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Four endangered fish species; the Bonytail chub (Gila elegans), Humpback chub (Gila cypha), <br />Pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus lucius), and Razorback sucker (Xyrauchen taxanus), are endemic to the <br />Yampa -Green -Colorado watershed system. Populations of native fish are low to non-existent due to <br />habitat change and predation by non-native species, however, an ongoing fish recovery program has <br />resulted in stocking of hatchery -grown fish in the Colorado, White Green, and lower reaches of the <br />Yampa rivers. Because the Seneca IIW Mine is relatively high in the watershed, none of these species <br />are known to occur within the associated tributaries. Know occurrences of any of these species are <br />generally limited to the lower Yampa in the area of Dinosaur National Monument. <br />Reptiles and Amphibians The amphibian and reptile species which have been observed on the Seneca <br />IIW study area are listed in Table 11-13, along with a list of those species which could occur on the <br />study area according to preferred habitat and species distribution. Several large prairie rattlesnakes <br />(Crotalis viridis) were observed as road -kill on County Road 53 along Dry Creek during the 1979 <br />summer field season. A small rattlesnake was observed on a sagebrush -covered knoll near big -game <br />pellet -group transect PC -1 during the August 1979 pellet -group survey. A northern sagebrush lizard <br />(Sceloporus graciosus) was observed in sagebrush habitat. Other reptiles and amphibians observed <br />within the study area were found near streams or gully bottoms. <br />Invertibrates Results of the insect sweep -sampling are summarized by Tables 11-14 through 11-18. <br />Relative diversity of the invertebrate population and total numbers captured at each sampling site are <br />presented in these tables. Diversity of insect groups was highest at Site 1 (forb vegetation) with total <br />numbers also being relatively high. Abundant families at this Site included Curculionide (snout beetles) <br />of the order Coleoptera (45 percent of the total numbers). The sedge meadow (Site 2) sample contained <br />Ceropidae (frog hoppers) of the order Homoptera, comprising 22 percent of the total numbers, with <br />Miridae (plant bugs) and Lygaridae (seed bugs) of the order Himpiters making up 20 to 42 percent of <br />the total numbers respectively. Curculidae was the most abundant family in the sagebrush type at Site 3 <br />with 48 percent of the total numbers. Formicidae (ants) of the order Hymenoptera comprised an <br />additional 20 percent of the insect population. Site 4 (forb vegetation) had Tephritidae as the most <br />abundant family with 53 percent of the total numbers. All site locations are shown on Exhiitl 1-3. <br />Data from the May 1974 samples are indicative of insect populations on grazed rangeland. The <br />following discussion is a short description of the major insect families occurring on the study area. <br />Curculionidae are almost exclusively phytophagous. The larvae attack all plant parts and usually live <br />within the plant tissue. Adults feed on plant tissue, pollen, flower tissue, developing fruit, and <br />occasionally on fungi. Adults do not necessarily feed on those plants preferred by the larvae. Host <br />specificity is high in this group, with most beetle species restricted to certain plant species. <br />The larvae of Tephritidae are mainly phytophagous; a few species are capable of forming <br />24 12/07/16 <br />