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and how the overall importance of these areas might differ as a consequence of the <br />composition of the fish community, we suggest that manipulated sites be used as a fishless <br />control for comparison with natural and application (levee-removal) terraces and <br />depressions. By excluding juvenile and larger fishes, we can determine how native larval <br />fishes colonize and utilize these habitats in the absence of nonnative fish predation as well <br />as determining the food production capacity of these sites without constant foraging <br />pressure from myriad fishes. <br />2. Specific Questions <br />The timing and duration of floodplain inundation is likely to be important in mediating the <br />dynamics of fish colonization (large vs small; native vs nonnative), the dynamics of food <br />production important to native fish growth and survival, the survivorship of native fishes <br />from the floodplains into the riverine system, and riparian vegetation and macrophyte <br />development (which may affect predator/prey interactions and food production). By <br />changing the time and duration of inundation, we can develop an optimization strategy <br />that favors highly productive, complex environments that facilitate native fish growth and <br />survivorship (and possibly the development and maintenance of native riparian corridors) <br />based on comparisons with natural and application (levee removal) sites. With <br />' manipulated sites, we can also determine how localized nonnative fish densities affect the <br />above mentioned relationships. <br />14