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<br />Habitat Classif cation <br />Although the habitat classifications are adequate to represent the types of habitats found in <br />the study areas, they are not adequate to represent habitats in other areas where Colorado <br />pikeminnow maybe found, such as the Grand Valley of the Colorado River, or the San Juan <br />River. Therefore, if these habitat classifications are to be used in the future for other research <br />projects they will have to be modified by the addition of more habitat descriptions. <br />Future Study <br />- There is considerable informative data concerning backwater use by the remaining Green <br />River fish community still available in this data set. Resources should be allocated for the <br />continued analyses. <br />RESOLUTION OF DISCREPANCIES <br />Nonnative C rinids <br />yP <br />Due to the different geomorphological characteristics of the Ouray and Mineral Bottom <br />reaches, high flows affected the nonnative cyprinids differently. In Ouray, when spring peak <br />flows were greater than bar top but less than bankfull (475 m3/s [16775 cfsJ), low velocity habitat <br />was completely unavailable. The net effect was a decrease in nonnative cyprinids in the years of <br />1990-1992 and 1994. However, when peak flows exceeded bankfull, the net effect was an <br />increase in nonnative cyprinids, presumably due to the large area of flooded bottomland that <br />becomes available at greater than bankfull flows (1993, 1995-1996). This increase may be <br />attributed partly to the low velocity refuge, which may prevent downstream displacement of the <br />fish, and to increased reproductive activity in the flooded bottomlands <br />However, near Mineral Bottom, nonnative cyprinids were negatively correlated with high <br />flows at the Green River, at Green River gage. In this canyon-bound restricted meander reach, <br />over-bankfull flows are much higher (> 850 m3/s [30000 cfs]), and at no time during the study <br />did these flows occur. Nonnative cyprinid catch rates at Mineral Bottom were consistently lower <br />than at Ouray, but with much less variation and relatively small high-flow decreases. One <br />explanation for the limited high-flow effect maybe the small but steadily increasing amount of <br />flooded tributary habitat that is available at flows greater than 198 m3/s (6990 cfs), which was <br />exceeded each year of the study. This suggests that control of nonnative cyprinids could be <br />affected by the implementation of peak flows at slightly less than bankfull, without <br />compromising the availability of habitat at base flow, a critical period for Colorado pikeminnow. <br />However, this would be detrimental to the recovery of razorback sucker, which requires overbank <br />flooding of bottomlands. <br /> <br />xxi <br />