Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7226-1774

Semester

Spring

Date of Graduation

2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design

Department

Forest Resource Management

Committee Chair

Patricia Mazik

Committee Co-Chair

Vicki Blazer

Committee Member

Stuart Welsh

Committee Member

Amy Welsh

Abstract

Over recent decades, the scientific community has observed a disconcerting trend – a decline in the health and stability of smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) populations across the Chesapeake Bay watershed with growing economic and ecological implications. Disease, declines, and death have been observed in multiple locations, particularly in the Susquehanna and Potomac drainages with the adults disproportionately affected in the Potomac River basin and young-of-year in the Susquehanna River basin. There has not been a single or consistent cause to the declines or mortality events. More likely, it is believed immunosuppression relating to a complex mixture of stressors has been occurring. To address this multifaceted challenge, the USGS Eastern Ecological Science Center at the Leetown Research Laboratory initiated a comprehensive and collaborative investigation taking into account multiple aspects related to fish health including immune function, histopathology, health assessment indices, gross observations, gene expression, contaminant analysis, land use analysis, and water quality parameters. This dissertation seeks to begin to unravel the complexities surrounding smallmouth bass health declines by employing an interdisciplinary approach that combines immune function with various other facets of fish health that were also currently under investigation. This dissertation contains chapters that describe 1.) the development of three functional immune assays for wild-caught smallmouth bass, 2.) the utilization of these assays to assess immune function at eight total sites with varying degrees of land use and chemical inputs, and 3.) the use of contaminant data and immune gene transcript counts to further understand immune function.

Share

COinS