Dennis Holcomb

The Wegener Ring was designed to sample fish populations of shallow, vegetated habitats in Lake Tohopekaliga, Florida. The sampler is portable and simple to use. Ten transects in water 0-18 inches deep were sampled within consecutive 3 inch contours. As depth of water increased, non-centrarchid forage fish decreased while numbers of centrarchids increased. Total numbers of fish decreased from an average of 216,042 per acre in 0-3 inches to 20,326 per acre in 15-18 inches of water. Standing crop was relatively constant, averaging 91 pounds per acre for all water depths. The monetary values...

In the spring of 1970 and 1971, vegetation transects were run on22,700 acre Lake Tohopekaliga in Osceola County, Florida. The objectiveof this study was to monitor the response of various plant types to a7 foot drawdown and compare results with those from a study done in1956. As a result of dewatering, littoral vegetation advanced lakewara,expanding from an area of approximately 9,000 acres to 10,500 acres, a16% increase. The significance of this plant response, relative to standingcrop of fish and invertebrate fish-food organisms, is discussed. Five of 16 dominant plant types...