Laserfiche WebLink
<br />001751 <br /> <br />28 <br /> <br />The water quality and food base resources are in the process of incorporating <br />recommendations into a revised program and will spend 2005 - 2007 testing and evaluating data <br />and sampling methods that are most pertinent to stakeholder management objectives, information <br />needs, and that are biologically informative from a food web perspective. Reviews of the aquatic <br />food base program determined methods and approache:s done up to 2002, while informative, <br />were insufficient for monitoring because an understanding about linkages between lower trophic <br />levels and food availability of fish were deemed inadequate to interpret food base in relation to <br />management goals. They identified that further research was needed before a long-term <br />monitoring program existed, because assumed linkages between food base and fishes had not <br />been empirically established. <br /> <br />Food Base Resources <br />The aquatic protocol evaluation panel had concerns with the lack of empirically <br />established linkages between food base and fishes (Bradford et aI., 2001), and identified that a <br />possible consequence of the recent increase in primary and secondary production may <br />differentially benefit non-native species (competitors or predators) over native species. Because <br />of this, additional research and the restructuring of the existing food base monitoring program is <br />warranted in light of its importance toward meeting stakeholder objectives. A series of <br />integrated studies will address a number of issues identified by the aquatic protocol evaluation <br />panel (Bradford et aI., 200 I). Primary focus is on the research and development of an organic <br />budget and foodweb linkage program as an organizational framework to determine whether or <br />not the aquatic food base is limiting, and to determine what organic sources, and where <br />limitations occur within the Colorado River system. This requires multiple approaches: 1) <br />conduct in-stream metabolism and community respiration experiments; 2) quantify organic and <br />inorganic carbon supply and fluxes (decomposition, transformations and residency); 3) based on <br />findings of the organic mass balance research design and effective sampling program having the <br />appropriate sampling locations, methods and frequency for assessing and quantifying organic <br />flux (sources, pools, transformations and movement), and 4) develop a better understanding of <br />foodweb linkages within the spatial distribution of the ,entire fish community. Downstream <br />water quality parameters will be developed in conjunction with the food base program to define <br />biologically important water quality variables. <br /> <br />GCMRC FY2006 Annual Work Plan (Draft February 15,2005) <br />