Preliminary Study of the Spatial Distribution Patterns of Largemouth Bass and Its Relation to Water Chemistry Along With a Prediction of The Species Using Maxent Model

Abstract: The main theme of this study was to determine how chemical water quality affects the distribution and abundance of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides), as an invasive species, in the Korean waterbodies. The abundance of largemouth bass was analyzed in relation to the trophic compositions and chemical tolerance. This analysis showed that the abundance of the largemouth bass was largely determined by trophic compositions, chemical conditions and the stream size and also dominated in the clear water (low turbid water), based on chlorophyll-a in the waterbodies. The high abundance of the largemouth bass occurred in the stagnant waters rather than the running waters, indicating a preference on the waterbodies with longer water residence time. We also applied the Maximum Entropy model (Maxent) to show the distributions of the species and tried to predict the future distribution in the watersheds.