Andrew K. Carlson, PhD (Former Employee)

Fisheries encompass humans and fish, but fisheries researchers rarely model human–nature interactions over space and time. I filled this information gap for dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus), a popular, widely distributed species that supports industrial, artisanal, recreational, and subsistence fisheries. Dolphinfish human–nature interactions showed a long-term up-and-down pattern in...

Inland fisheries often receive little to no attention in global discussions about sustainable development. The consequences of overlooking inland fisheries in sustainability dialogues are increasingly problematic as fisheries stressors (e.g., overharvest, species invasion, climate change, habitat modification) intensify. Elevating the global profile of inland fisheries requires an...

As global temperatures increase, the spatiotemporal arrangement of thermal habitats in Florida rivers may shift, creating the potential for greater dispersal and establishment of nonnative tropical freshwater fishes. To understand how water temperature changes may affect the spatial distribution of these nonnative species, more effective water temperature prediction models are necessary...

Thirteen years ago, as a senior in college, I barely knew what research was. Although I spent my senior year conducting fieldwork and writing 50 pages about Brown Trout Salmo trutta population dynamics in southeast Minnesota streams, the essence of research eluded me. It was not until graduate school that things clicked. A decade ago, I was several months away from completing my M.S...

ObjectiveIn a changing climate, the effects of air temperature, precipitation, and groundwater on water temperature and thermal habitat suitability for Gulf Sturgeon Acipenser desotoi, listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, are not well understood. Hence, we incorporated these factors into thermal habitat models to forecast how Gulf Sturgeon may be affected by wide...

Maintaining the integrity and health of aquatic ecosystems is critical to sustaining the many valued services that they provide society. Unfortunately, achieving this goal has proven challenging in most of the world's large ecosystems owing to rampant environmental change caused by human-driven stress, including accelerating climate change, pollution of waterways, habitat modification...

ObjectiveReducing Largemouth Bass Micropterus salmoides recruitment and therefore population density could benefit recreational fisheries in small impoundments by improving individual growth rates and increasing the average size and condition of Largemouth Bass. To achieve these effects, methods of controlling Largemouth Bass recruitment should avoid reducing the productivity of their...

Natural resource monitoring programs benefit from routine evaluation. Here, Florida’s statewide Freshwater Fisheries Long-Term Monitoring (LTM) program is used to show how stakeholder surveys can be integral to this process. In 2022, an online questionnaire was sent to internal stakeholders, i.e., state agency personnel who collect, enter, or use freshwater fisheries data for fisheries...

Research on Bluegills, Lepomis macrochirus R., is abundant but typically focuses on water bodies with similar environmental conditions. We assessed Bluegill density, relative abundance (catch per unit effort [CPUE] by electrofishing), growth, and size structure in 60 lakes with wide-ranging surface areas (2–12,412 ha), trophic states (oligotrophic–hypereutrophic), and macrophyte...

Managing impounded river systems is a recurring challenge for aquatic resource professionals because reservoirs serve multiple functions with different ecological and socioeconomic outcomes. However, research on fishes in reservoirs has disproportionally focused on recreationally and economically important species, with less attention directed toward fish assemblages despite the...

Panfish support popular, socioeconomically valuable fisheries across the United States. Whereas Bluegill Lepomis macrochirus and Black Crappie Pomoxis nigromaculatus receive considerable research attention, Redear Sunfish L. microlophus are seldom studied despite their wide distribution, large size, socioeconomic contributions, and invasion potential in parts of their introduced range...

Hydropower production is one of the greatest threats to fluvial ecosystems and freshwater biodiversity. Now that we have entered the Anthropocene, there is an opportunity to reflect on what might constitute a ‘sustainable’ Anthropocene in the context of hydropower and riverine fish populations. Considering elements of existing practices that promote favorable social-ecological outcomes...