7897

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7897
• Author: Apodaca, L. E., N. E. Driver, V. C. Stephens and N. E. Spahr.
• Title: Environmental Setting And Implications On Water Quality, Upper Colorado River Basin, Colorado And Utah.
• USFW Year: 1996.
• USFW - Doc Type: Water-Resources Investigations Report 95-4263,
• Copyright Material: NO

Table 8. Major aquatic biological taxa in the Southern Rocky Mountains and Colorado Plateau physiographic provinces of
the Upper Colorado River Basin study unit
Taxonomic group Southern Rocky Mountains Colorado Plateau
Algaet Chlorophyta (green algae) Chlorophyta
Chrysophyta Chrysophyta
Bacillariophyceae (diatoms) Bacillariophyceae
Chrysophyceae(golden-brown algae) Chrysophyceae
Cyanophyta (blue-green algae) Cyanophyta
Pyrrhophyta (dinoflagellates) Euglenophyta (euglenoid algae)
FishZ Salmonidae (salmon and trout) Salmonidae
Cyprinidae (minnows and carp) Cyprinidae
Catostomidae (suckers) Catostomidae
Percidae (perches) Percidae
Cottidae (sculpins) Cottidae
Esocidae (Northern Pike) Ictaluridae (catfish)
Cyprinodontidae (topminnows and killifish)
Poeciliidae (mosquitofish)
Centrarchidae (bass and sunfish)
Macroinvertebrates3 Ephemeroptera (mayflies) Ephemeroptera
Trichoptera (caddisflies) Trichoptera
Diptera (true flies) Diptera
Coleoptera (beetles) Coleoptera
Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) Odonata
Plecoptera (stoneflies) Megaloptera (alderflies and dobsonflies)
Amphipoda (scuds) Amphipoda
Oligochaeta (worms) Oligochaeta
Tricladida (flatworms) Decapoda (crayfish)
Nematoda (roundworms) Gasiropoda (snails)
Gastropoda (snails) Hirudinea (leeches)
Hirudinea (leeches)
t Colorado Department of Health (1976); Apley (1982); Natural Energy Resources Company (1987)
'' Everhart and Seaman (197]); Woodling (1985)
3 Federal Water Pollution Control Administration (1968); Ward and others (1986); Ward and Kondratieff(1992)
the basin; and basses, carp, catfish, minnows, perches,
and suckers dominate the lower altitudes. The Upper
Colorado River Basin contains four fishes presently
listed as endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service (Behnke and Benson, 1980). The four species
are the Bonytail chub (Gila elegans), the Colorado
syuawfish (Ptychocheilus lucius), the Humpback chub
(Gila cypha), and the Razorback sucker (Xyrauchen
texanus). They are all found in the warmer waters of
the Colorado Plateau.
Macroinvertebrate communities vary with alti-
tude, amount of dissolved oxygen, substrate, water
temperature, and vegetation. Beetles, caddisflies, may-
flies, stoneflies, and true flies comprise the majority of
the species present in the high-altitude streams. In the
transition from high-altitude to low-altitude streams,
caddisflies, mayflies, and true flies become less domi-
nant; stoneflies are rare; and crayfish, dobsonflies, and
scuds are present. Also, the physical environment,
such as changes in water temperature and substrate of
the streams at lower altitude, is favorable to providing
habitat for additional species such as dragonflies,
leeches, and snails.
Although the Southern Rocky Mountains and
the Colorado Plateau contain similar biological com-
munities, the controlling factors that determine these
ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING 27