wild fish conservancy northwest, Kurt Beardslee , called the

The first time I felt the recoil of a shotgun coincide with the simultaneous drop and flop of a turkey I knew I was hooked. This was all the way back in the fall of 2005 when I shot my very first turkey alongside my father. That day started an addiction that has since intensified and spread to not only turkeys but almost all of Missouri's highly sought after species. Hunting, conservation, and the great outdoors have always been embedded in the hearts of my family. I am no different and plan to dedicate my life to Missouri’s wildlife the same way they have.

Walleye is the most common fish in South Dakota, they are fished all over the state. Walleye fishing at Lake Oahe has been very popular for fishing. They have had really good fishing in the past few years. Many people go fishing for the big walleyes. The walleye population keeps going up and down. In 2001, walleye fishing was really low but now in 2013 it is back up to its average levels.

Navigating the World’s oceans is a difficult task, finding a small place where you were born two years earlier without any navigational tools at all is impossible for most. Pink Salmon are an incredible species capable of this and so much more, but now they are faced with their greatest challenge to date. Pink salmon must somehow survive the changing chemistry due to climate change that is altering their environment, and poses the greatest risk the species will likely ever face.

Complete the poster presentation using one of the templates provided as a guide. The poster presentation must include a description of the selected topic, the components of the topic, why there is a need for change, the theory you will use for a change to occur, and an evaluation plan for the change. The finished Assignment should be a Poster Project, excluding the title page and references. The writing should be well ordered, logical, and unified, as well as original and insightful;

Poster Presentation. Prior to determining the groups intervention, the group discussed how we should present our information. We decided that in order to “catch the eye” of students, having a poster with bright colors and bulleted information. In addition, the group decided to provide all the information that is presented on the poster in a brochure as miniature poster version.

Sturgeon have a similar life cycle to that of pacific salmon with spawning occurring when the female sturgeon releases eggs and the male sturgeon fertilizes them. Incubation happens for a week until the eggs hatch and the new fish rely on nourishment from a yolk sac until they are further grown. The yolk sac provides complete nourishment for the small sturgeon for its first 12-14 days of life. Similar to salmon entering ocean, sturgeon fish can enter areas with higher salt content to look for food. The fish can spawn once they are mature, with the males reaching it first when they are about 12 to 18 years old. Female sturgeons can only reproduce when they are older at 25 to 30 years of age. Unlike salmon, sturgeon can reproduce several times throughout their lifetime and can reproduce every year or every several years, depending on the age of the female. http://hsbc.frasersturgeon.com/rhspsec/Lesson1/Articles/Article1.pdf

Another factor contributing to the declination of Lake Sturgeons is the destruction of their habitat through pollution. Although the Great Lakes Protection Act is in effect, the connecting rivers are the main contributing source of pollution in the Great Lakes (8). Pollution levels are higher in the rivers than they are in the Great Lakes because the main sources of pollution are located near large rivers. For example, the erosion of clay and silt from agricultural land frequently ends up in the rivers by rain or wind (8). This results in sedimentation. High amounts of sediments in the water bury aquatic habitats and reduce water quality. The gravel that Lake Sturgeons like to spawn in is degraded by sedimentation. Another source of pollution

You need to review existing policy and procedure documents (in the appendices of your Student Workbook) and develop guidelines for managing the process of gathering research information. You also need to identify and plan to acquire all resources necessary for supporting the project.

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is one example of an organization that is captive-breeding Lake Sturgeon for reintroduction. Reproducing a population of aquatic species can be quite difficult. It is critical when captive-breeding to maximize the effective population size (Ne). Maintaining a high Ne portrays a healthy population. In particular, it shows that the population has an equal sex ratio and the individuals are able to produce offspring. It is also critical to assure that mating pairs are not closely related individuals so inbreeding depression does not occur. Maintaining a genetically diverse and healthy captive population is very important.

Hamilton’s model indicated that there would be an increase of the fitness of the animals when they assist kin (Hamilton 1964). Therefore, juvenile salmon fish would also prefer to increase the fitness with the help of kin. The dominant species would occupy the area with the food source, and sharing area with the subordinate species would also increase depending of the change the food supply. Davies & Hartley 1996 conducted the manipulation experiment to prove the same behaviour of the birds. There are also many other experiments indicated that juvenile salmon fish would likely to associated with in kin.