I recently attended a lecture by Dr. Roarke Donnelly on the effects of piscicides on American Dippers (Cinclus mexicanus). A piscicide is a chemical that can be added to a water body to kill fish and is typically used to remove non-native fish. They are used all over the world in a variety of systems. The American Dipper looks like a songbird but hunts for its prey underwater, they are the only aquatic songbird in North America. They are considered a symbol of western birding and are quite interesting to watch! It consumes benthic macroinvertebrates.
American Dipper swimming Cornell Lab of Ornithology American Dipper Page
Dr. Donnelly is a professor at Oglethorpe University and recently became a member of the board of the Atlanta Audubon Society. Dr. Donnelly opened his lecture by discussing western trout management. Currently, trout are in need of management for a variety of reasons; habitat loss due to damns, invasives, disease, and pollution. Invasives include Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) and Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). While these species are native to Georgia, in Bozeman, MT where this study took place they are considered an invasive. Whirling disease is another challenge faced by native trout and can lead to deformed skeletons.
A young naturalist 