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System (GPS) unit is used to determine its position. In addition, distances from shorelines and <br />prominent features along the river are measured using a range finder. These recorded locations <br />are being used to determine movement patterns of tagged fish within the river over the 400 to <br />600+ day, life of the transmitters. A permanent telemetry station has been set up at the Shilling <br />Wildlife Management Area to monitor when radio tagged fish enter or leave the Platte River. A <br />second telemetry station will also be established upstream, near the confluence of the Platte and <br />Elkhorn rivers. <br />To describe the area used by a telemetry tagged sturgeon, measurements of the habitat, <br />including water depth, mean column velocity, bottom velocity, substrate, and cover, are made at <br />the focal point of the radio signal location and then, three meters upstream, three meters <br />downstream, three meters to the left and three meters to the right of the focal location ( Hofpar <br />1997, and Snook 2001). This combination of measurements is being used to provide a more <br />detailed description of the habitat conditions in the immediate vicinity of sturgeon. This set of <br />measurement locations also encompasses the estimated range of error associated with location of <br />radio signals determined from previous studies of sturgeon and catfish (Bunnell 1988, Chapman <br />1996, Hofpar 1997). Consultations with statisticians have indicated that the measurements <br />around the focal position for the fish may be useful in determining habitat availability. In <br />addition, single measurements of dissolved oxygen, water temperature, conductivity, and <br />suspended solids are made at each location. This protocol is consistent which has been used by <br />similar studies in Montana (Bramblet 1996) and Illinois (Hurley 1998). <br />Since adult pallid sturgeon are known to be piscivorous, standard seine hauls or other <br />suitable collection techniques are used to sample fish assemblages in the vicinity of each <br />'t <br />4 <br />