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<br />Discussion <br /> <br />The three habitats represented to be usable by squawfish are consistent with the habitat use <br />information collected by radio telemetry in this study (Miller and Rees, 1997), and are also <br />consistent with the literature that reports adult Colorado squawfish habitat requirements (Tyus and <br />Karp 1989, Osmundson et al. 1995, Nesler 1996, and Wick and Hawkins 1986). The main concern <br />in the river above Cross Mountain for squawfish habitat availability is for the adult life stage, <br />because juvenile squawfish have not been commonly collected in this reach of river. Below Cross <br />Mountain Canyon all life stages of humpback chub as well as adult Colorado squawfish reside in <br />the river. Following habitat use data collection in 1997, specific habitats will be identified that are <br />necessary for these fish. <br /> <br />There may be qualitative differences among the three usable habitat types used in this study. <br />Wick and Hawkins (1986) habitat suitability index is based on squawfish catch rate data from the <br />Yampa River near Lily Park. They reported that catch rates were 2.5 times higher in Class I pools <br />than Class II pools. However, Wick and Hawkins (1986) did not measure numbers and area of <br />these habitats, which are needed to determine habitat preference. Therefore the higher catch rate <br />they reported for squawfish from Class I pools (2.5 times that of Class II pools) were not corrected <br />for the relative amount of those two habitats. If these two habitat types were in equal abundance, <br />then the higher catch rate would indicate strongly selection for deeper habitats (Class I pools). <br /> <br />Results of the 1996 habitat survey show that Class I pools are very rare at all flows under 400 <br />cfs in the upper study reach. Class II pools are the most common usable habitats in the river at <br />flows less than 100 cfs, and deep run is the most common usable at flows over 100 cfs. Therefore, <br />in this flow range, there appears to be few habitat types for adult squawfish to select between. Of <br />the 35 squawfish telemetry contacts in 1996, the median length of the occupied habitat was 450 ft. <br />Only two contacts were made with fish in habitats that were less than 250 ft. Incorporating habitat <br />size may increase our ability to determine relative importance of habitat types. Larger runs and <br />pools may be more likely to maintain a higher survivorship of adult fish at very low flows. In other <br />words a deep run that is 450 ft in length may be selected for over a run that is only 200 ft in length. <br />Selection might occur because as flows drop there is increased probably of fish becoming stranded <br />in isolated pools, and a large pool would probably be a less stressful habitat during an isolation <br />event than a small pool. If squawfish appear to select habitats based on a minimum length, then <br />those less than that, e.g. 200 ft, should not be included as usable habitat. In Strata 6, two of the four <br />sequences sampled had long deep runs and two did not. In Strata 8, a long deep run was measured <br />upstream of lower sequence in cluster 115.5 and included in that cluster. These data indicate that <br />physical habitat is available for adult squawfish at low flows, in three of the six clusters sampled so <br />far. <br /> <br />Inflection points in the width/flow relationship and the usable-habitat/f10w relationship are <br />useful to indicate thresholds between rapid changes versus uniform changes in habitat due to flow. <br />Inf1ection points for these relationships were found at about 60 to 80 cfs, which might suggest a <br />critical flow threshold that influences habitat availability among the stations sampled in 1996. <br /> <br />40 <br />