Apparent survival and detection probability of PIT-tagged small-bodied stream fishes using multi-pass wand antenna surveys

• Published in: Environmental biology of fishes Vol. 106; no. 6; pp. 1371 - 1381
• Main Authors: Siller, Maddy K., Pfaff, Peter J., Wild, Eddy, Gido, Keith B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01-06-2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Animal Systematics/Taxonomy/Biogeography; Baseline studies; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Detection; Environment; Estimates; Fish; Freshwater & Marine Ecology; Life Sciences; Marking and tracking techniques; Nature Conservation; Parameter estimation; Probability; Probability theory; Rivers; Surveys; Survival; Tagging; Tags; Transponders; Zoology; Apparent survival; PIT tags; Mark-recapture; Detection probability
• ISSN: 0378-1909; 1573-5133
• DOI: 10.1007/s10641-023-01422-0

Passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags are used widely to track the dispersal and model survival rates of animals. However, few studies have used this technology on small-bodied stream fishes. We collected baseline data on the apparent survival and detection probability of PIT-tagged stream fishes in the Great Plains and the arid southwestern United States over a 9-week or 16-week period. Cormack-Jolly-Seber open mark-recapture models were used to obtain parameter estimates for six minnows and one darter. Individuals were implanted with 8-mm PIT tags and recaptures were based on multi-pass wand antenna surveys. Overall, species had similarly high apparent survival ranging from 77 to 93% though the probability of detection differed among species. This was likely due to our ability to detect species with differing associations with pool or riffle habitats. Our estimates of survival and detection probabilities derived from multi-pass wand antenna surveys can serve as a baseline for researchers wanting to quantify population vital rates.