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Andrew Rypel

@andrewrypel.bsky.social
427 followers 361 following 346 posts

School Director & Professor @auburnfisheries.bsky.social • 🧪 for Ecosystems, Fish, People & Ag sites.google.com/view/rypel-lab/home • ✍️ at TangledNature.com

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Andrew Rypel @andrewrypel.bsky.social · 11m
Wild rice can look like just another emergent aquatic plant. But if you trace its many connections, you'll find that almost everything is connected to it. The birds, fishes, food webs, Indigenous cultures - even history. Manoomin is a "Great Connector." 🌾👇 tnature.substack.com/p/the-great-...
tnature.substack.com
The Great Connectors
How manoomin wild rice binds wildlife, water, and people
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Andrew Rypel @andrewrypel.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
🚨 New paper led by grad student Alex Ginez! So many native fishes are still labeled as “rough fish” and given no management attention, and often unlimited harvest - still! But are these fishes actually capable of sustaining high harvest? academic.oup.com/fisheries/ad... A thread on the study 🧵👇
academic.oup.com
Smoothing over “rough” mismanagement: Establishing protective harvest limits for native nongame fishes
Abstract. There is growing interest in establishing more protective regulations for native fishes that historically have been classified as “rough fish,” a
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Andrew Rypel @andrewrypel.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
So proud of Alex & team for getting this project out into the wild. We can manage our native fishes better and hope this might be a good first step. Speaking for myself - I want these species, including the giants (e.g., alligator gar, pic 👇) around in the future. @solomonrdavid.bsky.social
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Andrew Rypel @andrewrypel.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
8/ The big point here is not that P/B should always be used to determine fishing regulations. Local data, harvest, angler values, and social objectives still rule. But when detailed data don’t exist, longevity can provide a remarkably useful first tool about fisheries vulnerability.
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Andrew Rypel @andrewrypel.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
7/ Minnesota is a particularly intriguing case study because they already went through an independent limit-setting process. Check out how close their mostly social limit setting process got to our recommendations from a biologically-based P/B model. Super impressive!! 👊
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Andrew Rypel @andrewrypel.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
6/ If we assume states manage game fish populations sustainably, we can actually model what the bag limits should be for native non-game species to bring them into alignment with the game species. Here are some of the models we made using this approach.
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Andrew Rypel @andrewrypel.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
5/ Here was another interesting result: Many native nongame fishes have P/B similar to or LOWER than traditional "game" fishes. Buffaloes, Suckers, Drum sit near fishes like Walleye, Lake Trout, Muskellunge and Sturgeon on the low end of the P/B spectrum. Some fish just take awhile to make!
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Andrew Rypel @andrewrypel.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
4/ Some fishes labeled "rough fish" live for astonishingly long periods. The longevity dataset ranged 2 years for a Black Bullhead population to 148 (!!!) years for Bigmouth Buffalo (pic 👇). And long lifespans mean slow replacement. But yet, our bag limits for these species remain unlimited?
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Andrew Rypel @andrewrypel.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
3/ We compiled a massive P/B dataset: 301 studies, 105 freshwater fish species, and 1,364 populations. P/B is primarily a function of maximum lifespan. Thus, the longer, a species lives, the slower its replacement. Makes sense! For species with replicated data, this relationship has an R² = 0.90.
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Andrew Rypel @andrewrypel.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
2/ The idea here is simple. When we harvest fishes (or any animal), we should know how quickly biomass is replaced? Ecologists have a metric for this - the production/biomass or P/B ratio. High P/B = fast replacement, Low P/B = slow replacement. This tells you soo much about sustainable harvest!
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Andrew Rypel @andrewrypel.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
🚨 New paper led by grad student Alex Ginez! So many native fishes are still labeled as “rough fish” and given no management attention, and often unlimited harvest - still! But are these fishes actually capable of sustaining high harvest? academic.oup.com/fisheries/ad... A thread on the study 🧵👇
academic.oup.com
Smoothing over “rough” mismanagement: Establishing protective harvest limits for native nongame fishes
Abstract. There is growing interest in establishing more protective regulations for native fishes that historically have been classified as “rough fish,” a
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Reposted by Andrew Rypel
Auburn SFAAS @auburnfisheries.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Our Fish1100 getting some hands-on, in-the-field learning from Dr. Letícia Hoag!
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Andrew Rypel @andrewrypel.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Healthy Mussels = Healthy Rivers
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Ben Young Landis @younglandis.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
"Natural environments attract attention without demanding it—a phenomenon sometimes called 'soft fascination.' Novelty in nature is especially potent neurologically... Put all of this together and wandering begins to look less and less like wasted time, and more like a sweet spot for cognition." 🧪
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Andrew Rypel @andrewrypel.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
I spend a good bit of time editing journals, and also finding reviewers. I don't usually call folks out, and I've anonymized this. But check out these statistics for a prospective reviewer. Maybe there is a good reason, but let me just say... This looks really bad for this person, b/c it is bad!
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Andrew Rypel @andrewrypel.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
We talk a lot now about raising free-range kids. But what about free-range adults? We have so much, but stopped going anywhere without clear, justifiable reasons - ALL the time. My new essay is about leaving more room for wandering, surprise & spice in life 🌿👇 tnature.substack.com/p/being-a-fr...
tnature.substack.com
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Andrew Rypel @andrewrypel.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
We talk a lot now about raising free-range kids. But what about free-range adults? We have so much, but stopped going anywhere without clear, justifiable reasons - ALL the time. My new essay is about leaving more room for wandering, surprise & spice in life 🌿👇 tnature.substack.com/p/being-a-fr...
tnature.substack.com
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Andrew Rypel @andrewrypel.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
They have many names, but one thing is clear: No matter their name... They absolutely rule!
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Digital Brain @yourdigitalbrain.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
A wild red fox drops its guard to play fearlessly with a Siberian husky, a bond that only forms when foxes lose their fear of humans through close contact on farms.
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Andrew Rypel @andrewrypel.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Thank you for reading!
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Jane Anderson @jane-anderson.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Amazing, I had no idea (which of course is the point of your piece). Thank you for sharing this!
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Digital Brain @yourdigitalbrain.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
One of the most gorgeous bucks I've ever seen..
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Andrew Rypel @andrewrypel.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Interesting experiment by an editor to curb AI submissions medium.com/@TmlrOrg/ask...
medium.com
Asking Authors About Their Own Papers
By Nihar B. Shah
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Andrew Rypel @andrewrypel.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
I think scientists need to become better science communicators if we have a chance at winning back public trust. Here's an opportunity to learn. The AAAS is putting on a free webinar this Tuesday for anyone interested in working and engaging with the media: www.sciline.org/learn/scient...
sciline.org
Engaging with the media: Essential skills for successful interviews - SciLine
Enhance your media engagement skills with our webinar. Learn to navigate interviews, combat misinformation, and ensure accurate representation of your research.
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Andrew Rypel @andrewrypel.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Deadline coming up fast 9/22. Submit an application if interested!
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Andrew Rypel @andrewrypel.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Yosemite had a twin? Wait- what?! It did and we flooded it. Then over the next 100+ years, we slowly forgot just much we lost. My new essay is about Hetch Hetchy, shifting baselines, and something I call landscape survivor bias. I hope you can read it 🏞️👇 tnature.substack.com/p/how-landsc...
tnature.substack.com
How Landscapes Vanish From Our Memory
Yosemite’s Lost Twin
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Katie O'Reilly @drkatfish.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
This year's crop of wild rice/manoomin in Wisconsin has been better than average, due to both stable weather conditions during the growing season and the efforts of tribes to restore and protect wild rice-growing waters www.wpr.org/environment/...
wpr.org
Wisconsin's wild rice harvest is expected to be up this year
Wild rice, or manoomin in the Ojibwe language, is culturally significant to northern Wisconsin tribes, and Wisconsin regulators are anticipating an increased wild rice harvest this year.
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Andrew Rypel @andrewrypel.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Yosemite had a twin? Wait- what?! It did and we flooded it. Then over the next 100+ years, we slowly forgot just much we lost. My new essay is about Hetch Hetchy, shifting baselines, and something I call landscape survivor bias. I hope you can read it 🏞️👇 tnature.substack.com/p/how-landsc...
tnature.substack.com
How Landscapes Vanish From Our Memory
Yosemite’s Lost Twin
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Andrew Rypel @andrewrypel.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Position is akin to a USGS coop research unit, but w/ USFWS. Training and managing grad students is a major part of the role. The position also comes with dedicated research funds - a good amount. We need help still describing and managing the great aquatic biodiversity of the southeastern USA!
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Andrew Rypel @andrewrypel.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
We have a really unique (and cool IMHO) opportunity open for a cooperative research faculty member at Auburn Fisheries. If you work on aquatic conservation genomics, check this out. Feel free to DM me with questions. 👇
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Andrew Rypel @andrewrypel.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
I appreciate Cal making a stand on what is ok/not on AI calnewport.com/anthropic-ju...
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Andrew Rypel @andrewrypel.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
I'm at a fish conference, and a couple people asked me today whether the passenger pigeon story I wrote about below is at all similar what is happening with 'rough fish'. The answer is yes. @solomonrdavid.bsky.social tnature.substack.com/p/the-abunda...
tnature.substack.com
The Abundance Trap
How we lost 5 billion pigeons
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Andrew Rypel @andrewrypel.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Really excited to see in the wild!! We launched a new blog at Auburn SFAAS - Southern Waters. 🐟🦅 Our first post looks at Homer Swingle, an entomologist that invented/innovated in pond management like no other. He is the founder of our fisheries program. southernwaters.auburn.edu/homer-swingl...
southernwaters.auburn.edu
Homer Swingle Continues To Teach Us About Fisheries
Swingle Hall still sits caddy-corner from the President’s mansion on Auburn’s campus. From the outside, it looks completely tranquil, perhaps because it is surrounded by a campus always buzzing and bu...
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Miguel Clavero @chikichanka.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Passenger eels? The passenger pigeon disappeared from Earth 114 years ago, when Martha, the last individual, died in a zoo We can drive extremely abundant species to extinction And we are doing extacty that to the European eel and other /Anguilla/ species Time to stop (if we learnt anything) Thread👇
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Ben Young Landis @younglandis.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Poignant essay by Andrew Rypel: "But nature sends no bank statement. There is no moment when the forest, fishery, aquifer, or pigeon flock screams — 'hey you’re crossing the red line!' We have to calculate these things ourselves, and we have to be smart and patient to do so." #SciComm 🧪
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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
I’m forever haunted by the stories of the passenger pigeons (as you may see in my banner photo). The land all over must’ve grieved their loss… “Again and again, witnesses reached for the language of storms, rivers, and celestial events because ordinary descriptions of birds were inadequate.”
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Andrew Rypel @andrewrypel.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
I'm at a fish conference, and a couple people asked me today whether the passenger pigeon story I wrote about below is at all similar what is happening with 'rough fish'. The answer is yes. @solomonrdavid.bsky.social tnature.substack.com/p/the-abunda...
tnature.substack.com
The Abundance Trap
How we lost 5 billion pigeons
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Andrew Rypel @andrewrypel.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Today = 112th anniversary of when the last passenger pigeon (Martha) died & the species went extinct. There were once 5 billion of these birds! Imagine how different our ecosystems were. I learned a lot writing this. I hope you enjoy it. 💚👇 The Abundance Trap tnature.substack.com/p/the-abunda...
tnature.substack.com
The Abundance Trap
How we lost 5 billion pigeons
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Digital Brain @yourdigitalbrain.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Monet's Pond in Japan: the place that looks like a true Impressionist painting
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Andrew Rypel @andrewrypel.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Today = 112th anniversary of when the last passenger pigeon (Martha) died & the species went extinct. There were once 5 billion of these birds! Imagine how different our ecosystems were. I learned a lot writing this. I hope you enjoy it. 💚👇 The Abundance Trap tnature.substack.com/p/the-abunda...
tnature.substack.com
The Abundance Trap
How we lost 5 billion pigeons
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Andrew Rypel @andrewrypel.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Despite all that, I suspect most Western states are looking at this very seriously now given how much they spend in mechanical non-native trout eradication. Never a silver bullet though.
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Andrew Rypel @andrewrypel.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
I'm sure it does. However, in the study, they almost eradicated all the wild fish. The bigger issue is the amount of management that would be needed to keep the wild fish from immigrating back in and repopulating. Probably works okay in small trout streams, but in larger systems...???
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Andrew Rypel @andrewrypel.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
A one line quote from me...but in Science magazine. www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
To doom invasive fish, scientists are breeding ‘supermales’
Technique shown to eradicate exotic trout—by producing all male populations
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Auburn SFAAS @auburnfisheries.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Did you know that we have a new blog rolling out soon? This is where you'll find news, articles, pictures, archives, spotlights and more directly from SFAAS. Make sure you subscribe to our email list so you don't miss a single one. Our first official post is a special one!
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Andrew Rypel @andrewrypel.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Check out the colors on this longear sunfish caught from Hatchet Creek AL today!
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Andrew Rypel @andrewrypel.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
I grew up exploring and fishing every corner of the Crawfish River immediately adjacent to this site. This sounds weird, but sometimes I wonder if this place seeped into my blood somehow. A deeply special area to me.
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Auburn SFAAS @auburnfisheries.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Some of the vital work we do at AUMERC and our Shellfish Lab isn't just about harvesting oysters. It's about creating a safer ecosystem for oysters to thrive where their biggest threat also exists: the oyster drill.
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Andrew Rypel @andrewrypel.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
1 year ago, I launched Tangled Nature without much certainty about what it might become. Today, there are answers, but I’m also still figuring it out. Here’s a insider look at what worked, surprised, fav underachievers & some possibly terrible ideas for Year-2 tnature.substack.com/p/what-is-an...
tnature.substack.com
What is Andrew Rypel doing on Substack?
More than you want to know about the Tangled Nature newsletter
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Andrew Rypel @andrewrypel.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
1 year ago, I launched Tangled Nature without much certainty about what it might become. Today, there are answers, but I’m also still figuring it out. Here’s a insider look at what worked, surprised, fav underachievers & some possibly terrible ideas for Year-2 tnature.substack.com/p/what-is-an...
tnature.substack.com
What is Andrew Rypel doing on Substack?
More than you want to know about the Tangled Nature newsletter
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Andrew Rypel @andrewrypel.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Many things that seem static are transforming much more than we realize, or often want to admit.
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