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Last modified
7/14/2009 5:02:32 PM
Creation date
5/17/2009 11:27:26 PM
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UCREFRP
UCREFRP Catalog Number
8007
Author
Modde, T.
Title
Fish Use Of Old Charley Wash
USFW Year
1997.
USFW - Doc Type
an assessment of floodplain wetland importance to razorback sucker management and recovery.
Copyright Material
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<br />nonnative fish. Terrace floodplains would be available at the same time as depression wetlands <br />and offer favorable nursery habitat. However, ifterrace floodplains are lost at flows of 447 m3/s, <br />the first razorback sucker larvae to appear in the river would have had access to the floodplain for <br />only 14 days in 1995, and in 1996 flows did not exceed 447 m3/s when larvae were present <br />(Figure 17). Thus, the majority of larvae would have had less than 14 days in the floodplain in <br />1995 and no larvae had access to floodplain in 1996. Following the brief use of favorable <br />nursery habitat in a terrace floodplain, larval razorback sucker would be exposed to colder <br />temperatures, fewer velocity refuges, and much lower zooplankton densities after returning to the <br />main river channel. Because flood flows recede gradually, most backwaters that provide low <br />velocity refuge, favorable temperatures, little cover, and marginal prey densities (according to <br />Papoulias and Minckley 1990) would not have appeared (i.e. 109 m3/s) until 36 d after larvae had <br />been in the river in 1995. In 1996; larvae were first collected after flows receded below 447 m3/s <br />and never had access to floodplain habitats. The time from collection of the first razorback <br />sucker to collection of the last razorback sucker larvae collected in 1996, and to the time flows <br />reached 109 m3/s, was 37 d and 13 d respectively. Papoulias and Minckley indicated that larval <br />razorback sucker die if they do not feed within 20 to 30 d following hatching. Extending flows <br />of 447 m3/s in 1995 and 1996 would have allowed more drifting larval razorback sucker access to <br />floodplain wetlands in the Ouray area. Larvae in terrace wetlands would have had longer access <br />to favorable nursery environment, and the time larvae or juveniles would have to remain in the <br />river prior to the appearance of backwaters would decrease, reducing downstream drift loss and <br />associated mortality. A major difference between fish reared in depression and terrace/main <br />channel habitats would be a reduction in growth of the latter. Slower growth of fish using the <br />floodplain terrace/main channel scenario would result in smaller fish in a backwater habitat with <br />lower prey densities and less cover. Therefore, fish reared in terrace floodplains and the main <br />channel would have access to lower prey densities, a greater size range of predators for a longer <br />time without cover than fish reared in depression wetlands. <br />This study demonstrated that Old Charley Wash (i.e. depression wetlands) provided an <br />environment that allowed growth and survival of razorback sucker from the larval to the juvenile <br />lifestage. Age-O razorback sucker grew and survived in an environment with high prey densities, <br />cover and nonnative fishes. If it is assumed that the same number of age-O fish survived in other <br />large depression wetlands in the Uintah Basin (i.e. Leota Bottoms, Wyasket Bottoms, Johnson <br />Bottoms, Stewart Lake, Sportsman Lake, etc) significant numbers of age-O would have survived <br />into the fall. The questions that emerges from this.study are; what would be the fate of the large <br />number of nonnatives produced in depression wetlands if released into the Green River, and <br />would they have a negative impact on endangered fish (i.e. age-O Colorado squawfish) in the <br />Green River? The ongoing levee removal study should provide insight into this question. <br /> <br />Given the data and discussion above, I offer the following management recommendations: <br /> <br />1. Because depression wetlands have demonstrated potential for growth and survival of age- <br />o razorback sucker in flooded bottomlands, the recovery program should maximize the <br />management of some large depression wetlands to produce and release native fishes into <br />the Green River. Conversion of depression wetlands to terrace floodplains offers a <br />quality nursery environment for larval fishes for a short time but does not offer a <br />substitute for the duration of favorable conditions that optimize growth and <br /> <br />45 <br />
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