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Strategic Science Questions <br />Primary SSQs addressed: <br />SSQ 1 -7 Which tributary and mainstem habitats are most important to native fishes and how can <br />these habitats best be made useable and maintained? <br />SSQ 4 -2 How important are backwaters and vegetated shoreline habitats to the overall growth and <br />survival of YoY and juvenile native fish? Does the long -term benefit of increasing these habitats <br />outweigh short-term potential costs (displacement and possibly mortality of young humpback chub) <br />associated with high flows? <br />SSQ 5 -4 What is the relative importance of increased'water temperature, shoreline stability, and <br />food availability on the survival and growth of YoY and juvenile native fish? <br />SSQ 5 -6 Do the potential benefits of improved rearing habitat (warmer, more stable, more <br />backwater and vegetated shorelines, more food) outweigh negative impacts due to increases in <br />nonnative fish abundance? <br />Information Needs Addressed <br />RIN 2.1.3 What is the relationship between size of HBC and mortality in the LCR and the <br />mainstem? What are the sources of mortality (that is, predation, cannibalism, other) in the LCR and <br />the mainstem? <br />RIN 2.1.4 What habitats enhance recruitment of native fish in the LCR and mainstem? What are the <br />physical and biological characteristics of those habitats? <br />RIN 2.4.3 To what degree, which species, and where in the system are exotic fish a detriment to the <br />existence of native fish through predation or competition? <br />RIN 4.2.6 To what extent are RBT below the Paria River predators of native fish, primarily HBC? <br />At what size do they become predators of native fish, especially HBC, that is, how do the trophic <br />interactions between RBT and native fish change with size of fish? <br />RIN 2.4.4 What are the target population levels, body size and age structure for nonnative fish in <br />the Colorado River ecosystem that limit their levels to those commensurate with the viability of <br />native fish populations? <br />RIN 12.9.1 What is the impact on downstream resources of short-term increases to maximum flow, <br />daily fluctuations, and downramp limits? <br />RIN 2.6.6 How is the rate of mortality for flannelmouth sucker, bluehead sucker, and speckled dace <br />in the Colorado River ecosystem related to individual body size? What are the sources of mortality <br />for flannelmouth sucker, bluehead sucker, and speckled dace in the Colorado River ecosystem? <br />RIN 4.2.5 To what extent is there overlap in the Colorado River ecosystem below the Paria River <br />of RBT habitat and native fish habitat? <br />17 <br />