Sample records for juvenile snake river
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Two alternative juvenile life history types for fall Chinook salmon in the Snake River basin
Connor, W.P.; Sneva, J.G.; Tiffan, K.F.; Steinhorst, R.K.; Ross, D.
2005-01-01
Fall Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha in the Snake River basin were listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1992. At the time of listing, it was assumed that fall Chinook salmon juveniles in the Snake River basin adhered strictly to an ocean-type life history characterized by saltwater entry at age 0 and first-year wintering in the ocean. Research showed, however, that some fall Chinook salmon juveniles in the Snake River basin spent their first winter in a reservoir and resumed seaward movement the following spring at age 1 (hereafter, reservoir-type juveniles). We collected wild and hatchery ocean-type fall Chinook salmon juveniles in 1997 and wild and hatchery reservoir-type juveniles in 1998 to assess the condition of the reservoir-type juveniles at the onset of seaward movement. The ocean-type juveniles averaged 112-139 mm fork length, and the reservoir-type juveniles averaged 222-224 mm fork length. The large size of the reservoir-type juveniles suggested a high potential for survival to salt water and subsequent return to freshwater. Scale pattern analyses of the fall Chinook salmon spawners we collected during 1998-2003 supported this point. Of the spawners sampled, an overall average of 41% of the wild fish and 51% of the hatchery fish had been reservoir-type juveniles. Males that had been reservoir-type juveniles often returned as small "minijacks" (wild, 16% of total; hatchery, 40% of total), but 84% of the wild males, 60% of the hatchery males, and 100% of the wild and hatchery females that had been reservoir-type juveniles returned at ages and fork lengths commonly observed in populations of Chinook salmon. We conclude that fall Chinook salmon in the Snake River basin exhibit two alternative juvenile life histories, namely ocean-type and reservoir-type. ?? Copyright by the American Fisheries Society 2005.
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Hydraulic Characteristics of the Lower Snake River During Periods of Juvenile Fall Chinook Migration
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Cook, Chris B.; Dibrani, Berhon; Richmond, Marshall C.
2006-01-30
This report documents a four-year study to assess hydraulic conditions in the lower Snake River. The work was conducted for the Bonneville Power Administration, U.S. Department of Energy, by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Cold water released from the Dworshak Reservoir hypolimnion during mid- to late-summer months cools the Clearwater River far below equilibrium temperature. The volume of released cold water augments the Clearwater River, and the combined total discharge is on the order of the Snake River discharge when the two rivers meet at their confluence near the upstream edge of Lower Granite Reservoir. With typical temperature differences betweenmore » the Clearwater and Snake rivers of 10°C or more during July and August, the density difference between the two rivers during summer flow augmentation periods is sufficient to stratify Lower Granite Reservoir as well as the other three reservoirs downstream. Because cooling of the river is desirable for migrating juvenile fall Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) during this same time period, the amount of mixing and cold water entrained into Lower Granite Reservoir’s epilimnion at the Clearwater/Snake River confluence is of key biological importance to juvenile fall Chinook salmon. Data collected during this project indicates the three reservoirs downstream of Lower Granite also stratify as direct result of flow augmentation from Dworshak Reservoir. These four lower Snake reservoirs are also heavily influenced by wind forcing at the water’s surface, and during periods of low river discharge, often behave like a two-layer lake. During these periods of stratification, lower river discharge, and wind forcing, the water in the upper layer of the reservoir is held in place or moves slightly upstream. This upper layer is also exposed to surface heating and may warm up to temperatures close to equilibrium temperature. The depth of this upper warm layer and its direction of travel may also be
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Genetic characterization of naturally spawned Snake River fall-run Chinook salmon
Marshall, A.R.; Blankenship, H.L.; Connor, W.P.
1999-01-01
We sampled juvenile Snake River chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha to genetically characterize the endangered Snake River fall-run population. Juveniles from fall and spring–summer lineages coexisted in our sampling areas but were differentiated by large allozyme allele frequency differences. We sorted juveniles by multilocus genotypes into putative fall and spring lineage subsamples and determined lineage composition using maximum likelihood estimation methods. Paired sMEP-1* and PGK-2* genotypes—encoding malic enzyme (NADP+) and phosphoglycerate kinase, respectively—were very effective for sorting juveniles by lineage, and subsamples estimated to be 100% fall lineage were obtained in four annual samples. We examined genetic relationships of these fall lineage juveniles with adjacent populations from the Columbia River and from Lyons Ferry Hatchery, which was established to perpetuate the Snake River fall-run population. Our samples of naturally produced Snake River fall lineage juveniles were most closely aligned with Lyons Ferry Hatchery samples. Although fall-run strays of Columbia River hatchery origin found on spawning grounds threaten the genetic integrity of the Snake River population, juvenile samples (a) showed distinctive patterns of allelic diversity, (b) were differentiated from Columbia River populations, and (c) substantiate earlier conclusions that this population is an important genetic resource. This first characterization of naturally produced Snake River fall chinook salmon provides a baseline for monitoring and recovery planning.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Cook, C.; Dibrani, B.; Richmond, M.
2006-01-01
This report documents a four-year study to assess hydraulic conditions in the lower Snake River. The work was conducted for the Bonneville Power Administration, U.S. Department of Energy, by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Cold water released from the Dworshak Reservoir hypolimnion during mid- to late-summer months cools the Clearwater River far below equilibrium temperature. The volume of released cold water augments the Clearwater River, and the combined total discharge is on the order of the Snake River discharge when the two rivers meet at their confluence near the upstream edge of Lower Granite Reservoir. With typical temperature differences betweenmore » the Clearwater and Snake rivers of 10 C or more during July and August, the density difference between the two rivers during summer flow augmentation periods is sufficient to stratify Lower Granite Reservoir as well as the other three reservoirs downstream. Because cooling of the river is desirable for migrating juvenile fall Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) during this same time period, the amount of mixing and cold water entrained into Lower Granite Reservoir's epilimnion at the Clearwater/Snake River confluence is of key biological importance. Data collected during this project indicates the three reservoirs downstream of Lower Granite also stratify as direct result of flow augmentation from Dworshak Reservoir. These four reservoirs are also heavily influenced by wind forcing at the water's surface and during periods of low river discharge often behave like a two-layer lake. During these periods of stratification, lower river discharge, and wind forcing, the water in the upper layer of the reservoir is held in place or moves slightly upstream. This upper layer is also exposed to surface heating and may warm up to temperatures close to equilibrium temperature. The thickness (depth) of this upper warm layer and its direction of travel may be of key biological importance to juvenile fall
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Tiffan, Kenneth F.; Connor, William P.
2012-01-01
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) is preparing a long term management plan for sediments that affect the authorized project purposes of the Lower Granite, Little Goose, Lower Monumental, and Ice Harbor reservoirs (hereafter, the lower Snake River reservoirs), and the area from the mouth of the Snake River to Ice Harbor Dam. We conducted a study from spring 2010 through winter 2011 to describe the habitat use by juvenile Chinook salmon within a selected group of shallow water habitat complexes (< 6 m deep) in the lower Snake River reservoirs to help inform the long-term plan. Natural fry and parr were present within all four shallow water habitat complexes that we studied from early spring through early summer, and parr ( = 40,345 ± 18,800 [error bound]) were more abundant than fry ( = 24,615 ± 5,701). Water < 2 m deep was highly used for rearing by natural fall Chinook salmon subyearlings (fry and parr combined; hereafter natural subyearlings) based on duration of use and relative group abundances during spring and summer, whereas the 2–6 m depth interval was more highly used by migratory hatchery fall Chinook salmon subyearlings and spring, summer, and fall Chinook salmon yearlings. Overall mean spring-summer apparent density of natural subyearlings was 15.5 times higher within the < 2 m depth interval than within the 2–6 m depth interval. Density of natural subyearlings also decreased as the distance a given shallow water habitat complex was located from the riverine spawning areas increased. Reservoir-type juveniles (or fish likely destined to become reservoir-type juveniles) were present in the lower Snake River reservoirs from fall 2010 through winter 2011; however, use of shallow water habitat by reservoir-type juveniles was limited during our study. We only collected 38 reservoir-type juveniles in shallow water habitat sites in beach and lampara seines during the fall. Radiotelemetry data revealed that though many tagged fish passed shallow water
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Snake River Fall Chinook Salmon life history investigations
Erhardt, John M.; Bickford, Brad; Hemingway, Rulon J.; Rhodes, Tobyn N.; Tiffan, Kenneth F.
2017-01-01
Predation by nonnative fishes is one factor that has been implicated in the decline of juvenile salmonids in the Pacific Northwest. Impoundment of much of the Snake and Columbia rivers has altered food webs and created habitat favorable for species such as Smallmouth Bass Micropterus dolomieu. Smallmouth Bass are common throughout the Columbia River basin and have become the most abundant predator in lower Snake River reservoirs (Zimmerman and Parker 1995). This is a concern for Snake River Fall Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha (hereafter, subyearlings) that may be particularly vulnerable due to their relatively small size and because their main-stem rearing habitats often overlap or are in close proximity to habitats used by Smallmouth Bass (Curet 1993; Tabor et al. 1993). Concern over juvenile salmon predation spawned a number of large-scale studies to quantify its effect in the late 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s (Poe et al. 1991; Rieman et al. 1991; Vigg et al. 1991; Fritts and Pearsons 2004; Naughton et al. 2004). Smallmouth Bass predation represented 9% of total salmon consumption by predatory fishes in John Day Reservoir, Columbia River, from 1983 through 1986 (Rieman et al. 1991). In transitional habitat between the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River and McNary Reservoir, juvenile salmon (presumably subyearlings) were found in 65% of Smallmouth Bass (>200 mm) stomachs and comprised 59% of the diet by weight (Tabor et al. 1993). Within Lower Granite Reservoir on the Snake River, Naughton et al. (2004) showed that monthly consumption (based on weight) ranged from 5% in the upper reaches of the reservoir to 11% in the forebay. However, studies in the Snake River were conducted soon after Endangered Species Act (ESA) listing of Snake River Fall Chinook Salmon (NMFS 1992). During this time, Fall Chinook Salmon abundance was at an historic low, which may explain why consumption rates were relatively low compared to those from studies conducted in the
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Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR
2012-10-01
... salmon, Snake River fall chinook salmon, and Snake River spring/summer chinook salmon. 226.205 Section... Snake River sockeye salmon, Snake River fall chinook salmon, and Snake River spring/summer chinook... River salmon (except reaches above impassable natural falls, and Dworshak and Hells Canyon Dams...
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Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR
2013-10-01
... salmon, Snake River fall chinook salmon, and Snake River spring/summer chinook salmon. 226.205 Section... Snake River sockeye salmon, Snake River fall chinook salmon, and Snake River spring/summer chinook... River salmon (except reaches above impassable natural falls, and Dworshak and Hells Canyon Dams...
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Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR
2014-10-01
... salmon, Snake River fall chinook salmon, and Snake River spring/summer chinook salmon. 226.205 Section... Snake River sockeye salmon, Snake River fall chinook salmon, and Snake River spring/summer chinook... River salmon (except reaches above impassable natural falls, and Dworshak and Hells Canyon Dams...
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Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-10-01
... salmon, Snake River fall chinook salmon, and Snake River spring/summer chinook salmon. 226.205 Section... Snake River sockeye salmon, Snake River fall chinook salmon, and Snake River spring/summer chinook salmon. The following areas consisting of the water, waterway bottom, and adjacent riparian zone of...
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Shively, R.S.
1991-01-01
We indexed consumption rates of northern squawfish (Ptychoch oregonensis) preying upon juvenile salmonids in four lower Snake River reservoirs. Stomach contents were also collected from smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieui), channel catfish (Ictaluris gunctatus), and walleye (Stizostedion vitreum). Northern squawfish digestive tracts were analyzed and the overall diet (% weight) was dominated by fish and crustaceans. Examination of stomach contents smallmouth bass showed that crustaceans (primarily crayfish) dominated their diets. Overall, the consumption rate of juvenile salmonids by smallmouth bass was low. The northern squawfish consumption index (CI) at Snake River locations ranged from zero at all mid-reservoir locations to 1.2more » at Lower Granite forebay. In John Day Reservoir, CI values ranged from 0.5 to 1.9 in May and from 0.9 to 3.0 in July. Consumption index values were highest in forebay and tailrace areas, and were slightly higher in BRZs than in non-restricted zones.« less
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Poe, Thomas P.
1994-08-01
This report addresses the problem of predator-prey interactions of juvenile salmonids in the Columbia and Snake River. Six papers are included on selective predation and prey protection. Attention is focused on monitoring the movements, the distribution, and the behavior of juvenile chinook salmon and northern squawfish.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Faulkner, James R.; Smith, Steven G.; Muir, William D.
2009-06-23
In 2008, the National Marine Fisheries Service completed the sixteenth year of a study to estimate survival and travel time of juvenile salmonids Oncorhynchus spp. passing through dams and reservoirs on the Snake and Columbia Rivers. All estimates were derived from detections of fish tagged with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags. We PIT tagged and released a total of 18,565 hatchery steelhead O. mykiss, 15,991 wild steelhead, and 9,714 wild yearling Chinook salmon O. tshawytscha at Lower Granite Dam in the Snake River. In addition, we utilized fish PIT tagged by other agencies at traps and hatcheries upstream from themore » hydropower system and at sites within the hydropower system in both the Snake and Columbia Rivers. These included 122,061 yearling Chinook salmon tagged at Lower Granite Dam for evaluation of latent mortality related to passage through Snake River dams. PIT-tagged smolts were detected at interrogation facilities at Lower Granite, Little Goose, Lower Monumental, Ice Harbor, McNary, John Day, and Bonneville Dams and in the PIT-tag detector trawl operated in the Columbia River estuary. Survival estimates were calculated using a statistical model for tag-recapture data from single release groups (the single-release model). Primary research objectives in 2008 were to: (1) estimate reach survival and travel time in the Snake and Columbia Rivers throughout the migration period of yearling Chinook salmon and steelhead, (2) evaluate relationships between survival estimates and migration conditions, and (3) evaluate the survival estimation models under prevailing conditions. This report provides reach survival and travel time estimates for 2008 for PIT-tagged yearling Chinook salmon (hatchery and wild), hatchery sockeye salmon O. nerka, hatchery coho salmon O. kisutch, and steelhead (hatchery and wild) in the Snake and Columbia Rivers. Additional details on the methodology and statistical models used are provided in previous reports cited here
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Muir, William D.
1995-02-01
In 1994, the National Marine Fisheries Service and the University of Washington completed the second year of a multi-year study to estimate survival of juvenile salmonids (Oncorhynchus spp.) passing through the dams and reservoirs of the Snake River. Actively migrating smolts were collected at selected locations above, at, and below Lower Granite Dam, tagged with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags, and released to continue their downstream migration. Survival estimates were calculated using the Single-Release, Modified Single-Release, and Paired-Release Models.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Smith, Steven G.; Muir, William D.; Zabel, Richard W.
2004-01-01
For juvenile chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, sockeye salmon O. nerka, and steelhead O. mykiss that migrate through reservoirs, hydroelectric projects, and free-flowing sections of the Snake and Columbia Rivers, survival estimates are essential to develop effective strategies for recovering depressed stocks. Many management strategies were based on estimates of system survival (Raymond 1979; Sims and Ossiander 1981) derived in a river system considerably different from today's (Williams and Matthews 1995; Williams et al. 2001). Knowledge of the magnitude, locations, and causes of smolt mortality under present passage conditions, and under conditions projected for the future, are necessary to develop strategiesmore » that will optimize smolt survival during migration. From 1993 through 2002, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the University of Washington (UW) demonstrated the feasibility of using three statistical models to estimate survival of PIT-tagged (Prentice et al. 1990a) juvenile salmonids passing through Snake River dams and reservoirs (Iwamoto et al. 1994; Muir et al. 1995, 1996, 2001a, 2003; Smith et al. 1998, 2000a,b; Hockersmith et al. 1999; Zabel et al. 2001, 2002). Evaluation of assumptions for these models indicated that all were generally satisfied, and accurate and precise survival estimates were obtained. In 2003, NMFS and UW completed the eleventh year of the study. Flow levels during the early portion of the 2003 spring migration were similar to 2002, and only slightly higher than in the drought conditions during 2001. However, flow levels were much greater during the later part of the migration in 2003. Spill levels were similar to 2002, much higher than in 2001. Research objectives were to: (1) estimate reach survival and travel time in the Snake and Columbia Rivers throughout the yearling chinook salmon and steelhead migrations; (2) evaluate relationships between survival estimates and migration conditions; and (3
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Iwamoto, Robert N.; Sandford, Benjamin P.; McIntyre, Kenneth W.
1994-04-01
A pilot study was conducted to estimate survival of hatchery-reared yearling chinook salmon through dams and reservoirs on the Snake River. The goals of the study were to: (1) field test and evaluate the Single-Release, Modified-Single-Release, and Paired-Release Models for the estimation of survival probabilities through sections of a river and hydroelectric projects; (2) identify operational and logistical constraints to the execution of these models; and (3) determine the usefulness of the models in providing estimates of survival probabilities. Field testing indicated that the numbers of hatchery-reared yearling chinook salmon needed for accurate survival estimates could be collected at differentmore » areas with available gear and methods. For the primary evaluation, seven replicates of 830 to 1,442 hatchery-reared yearling chinook salmon were purse-seined from Lower Granite Reservoir, PIT tagged, and released near Nisqually John boat landing (River Kilometer 726). Secondary releases of PIT-tagged smolts were made at Lower Granite Dam to estimate survival of fish passing through turbines and after detection in the bypass system. Similar secondary releases were made at Little Goose Dam, but with additional releases through the spillway. Based on the success of the 1993 pilot study, the authors believe that the Single-Release and Paired-Release Models will provide accurate estimates of juvenile salmonid passage survival for individual river sections, reservoirs, and hydroelectric projects in the Columbia and Snake Rivers.« less
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Rechisky, Erin L.; Welch, David W.; Porter, Aswea D.; Jacobs-Scott, Melinda C.; Winchell, Paul M.
2013-01-01
Multiple dam passage during seaward migration is thought to reduce the subsequent survival of Snake River Chinook salmon. This hypothesis developed because juvenile Chinook salmon from the Snake River, the Columbia River’s largest tributary, migrate >700 km through eight hydropower dams and have lower adult return rates than downstream populations that migrate through only 3 or 4 dams. Using a large-scale telemetry array, we tested whether survival of hatchery-reared juvenile Snake River spring Chinook salmon is reduced in the estuary and coastal ocean relative to a downstream, hatchery-reared population from the Yakima River. During the initial 750-km, 1-mo-long migration through the estuary and coastal ocean, we found no evidence of differential survival; therefore, poorer adult returns of Snake River Chinook may develop far from the Columbia River. Thus, hydrosystem mitigation efforts may be ineffective if differential mortality rates develop in the North Pacific Ocean for reasons unrelated to dam passage. PMID:23576733
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Juvenile Chinook Salmon mortality in a Snake River Reservoir: Smallmouth Bass predation revisited
Erhardt, John M.; Tiffan, Kenneth F.; Connor, William P.
2018-01-01
Predation by nonnative fishes has been identified as a contributing factor in the decline of juvenile salmonids in the Columbia River basin. We examined the diet composition of Smallmouth Bass Micropterus dolomieu and estimated the consumption and predation loss of juvenile Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha in Lower Granite Reservoir on the Snake River. We examined 4,852 Smallmouth Bass stomachs collected from shoreline habitats during April–September 2013–2015. Chinook Salmon were the second most commonly consumed fish by all size‐classes of Smallmouth Bass (≥150 mm TL) throughout the study. Over the 3 years studied, we estimated that a total of 300,373 Chinook Salmon were consumed by Smallmouth Bass in our 22‐km study area, of which 97% (291,884) were subyearlings (age 0) based on length frequency data. A majority of the loss (61%) occurred during June, which coincided with the timing of hatchery releases of subyearling fall Chinook Salmon. Compared to an earlier study, mean annual predation loss increased more than 15‐fold from 2,670 Chinook Salmon during 1996–1997 to 41,145 Chinook Salmon during 2013–2015 (in reaches that could be compared), despite lower contemporary Smallmouth Bass abundances. This increase can be explained in part by increases in Smallmouth Bass consumption rates, which paralleled increases in subyearling Chinook Salmon densities—an expected functional response by an opportunistic consumer. Smallmouth Bass are currently significant predators of subyearling Chinook Salmon in Lower Granite Reservoir and could potentially be a large source of unexplained mortality.
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Connor, William P.; Bjornn, Theodore C.; Burge, Howard L.; Garcia, Aaron P.; Rondorf, Dennis W.
1997-01-01
The objectives of this segment of our study were to (1) describe the early life history characteristics of naturally produced subyearling fall chinook salmon in the Snake and Clearwater rivers, and (2) estimate survival for juvenile fall chinook salmon emigrating from the Snake and Clearwater rivers to the tail race of Lower Granite Dam.
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Badil, Samantha; Elliott, Diane G.; Kurobe, Tomofumi; Hedrick, Ronald P.; Clemens, Kathy; Blair, Marilyn; Purcell, Maureen K.
2011-01-01
Nucleospora salmonis is an intranuclear microsporidian that primarily infects lymphoblast cells and contributes to chronic lymphoblastosis and a leukemia-like condition in a range of salmonid species. The primary goal of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of N. salmonis in out-migrating juvenile hatchery and wild Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha and steelhead O. mykiss from the Snake River in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. To achieve this goal, we first addressed the following concerns about current molecular diagnostic tests for N. salmonis: (1) nonspecific amplification patterns by the published nested polymerase chain reaction (nPCR) test, (2) incomplete validation of the published quantitative PCR (qPCR) test, and (3) whether N. salmonis can be detected reliably from nonlethal samples. Here, we present an optimized nPCR protocol that eliminates nonspecific amplification. During validation of the published qPCR test, our laboratory developed a second qPCR test that targeted a different gene sequence and used different probe chemistry for comparison purposes. We simultaneously evaluated the two different qPCR tests for N. salmonis and found that both assays were highly specific, sensitive, and repeatable. The nPCR and qPCR tests had good overall concordance when DNA samples derived from both apparently healthy and clinically diseased hatchery rainbow trout were tested. Finally, we demonstrated that gill snips were a suitable tissue for nonlethal detection of N. salmonis DNA in juvenile salmonids. Monitoring of juvenile salmonid fish in the Snake River over a 3-year period revealed low prevalence of N. salmonis in hatchery and wild Chinook salmon and wild steelhead but significantly higher prevalence in hatchery-derived steelhead. Routine monitoring of N. salmonis is not performed for all hatchery steelhead populations. At present, the possible contribution of this pathogen to delayed mortality of steelhead has not been determined.
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Plumb, J.M.; Perry, R.W.; Adams, N.S.; Rondorf, D.W.
2006-01-01
We used radiotelemetry to monitor the migration behavior of juvenile hatchery and wild steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss as they migrated through Lower Granite Reservoir and Dam on the lower Snake River, Washington. From 1996 to 2001, we surgically implanted radio transmitters in 1,540 hatchery steelhead and 1,346 wild steelhead. For analysis, we used the inverse Gaussian distribution to describe travel time distributions for cohorts (>50 fish) of juvenile steelhead as they migrated downriver. Mean travel rates were significantly related to reach- and discharge-specific water velocities. Also, mean travel rates near the dam were slower for a given range of water velocities than were mean travel rates through the reservoir, indicating that the presence of the dam caused delay to juvenile steelhead over and above the effect of water velocity. Hatchery steelhead took about twice as long as wild steelhead to pass the dam as a result of the higher proportions of hatchery steelhead traveling upriver from the dam. Because upriver travel and the resulting migration delay might decrease survival, it is possible that hatchery steelhead survive at lower rates than wild steelhead. Our analysis identified a discharge threshold (???2,400 m3/s) below which travel time and the percentage of fish traveling upriver from the dam increased rapidly, providing support for the use of minimum flow targets to mitigate for fish delay and possibly enhance juvenile steelhead survival.
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Tiffan, Kenneth F.; Connor, Willam P.; Bellgraph, Brian J.; Chittaro, Paul M.
2014-01-01
Finally, we examined the role of different invasive invertebrates in lower Snake River reservoir food webs that are food, or competitors for food, for juvenile fall Chinook salmon. The Siberian prawn, a relatively new invader, is relatively abundant but its role on the food web is largely unexplored. Prawns are successfully reproducing and their diet is 81% Neomysis (an invasive opossum shrimp) which is heavily used at times by juvenile salmon for food. Neomysis has become very abundant in lower Snake River reservoirs in recent years and may be a profitable food item for many fish species.
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33 CFR 117.1058 - Snake River.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-07-01
... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Snake River. 117.1058 Section 117... OPERATION REGULATIONS Specific Requirements Washington § 117.1058 Snake River. (a) The draw of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad bridge across the Snake River at mile 1.5 between Pasco and Burbank is...
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Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-10-01
... Habitat for Snake River Sockeye Salmon and Snake River Spring/Summer and Fall Chinook Salmon 3 Table 3 to... Part 226—Hydrologic Units Containing Critical Habitat for Snake River Sockeye Salmon and Snake River Spring/Summer and Fall Chinook Salmon Hydrologic unit name Hydrologic unit number Sockeye salmon Spring...
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Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR
2011-10-01
... Habitat for Snake River Sockeye Salmon and Snake River Spring/Summer and Fall Chinook Salmon 3 Table 3 to... Part 226—Hydrologic Units Containing Critical Habitat for Snake River Sockeye Salmon and Snake River Spring/Summer and Fall Chinook Salmon Hydrologic unit name Hydrologic unit number Sockeye salmon Spring...
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Snake River Sockeye Salmon Habitat and Limnological Research; 2002 Annual Report.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Kohler, Andre E.; Taki, Doug; Griswold, Robert G.
2004-08-01
In March 1990, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes petitioned the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to list the Snake River sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) as endangered. As a result of that petition the Snake River sockeye salmon was officially listed as endangered in November 1991 under the Endangered Species Act (56 FR 58619). In 1991, the Snake River Sockeye Salmon Habitat and Limnological Research Program was implemented (Project Number 91-71, Intergovernmental Contract Number DE-BI79-91bp22548). This project is part of an interagency effort to prevent the extinction of the Redfish Lake stock of O. nerka. The Shoshone-Bannock Tribal goal for this project ismore » two tiered: The immediate goal is to increase the population of Snake River sockeye salmon while preserving the unique genetic characteristics of the Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU). The Tribes long term goal is to maintain a viable population that warrants delisting and provides Tribal harvest opportunities. The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) provides funding for this interagency recovery program through the Northwest Power Planning Council Fish and Wildlife Program (NPPCFWP). Collaborators in the recovery effort include the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG), the University of Idaho (UI), U.S. Forest Service (USFS), and the Shoshone-Bannock Tribe (SBT). This report summarizes activities conducted by Shoshone-Bannock Tribal Fisheries Department personnel during the 2002 calendar year. Project objectives include: (1) monitor over-winter survival and emigration of juvenile anadromous O. nerka stocked from the captive rearing program; (2) fertilize Redfish Lake (3) conduct kokanee salmon (non-anadromous O. nerka) population surveys; (4) monitor spawning kokanee escapement and estimate fry recruitment on Fishhook, Alturas Lake, and Stanley Lake creeks; (5) evaluate potential competition and predation between stocked juvenile O. nerka
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Snake River Sockeye Salmon Habitat and Limnological Research; 2001 Annual Report.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Kohler, Andre E.; Taki, Doug; Griswold, Robert G.
2004-08-01
In March 1990, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes petitioned the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to list the Snake River sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka as endangered. As a result of that petition the Snake River sockeye salmon was officially listed as endangered in November 1991 under the Endangered Species Act (56 FR 58619). In 1991, the Snake River Sockeye Salmon Habitat and Limnological Research Program was implemented (Project Number 91-71, Intergovernmental Contract Number DE-BI79-91bp22548). This project is part of an interagency effort to prevent the extinction of the Redfish Lake stock of O. nerka. The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) provides funding formore » this interagency recovery program through the Northwest Power Planning Council Fish and Wildlife Program (Council). Collaborators in the recovery effort include the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG), the University of Idaho (UI), U.S. Forest Service (USFS), and the Shoshone-Bannock Tribe (SBT). This report summarizes activities conducted by Shoshone-Bannock Tribal Fisheries Department personnel during the 2001 calendar year. Project objectives include: (1) monitor over-winter survival and emigration of juvenile anadromous O. nerka stocked from the captive rearing program; (2) fertilize Redfish Lake, fertilization of Pettit and Alturas lakes was suspended for this year; (3) conduct kokanee (non-anadromous O. nerka) population surveys; (4) monitor spawning kokanee escapement and estimate fry recruitment on Fishhook, Alturas Lake, and Stanley Lake creeks; (5) evaluate potential competition and predation interactions between stocked juvenile O. nerka and a variety of fish species in Redfish, Pettit, and Alturas lakes; (6) monitor limnological parameters of Sawtooth Valley lakes to assess lake productivity.« less
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Shively, R.S.; Poe, T.P.; Sauter, S.T.
1996-01-01
We collected gut contents from northern squawfish Ptychocheilus oregonensis captured in the Clearwater River, Idaho, 0–6 km from its confluence with the Snake River, following the release of 1.1 million yearling chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha from the Dworshak National Fish Hatchery. Before the hatchery release, northern squawfish gut contents (by weight) in the study area were 38% crayfish Pacifastacus spp., 26% insects, 19% nonsalmonid fish, and 16% wheat kernels Triticum spp. Juvenile salmonids constituted 54% of gut contents about 24 h after the hatchery release, 78% after 5 d, and 86% after 7 d. The mean number of salmonids per gut (1.2) after release was higher than typically seen in guts from northern squawfish collected in mid-reservoir areas away from hydroelectric dams on the Snake and Columbia rivers. Length-frequency distributions of juvenile salmonids eaten and those captured in a scoop trap 4 km upstream of the study area indicated that northern squawfish were selectively feeding on the smaller individuals. We attribute the high rates of predation in the study area to the artificially high density of juvenile salmonids resulting from the hatchery release and to the physical characteristics of the study area in which the river changed from free flowing to impounded. Our results suggest that northern squawfish can quickly exploit hatchery releases of juvenile salmonids away from release sites in the Columbia River basin.
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Snake River Sockeye Salmon Habitat and Limnological Research; 1999 Annual Report.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Griswold, Robert G.; Taki, Doug; Lewis, Bert
2001-01-15
In March 1990, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes petitioned the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to list the Snake River sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) as endangered. As a result of that petition the Snake River sockeye salmon was officially listed as endangered in November 1991 under the Endangered Species Act (56 FR 58619). In 1991 the Snake River Sockeye Salmon Habitat and Limnological Research Program was implemented (Project Number 91-71, Intergovernmental Contract Number DE-BI79-91bp22548). This project is part of an interagency effort to prevent the extinction of the Redfish Lake stock of O. nerka. The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) provides funding formore » this inter-agency recovery program through the Northwest Power Planning Council Fish and Wildlife Program (NPPCFWP). Collaborators in the recovery effort include the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG), the University of Idaho (UI), U.S. Forest Service (USFS), and the Shoshone-Bannock Tribe (SBT). This report summarizes activities conducted by Shoshone-Bannock Tribal Fisheries Department personnel during the 1999 calendar year. Project objectives include: (1) monitor over-winter survival and emigration of juvenile anadromous O. nerka stocked from the captive rearing program; (2) fertilize Pettit, and Alturas lakes, fertilization of Redfish Lake was suspended for this year; (3) conduct kokanee (nonanadromous O. nerka) population surveys; (4) monitor spawning kokanee escapement and estimate fry recruitment on Fishhook, Alturas Lake, and Stanley Lake creeks; (5) evaluate potential competition and predation interactions between stocked juvenile O. nerka and a variety of fish species in Redfish, Pettit, and Alturas lakes; (6) examine diet of emigrating O. nerka smolts; (7) monitor limnological parameters of Sawtooth Valley lakes to assess lake productivity.« less
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Snake River Sockeye Salmon Habitat and Limnological Research; 2000 Annual Report.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Kohler, Andre E.; Griswold, Robert G.; Taki, Doug
2002-12-01
In March 1990, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes petitioned the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to list the Snake River sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) as endangered. As a result of that petition the Snake River sockeye salmon was officially listed as endangered in November 1991 under the Endangered Species Act (56 FR 58619). In 1991 the Snake River Sockeye Salmon Habitat and Limnological Research Program was implemented (Project Number 91-71, Intergovernmental Contract Number DE-BI79-91bp22548). This project is part of an interagency effort to prevent the extinction of the Redfish Lake stock of O. nerka. The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) provides funding formore » this inter-agency recovery program through the Northwest Power Planning Council Fish and Wildlife Program (NPPCFWP). Collaborators in the recovery effort include the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG), the University of Idaho (UI), U.S. Forest Service (USFS), and the Shoshone-Bannock Tribe (SBT). This report summarizes activities conducted by Shoshone-Bannock Tribal Fisheries Department personnel during the 2000 calendar year. Project objectives include: (1) monitor over-winter survival and emigration of juvenile anadromous O. nerka stocked from the captive rearing program; (2) fertilize Pettit, and Alturas lakes, fertilization of Redfish Lake was suspended for this year; (3) conduct kokanee (nonanadromous O. nerka) population surveys; (4) monitor spawning kokanee escapement and estimate fry recruitment on Fishhook, Alturas Lake, and Stanley Lake creeks; (5) evaluate potential competition and predation interactions between stocked juvenile O. nerka and a variety of fish species in Redfish, Pettit, and Alturas lakes; (6) examine diet of emigrating O. nerka smolts; (7) monitor limnological parameters of Sawtooth Valley lakes to assess lake productivity.« less
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Brown, Richard S.; Oldenburg, Eric W.; Seaburg, Adam
Studies examining the survival of juvenile salmon as they emigrate to the ocean provide important information regarding the management of regulated river systems. Acoustic telemetry is a widely used tool for evaluating the behavior and survival of juvenile salmonids in the Columbia River basin. Thus, it is important to understand how the surgical tagging process and the presence of a transmitter affect survival so any biases can be accounted for or eliminated. This study evaluated the effects of fish length and tag type on the survival of yearling and subyearling Chinook salmon during their seaward migrations through the Snake andmore » Columbia rivers during 2006, 2007, and 2008. Fish were collected at Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River (river kilometer 695) and implanted with either only a passive integrated transponder (PIT) tag (PIT fish) or both a PIT tag and an acoustic transmitter (AT fish). Survival was estimated from release at Lower Granite Dam to multiple downstream locations (dams) using the Cormack–Jolly–Seber single release model, and analysis of variance was used to test for differences among length-classes and between tag types. No length-specific tag effect was detected between PIT and AT fish (i.e., length affected the survival of PIT fish in a manner similar to which it affected the survival of AT fish). Survival among the smallest length class (i.e., 80–89 mm) of both PIT and AT subyearling Chinook salmon was markedly low (i.e., 4%). Fish length was positively correlated with the survival of both PIT and AT fish. Significant differences in survival were detected between tag types; the survival of PIT fish was generally greater than that of AT fish. However, confounding variables warrant caution in making strong inferences regarding this factor. Further, results suggest that tag effects may be due to the process of surgically implanting the transmitter rather than the presence of the transmitter.« less
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4. SNAKE RIVER VALLEY IRRIGATION DISTRICT, PHOTOGRAPHIC COPY OF DRAWING, ...
4. SNAKE RIVER VALLEY IRRIGATION DISTRICT, PHOTOGRAPHIC COPY OF DRAWING, PROPOSED SECTION OF DIVERSION DAM ACROSS SNAKE RIVER, SHEET 1 OF 5, 1924 (on file at the Idaho State Office of Water Resources, Boise, Idaho) - Snake River Valley Irrigation District, East Side of Snake River (River Mile 796), Shelley, Bingham County, ID
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Tiffan, Kenneth F.; Connor, William P.
2006-01-01
This report summarizes results of research activities conducted in 2004 and years previous to aid in the management and recovery of fall Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha in the Columbia River basin. For detailed summaries, we refer the reader to the abstracts given on the second page of each chapter. The Annual Reporting section includes information provided to fishery managers in-season and post-season, and it contains a detailed summary of life history and survival statistics on wild Snake River fall Chinook salmon juveniles for the years 1992-2004. Publication is a high priority of our staff. Publication provides our results to a wide audience, and it insures that our work meets high scientific standards. The Bibliography of Published Journal Articles section provides citations for peer-reviewed papers co-authored by personnel of project 1991-02900 that were written or published from 1998 to 2005.
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3. SNAKE RIVER VALLEY IRRIGATION DISTRICT, PHOTOGRAPHIC COPY OF DRAWING, ...
3. SNAKE RIVER VALLEY IRRIGATION DISTRICT, PHOTOGRAPHIC COPY OF DRAWING, PROFILE AND ALIGNMENT OF DAM ACROSS WEST CHANNEL OF SNAKE RIVER, SHEET 3 OF 5, 1924 (on file at the Idaho State Office of Water Resources, Boise, Idaho) - Snake River Valley Irrigation District, East Side of Snake River (River Mile 796), Shelley, Bingham County, ID
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Snake River Sockeye Salmon Habitat and Limnological Research : 2008 Annual Progress Report.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Kohler, Andre E.; Griswold, Robert G.; Taki, Doug
2009-07-31
In March 1990, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes petitioned the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to list Snake River sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) as endangered. Snake River sockeye salmon were officially listed as endangered in November 1991 under the Endangered Species Act (56 FR 58619). In 1991, the Snake River Sockeye Salmon Habitat and Limnological Research Project was implemented. This project is part of an interagency effort to prevent the extinction of the Redfish Lake stock of Snake River sockeye salmon. The Shoshone-Bannock Tribal goal for this project is two tiered: the immediate goal is to increase the population of Snake Rivermore » sockeye salmon while preserving the unique genetic characteristics of the evolutionarily significant unit (ESU). The Tribes long term goal is to maintain a viable population that warrants delisting and provides Tribal harvest opportunities. The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) provides funding for this interagency Recovery effort. Collaborators in the recovery effort include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG), the University of Idaho (UI), and the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes (SBT). This report summarizes activities conducted by Shoshone-Bannock Tribal Fisheries Department personnel during the 2008 calendar year. Project tasks include: (1) monitor limnological parameters of the Sawtooth Valley lakes to assess lake productivity; (2) conduct lake fertilization in Pettit and Alturas lakes; (3) reduce the number of mature kokanee salmon spawning in Alturas Lake Creek; (4) monitor, enumerate, and evaluate sockeye salmon smolt migration from Pettit and Alturas lakes; (5) monitor spawning kokanee salmon escapement and estimate fry recruitment in Fishhook and Alturas Lake creeks; (6) conduct sockeye and kokanee salmon population surveys; (7) evaluate potential competition and predation between stocked juvenile sockeye salmon and a variety of fish
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Beeman, J.W.; Maule, A.G.
2006-01-01
The in situ depths of juvenile salmonids Oncorhynchus spp. were studied to determine whether hydrostatic compensation was sufficient to protect them from gas bubble disease (GBD) during exposure to total dissolved gas (TDG) supersaturation from a regional program of spill at dams meant to improve salmonid passage survival. Yearling Chinook salmon O. tshawytscha and juvenile steelhead O. mykiss implanted with pressure-sensing radio transmitters were monitored from boats while they were migrating between the tailrace of Ice Harbor Dam on the Snake River and the forebay of McNary Dam on the Columbia River during 1997-1999. The TDG generally decreased with distance from the tailrace of the dam and was within levels known to cause GBD signs and mortality in laboratory bioassays. Results of repeated-measures analysis of variance indicated that the mean depths of juvenile steelhead were similar throughout the study area, ranging from 2.0 m in the Snake River to 2.3 m near the McNary Dam forebay. The mean depths of yearling Chinook salmon generally increased with distance from Ice Harbor Dam, ranging from 1.5 m in the Snake River to 3.2 m near the forebay. Juvenile steelhead were deeper at night than during the day, and yearling Chinook salmon were deeper during the day than at night. The TDG level was a significant covariate in models of the migration depth and rates of each species, but no effect of fish size was detected. Hydrostatic compensation, along with short exposure times in the area of greatest TDG, reduced the effects of TDG exposure below those generally shown to elicit GBD signs or mortality. Based on these factors, our results indicate that the TDG limits of the regional spill program were safe for these juvenile salmonids.
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Tiffan, Kenneth F.; Haskell, Craig A.; Connor, William P.
2005-01-01
This report summarizes results of research activities conducted in 2002 and years previous to aid in the management and recovery of fall chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha in the Columbia River basin. The report is divided into self-standing chapters. For detailed summaries, we refer the reader to the abstracts given on the second page of each chapter. The Annual Reporting section includes information provided to fishery managers in-season and post-season, and it contains a detailed summary of life history and survival statistics on wild Snake River fall chinook salmon juveniles for the years 1992-2002. Peer-review publication remains a high priority of this research project, and it insures that our work meets high scientific standards. The Bibliography of Published Journal Articles section provides citations for peer-reviewed papers coauthored by personnel of project 199102900 that were written or published from 1998 to 2003.
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2. SNAKE RIVER VALLEY IRRIGATION DISTRICT DAM, PHOTOGRAPHIC COPY OF ...
2. SNAKE RIVER VALLEY IRRIGATION DISTRICT DAM, PHOTOGRAPHIC COPY OF DRAWING, PLAN, SHEET 5 OF 5, 1924 (on file at the Idaho State Office of Water Resources, Boise, Idaho) - Snake River Valley Irrigation District, East Side of Snake River (River Mile 796), Shelley, Bingham County, ID
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Connor, William P.; Mullins, Frank L.; Tiffan, Kenneth F.; Perry, Russell W.; Erhardt, John M.; St John, Scott J.; Bickford, Brad; Rhodes, Tobyn N.
2015-01-01
The portion of the Snake River fall Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha ESU that spawns upstream of Lower Granite Dam transitioned from low to high abundance during 1992–2014 in association with U.S. Endangered Species Act recovery efforts and other Federally mandated actions. This annual report focuses on (1) numeric and habitat use responses by natural- and hatchery-origin spawners, (2) phenotypic and numeric responses by natural-origin juveniles, and (3) predator responses in the Snake River upper and lower reaches as abundance of adult and juvenile fall Chinook Salmon increased. Spawners have located and used most of the available spawning habitat and that habitat is gradually approaching redd capacity. Timing of spawning and fry emergence has been relatively stable; whereas the timing of parr dispersal from riverine rearing habitat into Lower Granite Reservoir has become earlier as apparent abundance of juveniles has increased. Growth rate (g/d) and dispersal size of parr also declined as apparent abundance of juveniles increased. Passage timing of smolts from the two Snake River reaches has become earlier and downstream movement rate faster as estimated abundance of fall Chinook Salmon smolts in Lower Granite Reservoir has increased. In 2014, consumption of subyearlings by Smallmouth Bass was highest in the upper reach which had the highest abundance of Bass. With a few exceptions, predation tended to decrease seasonally from April through early July. A release of hatchery fish in mid-May significantly increased subyearling consumption by the following day. We estimated that over 600,000 subyearling fall Chinook Salmon were lost to Smallmouth Bass predation along the free-flowing Snake River in 2014. More information on predation is presented in Appendix A.3 (page 51). These findings coupled with stock-recruitment analyses presented in this report provide evidence for density-dependence in the Snake River reaches and in Lower Granite Reservoir that was
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Ecology of nonnative Siberian prawn (Palaemon modestus) in the lower Snake River, Washington, USA
Erhardt, John M.; Tiffan, Kenneth F.
2016-01-01
We assessed the abundance, distribution, and ecology of the nonnative Siberian prawn Palaemon modestus in the lower Snake River, Washington, USA. Analysis of prawn passage abundance at three Snake River dams showed that populations are growing at exponential rates, especially at Little Goose Dam where over 464,000 prawns were collected in 2015. Monthly beam trawling during 2011–2013 provided information on prawn abundance and distribution in Lower Granite and Little Goose Reservoirs. Zero-inflated regression predicted that the probability of prawn presence increased with decreasing water velocity and increasing depth. Negative binomial models predicted higher catch rates of prawns in deeper water and in closer proximity to dams. Temporally, prawn densities decreased slightly in the summer, likely due to the mortality of older individuals, and then increased in autumn and winter with the emergence and recruitment of young of the year. Seasonal length frequencies showed that distinct juvenile and adult size classes exist throughout the year, suggesting prawns live from 1 to 2 years and may be able to reproduce multiple times during their life. Most juvenile prawns become reproductive adults in 1 year, and peak reproduction occurs from late July through October. Mean fecundity (189 eggs) and reproductive output (11.9 %) are similar to that in their native range. The current use of deep habitats by prawns likely makes them unavailable to most predators in the reservoirs. The distribution and role of Siberian prawns in the lower Snake River food web will probably continue to change as the population grows and warrants continued monitoring and investigation.
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Congleton, J.L.; Biga, P.R.; Peterson, B.C.
2003-01-01
During the parr-to-smolt transformation (smoltification) of juvenile salmonids, preadaptive changes in osmoregulatory and ionoregulatory ability are regulated in part by the growth hormone (GH)/insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) axis. If food intake is sufficient, plasma IGF-I increases during smoltification. On the other hand, plasma IGF-I typically decreases in fasting fish and other vertebrate animals. Because food availability is limited for juvenile salmonids undertaking an extended 6- to 12-week spring migration to and through the Snake-Columbia River hydropower system (northwestern USA), IGF-I concentrations might be expected to decrease, potentially compromising seawater tolerance. To address this possibility, yearling chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha reared in three Snake River Basin hatcheries were sampled before release and at two downstream dams. Dry masses of migrating fish either did not increase during the migration (in 2000, an average-flow year), or decreased significantly (in 2001, a low-flow year). In both years, plasma IGF-I levels were significantly higher (1.6-fold in 2000, 3.7-fold in 2001) for fish sampled at the last dam on the lower Columbia River than for fish sampled prior to release. Plasma IGF-I concentrations in migrating fish may, nonetheless, have been nutritionally down-regulated to some degree, because plasma IGF-I concentrations in juvenile chinook salmon captured at a Snake River dam and transported to the laboratory increased in fed groups, but decreased in unfed groups. The ability of migrating smolts to maintain relatively elevated IGF-I levels despite restricted food intake and loss of body mass is likely related to smoltification-associated changes in hormonal balance. ?? 2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Faler, Michael P.; Mendel, Glen; Fulton, Carl
2008-11-20
River was small (n=6). In spite of this project's shortcomings, bull trout continue to be observed in low numbers at Snake River dam fish facilities. It is highly possible that bull trout observed at the Snake River dam fish facilities are originating from sources other than the Tucannon River. We suggest that these fish might come from upstream sources like the Clearwater or Salmon rivers in Idaho, and are simply following the outmigration of juvenile anadromous fish (a food supply) as they emigrate toward the Pacific Ocean. Based on our study results, we recommend abandoning radio telemetry as a tool to monitor bull trout movements in the mainstem Snake River. We do recommend continuing PIT tagging and tag interrogation activities to help determine the origin of bull trout using the Snake River hydropower facilities. As a complementary approach, we also suggest the use of genetic assignment tests to help determine the origin of these fish. Lastly, several recommendations are included in the report to help manage and recover bull trout in the Tucannon subbasin.« less
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Not Available
1993-03-01
Public comments are sought on this final SEIS, which supplements the 1992 Columbia River Salmon Flow Measures Options Analysis (OA)/Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The Corps of Engineers, in cooperation with the Bonneville Power Administration and the Bureau of Reclamation proposes five alternatives to improve flows of water in the lower Columbia-Snake rivers in 1993 and future years to assist the migration of juvenile and adult anadromous fish past eight hydropower dams. These are: (1) Without Project (no action) Alternative, (2) the 1992 Operation, (3) the 1992 Operation with Libby/Hungry Horse Sensitivity, (4) a Modified 1992 Operation with Improvements to Salmonmore » Flows from Dworshak, and (5) a Modified 1992 Operation with Upper Snake Sensitivity. Alternative 4, Modified 1992 Operations, has been identified as the preferred alternative.« less
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Williams, John G.; Bjomn
1997-03-01
In 1994, the National Marine Fisheries Service and the US Fish and Wildlife Service began a cooperative study to investigate migrational characteristics of subyearling fall chinook salmon in the Snake River. The primary study objectives were to (1) determine the feasibility of estimating detection and passage survival probabilities of natural and hatchery subyearling fall chinook salmon released in the Snake River (Chapter 1), (2) investigate relationships between detection and passage survival probabilities and travel time of subyearling fall chinook salmon and environmental influences such as flow volume and water temperature (Chapter 1), (3) monitor and evaluate dispersal of hatchery subyearlingmore » chinook salmon into nearshore rearing areas used by natural fish (Chapter 2), and (4) monitor and evaluate travel time to Lower Granite Dam, growth from release in the Snake River to recapture at Lower Granite Dam, ATPase levels of fish recaptured at Lower Granite Dam, and survival from release in the free-flowing Snake River to the tailrace of Lower Granite Dam (Chapter 2).« less
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Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR
2014-10-01
... Habitat for Snake River Sockeye Salmon and Snake River Spring/Summer and Fall Chinook Salmon 3 Table 3 to... Spring/Summer and Fall Chinook Salmon Hydrologic unit name Hydrologic unit number Sockeye salmon Spring/summer chinook salmon Fall chinook salmon Hells Canyon 17060101 17060101 Imnaha 17060102 17060102 Lower...
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Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR
2013-10-01
... Habitat for Snake River Sockeye Salmon and Snake River Spring/Summer and Fall Chinook Salmon 3 Table 3 to... Spring/Summer and Fall Chinook Salmon Hydrologic unit name Hydrologic unit number Sockeye salmon Spring/summer chinook salmon Fall chinook salmon Hells Canyon 17060101 17060101 Imnaha 17060102 17060102 Lower...
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Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR
2012-10-01
... Habitat for Snake River Sockeye Salmon and Snake River Spring/Summer and Fall Chinook Salmon 3 Table 3 to... Spring/Summer and Fall Chinook Salmon Hydrologic unit name Hydrologic unit number Sockeye salmon Spring/summer chinook salmon Fall chinook salmon Hells Canyon 17060101 17060101 Imnaha 17060102 17060102 Lower...
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Tiffan, Kenneth F.; Kock, Tobias J.; Connor, William P.; Mullins, Frank; Steinhorst, R. Kirk
2012-01-01
We conducted a 3-year radiotelemetry study in the lower Snake River to (1) determine whether juvenile fall Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha pass dams during winter, when bypass systems and structures designed to prevent mortality are not operated; (2) determine whether downstream movement rate varies annually, seasonally, and from reservoir to reservoir; and (3) identify some of the factors that contribute to annual, seasonal, and spatial variation in downstream movement rate. Fall Chinook salmon juveniles moved downstream up to 169 km and at a sufficiently fast rate (7.5 km/d) such that large percentages (up to 93%) of the fish passed one or more dams during the winter. Mean downstream movement rate varied annually (9.2–11.3 km/d), increased from winter (7.5 km/d) to spring (16.4 km/d), and increased (from 6.9 to 16.8 km/d) as fish moved downstream from reservoir to reservoir. Fish condition factor at tagging explained some of the annual variation in downstream movement rate, whereas water particle velocity and temperature explained portions of the seasonal variation. An increase in migrational disposition as fish moved downstream helped to explain the spatial variation. The potential cost of winter movement might be reduced survival due to turbine passage at a time when the bypass systems and spillway passage structures are not operated. Efforts to understand and increase passage survival of winter migrants in large impoundments might help to rehabilitate some imperiled anadromous salmonid populations.
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Clark, Melanie L.; Sadler, Wilfrid J.; O'Ney, Susan E.
2004-01-01
To address water-resource management objectives of the National Park Service in Grand Teton National Park, the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the National Park Service has conducted water-quality sampling in the upper Snake River Basin. Routine sampling of the Snake River was conducted during water years 1998-2002 to monitor the water quality of the Snake River through time. A synoptic study during 2002 was conducted to supplement the routine Snake River sampling and establish baseline water-quality conditions of five of its eastern tributaries?Pilgrim Creek, Pacific Creek, Buffalo Fork, Spread Creek, and Ditch Creek. Samples from the Snake River and the five tributaries were collected at 12 sites and analyzed for field measurements, major ions and dissolved solids, nutrients, selected trace metals, pesticides, and suspended sediment. In addition, the eastern tributaries were sampled for fecal-indicator bacteria by the National Park Service during the synoptic study. Major-ion chemistry of the Snake River varies between an upstream site above Jackson Lake near the northern boundary of Grand Teton National Park and a downstream site near the southern boundary of the Park, in part owing to the inputs from the eastern tributaries. Water type of the Snake River changes from sodium bicarbonate at the upstream site to calcium bicarbonate at the downstream site. The water type of the five eastern tributaries is calcium bicarbonate. Dissolved solids in samples collected from the Snake River were significantly higher at the upstream site (p-value<0.001), where concentrations in 43 samples ranged from 62 to 240 milligrams per liter, compared to the downstream site where concentrations in 33 samples ranged from 77 to 141 milligrams per liter. Major-ion chemistry of Pilgrim Creek, Pacific Creek, Buffalo Fork, Spread Creek, and Ditch Creek generally did not change substantially between the upstream sites near the National Park Service boundary with the National
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Connor, William P.; Mullins, Frank; Tiffan, Kenneth F.; Perry, Russell W.; Erhardt, John M.; St. John, Scott J.; Bickford, Brad; Rhodes, Tobyn N.
2014-01-01
The portion of the Snake River fall Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha ESU that spawns upstream of Lower Granite Dam transitioned from low to high abundance during 1992–2014 in association with U.S. Endangered Species Act recovery efforts and other Federally mandated actions. This annual report focuses on (1) numeric and habitat use responses by natural- and hatchery-origin spawners, (2) phenotypic and numeric responses by natural-origin juveniles, and (3) predator responses in the Snake River upper and lower reaches as abundance of adult and juvenile fall Chinook Salmon increased. Spawners have located and used most of the available spawning habitat and that habitat is gradually approaching redd capacity. Timing of spawning and fry emergence has been relatively stable; whereas the timing of parr dispersal from riverine rearing habitat into Lower Granite Reservoir has become earlier as apparent abundance of juveniles has increased. Growth rate (g/d) and dispersal size of parr also declined as apparent abundance of juveniles increased. Passage timing of smolts from the two Snake River reaches has become earlier and downstream movement rate faster as estimated abundance of fall Chinook Salmon smolts in Lower Granite Reservoir has increased. In 2014, consumption of subyearlings by Smallmouth Bass was highest in the upper reach which had the highest abundance of Bass. With a few exceptions, predation tended to decrease seasonally from April through early July. A release of hatchery fish in mid-May significantly increased subyearling consumption by the following day. We estimated that over 600,000 subyearling fall Chinook Salmon were lost to Smallmouth Bass predation along the free-flowing Snake River in 2014. More information on predation is presented in Appendix A.3 (page 51). These findings coupled with stock-recruitment analyses presented in this report provide evidence for density-dependence in the Snake River reaches and in Lower Granite Reservoir that was
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Malde, Harold E.; Cox, Allan
1971-01-01
A discovery that debris left by the Bonneville Flood (Melon Gravel) overlies McKinney Basalt about 200 feet above the Snake River near King Hill requires that the stratigraphy of the Snake River Group be revised. In former usage, the McKinney Basalt and its immediately older companion, the Wendell Grade Basalt, were considered on the basis of equivocal field relations to be younger than the Melon Gravel and were assigned to the Recent. These lava flows are here reclassified as Pleistocene. The Bancroft Springs Basalt, which consists of both subaerial lava and pillow lava in a former Snake River canyon, was previously separated from the McKinney but is now combined with the McKinney. Accordingly, the name Bancroft Springs Basalt is here abandoned. This revised stratigraphy is first described from geomorphic relations of the McKinney Basalt near King Hill and is then discussed in the light of drainage changes caused by local lava flows during entrenchment of the Snake River. Near King Hill, a former Snake River canyon was completely filled by McKinney Basalt at the place called Bancroft Springs, hut the depth of this lava in the next several miles of the canyon downstream (along a route that approximately coincides with the present canyon) steadily decreased. This ancestral geomorphology is inferred from the former canyon route and, also, from the continuity in gradient of the McKinney lava surface downstream from Bancroft Springs. The drainage history recorded by various lava flows and river deposits of the Snake River Group indicates that the McKinney and Wendell Grade Basalts erupted after the Snake River canyon had reached its present depth of about 500 feet. The Snake River of that time, as far downstream as Bliss, flowed approximately along its present route. The Wood River of that time, however, skirted the north flank of Gooding Butte and joined the ancestral Snake at a junction, now concealed by lava, north of the present canyon about 3 miles west of Bliss
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Snake River Plain FORGE Well Data for USGS-142
Robert Podgorney
2015-11-23
Well data for the USGS-142 well located in eastern Snake River Plain, Idaho. This data collection includes lithology reports, borehole logs, and photos of rhyolite core samples. This collection of data has been assembled as part of the site characterization data used to develop the conceptual geologic model for the Snake River Plain site in Idaho, as part of phase 1 of the Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy (FORGE) initiative. They were assembled by the Snake River Geothermal Consortium (SRGC), a team of collaborators that includes members from national laboratories, universities, industry, and federal agencies, lead by the Idaho National Laboratory (INL).
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VanderKooi, S.P.; Maule, A.G.
1999-01-01
We monitored the prevalence and severity of Renibacterium salmoninarum (RS) infections in juvenile hatchery spring chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha at eight Columbia and Snake river hatcheries from 1993 through 1996. This study followed a prior study that monitored RS in the same hatcheries from 1988 through 1992. In the current study, we found that the prevalence of RS-positive fish declined at two hatcheries relative to the preceding 5 years. Prevalence dropped from near 90% in 1992 to below 50% at both sites by 1993 and was less than 20% at three locations in 1995. In contrast, prevalence increased at four of seven sites in 1993 and six of seven sites in 1994. This indicated that previously reported declines in RS prevalence at these locations might have been temporary. Our results showed that in 1993 the majority of fish at all monitored hatcheries had low RS-antigen levels and remained that way at most locations through 1996. These results suggest that certain hatchery practices may limit the severity of RS infections. Although elevations at two sites in 1994 and 1995 indicate reductions in RS were temporary in the short term, long-term monitoring will undoubtedly be required given the many factors that influence disease processes.
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Historical and current perspectives on fish assemblages of the Snake River, Idaho and Wyoming
Maret, T.R.; Mebane, C.A.
2005-01-01
The Snake River is the tenth longest river in the United States, extending 1,667 km from its origin in Yellowstone National Park in western Wyoming to its union with the Columbia River at Pasco, Washington. Historically, the main-stem Snake River upstream from the Hells Canyon Complex supported at least 26 native fish species, including anadromous stocks of Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, steelhead O. mykiss, Pacific lamprey Lampetra tridentata, and white sturgeon Acipenser transmontanus. Of these anadromous species, only the white sturgeon remains in the Snake River between the Hells Canyon Complex and Shoshone Falls. Today, much of the Snake River has been transformed into a river with numerous impoundments and flow diversions, increased pollutant loads, and elevated water temperatures. Current (1993-2002) fish assemblage collections from 15 sites along the Snake River and Henrys Fork contained 35 fish species, including 16 alien species. Many of these alien species such as catfish (Ictaluridae), carp (Cyprinidae), and sunfish (Centrarchidae) are adapted for warmwater impounded habitats. Currently, the Snake River supports 19 native species. An index of biotic integrity (IBI), developed to evaluate large rivers in the Northwest, was used to evaluate recent (1993-2002) fish collections from the Snake River and Henrys Fork in southern Idaho and western Wyoming. Index of biotic integrity site scores and component metrics revealed a decline in biotic integrity from upstream to downstream in both the Snake River and Henrys Fork. Two distinct groups of sites were evident that correspond to a range of IBI scores-an upper Snake River and Henrys Fork group with relatively high biotic integrity (mean IBI scores of 46-84) and a lower Snake River group with low biotic integrity (mean IBI scores of 10-29). Sites located in the lower Snake River exhibited fish assemblages that reflect poor-quality habitat where coldwater and sensitive species are rare or absent, and
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Bellgraph, Brian J.; Carter, Kathleen M.; Chamness, Michele A.
High mortality of hatchery-reared juvenile fall Chinook salmon emigrating from the Clearwater River was previously measured at the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater rivers; however, the causative mechanism of mortality is unknown. To elucidate potential mechanisms, the predation susceptibility of juvenile fall Chinook salmon was assessed during simulated passage from the Clearwater River and through the confluence of the Clearwater and Snake rivers, with and without cool water flow augmentation. Emigrant-sized juvenile salmon were acclimated to temperatures typical of the Clearwater River when cool water augmentation is discharged from Dworshak Dam (10°C to 17°C) and during temperatures that wouldmore » be present without augmentation (17°C to 24°C), and were then exposed to smallmouth bass within temperatures typical of the Snake River in summer (17°C to 24°C). Slightly supersaturated total dissolved gas concentrations of 105% were also simulated to more closely approximate gas conditions of both rivers in summer. Predation susceptibility of juvenile salmon acclimated at 10°C or 17°C and exposed to predators at 17°C did not differ. However, for salmon exposed to predators at 24°C, predation susceptibility was arguably higher for juvenile salmon acclimated at 10°C (a 14°C increase) than for salmon acclimated at 17°C or 24°C (7°C and 0°C increases, respectively). These results indicate that predation susceptibility may be higher when a relatively large temperature difference exists between the Clearwater and Snake rivers; that is, when cool water flow augmentation is occurs in summer. However, further research is needed to determine if high confluence mortality measured in previous studies is related to cool water augmentation and, ultimately, whether or not this mortality has a population-level effect on the dynamics of wild Snake River fall Chinook salmon.« less
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Snake River Plain FORGE Well Data for WO-2
Robert Podgorney
1991-07-29
Well data for the WO-2 well located in eastern Snake River Plain, Idaho. This data collection includes lithology reports, borehole logs, temperature at depth data, neutron density and gamma data, and rock strength parameters for the WO-2 well. This collection of data has been assembled as part of the site characterization data used to develop the conceptual geologic model for the Snake River Plain site in Idaho, as part of phase 1 of the Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy (FORGE) initiative. They were assembled by the Snake River Geothermal Consortium (SRGC), a team of collaborators that includes members from national laboratories, universities, industry, and federal agencies, lead by the Idaho National Laboratory (INL).
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A simulation study of factors controlling white sturgeon recruitment in the Snake River
Jager, H.I.; Van Winkle, W.; Chandler, James Angus; Lepla, K.B.; Bates, P.; Counihan, T.D.
2002-01-01
Five of the nine populations of white sturgeon Acipenser transmontanus, located between dams on the Middle Snake River, have declined from historical levels and are now at risk of extinction. One step towards more effectively protecting and managing these nine populations is ranking factors that influence recruitment in each of these river segments. We developed a model to suggest which of seven mechanistic factors contribute most to lost recruitment in each river segment: (1) temperature-related mortality during incubation, (2) flow-related mortality during incubation, (3) downstream export of larvae, (4) limitation of juvenile and adult habitat, (5) mortality of all ages during summer episodes of poor water quality in reservoirs, (6) entrainment mortality of juveniles and adults, and (7) angling mortality. We simulated recruitment with, and without, each of the seven factors, over a typical series of hydrologic years. We found a hierarchical pattern of limitation. In the first tier, river segments with severe water quality problems grouped together. Poor water quality during summer had a strong negative effect on recruitment in the river segments between Swan Falls Dam and Hell's Canyon Dam. In the second tier, river segments with better water quality divided into short river segments and longer river segments. Populations in short river segments were limited by larval export. Populations in longer river segments tended to be less strongly limited by any one factor. We also found that downstream effects could be important, suggesting that linked populations cannot be viewed in isolation. In two cases, the effects of a factor on an upstream population had a significant influence on its downstream neighbors. ?? 2002 by the American Fisheries Society.
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Snake River Plain FORGE Well Data for INEL-1
Robert Podgorney
1979-03-01
Well data for the INEL-1 well located in eastern Snake River Plain, Idaho. This data collection includes caliper logs, lithology reports, borehole logs, temperature at depth data, neutron density and gamma data, full color logs, fracture analysis, photos, and rock strength parameters for the INEL-1 well. This collection of data has been assembled as part of the site characterization data used to develop the conceptual geologic model for the Snake River Plain site in Idaho, as part of phase 1 of the Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy (FORGE) initiative. They were assembled by the Snake River Geothermal Consortium (SRGC), a team of collaborators that includes members from national laboratories, universities, industry, and federal agencies, lead by the Idaho National Laboratory (INL).
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Connor, William P.; Mullins, Frank L.; Tiffan, Kenneth F.; Plumb, John M.; Perry, Russell W.; Erhardt, John M.; Hemingway, Rulon J.; Bickford, Brad; Rhodes, Tobyn N.
2017-01-01
The portion of the Snake River fall Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha ESU that spawns upstream of Lower Granite Dam transitioned from low to high abundance during 1992–2016 in association with U.S. Endangered Species Act recovery efforts and other federally mandated actions. This annual report focuses on (1) numeric and habitat use responses by natural- and hatchery-origin spawners, (2) phenotypic and numeric responses by natural-origin juveniles, and (3) predator responses in the Snake River upper and lower reaches as abundance of adult and juvenile fall Chinook Salmon increased. Spawners have located and used most of the available spawning habitat and that habitat is gradually approaching redd capacity. Timing of spawning and fry emergence has been relatively stable; whereas the timing of parr dispersal from riverine rearing habitat into Lower Granite Reservoir has become earlier as apparent abundance of juveniles has increased. Growth rate (g/d) and dispersal size of parr also declined as apparent abundance of juveniles increased. Passage timing of smolts from the two Snake River reaches has become earlier and downstream movement rate faster as estimated abundance of fall Chinook Salmon smolts in Lower Granite Reservoir has increased. In 2016, we described estimated the consumption rate and loss of subyearlings by Smallmouth Bass before, during, and after four hatchery releases. Before releases, Smallmouth Bass consumption rates of subyearling was low (0–0.36 fish/bass/d), but the day after the releases consumption rates reached as high as 1.6 fish/bass/d. Bass consumption in the upper portion of Hells Canyon was high for about 1–2 d before returning to pre-release levels, but in the lower river consumption rates were reduced but took longer to return to pre-release levels. We estimated that most of the subyearlings consumed by bass were of hatchery origin. Smallmouth Bass predation on subyearlings is intense following a hatchery release, but the
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Johnson, Gary E.; Anglea, Steven M.; Adams, Noah S.
2005-02-28
A surface flow bypass provides a route in the upper water column for naturally, surface-oriented juvenile salmonids to safely migrate through a hydroelectric dam. Surface flow bypasses were recommended in several regional salmon recovery plans as a means to increase passage survival of juvenile salmonids at Columbia and Snake River dams. A prototype surface flow bypass, called the SBC, was retrofit on Lower Granite Dam and evaluated from 1996 to 2000 using biotelemetry and hydroacoustic techniques. In terms of passage efficiency, the best SBC configurations were a surface skimmer (99 m3/s [3,500 cfs], three entrances 5 m wide, 5 mmore » deep and one entrance 5 m wide, 15 m deep) and a single chute (99 m3/s, one entrance 5 m wide, 8.5 m deep). They each passed 62 ? 3% (95% confidence interval) of the total juvenile fish population that entered the section of the dam with the SBC entrances (Turbine Units 4-5). Smooth entrance shape and concentrated surface flow characteristics of these configurations are worth pursuing in designs for future surface flow bypasses. In addition, a guidance wall in the Lower Granite Dam forebay diverted the following percentages of juvenile salmonids away from Turbine Units 1-3 toward other passage routes, including the SBC: run-at-large 79 ? 18%; hatchery steelhead 86%; wild steelhead 65%; and yearling chinook salmon 66%. When used in combination with spill or turbine intake screens, a surface flow bypass with a guidance wall can produce a high level (> 90% of total project passage) of non-turbine passage and provide operational flexibility to fisheries managers and dam operators responsible for enhancing juvenile salmonid survival.« less
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Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR
2014-07-01
... OPERATION REGULATIONS Specific Requirements Idaho § 117.385 Snake River. The drawspan of the U.S. 12 bridge, mile 140.0, between Lewiston, Idaho, and Clarkston, Washington, operates as follows: (a) The draw need...
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Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-07-01
... OPERATION REGULATIONS Specific Requirements Idaho § 117.385 Snake River. The drawspan of the U.S. 12 bridge, mile 140.0, between Lewiston, Idaho, and Clarkston, Washington, operates as follows: (a) The draw need...
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Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR
2013-07-01
... OPERATION REGULATIONS Specific Requirements Idaho § 117.385 Snake River. The drawspan of the U.S. 12 bridge, mile 140.0, between Lewiston, Idaho, and Clarkston, Washington, operates as follows: (a) The draw need...
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Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR
2011-07-01
... OPERATION REGULATIONS Specific Requirements Idaho § 117.385 Snake River. The drawspan of the U.S. 12 bridge, mile 140.0, between Lewiston, Idaho, and Clarkston, Washington, operates as follows: (a) The draw need...
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Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR
2012-07-01
... OPERATION REGULATIONS Specific Requirements Idaho § 117.385 Snake River. The drawspan of the U.S. 12 bridge, mile 140.0, between Lewiston, Idaho, and Clarkston, Washington, operates as follows: (a) The draw need...
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Harnish, Ryan A.; Colotelo, Alison H. A.; Li, Xinya
2015-03-31
In 2012 and 2013, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) conducted a study that summarized the passage route proportions and route-specific survival rates of steelhead kelts that passed through Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) dams. To accomplish this, a total of 811 steelhead kelts were tagged with Juvenile Salmon Acoustic Telemetry System (JSATS) transmitters. Acoustic receivers, both autonomous and cabled, were deployed throughout the FCRPS to monitor the downstream movements of tagged kelts. Kelts were also tagged with passive integrated transponder tags to monitor passage through juvenile bypass systems (JBS) and detect returning fish. The current study evaluated data collectedmore » in 2012 and 2013 to identify environmental, temporal, operational, individual, and behavioral variables that were related to forebay residence time, route of passage, and survival of steelhead kelts at FCRPS dams on the Snake River. Multiple approaches, including 3-D tracking, bivariate and multivariable regression modeling, and decision tree analyses were used to identify the environmental, temporal, operational, individual, and behavioral variables that had the greatest effect on forebay residence time, route of passage, and route-specific and overall dam passage survival probabilities for tagged kelts at Lower Granite (LGR), Little Goose (LGS), and Lower Monumental (LMN) dams. In general, kelt behavior and discharge appeared to work independently to affect forebay residence times. Kelt behavior, primarily approach location, migration depth, and “searching” activities in the forebay, was found to have the greatest influence on their route of passage. The condition of kelts was the single most important factor affecting their survival. The information gathered in this study may be used by dam operators and fisheries managers to identify potential management actions to improve in-river survival of kelts or collection methods for kelt reconditioning programs
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Water resources of the Snake River watershed, east-central Minnesota
Lindholm, Gerald F.; Helgesen, J.O.; Broussard, W.L.; Ericson, D.W.
1974-01-01
The Snake River, which drains an area of about 1,030 square miles, originates in an extensive area of peat bogs in the northern part of the watershed. It flows southward across gently rolling glacial terrain in which the major relief is near the river. Near the southern boundary of the watershed, the Snake River turns eastward to its confluence with the St. Croix River. The northwest half of the watershed is heavily forested, whereas much of the southeast half has been cleared. The largest communities in the watershed, Mora and Pine City, had 1970 populations of 2,582 and 2,143, respectively.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Brannon, Ernest L.
1988-06-01
The geographic area of the genetics study broadly covered the distribution range of sturgeon in the Columbia from below Bonneville Dam at Ilwaco at Lake Roosevelt, the Upper Snake River, and the Kootenai River. The two remote river sections provided data important for enhancement considerations. There was little electrophoretic variation seen among individuals from the Kootenai River. Upper Snake river sturgeon showed a higher percentage of polymorphic loci than the Kootenai fish, but lower than the other areas in the Columbia River we sampled. Sample size was increased in both Lake Roosevelt and at Electrophoretic variation was specific to anmore » individual sampling area in several cases and this shaped our conclusions. The 1987 early life history studies concentrated on the feeding behavior of juvenile sturgeon. The chemostimulant components in prey attractive to sturgeon were examined, and the sensory systems utilized by foraging sturgeon were determined under different environmental conditions. These results were discussed with regard to the environmental changes that have occurred in the Columbia River. Under present river conditions, the feeding mechanism of sturgeon is more restricted to certain prey types, and their feeding range may be limited. In these situations, enhancement measures cannot be undertaken without consideration given to the introduction of food resources that will be readily available under present conditions. 89 refs., 7 figs., 11 tabs.« less
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Luecke, C.; Wurtsbaugh, W.A.; Budy, P.
1996-06-01
This document examines the potential of employing a series of lake management strategies to enhance production of endangered Snake River sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) in its historical nursery lakes in central Idaho. A combination of limnological sampling, experimentation, and simulation modeling was used to assess effects of lake fertilization and kokanee reduction on growth and survival of juvenile sockeye salmon. Juvenile sockeye salmon from a broodstock of this endangered species are being introduced into the lakes from 1995 to 1998. Results of our analyses indicated that several lakes were suitable for receiving broodstock progeny. Field experimentation and simulation modeling indicatedmore » that lake fertilization, coupled with a program of kokanee reduction, provided the management option most likely to enhance the survival of stocked juvenile sockeye salmon. Simulation models that encompass physiological requirements, ecological interactions, and life-history consequences could be used as templates to help develop recovery plans for other endangered fishes. 4 figs., 2 tabs.« less
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Volcanism of the Eastern Snake River Plain, Idaho: A comparative planetary geology-guidebook
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Greeley, R.; King, J. S.
1977-01-01
The Planetary Geology Field Conference on the central Snake River Plain was conceived and developed to accomplish several objectives. Primarily, field conferences are sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to draw attention to aspects of terrestrial geology that appear to be important in interpreting the origin and evolution of extraterrestrial planetary surfaces. Another aspect is to present results of recent research in a region. A final objective of this conference is to bring together investigators of diverse backgrounds who share a common interest in the Snake River Plain. The Snake River Plain appears to be similar in surface morphology to many volcanic regions on the Moon, Mars, and possibly Mercury. Therefore, the Snake River Plain, in combination with the relatively good state of preservation, the lack of forests or other heavy vegetation, and the good network of jeep trails, is an area nearly ideal for analog studies.
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Regional implications of heat flow of the Snake River Plain, Northwestern United States
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Blackwell, D. D.
1989-08-01
The Snake River Plain is a major topographic feature of the Northwestern United States. It marks the track of an upper mantle and crustal melting event that propagated across the area from southwest to northeast at a velocity of about 3.5 cm/yr. The melting event has the same energetics as a large oceanic hotspot or plume and so the area is the continental analog of an oceanic hotspot track such as the Hawaiian Island-Emperor Seamount chain. Thus, the unique features of the area reflect the response of a continental lithosphere to a very energetic hotspot. The crust is extensively modified by basalt magma emplacement into the crust and by the resulting massive rhyolite volcanism from melted crustal material, presently occurring at Yellowstone National Park. The volcanism is associated with little crustal extension. Heat flow values are high along the margins of the Eastern and Western Snake River Plains and there is abundant evidence for low-grade geothermal resources associated with regional groundwater systems. The regional heat flow pattern in the Western Snake River Plains reflects the influence of crustal-scale thermal refraction associated with the large sedimentary basin that has formed there. Heat flow values in shallow holes in the Eastern Snake River Plains are low due to the Snake River Plains aquifer, an extensive basalt aquifer where water flow rates approach 1 km/yr. Below the aquifer, conductive heat flow values are about 100 mW m -2. Deep holes in the region suggest a systematic eastward increase in heat flow in the Snake River Plains from about 75-90 mW m -2 to 90-110 mW m -2. Temperatures in the upper crust do not behave similarly because the thermal conductivity of the Plio-Pleistocene sedimentary rocks in the west is lower than that in the volcanic rocks characteristic of the Eastern Snake River Plains. Extremely high heat loss values (averaging 2500 mW m -2) and upper crustal temperatures are characteristic of the Yellowstone caldera.
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Covington, H.R.; Weaver, Jean N.
1991-01-01
The Snake River Plain is a broad, arcuate region of low relief that extends more than 300 mi across southern Idaho. The Snake River enters the plain near Idaho Falls and flows westward along the southern margin of the eastern Snake River Plain (fig. 1), a position mainly determined by the basaltic lava flows that erupted near the axis of the plain. The highly productive Snake River Plain aquifer north of the Snake River underlies most of the eastern plain. The aquifer is composed of basaltic rocks that are interbedded with fluvial and lacustrine sedimentary rocks. The top of the aquifer (water table) is typically less than 500 ft below the land surface but is deeper than 1,000 ft in a few areas. The Snake River has excavated a canyon into the nearly flat lying basaltic and sedimentary rocks of the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer, which discharges from the northern canyon wall as springs of variable size, spacing, and altitude. Geologic controls on springs are of importance because nearly 60 percent of the aquifer's discharge occurs as spring flow along the describes the geologic occurrence of springs along the northern wall of the Snake River canyon. This report is one of several that describes the geologic occurrence of springs along the northern wall of the Snake River canyon from Milner Dam to King Hill. To understand the local geologic controls on springs, the Water Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey initiated a geologic mapping project as part of their Snake River Plain Regional Aquifer System-Analysis Program. Objectives of the project were (1) to prepare a geologic map of a strip of land immediately north of the Snake River canyon, (2) to map the geology of the north canyon wall in profile, (3) to locate spring occurrences along the north side of the Snake River between Milner Sam and King Hill, and (4) to estimate spring discharge from the north wall of the canyon.
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Covington, H.R.; Weaver, Jean N.
1990-01-01
The Snake River Plain is a broad, arcuate region of low relief that extends more than 300 mi across southern Idaho. The Snake River enters the plain near Idaho Falls and flows westward along the southern margin of the eastern Snake River Plain (fig. 1), a position mainly determined by the basaltic lava flows that erupted near the axis of the plain. The highly productive Snake River Plain aquifer north of the Snaked River underlies the most of the eastern plain. The aquifer is composed of basaltic ricks that are interbedded with fluvial and lacustrine sedimentary rocks. The top of the aquifer (water table) is typically less than 500 ft below the land surface, but is deeper than 1,000 ft in few areas. The Snake River had excavated a canyon into the nearly flat-lying basaltic and sedimentary rocks of the eastern Snake River Plain between Milner Dam and King Hill (fig. 2), a distance of almost 90 mi. For much of its length the canyon intersects the Snake River Plain aquifer, which discharges from the north canyon wall as springs of variable size, spacing, and altitude. Geologic controls on springs are of importance because nearly 60 percent of the aquifer's discharge occurs as spring flow along this reach of the canyon. This report is one of several that describes the geologic occurrence of springs along the northern wall of the Snake River canyon from Milner Dam to King Hill. To understand the local geologic controls on springs, the Water Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey initiated a geologic mapping project as part of their Snake River Plain Regional Aquifer System-Analysis Program. Objectives of the project were (1) to prepare a geologic map of a strip of land immediately north of the Snake River canyon, (2) to map the geology of the north canyon wall in profile, (3) to locate spring occurrences along the north side of the Snake River between Milner Dam and King Hill, and (4) to estimate spring discharge from the north wall of the canyon.
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Water-quality conditions near the confluence of the Snake and Boise Rivers, Canyon County, Idaho
Wood, Molly S.; Etheridge, Alexandra
2011-01-01
Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) have been established under authority of the Federal Clean Water Act for the Snake River-Hells Canyon reach, on the border of Idaho and Oregon, to improve water quality and preserve beneficial uses such as public consumption, recreation, and aquatic habitat. The TMDL sets targets for seasonal average and annual maximum concentrations of chlorophyll-a at 14 and 30 micrograms per liter, respectively. To attain these conditions, the maximum total phosphorus concentration at the mouth of the Boise River in Idaho, a tributary to the Snake River, has been set at 0.07 milligrams per liter. However, interactions among chlorophyll-a, nutrients, and other key water-quality parameters that may affect beneficial uses in the Snake and Boise Rivers are unknown. In addition, contributions of nutrients and chlorophyll-a loads from the Boise River to the Snake River have not been fully characterized. To evaluate seasonal trends and relations among nutrients and other water-quality parameters in the Boise and Snake Rivers, a comprehensive monitoring program was conducted near their confluence in water years (WY) 2009 and 2010. The study also provided information on the relative contribution of nutrient and sediment loads from the Boise River to the Snake River, which has an effect on water-quality conditions in downstream reservoirs. State and site-specific water-quality standards, in addition to those that relate to the Snake River-Hells Canyon TMDL, have been established to protect beneficial uses in both rivers. Measured water-quality conditions in WY2009 and WY2010 exceeded these targets at one or more sites for the following constituents: water temperature, total phosphorus concentrations, total phosphorus loads, dissolved oxygen concentration, pH, and chlorophyll-a concentrations (WY2009 only). All measured total phosphorus concentrations in the Boise River near Parma exceeded the seasonal target of 0.07 milligram per liter. Data collected
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Vergilov, Vladislav; Natchev, Nikolay
2018-03-01
Most of the studies dealing with the Snake-eyed skink (Ablepharus kitaibelii) treat predominantly aspects of the distribution and taxonomy of the species. In the present study we provide information concerning the mechanism of hatching in the Snake-eyed skink and the dimensions of the hatched specimens. We collected data from wild animals, as well as from indoor incubated juveniles. The present study provides the first data concerning the weight of the newly hatched juveniles of the species and discuss on potential misleading data concerning the size of the juveniles in A. kitaibelii.
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Covington, H.R.; Weaver, Jean N.
1990-01-01
The Snake River Plain is a broad, arcuate region of low relief that extends more than 300 mi across southern Idaho. The Snake River enters the plain near Idaho Falls and flows westward along the southern margin of the eastern Snake River Plain (fig. 1), a position mainly determined by the basaltic lava flows that erupted near the axis of the plain. The highly productive Snake River Plain aquifer north of the Snake River underlies most of the eastern plain. The aquifer is composed of basaltic rocks that are interbedded with fluvial and lacustrine sedimentary rocks. The top of the aquifer (water table) is typically less than 500 ft below the land surface, but is deeper than 1,000 ft in a few areas. The Snake River has excavated a canyon into the nearly flat-lying basaltic and sedimentary rocks of the eastern Snake River Plain between Milner Dam and King Hill (fig. 2), a distance of almost 90 mi. For much of its length the canyon wall as springs of variable size, spacing, and altitude. Geologic controls on springs are of importance because nearly 60 percent of the aquifer's discharge occurs as spring flow along this reach of the canyon. This report is one of several that describes the geologic occurrence of springs along the northern wall of the Snake River canyon from Milner Dam to King Hill (fig. 1). To understand the local geologic controls on springs, the Water Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey initiated a geologic mapping project as part of their Snake River Plain Regional Aquifer System-Analysis Program. Objectives of the project were (1) to prepare a geologic map of a strip of land immediately north of the Snake River canyon, (2) to map the geology of the north canyon wall in profile, (3) to locate spring occurrences along the north side of the Snake River between Milner Dam and King Hill, and (4) to estimate spring discharge from the north wall of the canyon.
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Mesa, Matthew G.; Weiland, Lisa K.; Christiansen, Helena E.
2016-01-01
We compiled and summarized previous sources of data and research results related to the presence, numbers, and migration timing characteristics of juvenile (eyed macropthalmia) and larval (ammocoetes) Pacific lamprey Entosphenus tridentatus, in the Columbia River basin (CRB). Included were data from various screw trap collections, data from historic fyke net studies, catch records of lampreys at JBS facilities, turbine cooling water strainer collections, and information on the occurrence of lampreys in the diets of avian and piscine predators. We identified key data gaps and uncertainties that should be addressed in a juvenile lamprey passage research program. The goal of this work was to summarize information from disparate sources so that managers can use it to prioritize and guide future research and monitoring efforts related to the downstream migration of juvenile Pacific lamprey within the CRB. A common finding in all datasets was the high level of variation observed for CRB lamprey in numbers present, timing and spatial distribution. This will make developing monitoring programs to accurately characterize lamprey migrations and passage more challenging. Primary data gaps centered around our uncertainty on the numbers of juvenile and larval present in the system which affects the ability to assign risk to passage conditions and prioritize management actions. Recommendations include developing standardized monitoring methods, such as at juvenile bypass systems (JBS’s), to better document numbers and timing of lamprey migrations at dams, and use biotelemetry tracking techniques to estimate survival potentials for different migration histories.
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Evaluation of seepage and discharge uncertainty in the middle Snake River, southwestern Idaho
Wood, Molly S.; Williams, Marshall L.; Evetts, David M.; Vidmar, Peter J.
2014-01-01
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the State of Idaho, Idaho Power Company, and the Idaho Department of Water Resources, evaluated seasonal seepage gains and losses in selected reaches of the middle Snake River, Idaho, during November 2012 and July 2013, and uncertainty in measured and computed discharge at four Idaho Power Company streamgages. Results from this investigation will be used by resource managers in developing a protocol to calculate and report Adjusted Average Daily Flow at the Idaho Power Company streamgage on the Snake River below Swan Falls Dam, near Murphy, Idaho, which is the measurement point for distributing water to owners of hydropower and minimum flow water rights in the middle Snake River. The evaluated reaches of the Snake River were from King Hill to Murphy, Idaho, for the seepage studies and downstream of Lower Salmon Falls Dam to Murphy, Idaho, for evaluations of discharge uncertainty. Computed seepage was greater than cumulative measurement uncertainty for subreaches along the middle Snake River during November 2012, the non-irrigation season, but not during July 2013, the irrigation season. During the November 2012 seepage study, the subreach between King Hill and C J Strike Dam had a meaningful (greater than cumulative measurement uncertainty) seepage gain of 415 cubic feet per second (ft3/s), and the subreach between Loveridge Bridge and C J Strike Dam had a meaningful seepage gain of 217 ft3/s. The meaningful seepage gain measured in the November 2012 seepage study was expected on the basis of several small seeps and springs present along the subreach, regional groundwater table contour maps, and results of regional groundwater flow model simulations. Computed seepage along the subreach from C J Strike Dam to Murphy was less than cumulative measurement uncertainty during November 2012 and July 2013; therefore, seepage cannot be quantified with certainty along this subreach. For the uncertainty evaluation, average
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Enhanced Geothermal System Potential for Sites on the Eastern Snake River Plain, Idaho
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Robert K Podgorney; Thomas R. Wood; Travis L McLing
2013-09-01
The Snake River volcanic province overlies a thermal anomaly that extends deep into the mantle and represents one of the highest heat flow provinces in North America (Blackwell and Richards, 2004). This makes the Snake River Plain (SRP) one of the most under-developed and potentially highest producing geothermal districts in the United States. Elevated heat flow is typically highest along the margins of the topographic SRP and lowest along the axis of the plain, where thermal gradients are suppressed by the Snake River aquifer. Beneath this aquifer, however, thermal gradients rise again and may tap even higher heat flows associatedmore » with the intrusion of mafic magmas into the mid-crustal sill complex (e.g., Blackwell, 1989).« less
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Salmonid Gamete Preservation in the Snake River Basin, 2001 Annual Report.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Armstrong, Robyn; Kucera, Paul
2002-06-01
Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) populations in the Northwest are decreasing. Genetic diversity is being lost at an alarming rate. Along with reduced population and genetic variability, the loss of biodiversity means a diminished environmental adaptability. The Nez Perce Tribe (Tribe) strives to ensure availability of genetic samples of the existing male salmonid population by establishing and maintaining a germplasm repository. The sampling strategy, initiated in 1992, has been to collect and preserve male salmon and steelhead genetic diversity across the geographic landscape by sampling within the major river subbasins in the Snake River basin, assuming amore » metapopulation structure existed historically. Gamete cryopreservation conserves genetic diversity in a germplasm repository, but is not a recovery action for listed fish species. The Tribe was funded in 2001 by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Lower Snake River Compensation Plan (LSRCP) to coordinate gene banking of male gametes from Endangered Species Act (ESA) listed steelhead and spring and summer chinook salmon in the Snake River basin. In 2001, a total of 398 viable chinook salmon semen samples from the Lostine River, Catherine Creek, upper Grande Ronde River, Lookingglass Hatchery (Imnaha River stock), Lake Creek, the South Fork Salmon River weir, Johnson Creek, Big Creek, Capehorn Creek, Marsh Creek, Pahsimeroi Hatchery, and Sawtooth Hatchery (upper Salmon River stock) were cryopreserved. Also, 295 samples of male steelhead gametes from Dworshak Hatchery, Fish Creek, Grande Ronde River, Little Sheep Creek, Pahsimeroi Hatchery and Oxbow Hatchery were also cryopreserved. The Grande Ronde chinook salmon captive broodstock program stores 680 cryopreserved samples at the University of Idaho as a long-term archive, half of the total samples. A total of 3,206 cryopreserved samples from Snake River basin
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Tuzlak, D.; Pederson, J. L.
2015-12-01
Understanding patterns of deformation and testing geophysical models in the dynamic region of the Yellowstone Hotspot requires Quaternary-scale records of incision and uplift, which are currently absent. This study examines fluvial terraces and longitudinal-profile metrics along Alpine Canyon of the Snake River, WY. Because the Snake is the only regional river crossing from the uplifting Yellowstone Plateau and flowing into the subsiding Eastern Snake River Plain, it provides an opportunity to investigate both ends of the phenomenon. Field observations through Alpine Canyon indicate that Pleistocene incision rates in this region are relatively high for the interior western U.S., that the river switches between bedrock and alluvial forms, and that incision/uplift is not uniform. Two endmembers of regional deformation may be tested: 1) the arch of high topography surrounding Yellowstone is uplifting and terraces converge downstream as incision rates decrease towards the Snake River Plain, or 2) baselevel fall originates at the subsiding Snake River Plain and terraces diverge as incision rates increase downstream. Datasets include surficial mapping, rock strength measurements, surveying of the longitudinal profile and terraces using RTK-GPS, optically stimulated luminescence dating of fluvial-terrace deposits, and investigation of drainages through ksn and χ analyses. Initial results indicate that there are four primary terrace deposits along the canyon, three of which are timed with glacial epochs. Considering the relative heights of terrace straths and preliminary ages, incision rates are indeed relatively high. There is a major knickzone covering the last 15 km of the canyon that is also reflected in tributary profiles and is consistent with a wave of incision propagating upstream, favoring the second endmember of active baselevel fall downstream.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Williams, John G.; Bjornn
1998-05-01
In 1996, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Nez Perce Tribe, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service completed the second year of cooperative research to investigate migrational characteristics of subyearling fall chinook salmon in the Snake River Basin. In spring and early summer, we captured natural subyearling fall chinook salmon by beach seine, PIT tagged them, and released them in two reaches of the Snake River. Also, subyearling fall chinook salmon reared at Lyons Ferry Hatchery were PIT tagged at the hatchery, transported, and released weekly at Pittsburg Landing on the Snake River and Big Canyon Creek on themore » Clearwater River to collect data on survival detection probabilities, and travel time.« less
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Homel, Kristen M.; Gresswell, Robert E.; Kershner, Jeffrey L.
2015-01-01
Over the last century, native trout have experienced dramatic population declines, particularly in larger river systems where habitats associated with different spawning life history forms have been lost through habitat degradation and fragmentation. The resulting decrease in life history diversity has affected the capacity of populations to respond to environmental variability and disturbance. Unfortunately, because few large rivers are intact enough to permit full expression of life history diversity, it is unclear what patterns of diversity should be a conservation target. In this study, radiotelemetry was used to identify spawning and migration patterns of Snake River Finespotted Cutthroat Trout Oncorhynchus clarkii behnkei in the upper Snake River. Individuals were implanted with radio tags in October 2007 and 2008, and monitored through October 2009. Radio-tagged cutthroat trout in the upper Snake River exhibited variation in spawning habitat type and location, migration distance, spawn timing, postspawning behavior, and susceptibility to mortality sources. Between May and July, Cutthroat Trout spawned in runoff-dominated tributaries, groundwater-dominated spring creeks, and side channels of the Snake River. Individuals migrated up to 101 km from tagging locations in the upper Snake River to access spawning habitats, indicating that the upper Snake River provided seasonal habitat for spawners originating throughout the watershed. Postspawning behavior also varied; by August each year, 28% of spring-creek spawners remained in their spawning location, compared with 0% of side-channel spawners and 7% of tributary spawners. These spawning and migration patterns reflect the connectivity, habitat diversity, and dynamic template of the Snake River. Ultimately, promoting life history diversity through restoration of complex habitats may provide the most opportunities for cutthroat trout persistence in an environment likely to experience increased variability from
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Peterson, Mike; Plaster, Kurtis; Redfield, Laura
2008-12-17
On November 20, 1991, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration listed Snake River sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka as endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. In 1991, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes (SBT) and Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) initiated the Snake River Sockeye Salmon Captive Broodstock Program to conserve and rebuild populations in Idaho. Restoration efforts are focused on Redfish, Pettit, and Alturas lakes within the Sawtooth Valley. The first release of hatchery-produced adults occurred in 1993. The first release of juvenile sockeye salmon from the captive broodstock program occurred in 1994. In 1999, the first anadromous adult returnsmore » from the captive broodstock program were recorded when six jacks and one jill were captured at the IDFG Sawtooth Fish Hatchery. In 2007, progeny from the captive broodstock program were released using four strategies: (1) eyed-eggs were planted in Pettit Lake in November; (2) age-0 presmolts were released to Alturas, Pettit, and Redfish lakes in October; (3) age-1 smolts were released into Redfish Lake Creek and the upper Salmon River in May; and (4) hatchery-produced adult sockeye salmon were released to Redfish Lake for volitional spawning in September. Oncorhynchus nerka population monitoring was conducted on Redfish, Alturas, and Pettit lakes using a midwater trawl in September 2007. Population abundances were estimated at 73,702 fish for Redfish Lake, 124,073 fish for Alturas Lake, and 14,746 fish for Pettit Lake. Angler surveys were conducted from May 26 through August 7, 2007 on Redfish Lake to estimate kokanee harvest. On Redfish Lake, we interviewed 102 anglers and estimated that 56 kokanee were harvested. The calculated kokanee catch rate was 0.03 fish/hour for each kokanee kept. The juvenile out-migrant trap on Redfish Lake Creek was operated from April 14 to June 13, 2007. We estimated that 5,280 natural origin and 14,256 hatchery origin sockeye salmon smolts out
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Mercury cycling in the Hells Canyon Complex of the Snake River, Idaho and Oregon
Clark, Gregory M.; Naymik, Jesse; Krabbenhoft, David P.; Eagles-Smith, Collin A.; Aiken, George R.; Marvin-DiPasquale, Mark C.; Harris, Reed C.; Myers, Ralph
2016-07-11
The Hells Canyon Complex (HCC) is a hydroelectric project built and operated by the Idaho Power Company (IPC) that consists of three dams on the Snake River along the Oregon and Idaho border (fig. 1). The dams have resulted in the creation of Brownlee, Oxbow, and Hells Canyon Reservoirs, which have a combined storage capacity of more than 1.5 million acre-feet and span about 90 miles of the Snake River. The Snake River upstream of and through the HCC historically has been impaired by water-quality issues related to excessive contributions of nutrients, algae, sediment, and other pollutants. In addition, historical data collected since the 1960s from the Snake River and tributaries near the HCC have documented high concentrations of mercury in fish tissue and sediment (Harris and Beals, 2013). Data collected from more recent investigations within the HCC continue to indicate elevated concentrations of mercury and methylmercury in the water column, bottom sediments, and biota (Clark and Maret, 1998; Essig, 2010; Fosness and others, 2013). As a result, Brownlee and Hells Canyon Reservoirs are listed as impaired for mercury by the State of Idaho, and the Snake River from the Oregon and Idaho border through the HCC downstream to the Oregon and Washington border is listed as impaired for mercury by the State of Oregon.
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Surface-water/ground-water interaction along reaches of the Snake River and Henrys Fork, Idaho
Hortness, Jon E.; Vidmar, Peter
2005-01-01
Declining water levels in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer and decreases in spring discharges from the aquifer to the Snake River have spurred studies to improve understanding of the surface-water/ground-water interaction on the plain. This study was done to estimate streamflow gains and losses along specific reaches of the Snake River and Henrys Fork and to compare changes in gain and loss estimates to changes in ground-water levels over time. Data collected during this study will be used to enhance the conceptual model of the hydrologic system and to refine computer models of ground-water flow and surface-water/ground-water interactions. Estimates of streamflow gains and losses along specific subreaches of the Snake River and Henrys Fork, based on the results of five seepage studies completed during 2001?02, varied greatly across the study area, ranging from a loss estimate of 606 ft3/s in a subreach of the upper Snake River near Heise to a gain estimate of 3,450 ft3/s in a subreach of the Snake River that includes Thousand Springs. Some variations over time also were apparent in specific subreaches. Surface spring flow accounted for much of the inflow to subreaches having large gain estimates. Several subreaches alternately gained and lost streamflow during the study. Changes in estimates of streamflow gains and losses along some of the subreaches were compared with changes in water levels, measured at three different times during 2001?02, in adjacent wells. In some instances, a strong relation between changes in estimates of gains or losses and changes in ground-water levels was apparent.
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Covington, H.R.; Weaver, Jean N.
1990-01-01
The Snake River Plain is a broad, arcuate region of low relief that extends more than 300 mi across southern Idaho. The Snake River enters the plain near Idaho Falls and flows westward along the southern margin of the eastern Snake River Plain (fig 1), a position mainly determined by the basaltic lava flows that erupted near the axis of the plain. The highly productive Snake River Plain aquifer (water table) is typically less than 500 ft below the land surface, but us deeper than 1,000 ft in a few areas. The Snake River has excavated a canyon into the nearly flat lying basaltic and sedimentary rocks of the eastern Snake River Plain between Milner Dam and King Hill (fig. 2), a distance of almost 90 mi. For much of its length the canyon intersects the Snake River Plain aquifer, which discharges form the northern canyon wall as springs of variable size, spacing and altitude. Geologic controls on wprings are of importance because nearly 60 percent of the aquifer's discharge occurs as spring flow along this reach of the canyon. This report is one of the several that describes the geologic occurrence of the springs along the northern wall of the Snake River canyone from Milner Dam to King Hill.
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McCleskey, R. Blaine; Lowenstern, Jacob B.; Schaper, Jonas; Nordstrom, D. Kirk; Heasler, Henry P.; Mahony, Dan
2016-01-01
The combined geothermal discharge from over 10,000 features in Yellowstone National Park (YNP) can be can be estimated from the Cl flux in the Madison, Yellowstone, Falls, and Snake Rivers. Over the last 30 years, the Cl flux in YNP Rivers has been calculated using discharge measurements and Cl concentrations determined in discrete water samples and it has been determined that approximately 12% of the Cl flux exiting YNP is from the Snake River. The relationship between electrical conductivity and concentrations of Cl and other geothermal solutes was quantified at a monitoring site located downstream from the thermal inputs in the Snake River. Beginning in 2012, continuous (15 min) electrical conductivity measurements have been made at the monitoring site. Combining continuous electrical conductivity and discharge data, the Cl and other geothermal solute fluxes were determined. The 2013–2015 Cl fluxes (5.3–5.8 kt/yr) determined using electrical conductivity are comparable to historical data. In addition, synoptic water samples and discharge data were obtained from sites along the Snake River under low-flow conditions of September 2014. The synoptic water study extended 17 km upstream from the monitoring site. Surface inflows were sampled to identify sources and to quantify solute loading. The Lewis River was the primary source of Cl, Na, K, Cl, SiO2, Rb, and As loads (50–80%) in the Snake River. The largest source of SO4 was from the upper Snake River (50%). Most of the Ca and Mg (50–55%) originate from the Snake Hot Springs. Chloride, Ca, Mg, Na, K, SiO2, F, HCO3, SO4, B, Li, Rb, and As behave conservatively in the Snake River, and therefore correlate well with conductivity (R2 ≥ 0.97).
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Hostetter, N.J.; Evans, A.F.; Roby, D.D.; Collis, K.; Hawbecker, M.; Sandford, B.P.; Thompson, D.E.; Loge, F.J.
2011-01-01
Understanding how the external condition of juvenile salmonids is associated with internal measures of health and subsequent out-migration survival can be valuable for population monitoring programs. This study investigated the use of a rapid, nonlethal, external examination to assess the condition of run-of-the-river juvenile steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss migrating from the Snake River to the Pacific Ocean. We compared the external condition (e.g., body injuries, descaling, external signs of disease, fin damage, and ectoparasite infestations) with (1) the internal condition of a steelhead as measured by the presence of selected pathogens detected by histopathology and polymerase chain reaction analysis and (2) out-migration survival through the Snake and Columbia rivers as determined by passive integrated transponder (PIT) tag technology. The results from steelhead captured and euthanized (n = 222) at Lower Monumental Dam on the lower Snake River in 2008 indicated that external condition was significantly correlated with selected measures of internal condition. The odds of testing positive for a pathogen were 39.2, 24.3, and 5.6 times greater for steelhead with severe or moderate external signs of disease or more than 20% descaling, respectively. Capture-recapture models of 22,451 PIT-tagged steelhead released at Lower Monumental Dam in 2007-2009 indicated that external condition was significantly correlated with juvenile survival. The odds of outmigration survival for steelhead with moderate or severe external signs of disease, more than 20% descaling, or severe fin damage were 5.7, 4.9, 1.6, and 1.3 times lower, respectively, than those for steelhead without these external conditions. This study effectively demonstrated that specific measures of external condition were associated with both the internal condition and out-migration survival of juvenile steelhead. ?? American Fisheries Society 2011.
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Geothermal alteration of basaltic core from the Snake River Plain, Idaho
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Sant, Christopher J.
The Snake River Plain is located in the southern part of the state of Idaho. The eastern plain, on which this study focuses, is a trail of volcanics from the Yellowstone hotspot. Three exploratory geothermal wells were drilled on the Snake River Plain. This project analyzes basaltic core from the first well at Kimama, north of Burley, Idaho. The objectives of this project are to establish zones of geothermal alteration and analyze the potential for geothermal power production using sub-aquifer resources on the axial volcanic zone of the Snake River Plain. Thirty samples from 1,912 m of core were sampled and analyzed for clay content and composition using X-ray diffraction. Observations from core samples and geophysical logs are also used to establish alteration zones. Mineralogical data, geophysical log data and physical characteristics of the core suggest that the base of the Snake River Plain aquifer at the axial zone is located 960 m below the surface, much deeper than previously suspected. Swelling smectite clay clogs pore spaces and reduces porosity and permeability to create a natural base to the aquifer. Increased temperatures favor the formation of smectite clay and other secondary minerals to the bottom of the hole. Below 960 m the core shows signs of alteration including color change, formation of clay, and filling of other secondary minerals in vesicles and fractured zones of the core. The smectite clay observed is Fe-rich clay that is authigenic in some places. Geothermal power generation may be feasible using a low temperature hot water geothermal system if thermal fluids can be attained near the bottom of the Kimama well.
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1981-02-01
510 20.0 78 Bitch Creek Teton R., Bitch Cr. 475 11.0 180 U~pper Badger Creek Teton R., Badger Cr. 440 6.0 84 Ashton Dam Enlargement Henrys Fork Snake R...Lake Offstream Reservoir Site ( Teton River Drainage). Twin Falls Canal power release back into the Snake River downstream from Milner Dam . 3. The...Release at Milner Dam on the Snake River for Possible Power Development . . . 24 9. Nomograph Used in Estimating Conveyance Components of Cost . 32 10
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Snake River Plain FORGE Site Characterization Data
Moos, Danial; Barton, Colleen A.
2016-04-18
The site characterization data used to develop the conceptual geologic model for the Snake River Plain site in Idaho, as part of phase 1 of the Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy (FORGE) initiative. This collection includes data on seismic events, groundwater, geomechanical models, gravity surveys, magnetics, resistivity, magnetotellurics (MT), rock physics, stress, the geologic setting, and supporting documentation, including several papers. Also included are 3D models (Petrel and Jewelsuite) of the proposed site. Data for wells INEL-1, WO-2, and USGS-142 have been included as links to separate data collections. These data have been assembled by the Snake River Geothermal Consortium (SRGC), a team of collaborators that includes members from national laboratories, universities, industry, and federal agencies, lead by the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). Other contributors include the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), the Center for Advanced Energy Studies (CEAS), the University of Idaho, Idaho State University, Boise State University, University of Wyoming, University of Oklahoma, Energy and Geoscience Institute-University of Utah, US Geothermal, Baker Hughes Campbell Scientific Inc., Chena Power, US Geological Survey (USGS), Idaho Department of Water Resources, Idaho Geological Survey, and Mink GeoHydro.
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Dance of denial. [The decline of Snake River chinook and sockeye
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Daniel, J.
The numbers of Snake River chinook and sockeye successfully completing their spawning migration to their home waters have declined drastically. In the summer of 1992, exactly one sockeye returned to its ancestral home. Grazing, stream diversions, dams, filling of wetlands, and pollution have all played a part in the decline, but dams remain the main cause. The Northwest Power Planning Council in 1992 approved a two-part strategy to save the salmon population: fish transport and drawing down Snake River reservoirs. Fish transport is not restoring the original salmon runs and drawdowns have not been done. The salmon continue to gomore » extinct and the economy of fishing towns and industries is being ruined.« less
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Tiffan, Kenneth F.; Hurst, William
2016-01-01
We used both stomach content and stable isotope analyses to describe the feeding ecology of Siberian prawns Palaemon modestus (Heller, 1862), a non-native caridean shrimp that is a relatively recent invader of the lower Snake River. Based on identifiable prey in stomachs, the opossum shrimp Neomysis mercedis Holmes, 1896 comprised up to 34-55% (by weight) of diets of juvenile to adult P. modestus, which showed little seasonal variation. Other predominant items/taxa consumed included detritus, amphipods, dipteran larvae, and oligochaetes. Stable isotope analysis supported diet results and also suggested that much of the food consumed by P. modestus that was not identifiable came from benthic sources — predominantly invertebrates of lower trophic levels and detritus. Palaemon modestus consumption of N. mercedis may pose a competitive threat to juvenile salmon and resident fishes which also rely heavily on that prey.
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Monitoring and mapping selected riparian habitat along the lower Snake River
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Downs, J. L; Tiller, B. L; Witter, M.
Studies in this document were initiated to establish baseline information on riparian and wetland habitat conditions at the areas studied under the current reservoir operations on the lower Snake River. Two approaches were used to assess habitat at 28 study sites selected on the four pools on the lower Snake River. These areas all contribute significant riparian habitat along the river, and several of these areas are designated habitat management units. At 14 of the 28 sites, we monitored riparian habitat on three dates during the growing season to quantify vegetation abundance and composition along three transects: soil nutrients, moisture,more » and pH and water level and pH. A second approach involved identifying any differences in the extent and amount of riparian/wetland habitat currently found at the study areas from that previously documented. We used both ground and boat surveys to map and classify the changes in vegetative cover along the shoreline at the 14 monitoring sites and at 14 additional sites along the lower Snake selected to represent various riparian/wetland habitat conditions. Results of these mapping efforts are compared with maps of cover types previously generated using aerial photography taken in 1987.« less
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Bufe, A.; Pederson, J. L.; Tuzlak, D.
2016-12-01
One of Earth's largest active supervolcanos and one of the most dynamically deforming areas in North America is located above the Yellowstone mantle plume. A pulse of dynamically supported uplift and extension of the upper crust has been moving northeastward as the North American plate migrated across the hotspot. This pules of uplift is complicated by subsidence of the Snake River Plain in the wake of the plume, due to a combination of crustal loading by intrusive and extrusive magmas, and by densification of igneous and volcanic rocks. Understanding the geodynamics as well as the seismic hazard of this region relies on studying the distribution and timing of active uplift, subsidence, and faulting across timescales. Here, we present preliminary results from a study of river terraces along the Hoback and upper Snake rivers that flow from the flanks of the Yellowstone plateau into the subsiding Snake River Plain. Combining terrace surveys with optically stimulated luminescence ages, we calculate incision rates of 0.1 - 0.3 mm/y along the deeply incised canyons of the Hoback and Snake rivers upstream of Alpine, WY. Rather than steadily decreasing away from the Yellowstone plume-head, the pattern of incision rates seems to be mostly affected by the distribution of normal faults - including the Alpine section of the Grand Valley Fault that has been reported to be inactive throughout the Quaternary. Downstream of Alpine and approaching the Snake River Plain, late Quaternary fill-terraces show much slower incision rates which might be consistent with a broad flexure of the region toward the subsiding Snake River Plain. Future studies of the Snake and Hoback rivers and additional streams around the Yellowstone hotspot will further illuminate the pattern of late Quaternary uplift in the region.
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Summary of the Snake River plain Regional Aquifer-System Analysis in Idaho and eastern Oregon
Lindholm, G.F.
1993-01-01
The 15,600 sq mi Snake River Plain in southern Idaho and eastern Oregon was studied as part of the U.S. Geological Survey's Regional Aquifer-System Analysis program. Quaternary basalt of the Snake River Group underlies most of the 10,800 square mile eastern plain and constitutes the most productive aquifers. Transmissivity of the upper 200 feet of the basalt aquifer commonly ranges from 100,000 to 1,000,000 square feet per day. Vertical hydraulic conductivity is several orders of magnitude lower than horizontal hydraulic conductivity and is related to the degree of jointing. Alluvial sand and gravel in the Boise River valley constitutes the most productive aquifers in the 4,800 square mile western plain. Along much of its length, the Snake River gains groundwater. Between Milner and King Hill, the river gained 4.7 million acre-ft in 1980, most as spring flow from the north side. The chemical composition of groundwater in the plain is essentially the same as that in streams and ground- water from tributary drainage basins. The use of surface water for irrigation for 100 years has caused major changes in the hydrologic system on the plain. During that time, recharge on the main part of the eastern plain increased about 70 percent, discharge about 80 percent. In 1980, about 8.9 million acre-ft of Snake River water was diverted and 2.3 million acre-ft of groundwater was pumped from 5,300 wells for irrigation.
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Johnson, G.E.; Anglea, S.M.; Adams, N.S.; Wik, T.O.
2005-01-01
A surface flow bypass takes advantage of the natural surface orientation of most juvenile salmon Oncorhynchus spp. and steelhead O. mykiss by providing a route in the upper water column that downstream migrant fishes can use to pass a hydroelectric dam safely. A prototype structure, called the surface bypass and collector (SBC), was retrofitted on the powerhouse of Lower Granite Dam and was evaluated annually with biotelemetry and hydroacoustic techniques during the 5-year life span of the structure (1996-2000) to determine the entrance configuration that maximized passage efficiency and minimized forebay residence time. The best tested entrance configuration had maximum inflow (99 m 3/s) concentrated in a single surface entrance (5 m wide, 8.5 m deep). We identified five important considerations for future surface flow bypass development in the lower Snake River and elsewhere: (1) an extensive flow net should be formed in the forebay by use of relatively high surface flow bypass discharge (>7% of total project discharge); (2) a gradual increase in water velocity with increasing proximity to the surface flow bypass (ideally, acceleration 3 m/s) to entrain the subject juvenile fishes; (4) the shape and orientation of the surface entrance(s) should be adapted to fit site-specific features; and (5) construction of a forebay wall to increase fish availability to the surface flow bypass should be considered. The efficiency of the SBC was not high enough (maximum of 62% relative to passage at turbine units 4-5) for the SBC to operate as a stand-alone bypass. Anywhere that surface-oriented anadromous fish must negotiate hydroelectric dams, surface flow bypass systems can provide cost-effective use of typically limited water supplies to increase the nonturbine passage, and presumably survival, of downstream migrants. ??Copyright by the American Fisheries Society 2005.
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Salmonid Gamete Preservation in the Snake River Basin : 2000 Annual Report.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Armstrong, Robyn; Kucera, Paul A.
2001-06-01
Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) populations in the Northwest are decreasing. Genetic diversity is being lost at an alarming rate. The Nez Perce Tribe (Tribe) strives to ensure availability of genetic samples of the existing male salmonid population by establishing and maintaining a germplasm repository. The sampling strategy, initiated in 1992, has been to collect and preserve male salmon and steelhead genetic diversity across the geographic landscape by sampling within the major river subbasins in the Snake River basin, assuming a metapopulation structure existed historically. Gamete cryopreservation conserves genetic diversity in a germplasm repository, but is notmore » a recovery action for listed fish species. The Tribe was funded in 2000 by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Lower Snake River Compensation Plan (LSRCP) to coordinate gene banking of male gametes from Endangered Species Act listed steelhead and spring and summer chinook salmon in the Snake River basin. In 2000, a total of 349 viable chinook salmon semen samples from the Lostine River, Catherine Creek, upper Grande Ronde River, Lookingglass Hatchery (Imnaha River stock), Rapid River Hatchery, Lake Creek, the South Fork Salmon River weir, Johnson Creek, Big Creek, Capehorn Creek, Marsh Creek, Pahsimeroi Hatchery, and Sawtooth Hatchery (upper Salmon River stock) were cryopreserved. Also, 283 samples of male steelhead gametes from Dworshak Hatchery, Fish Creek, Grande Ronde River, Imnaha River, Little Sheep Creek, Pahsimeroi Hatchery and Oxbow Hatchery were also cryopreserved. The Tribe acquired 5 frozen steelhead samples from the Selway River collected in 1994 and 15 from Fish Creek sampled in 1993 from the U.S. Geological Survey, for addition into the germplasm repository. Also, 590 cryopreserved samples from the Grande Ronde chinook salmon captive broodstock program are being stored at the University of
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Water and sediment study of the Snake River watershed, Colorado, Oct. 9-12, 2001
Fey, D.L.; Church, S.E.; Unruh, D.M.; Bove, D.J.
2002-01-01
The Snake River watershed, located upstream from Dillon Reservoir in the central mountains of Colorado, has been affected by historical base-metal mining. Trout stocked in the Snake River for recreational purposes do not survive through the winter. Sediment cores analyzed by previous investigators from the reservoir revealed elevated concentrations of base metals and mercury. We collected 36 surface water samples (filtered and unfiltered) and 38 streambed-sediment samples from streams in the Snake River watershed. Analyses of the sediment and water samples show that concentrations of several metals exceed aquatic life standards in one or both media. Ribbon maps showing dissolved concentrations of zinc, cadmium, copper, and manganese in water (0.45-micron filtered and corrected for the ameliorating effect of hardness), and copper, cadmium, and zinc in sediment indicate reaches where toxic effects on trout would be expected and stream reaches where toxicity standards for rainbow, brown, and brook trout are exceeded. Instantaneous loads for sulfate, strontium, iron, cadmium, copper, and zinc were calculated from 0.45-micron-filtered water concentrations and discharge measurements were made at each site. Sulfate and strontium behave conservatively, whereas copper, cadmium, and zinc are reactive. The dissolved copper load entering the reservoir is less than 20 percent of the value calculated from some upper reaches; copper is transferred to suspended and or streambed sediment by sorption to iron oxyhydroxides. Higher percentages of zinc and cadmium reach the reservoir in dissolved form; however, load calculations indicate that some of these metals are also precipitated out of solution. The most effective remediation activities should be concentrated on reducing the dissolved loads of zinc, cadmium, and copper in two reaches of lower Peru Creek between the confluence with the Snake River and Cinnamon Gulch. We analyzed all streambed sediment for mercury and selected
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Juvenile salmon usage of the Skeena River estuary.
Carr-Harris, Charmaine; Gottesfeld, Allen S; Moore, Jonathan W
2015-01-01
Migratory salmon transit estuary habitats on their way out to the ocean but this phase of their life cycle is more poorly understood than other phases. The estuaries of large river systems in particular may support many populations and several species of salmon that originate from throughout the upstream river. The Skeena River of British Columbia, Canada, is a large river system with high salmon population- and species-level diversity. The estuary of the Skeena River is under pressure from industrial development, with two gas liquefaction terminals and a potash loading facility in various stages of environmental review processes, providing motivation for understanding the usage of the estuary by juvenile salmon. We conducted a juvenile salmonid sampling program throughout the Skeena River estuary in 2007 and 2013 to investigate the spatial and temporal distribution of different species and populations of salmon. We captured six species of juvenile anadromous salmonids throughout the estuary in both years, and found that areas proposed for development support some of the highest abundances of some species of salmon. Specifically, the highest abundances of sockeye (both years), Chinook in 2007, and coho salmon in 2013 were captured in areas proposed for development. For example, juvenile sockeye salmon were 2-8 times more abundant in the proposed development areas. Genetic stock assignment demonstrated that the Chinook salmon and most of the sockeye salmon that were captured originated from throughout the Skeena watershed, while some sockeye salmon came from the Nass, Stikine, Southeast Alaska, and coastal systems on the northern and central coasts of British Columbia. These fish support extensive commercial, recreational, and First Nations fisheries throughout the Skeena River and beyond. Our results demonstrate that estuary habitats integrate species and population diversity of salmon, and that if proposed development negatively affects the salmon populations that
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Petersen, J.H.
1990-07-01
Three aspects of predation upon juvenile salmonids in the Columbia River are addressed in this report: (1) Indexing predator consumption. During 1989--1990, two indices of northern squawfish consumption upon juvenile salmonids were developed for use throughout the Columbia River Basin. The direct Consumption Index (CI) is based upon the concept of meal turnover time and takes into account number of salmonids, temperature, total gut content weight and predator weight. A Bioenergetics Index (BI) for consumption indexing was also developed to complement the direct CI. In the BI, growth, consumption, excretion/evacuation and respiration processes are modeled to predict the consumption requiredmore » to produce an observed growth increment. (2) Studies on predator-smolt dynamics. Northern squawfish consumption data were collected in the McNary Dam tailrace during nine days in July 1988 to improve our understanding of the predator-smolt functional response. (3) Selective predation by northern squawfish. Laboratory and field protocols were developed to evaluate northern squawfish selection and prey vulnerability. Results from laboratory studies suggest that northern squawfish prefer dead over live prey and that descaled prey may be more vulnerable to predation than non-descaled prey. Stressed and unstressed prey were consumed in equal proportions when predation occurred for 6 or 24 h. Physiological and behavioral effects of stress on juvenile salmon are presented. 100 refs., 13 figs., 12 tabs.« less
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Snakes of the Savannah River Plant with Information About Snakebite Prevention and Treatment.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gibbons, Whit
This booklet is intended to provide information on the snakes of South Carolina, to point out the necessary steps to avoid a snakebite, and to indicate the current medical treatment for poisonous snakebite. It includes a checklist of South Carolina reptiles and a taxonomic key for the identification of snakes in the Savannah River Plant. Three…
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Nez Perce Tribe Resources Management Staff,
White sturgeon in the Hells Canyon reach (HCR) of the Snake River are of cultural importance to the Nez Perce Tribe. However, subsistence and ceremonial fishing opportunities have been severely limited as a result of low numbers of white sturgeon in the HCR. Hydrosystem development in the Columbia River Basin has depressed numbers and productivity of white sturgeon in the HCR by isolating fish in impounded reaches of the basin, restricting access to optimal rearing habitats, reducing the anadromous forage base, and modifying early life-history habitats. Consequently, a proactive management plan is needed to mitigate for the loss of whitemore » sturgeon production in the HCR, and to identify and implement feasible measures that will restore and rebuild the white sturgeon population to a level that sustains viability and can support an annual harvest. This comprehensive and adaptive management plan describes the goals, objectives, strategies, actions, and expected evaluative timeframes for restoring the white sturgeon population in the HCR. The goal of this plan, which is to maintain a viable, persistent population that can support a sustainable fishery, is supported by the following objectives: (1) a natural, stable age structure comprising both juveniles and a broad spectrum of spawning age-classes; (2) stable or increasing numbers of both juveniles and adults; (3) consistent levels of average recruitment to ensure future contribution to reproductive potential; (4) stable genetic diversity comparable to current levels; (5) a minimum level of abundance of 2,500 adults to minimize extinction risk; and (6) provision of an annual sustainable harvest of 5 kg/ha. To achieve management objectives, potential mitigative actions were developed by a Biological Risk Assessment Team (BRAT). Identified strategies and actions included enhancing growth and survival rates by restoring anadromous fish runs and increasing passage opportunities for white sturgeon, reducing mortality
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Rodda, Gordon H.; Reed, Robert N.
2007-01-01
The brown treesnake (Boiga irregularis, or BTS), a costly invasive species, has been the subject of intensive research on Guam over the past two decades. The behavior and habitat use of hatchling and juvenile snakes, however, remain largely unknown. We used a long-term dataset of BTS captures (N = 2,415) and a dataset resulting from intensive sampling within and immediately around a 5-ha fenced population (N = 2,541) to examine habitat use of BTS. Small snakes were almost exclusively arboreal and that they appeared to prefer tangantangan (Leucaena leucocephala) habitats. In contrast, large snakes used arboreal and terrestrial habitats in roughly equal proportion, and were less frequently found in tangantangan. Among snakes found in trees, there were no clear size-based preferences for certain heights above ground, nor for size-based choice of perch diameters. We discuss these results as they relate to management and interdiction implications for brown treesnakes on Guam and in potential incipient populations on other islands.
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Sediment transport in the lower Snake and Clearwater River Basins, Idaho and Washington, 2008–11
Clark, Gregory M.; Fosness, Ryan L.; Wood, Molly S.
2013-01-01
Sedimentation is an ongoing maintenance problem for reservoirs, limiting reservoir storage capacity and navigation. Because Lower Granite Reservoir in Washington is the most upstream of the four U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reservoirs on the lower Snake River, it receives and retains the largest amount of sediment. In 2008, in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Geological Survey began a study to quantify sediment transport to Lower Granite Reservoir. Samples of suspended sediment and bedload were collected from streamgaging stations on the Snake River near Anatone, Washington, and the Clearwater River at Spalding, Idaho. Both streamgages were equipped with an acoustic Doppler velocity meter to evaluate the efficacy of acoustic backscatter for estimating suspended-sediment concentrations and transport. In 2009, sediment sampling was extended to 10 additional locations in tributary watersheds to help identify the dominant source areas for sediment delivery to Lower Granite Reservoir. Suspended-sediment samples were collected 9–15 times per year at each location to encompass a range of streamflow conditions and to capture significant hydrologic events such as peak snowmelt runoff and rain-on-snow. Bedload samples were collected at a subset of stations where the stream conditions were conducive for sampling, and when streamflow was sufficiently high for bedload transport. At most sampling locations, the concentration of suspended sediment varied by 3–5 orders of magnitude with concentrations directly correlated to streamflow. The largest median concentrations of suspended sediment (100 and 94 mg/L) were in samples collected from stations on the Palouse River at Hooper, Washington, and the Salmon River at White Bird, Idaho, respectively. The smallest median concentrations were in samples collected from the Selway River near Lowell, Idaho (11 mg/L), the Lochsa River near Lowell, Idaho (11 mg/L), the Clearwater River at Orofino, Idaho (13 mg
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Lindholm, Gerald F.
1981-01-01
The 15,600-square-mile Snake River Plain is largely in southern Idaho and includes one of the Nation 's major regional aquifers. A comprehensive investigation of the area 's ground-water resources will be made as part of the U.S. Geological Survey 's Regional Aquifer-System Analysis (RASA) program. Basaltic and sedimentary rocks in the Snake River Plain yield large quantities of water that are vital to the area 's agricultural economy. Basaltic rocks predominate in the eastern Snake River Plain and have especially high water-yielding capabilities. Surface water, largely from the Snake River, is extensively used for irrigation and is a major source of recharge to the ground-water system. Springs issuing from basaltic rocks that form the Snake River Canyon wall near Twin Falls are the major points of ground-water discharge. Increased use of ground water for irrigation is causing concern as to the effect of large-scale withdrawals on spring flow. Ground-water flow models will be used to improve understanding of the hydrologic system, and, if feasible, to aid in evaluating management alternatives. Ground-water quality will be defined and geochemical techniques used to determine the effects of water-rock reactions on water quality. Several reports are planned on different phases of the project, concluding with a summary report. (USGS)
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Juvenile Salmon Usage of the Skeena River Estuary
Carr-Harris, Charmaine; Gottesfeld, Allen S.; Moore, Jonathan W.
2015-01-01
Migratory salmon transit estuary habitats on their way out to the ocean but this phase of their life cycle is more poorly understood than other phases. The estuaries of large river systems in particular may support many populations and several species of salmon that originate from throughout the upstream river. The Skeena River of British Columbia, Canada, is a large river system with high salmon population- and species-level diversity. The estuary of the Skeena River is under pressure from industrial development, with two gas liquefaction terminals and a potash loading facility in various stages of environmental review processes, providing motivation for understanding the usage of the estuary by juvenile salmon. We conducted a juvenile salmonid sampling program throughout the Skeena River estuary in 2007 and 2013 to investigate the spatial and temporal distribution of different species and populations of salmon. We captured six species of juvenile anadromous salmonids throughout the estuary in both years, and found that areas proposed for development support some of the highest abundances of some species of salmon. Specifically, the highest abundances of sockeye (both years), Chinook in 2007, and coho salmon in 2013 were captured in areas proposed for development. For example, juvenile sockeye salmon were 2–8 times more abundant in the proposed development areas. Genetic stock assignment demonstrated that the Chinook salmon and most of the sockeye salmon that were captured originated from throughout the Skeena watershed, while some sockeye salmon came from the Nass, Stikine, Southeast Alaska, and coastal systems on the northern and central coasts of British Columbia. These fish support extensive commercial, recreational, and First Nations fisheries throughout the Skeena River and beyond. Our results demonstrate that estuary habitats integrate species and population diversity of salmon, and that if proposed development negatively affects the salmon populations
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Mann, L.J.
1989-01-01
Concern has been expressed that some of the approximately 30,900 curies of tritium disposed to the Snake River Plain aquifer from 1952 to 1988 at the INEL (Idaho National Engineering Laboratory) have migrated to springs discharging to the Snake River in the Twin Falls-Hagerman area. To document tritium concentrations in springflow, 17 springs were sampled in November 1988 and 19 springs were sampled in March 1989. Tritium concentrations were less than the minimum detectable concentration of 0.5 pCi/mL (picocuries/mL) in November 1988 and less than the minimum detectable concentration of 0.2 pCi/mL in March 1989; the minimum detectable concentration was smaller in March 1989 owing to a longer counting time in the liquid scintillation system. The maximum contaminant level of tritium in drinking water as established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is 20 pCi/mL. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sample analyses indicate that the tritium concentration has decreased in the Snake River near Buhl since the 1970's. In 1974-79, tritium concentrations were less than 0.3 +/-0.2 pCi/mL in 3 of 20 samples; in 1983-88, 17 of 23 samples contained less than 0.3 +/-0.2 pCi/mL of tritium; the minimum detectable concentration is 0.2 pCi/mL. On the basis of decreasing tritium concentrations in the Snake River, their correlation to cessation of atmospheric weapons tests tritium concentrations in springflow less than the minimum detectable concentration, and the distribution of tritium in groundwater at the INEL, aqueous disposal of tritium at the INEL has had no measurable effect on tritium concentrations in springflow from the Snake River Plain aquifer and in the Snake River near Buhl. (USGS)
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Baker, Dan J.; Heindel, Jeff A.; Green, Daniel G.
2008-12-17
Numbers of Snake River sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka have declined dramatically in recent years. In Idaho, only the lakes of the upper Salmon River (Sawtooth Valley) remain as potential sources of production (Figure 1). Historically, five Sawtooth Valley lakes (Redfish, Alturas, Pettit, Stanley, and Yellowbelly) supported sockeye salmon (Bjornn et al. 1968; Chapman et al. 1990). Currently, only Redfish Lake receives a remnant anadromous run. On April 2, 1990, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service (NOAA - formerly National Marine Fisheries Service) received a petition from the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes (SBT) to list Snake River sockeye salmon as endangeredmore » under the United States Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973. On November 20, 1991, NOAA declared Snake River sockeye salmon endangered. In 1991, the SBT, along with the Idaho Department of Fish & Game (IDFG), initiated the Snake River Sockeye Salmon Sawtooth Valley Project (Sawtooth Valley Project) with funding from the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). The goal of this program is to conserve genetic resources and to rebuild Snake River sockeye salmon populations in Idaho. Coordination of this effort is carried out under the guidance of the Stanley Basin Sockeye Technical Oversight Committee (SBSTOC), a team of biologists representing the agencies involved in the recovery and management of Snake River sockeye salmon. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service ESA Permit Nos. 1120, 1124, and 1481 authorize IDFG to conduct scientific research on listed Snake River sockeye salmon. Initial steps to recover the species involved the establishment of captive broodstocks at the Eagle Fish Hatchery in Idaho and at NOAA facilities in Washington State (for a review, see Flagg 1993; Johnson 1993; Flagg and McAuley 1994; Kline 1994; Johnson and Pravecek 1995; Kline and Younk 1995; Flagg et al. 1996; Johnson and Pravecek 1996; Kline and Lamansky 1997
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Cochnauer, Tim; Claire, Christopher
2009-05-07
Pacific lamprey Lampetra tridentata have received little attention in fishery science until recently, even though abundance has declined significantly along with other anadromous fish species in Idaho. Pacific lamprey in Idaho have to navigate over eight lower Snake River and Columbia River hydroelectric facilities for migration downstream as juveniles to the Pacific Ocean and again as adults migrating upstream to their freshwater spawning grounds in Idaho. The number of adult Pacific lamprey annually entering the Snake River basin at Ice Harbor Dam has declined from an average of over 18,000 during 1962-1969 to fewer than 600 during 1998-2006. Based onmore » potential accessible streams and adult escapement over Lower Granite Dam on the lower Snake River, we estimate that no more than 200 Pacific lamprey adult spawners annually utilize the Clearwater River drainage in Idaho for spawning. We utilized electrofishing in 2000-2006 to capture, enumerate, and obtain biological information regarding rearing Pacific lamprey ammocoetes and macropthalmia to determine the distribution and status of the species in the Clearwater River drainage, Idaho. Present distribution in the Clearwater River drainage is limited to the lower sections of the Lochsa and Selway rivers, the Middle Fork Clearwater River, the mainstem Clearwater River, the South Fork Clearwater River, and the lower 7.5 km of the Red River. In 2006, younger age classes were absent from the Red River.« less
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Petersen, C.J.
1991-03-01
The consumption rates of northern squawfish (Ptychocheilus oregonensis) preying upon juvenile salmonids were indexed in four reservoirs (Bonneville, The Dalles, John Day and McNary) of the lower Columbia River. During the spring and summer of 1990, over 2000 northern squawfish were collected from dam forebays, dam tailraces and mid-reservoir locations. Gut content data, predator weight and water temperature were used to compute a consumption index (CI) for northern squawfish. Juvenile salmonids were found in 435 of 1598 northern squawfish guts analyzed. Besides salmonids and other preyfish, crustaceans formed a significant portion of the diet. The CI of northern squawfish variedmore » by season and location. At most locations, summer CI's of northern squawfish were higher than in the spring. Efforts to match sample collection with times of highest juvenile salmonid passage were successful except during July at The Dalles and Bonneville Reservoirs. Consumption indices were moderate to high at several locations even when passage was relatively low, suggesting salmonid predation rate by northern squawfish was not always a function of prey density. 19 refs., 5 figs., 12 tabs.« less
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John Sullivan
2005-01-01
In 1993, Congress passed Public Law 103-64, which established the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area (NCA) for the purpose of conserving, protecting, and enhancing raptor populations and habitats. The NCA encompasses over 485,000 acres of public land along 130 km of the Snake River in southwest Idaho, and is located within a 30-minute drive of Boise...
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Marston, Richard A.; Mills, John D.; Wrazien, David R.; Bassett, Beau; Splinter, Dale K.
2005-10-01
In 1906, the Bureau of Reclamation created Jackson Lake Dam on the Snake River in what later became Grand Teton National Park. The geomorphic, hydrologic and vegetation adjustments downstream of the dam have yet to be documented. After a larger reservoir was completed further downstream in 1957, the reservoir release schedule from Jackson Lake Dam was changed in a manner that lowered the magnitude and frequency of floods. The stability of the Snake River exhibited a complex response to the change in flow regime. Close to major tributaries, the Snake River increased in total sinuosity and rates of lateral channel migration. Away from the influence of tributaries, the river experienced fewer avulsions and a decrease in sinuosity. Vegetation maps were constructed from 1945 and 1989 aerial photography and field surveys. Using these data, we determined how vegetation is directly related to the number of years since each portion of the floodplain was last occupied by the channel. The vegetation has changed from a flood-pulse dominated mosaic to a more terrestrial-like pattern of succession. Changes in the Snake River and its floodplain have direct implications on bald eagle habitat, moose habitat, fish habitat, safety of rafting and canoeing, and biodiversity at the community and species levels.
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Misidentification of copperhead and cottonmouth snakes following snakebites.
Cox, Robert D; Parker, Christina S; Cox, Erin C E; Marlin, Michael B; Galli, Robert L
2018-05-24
Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix) and cottonmouth or water moccasin (Agkistrodon piscivorus) snakes account for the majority of venomous snakebites in the southern United States. Cottonmouth snakes are generally considered to have more potent venom. Copperheads are considered less venomous and there is some controversy as to whether or not bites from copperhead snakes need to be treated with antivenom. Copperhead and juvenile cottonmouth snakes are both brown in color. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of identification by the public and healthcare providers between these two species. Snakebite victims sometimes bring dead snakes to the hospital or have taken pictures of the snake. When this occurred, ED personnel were asked to take a picture of the snake, and forward the picture to the state poison control center. The identification of the snake by witnesses and/or hospital personnel was compared to the identification by the state herpetologist. During the study period, there were 286 cases of snakebites reported to the state poison control center. Pictures were obtained on 49 of the responsible snakes. All copperhead snakes were identified correctly by callers. However, only 21% of cottonmouth snakes were identified correctly, with 74% of cottonmouth snakes being identified as copperheads. Both public and medical personnel performed poorly on identification of cottonmouth snakes. Forty percent of the snakes identified as copperheads were actually cottonmouth snakes. Juvenile cottonmouth snakes were often identified as copperhead snakes.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Rondorf, Dennis W.; Tiffan, Kenneth F.
1994-12-01
Recovery efforts for the endangered fall chinook salmon necessitates knowledge of the factors limiting the various life history stages. This study attempts to identify those physical and biological factors which affect spawning of the fish in the free-flowing Snake River and their rearing seward migration through Columbia River basin reservoirs. The spawning was generally a November event in 1993, with some activity in late Oct. and early Dec. Spawning habitat availability was assessed by applying hydraulic and habitat models to known fall chinook salmon spawning sites. Juveniles were seined and PIT tagged in the free-flowing Snake River, and in themore » Columbia River in he Hanford Reach and in McNary Reservoir. Subyearling fish were marked at McNary Dam to relate river flow and migration patterns of juveniles to adult returns. Hydroacoustic surveys were conducted on McNary and John Day reservoirs and in net pens.« less
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Irrigated acreage and other land uses on the Snake River Plain, Idaho and eastern Oregon
Lindholm, Gerald F.; Goodell, S.A.
1986-01-01
Prompted by the need for a current, accurate, and repeatable delineation of irrigated acreage on the Snake River Plain, the U.S. Geological Survey entered into a cooperative agreement with the Idaho Department of Water Resources Image Analysis Facility and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to delineate 1980 land use form Landsat data. Irrigated acreage data were needed as input to groundwater flow models developed by the U.S. Geological Survey in a study of the regional aquifer system underlying the Snake River Plain. Single-date digital multispectral scanner data analyzed to delineate land-use classes. Source of irrigation water (surface water, ground water, and combined) was determined from county maps of 1975 water-related land use, data from previous investigations, and field checking. Surface-water diversions for irrigation on the Snake River Plain began in the 1840's. With the stimulus of Federal aid authorized by the Desert Land Act, Carey Act, and Reclamation Act, irrigated area increased rapidly in the early 1900's. By 1929, 2.2 million acres were irrigated. Ground water became and important source of irrigation water after World War II. In 1980, about 3.1 million acres of the Snake River Plain were irrigate: 2.0 million acres with surface water, 1.0 million with ground water, and 0.1 million with combined surface and ground water. About 5.2 million acres (half of the plain) are undeveloped rangeland, 1.0 million acres (one-tenth) are classified as barren. The remaining land is a mixture of dryland agriculture, water bodies, wetland, forests, and urban areas.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Ward, David L.
1994-06-01
Results of the second year are reported of a basinwide program to harvest northern squawfish in an effort to reduce mortality due to squawfish predation on juvenile salmonids during their migration from natal streams to the ocean. Six papers are included in this report. They are entitled: feasibility investigation of a commercial longline fishery for northern squawfish in the Columbia River downstream from Bonneville dam; evaluation of the northern squawfish sport-reward fishery in the Columbia and Snake Rivers; controlled angling for northern squawfish at selected dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers in 1992; evaluation of harvest technology for squawfishmore » control in Columbia River reservoirs; effectiveness of predator-removal for protecting juvenile fall chinook salmon released from Bonneville Hatchery; and Northern squawfish sport-reward payments.« less
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SNAKE AND CLEARWATER RIVERS, PRESENT AND POST-IMPOUNDMENT WATER QUALITY CONDITIONS, 1964
This report presents information on present water quality conditions in the Snake and Clearwater Rivers (17060107, 17060103, 17060306) in the vicinity of Lewiston, Idaho and Clarkston, Washington. It discusses how changes in the streams characteristics resulting from the constru...
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Maupin, Molly A.
1995-01-01
Idaho leads the Nation in trout production for commercial sale. Combined mean annual discharges from 12 aquacultural facilities in the basin (1985-90) were about 787,000 acre-feet. These facilities are clustered in a reach of the Snake River between Milner Dam and King Hill where ground-water discharge is from many seeps and springs that provide sufficient quantities of good-quality water. Other facilities that release effluent to the Snake River include 13 municipal wastewater treatment plants and 3 industrial facilities.
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Salmonid Gamete Preservation in the Snake River Basin, Annual Report 2002.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Young, William; Kucera, Paul
2003-07-01
In spite of an intensive management effort, chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) populations in the Northwest have not recovered and are currently listed as threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. In addition to the loss of diversity from stocks that have already gone extinct, decreased genetic diversity resulting from genetic drift and inbreeding is a major concern. Reduced population and genetic variability diminishes the environmental adaptability of individual species and entire ecological communities. The Nez Perce Tribe (NPT), in cooperation with Washington State University and the University of Idaho, established a germplasm repository in 1992 inmore » order to preserve the remaining salmonid diversity in the region. The germplasm repository provides long-term storage for cryopreserved gametes. Although only male gametes can be cryopreserved, conserving the male component of genetic diversity will maintain future management options for species recovery. NPT efforts have focused on preserving salmon and steelhead gametes from the major river subbasins in the Snake River basin. However, the repository is available for all management agencies to contribute gamete samples from other regions and species. In 2002 a total of 570 viable semen samples were added to the germplasm repository. This included the gametes of 287 chinook salmon from the Lostine River, Catherine Creek, upper Grande Ronde River, Imnaha River (Lookingglass Hatchery), Lake Creek, South Fork Salmon River, Johnson Creek, Big Creek, Capehorn Creek, Marsh Creek, Pahsimeroi River (Pahsimeroi Hatchery), and upper Salmon River (Sawtooth Hatchery) and the gametes of 280 steelhead from the North Fork Clearwater River (Dworshak Hatchery), Fish Creek, Little Sheep Creek, Pahsimeroi River (Pahsimeroi Hatchery) and Snake River (Oxbow Hatchery). In addition, gametes from 60 Yakima River spring chinook and 34 Wenatchee River coho salmon were added to the
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Maret, Terry R.
1997-01-01
limited designation for the middle reach of the Snake River between Milner Dam and King Hill and provide a framework for developing indices of biotic integrity by using fish assemblages to evaluate water quality of streams in the upper Snake River Basin.
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Population dynamics of the Concho water snake in rivers and reservoirs
Whiting, M.J.; Dixon, J.R.; Greene, B.D.; Mueller, J.M.; Thornton, O.W.; Hatfield, J.S.; Nichols, J.D.; Hines, J.E.
2008-01-01
The Concho Water Snake (Nerodia harteri paucimaculata) is confined to the Concho–Colorado River valley of central Texas, thereby occupying one of the smallest geographic ranges of any North American snake. In 1986, N. h. paucimaculata was designated as a federally threatened species, in large part because of reservoir projects that were perceived to adversely affect the amount of habitat available to the snake. During a ten-year period (1987–1996), we conducted capture–recapture field studies to assess dynamics of five subpopulations of snakes in both natural (river) and man-made (reservoir) habitats. Because of differential sampling of subpopulations, we present separate results for all five subpopulations combined (including large reservoirs) and three of the five subpopulations (excluding large reservoirs). We used multistate capture–recapture models to deal with stochastic transitions between pre-reproductive and reproductive size classes and to allow for the possibility of different survival and capture probabilities for the two classes. We also estimated both the finite rate of increase (λ) for a deterministic, stage-based, female-only matrix model using the average litter size, and the average rate of adult population change, λ ˆ, which describes changes in numbers of adult snakes, using a direct capture–recapture approach to estimation. Average annual adult survival was about 0.23 and similar for males and females. Average annual survival for subadults was about 0.14. The parameter estimates from the stage-based projection matrix analysis all yielded asymptotic values of λ < 1, suggesting populations that are not viable. However, the direct estimates of average adult λ for the three subpopulations excluding major reservoirs were λ ˆ = 1.26, SE ˆ(λ ˆ) = 0.18 and λ ˆ = 0.99, SE ˆ(λ ˆ) = 0.79, based on two different models. Thus, the direct estimation approach did not provide strong evidence of population
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USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
Migrating juvenile wild Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), collected and loaded onto transport barges at Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River, were sampled from barges at John Day Dam, 348 km downstream, at five-day intervals beginning late April and ending late May. An increase in lipid per...
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The Tempe volcanic province of Mars and comparisons with the Snake River Plains of Idaho
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Plescia, J. B.
1981-01-01
The Tempe volcanic region of Mars, a relatively low plain of probable basaltic flood lava affinity, is shown to be comparable in many respects to features of the Snake River Plains of Idaho, including both scale and type of features observed. Superimposed upon the Tempe plain are a variety of features that appear structurally controlled, along an orientation of N60 deg E; comprising low shields, irregular hills that may be silicic domes, and possible composite cones. The Tempe/Snake River match is held to be the first in which direct comparison can be made between Martian and terrestrial geologic-geomorphic features without encountering problems of scale.
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Snake River Sockeye Salmon Captive Broodstock Program; Research Element, 2003 Annual Report.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Willard, Catherine; Plaster, Kurtis; Castillo, Jason
2005-01-01
On November 20, 1991, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration listed Snake River sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka as endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. In 1991, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes (SBT) and Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) initiated the Snake River Sockeye Salmon Captive Broodstock Program to conserve and rebuild populations in Idaho. Restoration efforts are focused on Redfish, Pettit, and Alturas lakes within the Sawtooth Valley. The first release of hatchery-produced adults occurred in 1993. The first release of juvenile sockeye salmon from the captive broodstock program occurred in 1994. In 1999, the first anadromous adult returnsmore » from the captive broodstock program were recorded when six jacks and one jill were captured at the IDFG Sawtooth Fish Hatchery. In 2003, progeny from the captive broodstock program were released using three strategies: eyed-eggs were planted in Pettit and Alturas lakes in November and December, age-0 presmolts were released to Alturas, Pettit, and Redfish lakes in October, and hatchery-produced adult sockeye salmon were released to Redfish Lake for volitional spawning in September. Oncorhynchus nerka population monitoring was conducted on Redfish, Alturas, and Pettit lakes using a midwater trawl in September 2003. Age-0 through age-4 O. nerka were captured in Redfish Lake, and population abundance was estimated at 81,727 fish. Age-0 through age-3 O. nerka were captured in Alturas Lake, and population abundance was estimated at 46,234 fish. Age-0 through age-3 O. nerka were captured in Pettit Lake, and population abundance was estimated at 11,961 fish. Angler surveys were conducted from May 25 through August 7, 2003 on Redfish Lake to estimate kokanee harvest. On Redfish Lake, we interviewed 179 anglers and estimated that 424 kokanee were harvested. The calculated kokanee catch rate was 0.09 fish/hour. The juvenile out-migrant trap on Redfish Lake Creek was operated from April 15 to
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Jones, Michael L.; Seitz, Harold R.
1979-01-01
correct for sampler efficiency. An analysis of the middle Snake River streamflow record was made during 1977. The streamflow rating for the Snake River near Anatone, Washington, gage was found to be in error at high stages. The streamflow record for water years 1974 and 1975 was revised and published with 1976 water-year data (Water Resources Data for Idaho, Water Year 1976). The revised Snake River near Anatone streamflow rating was used to recompute the sediment-discharge rating curve (fig. 3). This study program is funded by the USACE through a cooperative agreement with the USGS. All field work, laboratory analysis, and compilation of data are being conducted by the USGS. Data collection is scheduled to terminate at the end of the 1979 runoff season. A reanalysis of all data collected since the start of the program will correct all provisional records since 1972, including the 1974, 1975, and 1976 years for the Snake River near Anatone station.
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Davis, Mary; Jessee, Renee; Close, Matthew; Fu, Xiangping; Settlage, Robert; Wang, Guoqing; Cline, Mark A; Gilbert, Elizabeth R
2015-12-01
Snakes often undergo periods of prolonged fasting and, under certain conditions, can survive years without food. Despite this unique phenomenon, there are relatively few reports of the physiological adaptations to fasting in snakes. At post-prandial day 1 (fed) or 21 (fasting), brain, liver, and adipose tissues were collected from juvenile checkered garter snakes (Thamnophis marcianus). There was greater glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (G3PDH)-specific activity in the liver of fasted than fed snakes (P=0.01). The mRNA abundance of various fat metabolism-associated factors was measured in brain, liver, and adipose tissue. Lipoprotein lipase (LPL) mRNA was greater in fasted than fed snakes in the brain (P=0.04). Adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL; P=0.006) mRNA was greater in the liver of fasted than fed snakes. In adipose tissue, expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)γ (P=0.01), and fatty acid binding protein 4 (P=0.03) was greater in fed than fasted snakes. Analysis of adipocyte morphology revealed that cross-sectional area (P=0.095) and diameter (P=0.27) were not significantly different between fed and fasted snakes. Results suggest that mean adipocyte area can be preserved during fasting by dampening lipid biosynthesis while not changing rates of lipid hydrolysis. In the liver, however, extensive lipid remodeling may provide energy and lipoproteins to maintain lipid structural integrity during energy restriction. Because the duration of fasting was not sufficient to change adipocyte size, results suggest that the liver is important as a short-term provider of energy in the snake. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Maret, T.R.; Robinson, C.T.; Minshall, G.W.
1997-01-01
Fish assemblages and environmental variables were evaluated from 37 least-disturbed, 1st- through 6th-order streams and springs in the upper Snake River basin, western USA. Data were collected as part of the efforts by the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Assessment Program and the Idaho State University Stream Ecology Center to characterize aquatic biota and associated habitats in least-disturbed coldwater streams. Geographically, the basin comprises four ecoregions. Environmental variables constituting various spatial scales, from watershed characteristics to in stream habitat measures, were used to examine distribution patterns in fish assemblages. Nineteen fish species in the families Salmonidae, Cottidae, Cyprinidae, and Catostemidae were collected. Multivariate analyses showed high overlap in stream fish assemblages among the ecoregions. Major environmental factors determining species distributions in the basin were stream gradient, watershed size, conductivity, and percentage of the watershed covered by forest. Lowland streams (below 1,600 m in elevation), located mostly in the Snake River Basin/High Desert ecoregion, displayed different fish assemblages than upland streams (above 2,000 m elevation) in the Northern Rockies, Middle Rockies, and Northern Basin and Range ecoregions. For example, cotrids were not found in streams above 2,000 m in elevation. In addition, distinct fish assemblages were found in tributaries upstream and downstream from the large waterfall, Shoshone Falls, on the Snake River. Fish metrics explaining most of the variation among sites included the total number of species, number of native species, number of salmonid species, percent introduced species, percent cottids, and percent salmonids. Springs also exhibited different habitat conditions and fish assemblages than streams. The data suggest that the evolutionary consequences of geographic features and fish species introductions transcend the importance of ecoregion
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Iyer, H.M.
1984-01-01
The Snake River Plain-Yellowstone volcanic system is one of the largest, basaltic, volcanic field in the world. Here, there is clear evidence for northeasterly progression of rhyolitic volcanism with its present position in Yellowstone. Many theories have been advanced for the origin of the Snake River Plain-Yellowstone system. Yellowstone and Eastern Snake River Plain have been studied intensively using various geophysical techniques. Some sparse geophysical data are available for the Western Snake River Plain as well. Teleseismic data show the presence of a large anomalous body with low P- and S-wave velocities in the crust and upper mantle under the Yellowstone caldera. A similar body in which compressional wave velocity is lower than in the surrounding rock is present under the Eastern Snake River Plain. No data on upper mantle anomalies are available for the Western Snake River Plain. Detailed seismic refraction data for the Eastern Snake River Plain show strong lateral heterogeneities and suggest thinning of the granitic crust from below by mafic intrusion. Available data for the Western Snake River Plain also show similar thinning of the upper crust and its replacement by mafic material. The seismic refraction results in Yellowstone show no evidence of the low-velocity anomalies in the lower crust suggested by teleseismic P-delay data and interpreted as due to extensive partial melting. However, the seismic refraction models indicate lower-than-normal velocities and strong lateral inhomogeneities in the upper crust. Particularly obvious in the refraction data are two regions of very low seismic velocities near the Mallard Eake and Sour Creek resurgent domes in the Yellowstone caldera. The low-velocity body near the Sour Creek resurgent dome is intepreted as partially molten rock. Together with other geophysical and thermal data, the seismic results indicate that a sub-lithospheric thermal anomaly is responsible for the time-progressive volcanism along the
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Juvenile Radio-Tag Study: Lower Granite Dam, 1985 Annual Report.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Stuehrenberg, Lowell C.
The concept of using mass releases of juvenile radio tags represents a new and potentially powerful research tool that could be effectively applied to juvenile salmonid passage problems at dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers. A system of detector antennas, strategically located, would automatically detect and record individually tagged juvenile salmonids as they pass through the spillway, powerhouse, bypass system, or tailrace areas below the dam. Accurate measurements of spill effectiveness, fish guiding efficiency (FGE), collection efficiency (CE), spillway survival, powerhouse survival, and bypass survival would be possible without handling large numbers of unmarked fish. A prototype juvenile radio-tagmore » system was developed and tested by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) at John Day Dam and at Lower Granite Dam. This report summarizes research to: (1) evaluate the effectiveness of the prototype juvenile radio-tag system in a field situation and (2) to test the basic assumptions inherent in using the juvenile radio tag as a research tool.« less
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Clark, Gregory M.; Maret, Terry R.
1998-01-01
Fish-tissue and bed-sediment samples were collected to determine the occurrence and distribution of organochlorine compounds and trace elements in the lower Snake River Basin. Whole-body composite samples of suckers and carp from seven sites were analyzed for organochlorine compounds; liver samples were analyzed for trace elements. Fillets from selected sportfish were analyzed for organochlorine compounds and trace elements. Bed-sediment samples from three sites were analyzed for organochlorine compounds and trace elements. Twelve different organochlorine compounds were detected in 14 fish-tissue samples. All fish-tissue samples contained DDT or its metabolites. Concentrations of total DDT ranged from 11 micrograms per kilogram wet weight in fillets of yellow perch from C.J. Strike Reservoir to 3,633 micrograms per kilogram wet weight in a whole-body sample of carp from Brownlee Reservoir at Burnt River. Total DDT concentrations in whole-body samples of sucker and carp from the Snake River at C.J. Strike Reservoir, Snake River at Swan Falls, Snake River at Nyssa, and Brownlee Reservoir at Burnt River exceeded criteria established for the protection of fish-eating wildlife. Total PCB concentrations in a whole-body sample of carp from Brownlee Reservoir at Burnt River also exceeded fish-eating wildlife criteria. Concentrations of organochlorine compounds in whole-body samples, in general, were larger than concentrations in sportfish fillets. However, concentrations of dieldrin and total DDT in fillets of channel catfish from the Snake River at Nyssa and Brownlee Reservoir at Burnt River, and concentrations of total DDT in fillets of smallmouth bass and white crappie from Brownlee Reservoir at Burnt River exceeded a cancer risk screening value of 10-6 established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Concentrations of organochlorine compounds in bed sediment were smaller than concentrations in fish tissue. Concentrations of p,p'DDE, the only compound detected
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Hanrahan, Timothy P.; Geist, David R.; Arntzen, Evan V.
2005-07-01
We evaluated substrate quality at two historic fall Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) spawning sites in the Snake River, Idaho, USA. The primary objective of this evaluation was to measure sediment permeability within these areas to determine the potential quality of the habitat in the event that anadromous salmonids are reintroduced to the upper Snake River. Riverbed sediments within the two sites in the upper Snake River were sampled using freeze cores and hydraulic slug tests. Sediment grain size distributions at both sites were typical of gravel-bed rivers with the surface layer coarser than the underlying substrate, suggesting the riverbed surfacemore » was armored. Despite the armored nature of the bed, the size of the largest material present on the riverbed surface was well within the size limit of material capable of being excavated by spawning fall Chinook salmon. The percentage of fines was low, suggesting good quality substrate for incubating salmon embryos. Geometric mean particle sizes found in this study compared to a 55% to 80% survival to emergence based on literature values. Hydraulic slug tests showed moderate to high hydraulic conductivity and were comparable to values from current fall Chinook salmon spawning areas in the Hells Canyon Reach of the Snake River and the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River. Predicted estimates of mean egg survival at both sites (48% and 74%) equaled or exceeded estimates from fall Chinook salmon spawning areas in the Hells Canyon Reach and the Hanford Reach.« less
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Sediment-Basalt Architecture, Pliocene and Pleistocene Eastern and Central Snake River Plain
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Helm-Clark, C. M.; Link, P. K.
2006-12-01
This presentation is a synthesis of known stratigraphic studies of the Pliocene, Pleistocene and Holocene basalts and interbedded sedimentary beds on the Eastern Snake River Plain (ESRP). This information is important for understanding the post-caldera tectonic evolution of the ESRP, especially for tracking patterns of volcanic eruption and changes in topography. Geophysical surveys and existing well logs indicate the depth of the basalt sequence is usually 2 km or less, even near the axis of the Plain. An alteration horizon, the product of high heat-flow in the wake of the Yellowstone hot spot, moderated by cold-water recharge in the thick and highly-transmissive Snake River Aquifer, has variable depth. The surface and near-surface of the lava fields are mainly basalts less than a half a million years old, from Island Park to Twin Falls/Shoshone. Near the junction of the Eastern and Western Snake River Plains, these youngest late Pleistocene basalts, many less than 100,000 years old, overlie early Pleistocene basalts more than a million and a half years old. Most basalt flows have been erupted from NW-trending volcanic rift zones like the Great Rift of Idaho or from the Axial Volcanic High (AVH). The AVH is a constructional axial ridge formed by multiple volcanic vents, small shield volcanoes and rhyolitic domes which run the length of the ESRP. A combination of previous and new stratigraphic and geochronology studies, including U-Pb detrital-zircon geochronology on sediments, reveals several lake sequences, formed by the damming of rivers. These tend to be thickest in upstream, valley-mouth, and Plain-marginal locations where the rivers were trapped. The lake beds generally pinch out toward the AVH. The most notable of these are the Mid-Pleistocene Raft Formation, the Late Pleistocene American Falls Lake Beds, at least two mid-Pleistocene sequences of ponded sediment from the Big Lost River at its egress onto the ESRP, and a 2.5 to 1.6 Ma sequence in the Big Lost
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Rupert, Michael
1996-01-01
A mass balance of total nitrogen input and loss in Gooding, Jerome, Lincoln, and Twin Falls Counties suggests that more than 6,000,000 kg (6,600 tons) of total nitrogen is input in this four-county area than is discharged by the Snake River. This excess nitrogen probably is utilized by aquatic vegetation in the Snake River (causing eutrophication), stored as nitrogen in soil, stored as nitrate in the ground water and eventually discharged through the springs, utilized by noncrop vegetation, and lost through denitrification.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Michaels, Brian; Espinosa, Neal
2009-02-18
This report summarizes the Nez Perce Tribe (NPT) Department of Fisheries Resources Management (DFRM) results for the Lower Snake River Compensation Plan (LSRCP) Hatchery Evaluation studies and the Imnaha River Smolt Monitoring Program (SMP) for the 2007 smolt migration from the Imnaha River, Oregon. These studies are closely coordinated and provide information about juvenile natural and hatchery spring/summer Naco x (Chinook Salmon; Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and Heeyey (steelhead; O. mykiss) biological characteristics, emigrant timing, survival, arrival timing and travel time to the Snake River dams and McNary Dam (MCD) on the Columbia River. These studies provide information on listed Naco xmore » (Chinook salmon) and Heeyey (steelhead) for the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) Biological Opinion (NMFS 2000). The Lower Snake River Compensation Plan program's goal is to maintain a hatchery production program of 490,000 Naco x (Chinook salmon) and 330,000 Heeyey (steelhead) for annual release in the Imnaha River (Carmichael et al. 1998, Whitesel et al. 1998). These hatchery releases occur to compensate for fish losses due to the construction and operation of the four lower Snake River hydroelectric facilities. One of the aspects of the LSRCP hatchery evaluation studies in the Imnaha River is to determine natural and hatchery Naco x (Chinook salmon) and Heeyey (steelhead) smolt performance, emigration characteristics and survival (Kucera and Blenden 1998). A long term monitoring effort was established to document smolt emigrant timing and post release survival within the Imnaha River, estimate smolt survival downstream to McNary Dam, compare natural and hatchery smolt performance, and collect smolt-to-adult return information. This project collects information for, and is part of, a larger effort entitled Smolt Monitoring by Federal and Non-Federal Agencies (BPA Project No. 198712700). This larger project provides data on movement of smolts out of major
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White sturgeon spawning areas in the lower Snake River
Parsley, M.J.; Kappenman, K.M.
2000-01-01
We documented 17 white sturgeon Acipenser transmontanus spawning locations in the Snake River from the mouth to Lower Granite Dam (river km 0 to 173). Spawning locations were determined by the collection of fertilized eggs on artificial substrates or in plankton nets. We collected 245 eggs at seven locations in McNary Reservoir, 22 eggs at three locations in Ice Harbor Reservoir, 30 eggs from two locations in Lower Monumental Reservoir, and 464 eggs at five locations in Little Goose Reservoir. All 17 locations were in high water velocity areas and between 1.0 and 7.0 km downstream from a hydroelectric dam. The documentation of spawning areas is important because this habitat is necessary to maintain natural and viable populations.
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Diet of juvenile and adult American Shad in the Columbia River
Sauter, Sally T.; Blubaugh, J; Parsley, Michael J.
2011-01-01
The diet of juvenile and adult American shad Alosa sapidissima captured from various locations in the Columbia River was investigated during 2007 and 2008. Collection efforts in 2007 were restricted to fish collected from existing adult and juvenile fish collection facilities located at Bonneville Dam and to adult shad captured by angling downstream from Bonneville Dam. In 2008, we used gillnets, electrofishing, beach seining, or cast nets to collect juvenile and adult shad from the saline estuary near Astoria (approximately river km 24) to just upstream from McNary Dam (approximately river km 472). We examined the stomach contents of 436 American shad captured in 2007 and 1,272 captured in 2008. Fish caught within the river were much more likely to contain food items than fish removed from fish collection facilities.
The diet of age-0 American shad varied spatially and temporally, but was comprised primarily of crustaceans and insects. Prey diversity of age-0 American shad, as assessed by the Shannon Diversity Index, increased with decreasing distance to the estuary. Pre- and partial-spawn American shad primarily consumed Corophium spp. throughout the Columbia River; however, post-spawn adults primarily consumed gastropods upstream of McNary Dam
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1992 Columbia River Salmon Flow Measures Options Analysis/EIS.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Not Available
1992-01-01
This Options Analysis/Environmental Impact Statement (OA/EIS) identifies, presents effects of, and evaluates the potential options for changing instream flow levels in efforts to increase salmon populations in the lower Columbia and Snake rivers. The potential actions would be implemented during 1992 to benefit juvenile and adult salmon during migration through eight run-of-river reservoirs. The Corps of Engineers (Corps) prepared this document in cooperation with the Bonneville Power Administration and the Bureau of Reclamation. The US Fish and Wildlife Service (FSWS) is a participating agency. The text and appendices of the document describe the characteristics of 10 Federal projects and onemore » private water development project in the Columbia River drainage basin. Present and potential operation of these projects and their effects on the salmon that spawn and rear in the Columbia and Snake River System are presented. The life history, status, and response of Pacific salmon to current environmental conditions are described.« less
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Wood, Molly S.; Teasdale, Gregg N.
2013-01-01
Elevated levels of fluvial sediment can reduce the biological productivity of aquatic systems, impair freshwater quality, decrease reservoir storage capacity, and decrease the capacity of hydraulic structures. The need to measure fluvial sediment has led to the development of sediment surrogate technologies, particularly in locations where streamflow alone is not a good estimator of sediment load because of regulated flow, load hysteresis, episodic sediment sources, and non-equilibrium sediment transport. An effective surrogate technology is low maintenance and sturdy over a range of hydrologic conditions, and measured variables can be modeled to estimate suspended-sediment concentration (SSC), load, and duration of elevated levels on a real-time basis. Among the most promising techniques is the measurement of acoustic backscatter strength using acoustic Doppler velocity meters (ADVMs) deployed in rivers. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District, evaluated the use of acoustic backscatter, turbidity, laser diffraction, and streamflow as surrogates for estimating real-time SSC and loads in the Clearwater and Snake Rivers, which adjoin in Lewiston, Idaho, and flow into Lower Granite Reservoir. The study was conducted from May 2008 to September 2010 and is part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Lower Snake River Programmatic Sediment Management Plan to identify and manage sediment sources in basins draining into lower Snake River reservoirs. Commercially available acoustic instruments have shown great promise in sediment surrogate studies because they require little maintenance and measure profiles of the surrogate parameter across a sampling volume rather than at a single point. The strength of acoustic backscatter theoretically increases as more particles are suspended in the water to reflect the acoustic pulse emitted by the ADVM. ADVMs of different frequencies (0.5, 1.5, and 3 Megahertz) were tested to
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Petersen, James H.; Poe, Thomas P.
1993-12-01
Northern squawfish (Ptychocheilus oregonensis) predation on juvenile salmonids was characterized during 1992 at ten locations in the Columbia River below Bonneville Dam and at three locations in John Day Reservoir. During the spring and summer, 1,487 northern squawfish were collected in the lower Columbia River and 202 squawfish were sampled in John Day Reservoir. Gut content data, predator weight, and water temperature were used to compute a consumption index (CI) for northern squawfish, and overall diet was also described. In the Columbia River below Bonneville Dam, northern squawfish diet was primarily fish (spring 69%; summer 53%), most of which weremore » salmonids. Salmonids were also the primary diet component in the Bonneville Dam tailrace, John Day Dam forebay, and the McNary Dam tailrace. Crustaceans were the dominant diet item at the John Day mid-reservoir location, although sample sizes were small. About half of the non-salmonid preyfish were sculpins. The consumption index (CI) of northern squawfish was generally higher during summer than during spring. The highest CI`s were observed during summer in the tailrace boat restricted zones of Bonneville Dam (CI = 7.8) and McNary Dam (CI = 4.6). At locations below Bonneville Dam, CI`s were relatively low near Covert`s Landing and Rooster Rock, higher at four locations between Blue Lake and St. Helens, and low again at three downriver sites (Kalama, Ranier, and Jones Beach). Northern squawfish catches and CI`s were noticeably higher throughout the lower Columbia compared to mid-reservoir sites further upriver sampled during 1990--92. Predation may be especially intense in the free-flowing section of the Columbia River below Bonneville Dam. Smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieui; N = 198) ate mostly fish -- 25% salmonids, 29% sculpins, and 46% other fish. Highest catches of smallmouth bass were in the John Day Dam forebay.« less
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Tiffan, Kenneth F.; Kock, Tobias J.; Connor, William P.
2007-01-01
During the winter of 2005-06, we radio and PIT tagged and released 48 juvenile fall Chinook salmon to evaluate over-wintering behavior and dam passage in the lower Snake River, Washington. Fish were released at the upstream end of the Lower Granite Dam forebay in November and December 2005. Fixed radio telemetry detection sites located in forebay and tailrace areas of Lower Granite, Little Goose, Lower Monumental and Ice Harbor dams were used to monitor fish movements and dam passage through early-May 2006. Of the 48 fish released during our study, 39 (81 %) passed Lower Granite Dam and were detected at downstream detection sites, 29 (60%) passed Little Goose Dam, 25 (52%) passed Lower Monumental Dam, and 15 (31%) passed Ice Harbor Dam. Thirty-seven (95%), 23 (79%), 16 (64%), and 9 (60%) of the fish that passed Lower Granite, Little Goose, Lower Monumental, and Ice Harbor dams respectively, did so when the fish bypass system was not operated. Passage of tagged fish past lower Snake River dams generally declined during the winter, but increased again after bypass began in April. Fish residence times in reservoirs and forebays was lengthy during the winter (up to 118 d), and varied by reservoir and time of year. We observed no diel passage trends. Only 15 of the 48 fish were subsequently detected at a PIT-tag interrogation site the following spring. We believe that passage of overwintering juvenile fall Chinook salmon during winter is due more to chance than directed downstream movement. Since the primary route of passage during the winter is through powerhouse turbines, the potential exists for increased mortality for over-wintering juvenile fall Chinook salmon in the Snake River. Our findings also have implications for transportation studies of subyearling fall Chinook salmon in the Snake River. Specifically, the finding that some fish can pass undetected during the winter may bias smolt-to-adult return rate calculations that are typically used to measure the
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Performance of Yellowstone and Snake River Cutthroat Trout Fry Fed Seven Different Diets.
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
Five commercial diets and two formulated feeds were fed to initial-feeding Yellowstone cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarkii bouvieri fry and Snake River cutthroat trout O. clarkii spp. (currently being petitioned for classification as O. clarkii behnkei) fry for 18 weeks to evaluate fish performance...
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Tiffan, Kenneth F.; Hatten, James R.; Trachtenbarg, David A
2015-01-01
Subyearling fall Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the Columbia River basin exhibit a transient rearing strategy and depend on connected shoreline habitats during freshwater rearing. Impoundment has greatly reduced the amount of shallow-water rearing habitat that is exacerbated by the steep topography of reservoirs. Periodic dredging creates opportunities to strategically place spoils to increase the amount of shallow-water habitat for subyearlings while at the same time reducing the amount of unsuitable area that is often preferred by predators. We assessed the amount and spatial arrangement of subyearling rearing habitat in Lower Granite Reservoir on the Snake River to guide future habitat improvement efforts. A spatially explicit habitat assessment was conducted using physical habitat data, two-dimensional hydrodynamic modelling and a statistical habitat model in a geographic information system framework. We used field collections of subyearlings and a common predator [smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu)] to draw inferences about predation risk within specific habitat types. Most of the high-probability rearing habitat was located in the upper half of the reservoir where gently sloping landforms created low lateral bed slopes and shallow-water habitats. Only 29% of shorelines were predicted to be suitable (probability >0.5) for subyearlings, and the occurrence of these shorelines decreased in a downstream direction. The remaining, less suitable areas were composed of low-probability habitats in unmodified (25%) and riprapped shorelines (46%). As expected, most subyearlings were found in high-probability habitat, while most smallmouth bass were found in low-probability locations. However, some subyearlings were found in low-probability habitats, such as riprap, where predation risk could be high. Given their transient rearing strategy and dependence on shoreline habitats, subyearlings could benefit from habitat creation efforts in the lower
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Bartholomay, R.C.; Orr, B.R.; Liszewski, M.J.
Radiochemical and chemical wastewater discharged since 1952 to infiltration ponds and disposal wells at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) has affected water quality in the Snake River Plain aquifer. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, maintains a continuous monitoring network at the INEL to determine hydrologic trends and to delineate the movement of radiochemical and chemical wastes in the aquifer. This report presents an analysis of water-level and water-quality data collected from the Snake River Plain aquifer during 1989-91. Water in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer moves principally through fractures and interflowmore » zones in basalt, generally flows southwestward, and eventually discharges at springs along the Snake River. The aquifer is recharged principally from irrigation water, infiltration of streamflow, and ground-water inflow from adjoining mountain drainage basins. Water levels in wells throughout the INEL generally declined during 1989-91 due to drought. Detectable concentrations of radiochemical constituents in water samples from wells in the Snake River Plain aquifer at the INEL decreased or remained constant during 1989-91. Decreased concentrations are attributed to reduced rates of radioactive-waste disposal, sorption processes, radioactive decay, and changes in waste-disposal practices. Detectable concentrations of chemical constituents in water from the Snake River Plain aquifer at the INEL were variable during 1989-91. Sodium and chloride concentrations in the southern part of the INEL increased slightly during 1989-91 because of increased waste-disposal rates and a lack of recharge from the Big Lost River. Plumes of 1,1,1-trichloroethane have developed near the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant and the Radioactive Waste Management Complex as a result of waste disposal practices.« less
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Payne, S. J.; McCaffrey, R.; King, R. W.; Kattenhorn, S. A.
2012-12-01
We estimate horizontal velocities for 405 sites using Global Positioning System (GPS) phase data collected from 1994 to 2010 within the Northern Basin and Range Province, U.S.A. The velocities reveal a slowly-deforming region within the Snake River Plain in Idaho and Owyhee-Oregon Plateau in Oregon separated from the actively extending adjacent Basin and Range regions by shear. Our results show a NE-oriented extensional strain rate of 5.6 ± 0.7 nanostrain/yr in the Centennial Tectonic Belt and an ~E-oriented extensional strain rate of 3.5 ± 0.2 nanostrain/yr in the Great Basin. These extensional rates contrast with the very low strain rate within the 125 km x 650 km region of the Snake River Plain and Owyhee-Oregon Plateau which is not distinguishable from zero (-0.1 ± 0.4 x nanostrain/yr). Inversions of Snake River Plain velocities with dike-opening models indicate that rapid extension by dike intrusion in volcanic rift zones, as previously hypothesized, is not currently occurring. GPS data also disclose that rapid extension in the surrounding regions adjacent to the slowly-deforming region of the Snake River Plain drives shear between them. We estimate right-lateral shear with slip rates of 0.3-1.5 mm/yr along the northwestern boundary adjacent to the Centennial Tectonic Belt and left-lateral oblique extension with slip rates of 0.5-1.5 mm/yr along the southeastern boundary adjacent to the Intermountain Seismic Belt. The fastest lateral shearing evident in the GPS occurs near the Yellowstone Plateau where earthquakes with right-lateral strike-slip focal mechanisms are within a NE-trending zone of seismicity. The regional velocity gradients are best fit by nearby poles of rotation for the Centennial Tectonic Belt, Snake River Plain, Owyhee-Oregon Plateau, and eastern Oregon, indicating that clockwise rotation is not locally driven by Yellowstone hotspot volcanism, but instead by extension to the south across the Wasatch fault possibly due to gravitational
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Kock, Tobias J.; Tiffan, Kenneth F.; Connor, William P.
2007-01-01
During the winter of 2006-07, we radio and passive integrated transponder (PIT) tagged, and released 99 juvenile fall Chinook salmon to evaluate over-wintering behavior and dam passage in the lower Snake River, Washington. All fish were released 10 km upstream of Lower Granite Dam at Granite Point in early November, 2006. Fixed radio telemetry detection sites located in the forebay and tailrace areas of Lower Granite, Little Goose, Lower Monumental, Ice Harbor, Bonneville dams, and at Lyle, Washington were used to monitor fish movements and dam passage through early-May 2007. Of the 99 fish released during our study, 80 passed Lower Granite Dam and were detected at downstream detection sites, 37 passed Little Goose Dam, 41 passed Lower Monumental Dam, 31 passed Ice Harbor Dam, 18 passed Lyle, WA, and 13 passed Bonneville Dam. Of the fish that passed Lower Granite Dam in the fall, 63 fish did so during the extended bypass period from November 1 through December 16. Of these fish, 53 were also detected by the PIT-tag interrogation system. Fifteen of the fish that passed Lower Granite Dam in the fall continued to pass lower Snake River dams and exit the system by the end of January. The remaining fish either died, their tags failed, or they resided in Little Goose Reservoir until spring when relatively few continued their seaward migration. Passage of tagged fish past lower Snake River dams generally declined during the winter as temperatures decreased, but increased again in the spring as temperatures and flows increased. Fish residence times in reservoirs and forebays was lengthy during the winter (up to 160 d), and varied by reservoir and time of year. We observed no diel trends in fish passage. Very few fish were detected at PIT-tag interrogation sites in the spring compared to detection by radio telemetry detection sites indicating that fish may have passed via spill. We believe that passage of overwintering juvenile fall Chinook salmon during winter is due more
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Drewett, David V V; Willson, John D; Cristol, Daniel A; Chin, Stephanie Y; Hopkins, William A
2013-04-01
Although mercury (Hg) is a well-studied contaminant, knowledge about Hg accumulation in snakes is limited. The authors evaluated Hg bioaccumulation within and among four snake species (northern watersnakes, Nerodia sipedon; queen snakes, Regina septemvittata; common garter snakes, Thamnophis sirtalis; and rat snakes, Elaphe obsoleta [Pantherophis alleghaniensis]) from a contaminated site on the South River (Waynesboro, VA, USA) and two nearby reference sites. Total Hg (THg) concentrations in northern watersnake tail tissue at the contaminated site ranged from 2.25 to 13.84 mg/kg dry weight (mean: 4.85 ± 0.29), or 11 to 19 times higher than reference sites. Blood THg concentrations (0.03-7.04 mg/kg wet wt; mean: 2.24 ± 0.42) were strongly correlated with tail concentrations and were the highest yet reported in a snake species. Within watersnakes, nitrogen stable isotope values indicated ontogenetic trophic shifts that correlated with THg bioaccumulation, suggesting that diet plays a substantial role in Hg exposure. Female watersnakes had higher mean THg concentrations (5.67 ± 0.46 mg/kg) than males (4.93 ± 0.49 mg/kg), but no significant differences between sexes were observed after correcting for body size. Interspecific comparisons identified differences in THg concentrations among snake species, with more aquatic species (watersnakes and queen snakes) accumulating higher mean concentrations (5.60 ± 0.40 and 4.59 ± 0.38 mg/kg in tail tissue, respectively) than the more terrestrial species, garter snakes and rat snakes (1.28 ± 0.32 and 0.26 ± 0.09 mg/kg, respectively). The results of the present study warrant further investigation of potential adverse effects and will aid in prioritizing conservation efforts. Copyright © 2013 SETAC.
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Evaluate Bull Trout Movements in the Tucannon and Lower Snake Rivers, 2004 Annual Report.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Faler, Michael P.; Mendel, Glen W.; Fulton, Carl
2005-11-01
We sampled and released 313 bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) from the Tucannon River in 2004. Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tags were inserted in 231 of these individuals, and we detected existing PIT tags in an additional 44 bull trout. Twenty-five of these were also surgically implanted with radio-tags, and we monitored the movements of these fish throughout the year. Ten bull trout that were radio-tagged in 2003 were known to survive and carry their tags through the spring of 2004. One of these fish outmigrated into the Snake River in the fall, and remained undetected until February, when it's tagmore » was located near the confluence of Alkali Flat Creek and the Snake River. The remaining 9 fish spent the winter between Tucannon River miles 2.1 (Powers Road) and 36.0 (Tucannon Fish Hatchery). Seven of these fish retained their tags through the summer, and migrated to known spawning habitat prior to September 2004. During June and July, radio-tagged bull trout again exhibited a general upstream movement into the upper reaches of the Tucannon subbasin. As in past years, we observed some downstream movements of radio-tagged bull trout in mid to late September and throughout October, suggesting post spawning outmigrations. By late November and early December, radio tagged bull trout were relatively stationary, and were distributed from river mile 42 at Camp Wooten downstream to river mile 17, near the Highway 12 bridge. As in previous years, we did not collect data associated with objectives 2, 3, or 4 of this study, because we were unable to monitor migratory movement of radio-tagged bull trout into the vicinity of the hydropower dams on the main stem Snake River. Transmission tests of submerged Lotek model NTC-6-2 nano-tags in Lower Granite Pool showed that audible detection and individual tag identification was possible at depths of 20, 30, and 40 ft. We were able to maintain tag detection and code separation at all depths from both a boat and 200 ft
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Buchanan, Rebecca A.; Skalski, John R.
2007-12-07
In 2005, the University of Washington developed a new statistical model to analyze the combined juvenile and adult detection histories of PIT-tagged salmon migrating through the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS). This model, implemented by software Program ROSTER (River-Ocean Survival and Transportation Effects Routine), has been used to estimate survival and transportation effects on large temporal and spatial scales for PIT-tagged hatchery spring and summer Chinook salmon and steelhead released in the Snake River Basin from 1996 to 2003. Those results are reported here. Annual estimates of the smolt-to-adult return ratio (SAR), juvenile inriver survival from Lower Granite tomore » Bonneville, the ocean return probability from Bonneville to Bonneville, and adult upriver survival from Bonneville to Lower Granite are reported. Annual estimates of transport-inriver (T/I) ratios and differential post-Bonneville mortality (D) are reported on both a systemwide basis, incorporating all transport dams analyzed, and a dam-specific basis. Transportation effects are estimated only for dams where at least 5,000 tagged smolts were transported from a given upstream release group. Because few tagged hatchery steelhead were transported in these years, no transportation effects are estimated for steelhead. Performance measures include age-1-ocean adult returns for steelhead, but not for Chinook salmon. Annual estimates of SAR from Lower Granite back to Lower Granite averaged 0.71% with a standard error (SE) of 0.18% for spring Chinook salmon from the Snake River Basin for tagged groups released from 1996 through 2003, omitting age-1-ocean (jack) returns. For summer Chinook salmon from the Snake River Basin, the estimates of annual SAR averaged 1.15% (SE=0.31%). Only for the release years 1999 and 2000 did the Chinook SAR approach the target value of 2%, identified by the NPCC as the minimum SAR necessary for recovery. Annual estimates of SAR for hatchery steelhead from
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Nelson, Nicholas C.; Erwin, Susannah O.; Schmidt, John C.
2013-10-01
Operations of Jackson Lake dam (JLD) have altered the hydrology and sediment transport capacity of the Snake River in Grand Teton National Park. Prior research has provided conflicting assessments of whether the downstream river was perturbed into sediment surplus or sediment deficit. In this paper, we present the results of an aerial photo analysis designed to evaluate whether the history of channel change indicates either significant deficit or surplus of sediment that could be expressed as narrowing or expansion of the channel over time. We analyze changes in braid index, channel width, channel activity, and net channel change of the Snake River based on four series of aerial photographs. Between 1945 and 1969, a period of relatively small main-stem floods, widespread deposition, and up to 31% reduction in channel width occurred throughout the Snake River. Between 1969 and 2002, a period of large main-stem floods, the style of channel change reversed with a decrease in braid index and an increase in channel width of up to 31%. These substantial changes in the channel downstream from the dam primarily occurred in multithread reaches, regardless of proximity to tributaries, and no temporal progression of channel narrowing or widening was observed. We demonstrate that channel change downstream from JLD is more temporally and longitudinally complex than previously described.
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Geochemistry of Central Snake River Plain Basalts From Camas Prairie to Glenns Ferry, Southern Idaho
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Vetter, S. K.; Johnston, S. A.; Shervais, J.; Hanan, B.
2006-12-01
The Snake River Plain (SRP) of southern Idaho represents the track of a hot-spot (mantle plume) which links voluminous flood basalts of the Miocene Columbia River province to Quaternary volcanic centers at Island Park and Yellowstone. However, much of the volcanism associated with this province either lies off the main volcanic trend or differs in age from the postulated plume passage. The Camas Prairie and the Mount Bennett Hills lie north of the Snake River-Yellowstone plume track, near the intersection of the eastern and western Snake River Plain trends. Young basalt flows cap highlands overlooking the Snake River near King Hill, but farther north in the Mount Bennett Hills and Camas Prairie these young lava flows are juxtaposed against older basalts along a series of WNW trending normal faults. These older basalt flows rest directly on rhyolite of the Mount Bennett Hills, making them the oldest basalts known in outcrop in this area. The older basalts in the Mount Bennett Hills include at least six major flows with a total thickness of 110 m. Although they have been strongly dissected by erosion, they still cover an outcrop area of 300 km2 . Eighty samples were collected as part of our petrologic survey of basaltic volcanism in the central Snake River Plain. These samples were studied petrographically and analyzed for their major elements, trace elements, and REE. The basalts consist of plagioclase and olivine microphenocrysts set in a groundmass of olivine, plagioclase, clinopyroxene, oxides and interstitial glass. The majority of samples have Mg# ranging from 50- 59. However there are samples that are more evolved as indicated by Mg# ranging from less than 50 to 29. The high Mg# samples have the following chemical ranges: TiO2 0.87 - 2.6 wt.%; FeO 9.95 - 13.7 wt.%; Nb 8 to 23 ppm; Zr 111 to 243 ppm; Ni 81 to 151 ppm; La 10.9 to 26.9 ppm. The more evolved samples have TiO2 1.4 3.93 wt.%; FeO 9.7 16.8 wt%; Nb 11 to 40 ppm; Zr 110 to 500 ppm; Ni 4 to 85 ppm; La
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Aqueous geochemistry and diagenesis in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer system, Idaho
Wood, Warren W.; Low, Walton H.
1986-01-01
Water budget and isotopic analyses of water in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer system confirm that most, if not all, of the water is local meteoric in origin. Solute mass-balance arguments suggest that ∼5 × 109 moles of calcite and 2.6 × 109 moles of silica are precipitated annually in the aquifer. Isotopic evaluations of calcite and petrographic observation of silica support the low-temperature origin of these deposits. Approximately 2.8 × 109 moles of chloride, 4.5 × 109 moles of sodium, 1.4 × 109 moles of sulfate, and 2 × 109 moles of magnesium are removed annually from the aquifer framework by solution. Proposed weathering reactions are shown to be consistent with mass balance, carbon isotopes, observed mineralogy, and chemical thermodynamics. Large quantities of sodium, chloride, and sulfate are being removed from the system relative to their abundances in the rock. Sedimentary interbeds, which are estimated to compose <10% of the aquifer volume, may yield as much as 20% of the solutes generated within the aquifer. Weathering rate of the aquifer framework of the eastern Snake River Plain is 14 (Mg/km2)/yr or less than half the average of the North American continent. This contrasts with the rate for the eastern Snake River basin, 34 (Mg/km2)/yr, which is almost identical to the average for the North American continent. Identification and quantification of reactions controlling solute concentrations in ground water in the eastern plain indicate that the aquifer is not an “inert bathtub” that simply stores and transmits water and solutes but is undergoing active diagenesis and is both a source and sink for solutes.
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American shad in the Columbia River
Petersen, J.H.; Hinrichsen, R.A.; Gadomski, D.M.; Feil, D.H.; Rondorf, D.W.
2003-01-01
American shad Alosa sapidissima from the Hudson River, New York, were introduced into the Sacramento River, California, in 1871 and were first observed in the Columbia River in 1876. American shad returns to the Columbia River increased greatly between 1960 and 1990, and recently 2-4 million adults have been counted per year at Bonneville Dam, Oregon and Washington State (river kilometer 235). The total return of American shad is likely much higher than this dam count. Returning adults migrate as far as 600 km up the Columbia and Snake rivers, passing as many as eight large hydroelectric dams. Spawning occurs primarily in the lower river and in several large reservoirs. A small sample found returning adults were 2-6 years old and about one-third of adults were repeat spawners. Larval American shad are abundant in plankton and in the nearshore zone. Juvenile American shad occur throughout the water column during night, but school near the bottom or inshore during day. Juveniles consume a variety of zooplankton, but cyclopoid copepods were 86% of the diet by mass. Juveniles emigrate from the river from August through December. Annual exploitation of American shad by commercial and recreational fisheries combined is near 9% of the total count at Bonneville Dam. The success of American shad in the Columbia River is likely related to successful passage at dams, good spawning and rearing habitats, and low exploitation. The role of American shad within the aquatic community is poorly understood. We speculate that juveniles could alter the zooplankton community and may supplement the diet of resident predators. Data, however, are lacking or sparse in some areas, and more information is needed on the role of larval and juvenile American shad in the food web, factors limiting adult returns, ocean distribution of adults, and interactions between American shad and endangered or threatened salmonids throughout the river. ?? 2003 by the American Fisheries Society.
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Simulated effects of host fish distribution on juvenile unionid mussel dispersal in a large river
Daraio, J.A.; Weber, L.J.; Zigler, S.J.; Newton, T.J.; Nestler, J.M.
2012-01-01
Larval mussels (Family Unionidae) are obligate parasites on fish, and after excystment from their host, as juveniles, they are transported with flow. We know relatively little about the mechanisms that affect dispersal and subsequent settlement of juvenile mussels in large rivers. We used a three-dimensional hydrodynamic model of a reach of the Upper Mississippi River with stochastic Lagrangian particle tracking to simulate juvenile dispersal. Sensitivity analyses were used to determine the importance of excystment location in two-dimensional space (lateral and longitudinal) and to assess the effects of vertical location (depth in the water column) on dispersal distances and juvenile settling distributions. In our simulations, greater than 50% of juveniles mussels settled on the river bottom within 500 m of their point of excystment, regardless of the vertical location of the fish in the water column. Dispersal distances were most variable in environments with higher velocity and high gradients in velocity, such as along channel margins, near the channel bed, or where effects of river bed morphology caused large changes in hydraulics. Dispersal distance was greater and variance was greater when juvenile excystment occurred in areas where vertical velocity (w) was positive (indicating an upward velocity) than when w was negative. Juvenile dispersal distance is likely to be more variable for mussels species whose hosts inhabit areas with steeper velocity gradients (e.g. channel margins) than a host that generally inhabits low-flow environments (e.g. impounded areas).
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Byrnes, J. S.; Bezada, M.
2017-12-01
Melt can be retained in the mantle at triple junctions between grain boundaries, be spread in thin films along two-grain boundaries, or be organized by shear into elongate melt-rich bands. Which of these geometries is most prevalent is unknown. This ambiguity makes the interpretation of anomalous seismic velocities and quality factors difficult, since different geometries would result in different mechanical effects. Here, we compare observations of seismic attenuation beneath the Salton Trough and the Snake River Plain; two regions where the presence of melt has been inferred. The results suggest that seismic attenuation is diagnostic of melt geometry. We measure the relative attenuation of P waves from deep focus earthquakes using a time-domain method. Even though the two regions are underlain by comparably strong low-velocity anomalies, their attenuation signature is very different. The upper mantle beneath the Salton Trough is sufficiently attenuating that the presence of melt must lower Qp, while attenuation beneath the Snake River Plain is not anomalous with respect to surrounding regions. These seemingly contradictory results can be reconciled if different melt geometries characterize each region. SKS splitting from the Salton Trough suggests that melt is organized into melt-rich bands, while this is not the case for the Snake River Plain. We infer that beneath the Snake River Plain melt is retained at triple junctions between grain boundaries, a geometry that is not predicted to cause seismic attenuation. More elongate geometries beneath the Salton Trough may cause seismic attenuation via the melt-squirt mechanism. In light of these results, we conclude that prior observations of low seismic velocities with somewhat high quality factors beneath the East Pacific Rise and Southern California suggest that melt does not organize into elongate bands across much of the asthenosphere.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Hanrahan, T.P.
2009-01-08
The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) Project 2003-038-00, Evaluate the restoration potential of Snake River fall Chinook salmon spawning habitat, began in FY04 (15 December 2003) and continues into FY06. This status report is intended to summarize accomplishments during FY04 and FY05. Accomplishments are summarized by Work Elements, as detailed in the Statement of Work (see BPA's project management database PISCES). This project evaluates the restoration potential of mainstem habitats for fall Chinook salmon. The studies address two research questions: 'Are there sections not currently used by spawning fall Chinook salmon within the impounded lower Snake River that possess the physicalmore » characteristics for potentially suitable fall Chinook spawning habitat?' and 'Can hydrosystem operations affecting these sections be adjusted such that the sections closely resemble the physical characteristics of current fall Chinook salmon spawning areas in similar physical settings?' Efforts are focused at two study sites: (1) the Ice Harbor Dam tailrace downstream to the Columbia River confluence, and (2) the Lower Granite Dam tailrace. Our previous studies indicated that these two areas have the highest potential for restoring Snake River fall Chinook salmon spawning habitat. The study sites will be evaluated under existing structural configurations at the dams (i.e., without partial removal of a dam structure), and alternative operational scenarios (e.g., varying forebay/tailwater elevations). The areas studied represent tailwater habitat (i.e., riverine segments extending from a dam downstream to the backwater influence from the next dam downstream). We are using a reference site, indicative of current fall Chinook salmon spawning areas in tailwater habitat, against which to compare the physical characteristics of each study site. The reference site for tailwater habitats is the section extending downstream from the Wanapum Dam tailrace on the Columbia River
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Cleary, Peter J.; Blenden, Michael L.; Kucera, Paul A.
2002-08-01
This report summarizes the results of the Lower Snake River Compensation Plan Hatchery Evaluation Studies (LSRCP) and the Imnaha Smolt Monitoring Program (SMP) for the 1999 smolt migration from the Imnaha River, Oregon. These studies were designed and closely coordinated to provide information about juvenile natural and hatchery chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) biological characteristics, behavior and emigrant timing, survival, arrival timing and travel time to the Snake River dams and McNary Dam on the Columbia River. Data collected from these studies are shared with the Fish Passage Center (FPC). These data are essential to quantify smoltmore » survival rates under the current passage conditions and to evaluate the future recovery strategies that seek to optimize smolt survival through the hydroelectric system. Information shared with the FPC assists with in-season shaping of flow and spill management requests in the Snake River reservoirs. The Bonneville Power Administration and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service contracted the Nez Perce Tribe (NPT) to monitor emigration timing and tag 21,200 emigrating natural and hatchery chinook salmon and steelhead smolts from the Imnaha River during the spring emigration period (March 1-June 15) with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags. The completion of trapping in the spring of 1999 marked the eighth year of emigration studies on the Imnaha River and the sixth year of participating in the FPC smolt monitoring program. Monitoring and evaluation objectives were to: (1) Determine spring emigration timing of chinook salmon and steelhead smolts collected at the Imnaha River trap. (2) Evaluate effects of flow, temperature and other environmental factors on emigration timing. (3) Monitor the daily catch and biological characteristics of juvenile chinook salmon and steelhead smolts collected at the Imnaha River screw trap. (4) Determine emigration timing, travel time
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Strike kinematics and performance in juvenile ball pythons (Python regius).
Ryerson, William G; Tan, Weimin
2017-08-01
The rapid strike of snakes has interested researchers for decades. Although most work has focused on the strike performance of vipers, recent work has shown that other snakes outside of the Viperidae can strike with the same velocities and accelerations. However, to date all of these examples focus on performance in adult snakes. Here, we use high-speed video to measure the strike kinematics and performance of 10 juvenile (<6 months of age) ball pythons, Python regius. We find that juvenile P. regius strike at levels comparable to larger snakes, but with shorter durations and over shorter distances. We conclude that the juvenile P. regius maintain performance likely through manipulation of the axial musculature and accompanying elastic tissues, and that this is a first step to understanding ontogenetic changes in behavior and a potential avenue for understanding how captivity may also impact behavior. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Puskas, C.M.; Smith, R.B.; Meertens, Charles M.; Chang, W. L.
2007-01-01
The Yellowstone-Snake River Plain tectonomagmatic province resulted from Late Tertiary volcanism in western North America, producing three large, caldera-forming eruptions at the Yellowstone Plateau in the last 2 Myr. To understand the kinematics and geodynamics of this volcanic system, the University of Utah conducted seven GPS campaigns at 140 sites between 1987 and 2003 and installed a network of 15 permanent stations. GPS deployments focused on the Yellowstone caldera, the Hebgen Lake and Teton faults, and the eastern Snake River Plain. The GPS data revealed periods of uplift and subsidence of the Yellowstone caldera at rates up to 15 mm/yr. From 1987 to 1995, the caldera subsided and contracted, implying volume loss. From 1995 to 2000, deformation shifted to inflation and extension northwest of the caldera. From 2000 to 2003, uplift continued to the northwest while caldera subsidence was renewed. The GPS observations also revealed extension across the Hebgen Lake fault and fault-normal contraction across the Teton fault. Deformation rates of the Yellowstone caldera and Hebgen Lake fault were converted to equivalent total moment rates, which exceeded historic seismic moment release and late Quaternary fault slip-derived moment release by an order of magnitude. The Yellowstone caldera deformation trends were superimposed on regional southwest extension of the Yellowstone Plateau at up to 4.3 ± 0.2 mm/yr, while the eastern Snake River Plain moved southwest as a slower rate at 2.1 ± 0.2 mm/yr. This southwest extension of the Yellowstone-Snake River Plain system merged into east-west extension of the Basin-Range province. Copyright 2007 by the American Geophysical Union.
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Kjelstrom, L.C.
1995-01-01
Many individual springs and groups of springs discharge water from volcanic rocks that form the north canyon wall of the Snake River between Milner Dam and King Hill. Previous estimates of annual mean discharge from these springs have been used to understand the hydrology of the eastern part of the Snake River Plain. Four methods that were used in previous studies or developed to estimate annual mean discharge since 1902 were (1) water-budget analysis of the Snake River; (2) correlation of water-budget estimates with discharge from 10 index springs; (3) determination of the combined discharge from individual springs or groups of springs by using annual discharge measurements of 8 springs, gaging-station records of 4 springs and 3 sites on the Malad River, and regression equations developed from 5 of the measured springs; and (4) a single regression equation that correlates gaging-station records of 2 springs with historical water-budget estimates. Comparisons made among the four methods of estimating annual mean spring discharges from 1951 to 1959 and 1963 to 1980 indicated that differences were about equivalent to a measurement error of 2 to 3 percent. The method that best demonstrates the response of annual mean spring discharge to changes in ground-water recharge and discharge is method 3, which combines the measurements and regression estimates of discharge from individual springs.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Connor, William P.
2008-04-01
In 2006, we continued a multi-year study to compare smolt-to-adult return rate (SAR) ratios between two groups of Snake River Basin fall Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha that reached the sea through a combination of either (1) transportation and inriver migration or (2) bypass and inriver migration. We captured natural subyearlings rearing along the Snake and Clearwater rivers and implanted them with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags, but knew in advance that sample sizes of natural fish would not be large enough for precise comparisons of SAR ratios. To increase sample sizes, we also cultured Lyons Ferry Hatchery subyearlings under amore » surrogate rearing strategy, implanted them with PIT tags, and released them into the Snake and Clearwater rivers to migrate seaward. The surrogate rearing strategy involved slowing growth at Dworshak National Fish Hatchery to match natural subyearlings in size at release as closely as possible, while insuring that all of the surrogate subyearlings were large enough for tagging (i.e., 60-mm fork length). Surrogate subyearlings were released from late May to early July 2006 to coincide with the historical period of peak beach seine catch of natural parr in the Snake and Clearwater rivers. We also PIT tagged a large representative sample of hatchery subyearlings reared under a production rearing strategy and released them into the Snake and Clearwater rivers in 2006 as part of new research on dam passage experiences (i.e., transported from a dam, dam passage via bypass, dam passage via turbine intakes or spillways). The production rearing strategy involved accelerating growth at Lyons Ferry Hatchery, sometimes followed by a few weeks of acclimation at sites along the Snake and Clearwater rivers before release from May to June. Releasing production subyearlings has been suggested as a possible alternative for making inferences on the natural population if surrogate fish were not available. Smoltto-adult return rates
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
S.J. Payne; R. McCaffrey; R.W. King
2012-04-01
We evaluate horizontal Global Positioning System (GPS) velocities together with geologic, volcanic, and seismic data to interpret extension, shear, and contraction within the Snake River Plain and the Northern Basin and Range Province, U.S.A. We estimate horizontal surface velocities using GPS data collected at 385 sites from 1994 to 2009 and present an updated velocity field within the Stable North American Reference Frame (SNARF). Our results show an ENE-oriented extensional strain rate of 5.9 {+-} 0.7 x 10{sup -9} yr{sup -1} in the Centennial Tectonic belt and an E-oriented extensional strain rate of 6.2 {+-} 0.3 x 10{sup -9} yr{supmore » -1} in the Intermountain Seismic belt combined with the northern Great Basin. These extensional strain rates contrast with the regional north-south contraction of -2.6 {+-} 1.1 x 10{sup -9} yr{sup -1} calculated in the Snake River Plain and Owyhee-Oregon Plateau over a 125 x 650 km region. Tests that include dike-opening reveal that rapid extension by dike intrusion in volcanic rift zones does not occur in the Snake River Plain at present. This slow internal deformation in the Snake River Plain is in contrast to the rapidly-extending adjacent Basin and Range provinces and implies shear along boundaries of the Snake River Plain. We estimate right-lateral shear with slip rates of 0.5-1.5 mm/yr along the northwestern boundary adjacent to the Centennial Tectonic belt and left-lateral oblique extension with slip rates of <0.5 to 1.7 mm/yr along the southeastern boundary adjacent to the Intermountain Seismic belt. The fastest lateral shearing occurs near the Yellowstone Plateau where strike-slip focal mechanisms and faults with observed strike-slip components of motion are documented. The regional GPS velocity gradients are best fit by nearby poles of rotation for the Centennial Tectonic belt, Idaho batholith, Snake River Plain, Owyhee-Oregon Plateau, and central Oregon, indicating that clockwise rotation is driven by extension to
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1983-01-01
fisheries for salaonids such as kokanee ( Oncorhynchus nerka ) and catchable rainbow trout. Goodnight (1972) report- ed catch rates of 1.42 fish/angler... Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and steelhead trout (Salmo gairdneri) migrated to Shoshone Falls on the Snake River (PNRBC 1971). Construction of Swan Falls
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Garcia, A.P.; Bradbury, S.; Arnsberg, B.D.
2006-10-01
Redd counts are routinely used to document the spawning distribution of fall Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the Snake River basin upriver of Lower Granite Dam. The first reported redd counts were from aerial searches conducted intermittently between 1959 and 1978 (Irving and Bjornn 1981, Witty 1988; Groves and Chandler 1996)(Appendix 1). In 1986, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife began an annual monitoring program that, in addition to the Snake River, included aerial searches of the Grande Ronde River the first year (Seidel and Bugert 1987), and the Imnaha River in subsequent years (Seidel et al. 1988; Bugertmore » et al. 1989-1991; Mendel et al. 1992). The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Idaho Power Company began contributing to this effort in 1991 by increasing the number of aerial searches conducted each year and adding underwater searches in areas of the Snake River that were too deep to be searched from the air (Connor et al. 1993; Garcia et al. 1994a, 1994b, 1996-2005; Groves 1993; Groves and Chandler 1996). The Nez Perce Tribe added aerial searches in the Clearwater River basin beginning in 1988 (Arnsberg et. al 1992), and the Salmon River beginning in 1992. Currently searches are conducted cooperatively by the Nez Perce Tribe, Idaho Power Company, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Our objective for this report was to consolidate the findings from annual redd searches into a single document, containing detailed information about the searches from the most recent spawning season, and summary information from previous years. The work conducted in 2005 was funded by the Bonneville Power Administration and Idaho Power Company.« less
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Colón, Dylan P.; Bindeman, Ilya N.; Wotzlaw, Jörn-Frederik; Christiansen, Eric H.; Stern, Richard A.
2018-02-01
We present new high-precision CA-ID-TIMS and in situ U-Pb ages together with Hf and O isotopic analyses (analyses performed all on the same grains) from four tuffs from the 15-10 Ma Bruneau-Jarbidge center of the Snake River Plain and from three rhyolitic units from the Kimberly borehole in the neighboring 10-6 Ma Twin Falls volcanic center. We find significant intrasample diversity in zircon ages (ranges of up to 3 Myr) and in δ18O (ranges of up to 6‰) and ɛHf (ranges of up to 24 ɛ units) values. Zircon rims are also more homogeneous than the associated cores, and we show that zircon rim growth occurs faster than the resolution of in situ dating techniques. CA-ID-TIMS dating of a subset of zircon grains from the Twin Falls samples reveals complex crystallization histories spanning 104-106 years prior to some eruptions, suggesting that magma genesis was characterized by the cyclic remelting of buried volcanic rocks and intrusions associated with previous magmatic episodes. Age-dependent trends in zircon isotopic compositions show that rhyolite production in the Yellowstone hotspot track is driven by the mixing of mantle-derived melts (normal δ18O and ɛHf) and a combination of Precambrian basement rock (normal δ18O and ɛHf down to - 60) and shallow Mesozoic and Cenozoic age rocks, some of which are hydrothermally altered (to low δ18O values) by earlier stages of Snake River Plain magmatism. These crustal melts hybridize with juvenile basalts and rhyolites to produce the erupted rhyolites. We also observe that the Precambrian basement rock is only an important component in the erupted magmas in the first eruption at each caldera center, suggesting that the accumulation of new intrusions quickly builds an upper crustal intrusive body which is isolated from the Precambrian basement and evolves towards more isotopically juvenile and lower-δ18O compositions over time.
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Hockersmith, E.E.; Muir, W.D.; Smith, S.G.; Sandford, B.P.; Perry, R.W.; Adams, N.S.; Rondorf, D.W.
2003-01-01
A study was conducted to compare the travel times, detection probabilities, and survival of migrant hatchery-reared yearling chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha tagged with either gastrically or surgically implanted sham radio tags (with an imbedded passive integrated transponder [PIT] tag) with those of their cohorts tagged only with PIT tags in the Snake and Columbia rivers. Juvenile chinook salmon with gastrically implanted radio tags migrated significantly faster than either surgically radio-tagged or PIT-tagged fish, while migration rates were similar among surgically radio-tagged and PIT-tagged fish. The probabilities of PIT tag detection at downstream dams varied by less than 5% and were not significantly different among the three groups. Survival was similar among treatments for median travel times of less than approximately 6 d (migration distance of 106 km). However, for both gastrically and surgically radio-tagged fish, survival was significantly less than for PIT-tagged fish, for which median travel times exceeded approximately 10 d (migration distance of 225 km). The results of this study support the use of radio tags to estimate the survival of juvenile chinook salmon having a median fork length of approximately 150 mm (range, 127-285 mm) and a median travel time of migration of less than approximately 6 d.
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John G. Himes; Laurence M. Hardy; D. Craig Rudolph; Shirley J. Burgdorf
2006-01-01
The Louisiana pine snake, Pituophis ruthveni, is an uncommon and poorly known snake that currently lacks federal protection. To learn more about the natural history of P. ruthveni, ten adults and one juvenile were studied by radiotelemetry during 1995-97 in north-central Louisiana. In addition, one adult and seven juvenile captive-...
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Kock, Tobias J.; Henning, Julie A.; Liedtke, Theresa L.; Royer, Ida M.; Ekstrom, Brian K.; Rondorf, Dennis W.
2011-01-01
Formerly landlocked Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) juveniles (age 2) were monitored following release into the free-flowing Cowlitz River to determine if they remained in the river or resumed seaward migration. Juvenile Coho Salmon were tagged with a radio transmitter (30 fish) or Floy tag (1050 fish) and their behavior was monitored in the lower Cowlitz River. We found that 97% of the radio-tagged fish remained in the Cowlitz River beyond the juvenile outmigration period, and the number of fish dispersing downstream decreased with increasing distance from the release site. None of the tagged fish returned as spawning adults in the 2 y following release. We suspect that fish in our study failed to migrate because they exceeded a threshold in size, age, or physiological status. Tagged fish in our study primarily remained in the Cowlitz River, thus it is possible that these fish presented challenges to juvenile salmon migrating through the system either directly by predation or indirectly by competition for food or habitat. Given these findings, returning formerly landlocked Coho Salmon juveniles to the free-flowing river apparently provided no benefit to the anadromous population. These findings have management implications in locations where landlocked salmon have the potential to interact with anadromous species of concern.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Garcia, Aaron P.; Bradbury, S.M.; Arnsberg, Billy D.
2003-09-01
Redd counts were used to document the spawning distribution of fall chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the Snake River basin upriver of Lower Granite Dam. The first reported redd counts were from aerial searches conducted intermittently between 1959 and 1978 (Irving and Bjornn 1981, Witty 1988; Groves and Chandler 1996)(Appendix 1). In 1986, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife began an annual monitoring program that, in addition to the Snake River, included aerial searches of the Grande Ronde River the first year (Seidel and Bugert 1987), and the Imnaha River in subsequent years (Seidel et al. 1988; Bugert etmore » al. 1989-1991; Mendel et al. 1992). The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Idaho Power Company began contributing to this effort in 1991 by increasing the number of aerial searches conducted each year and adding underwater searches in areas of the Snake River that were too deep to be searched from the air (Connor et al. 1993; Garcia et al. 1994a, 1994b, 1996-2001; Groves 1993; Groves and Chandler 1996). The Nez Perce Tribe added aerial searches in the Clearwater River basin beginning in 1988 (Arnsberg et. al 1992) and the Salmon River beginning in 1992. Currently searches are conducted cooperatively by the Nez Perce Tribe, Idaho Power Company, and U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Our objective for this report was to consolidate the findings from annual redd searches into a single document containing detailed information about the searches from the most recent spawning season, and summary information from previous years. The work conducted in 2002 was funded by the Bonneville Power Administration (Projects 1998-01-003 and 1994-03-400) and the Idaho Power Company.« less
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Garcia, A.P.; Bradbury, S.; Arnsberg, B.D.
2008-11-25
Redd counts are routinely used to document the spawning distribution of fall Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the Snake River basin upriver of Lower Granite Dam. The first reported redd counts were from aerial searches conducted intermittently between 1959 and 1978 (Irving and Bjornn 1981, Witty 1988; Groves and Chandler 1996)(Appendix 1). In 1986, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife began an annual monitoring program that, in addition to the Snake River, included aerial searches of the Grande Ronde River the first year (Seidel and Bugert 1987), and the Imnaha River in subsequent years (Seidel et al. 1988; Bugertmore » et al. 1989-1991; Mendel et al. 1992). The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Idaho Power Company began contributing to this effort in 1991 by increasing the number of aerial searches conducted each year and adding underwater searches in areas of the Snake River that were too deep to be searched from the air (Connor et al. 1993; Garcia et al. 1994a, 1994b, 1996-2007; Groves 1993; Groves and Chandler 1996). The Nez Perce Tribe added aerial searches in the Clearwater River basin beginning in 1988 (Arnsberg et. al 1992), and the Salmon River beginning in 1992. Currently searches are conducted cooperatively by the Nez Perce Tribe, Idaho Power Company, and U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Our objective for this report was to consolidate the findings from annual redd searches counted upstream of Lower Granite Dam into a single document, containing detailed information about the searches from the most recent spawning season, and summary information from previous years. The work conducted in 2007 was funded by the Bonneville Power Administration and Idaho Power Company.« less
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Garcia, A.P.; Bradbury, S.M.; Arnsberg, B.D.
2004-08-01
Redd counts were used to document the spawning distribution of fall chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the Snake River basin upriver of Lower Granite Dam. The first reported redd counts were from aerial searches conducted intermittently between 1959 and 1978 (Irving and Bjornn 1981, Witty 1988; Groves and Chandler 1996)(Appendix 1). In 1986, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife began an annual monitoring program that, in addition to the Snake River, included aerial searches of the Grande Ronde River the first year (Seidel and Bugert 1987), and the Imnaha River in subsequent years (Seidel et al. 1988; Bugert etmore » al. 1989-1991; Mendel et al. 1992). The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Idaho Power Company began contributing to this effort in 1991 by increasing the number of aerial searches conducted each year and adding underwater searches in areas of the Snake River that were too deep to be searched from the air (Connor et al. 1993; Garcia et al. 1994a, 1994b, 1996-2003; Groves 1993; Groves and Chandler 1996). The Nez Perce Tribe added aerial searches in the Clearwater River basin beginning in 1988 (Arnsberg et. al 1992) and the Salmon River beginning in 1992. Currently searches are conducted cooperatively by the Nez Perce Tribe, Idaho Power Company, and U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Our objective for this report was to consolidate the findings from annual redd searches into a single document containing detailed information about the searches from the most recent spawning season, and summary information from previous years. The work conducted in 2003 was funded by the Bonneville Power Administration (Projects 199801003, 199801004, 199403400, 198335003), Idaho Power Company, and Bureau of Land Management.« less
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Garcia, A.P.; Bradbury, S.; Arnsberg, B.D.
2005-10-01
Redd counts were used to document the spawning distribution of fall Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the Snake River basin upriver of Lower Granite Dam. The first reported redd counts were from aerial searches conducted intermittently between 1959 and 1978 (Irving and Bjornn 1981, Witty 1988; Groves and Chandler 1996)(Appendix 1). In 1986, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife began an annual monitoring program that, in addition to the Snake River, included aerial searches of the Grande Ronde River the first year (Seidel and Bugert 1987), and the Imnaha River in subsequent years (Seidel et al. 1988; Bugert etmore » al. 1989-1991; Mendel et al. 1992). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Idaho Power Company began contributing to this effort in 1991 by increasing the number of aerial searches conducted each year and adding underwater searches in areas of the Snake River that were too deep to be searched from the air (Connor et al. 1993; Garcia et al. 1994a, 1994b, 1996-2004; Groves 1993; Groves and Chandler 1996). The Nez Perce Tribe added aerial searches in the Clearwater River basin beginning in 1988 (Arnsberg et. al 1992), and the Salmon River beginning in 1992. Currently searches are conducted cooperatively by the Nez Perce Tribe, Idaho Power Company, and U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Our objective for this report was to consolidate the findings from annual redd searches into a single document, containing detailed information about the searches from the most recent spawning season, and summary information from previous years. The work conducted in 2004 was funded by the Bonneville Power Administration, Idaho Power Company, and Bureau of Land Management.« less
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Habitat associations of juvenile Burbot in a tributary of the Kootenai River
Beard, Zachary S.; Quist, Michael C.; Hardy, Ryan S.; Ross, Tyler J.
2017-01-01
Burbot Lota lota in the lower Kootenai River, Idaho, have been the focus of extensive conservation efforts, particularly conservation aquaculture. One of the primary management strategies has been the release of Burbot into small tributaries in the Kootenai River basin, such as Deep Creek. Since 2012, approximately 12,000 juvenile Burbot have been stocked into Deep Creek; however, little is known about the habitat use of stocked Burbot. The objective of this study was to evaluate habitat associations of juvenile Burbot in Deep Creek. Fish and habitat were sampled from 58 reaches of the creek. Regression models suggested that Burbot moved little after stocking and were associated with areas of high mean depth and coarse substrate. This study provides additional knowledge on habitat associations of juvenile Burbot and suggests that managers should consider selecting deep habitats with coarse substrate for stocking locations.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
McMichael, Geoffrey A.; Harnish, Ryan A.; Skalski, John R.
Uncertainty regarding the migratory behavior and survival of juvenile salmonids passing through the lower Columbia River and estuary after negotiating dams on the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) prompted the development and application of the Juvenile Salmon Acoustic Telemetry System (JSATS). The JSATS has been used to investigate the survival of juvenile salmonid smolts between Bonneville Dam (river kilometer (rkm) 236) and the mouth of the Columbia River annually since 2004. In 2010, a total of 12,214 juvenile salmonids were implanted with both a passive integrated transponder (PIT) and a JSATS acoustic transmitter. Using detection information from JSATS receivermore » arrays deployed on dams and in the river, estuary, and plume, the survival probability of yearling Chinook salmon and steelhead smolts tagged at John Day Dam was estimated form multiple reaches between rkm 153 and 8.3 during the spring. During summer, the survival probability of subyearling Chinook salmon was estimated for the same reaches. In addition, the influence of routes of passage (e.g., surface spill, deep spill, turbine, juvenile bypass system) through the lower three dams on the Columbia River (John Day, The Dalles, and Bonneville) on juvenile salmonid smolt survival probability from the dams to rkm 153 and then between rkm 153 and 8.3 was examined to increase understanding of the immediate and latent effects of dam passage on juvenile salmon survival. Similar to previous findings, survival probability was relatively high (>0.95) for most groups of juvenile salmonids from the Bonneville Dam tailrace to about rkm 50. Downstream of rkm 50 the survival probability of all species and run types we examined decreased markedly. Steelhead smolts suffered the highest mortality in this lower portion of the Columbia River estuary, with only an estimated 60% of the tagged fish surviving to the mouth of the river. In contrast, yearling and subyearling Chinook salmon smolts survived to
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Bromus tectorum expansion and biodiversity loss on the Snake River Plain, southern Idaho, USA
N. L. Shaw; V. A. Saab; S. B. Monsen; T. D. Rich
1999-01-01
The Snake River Plain forms a 6 million ha arc-shaped depression across southern Idaho. Basalt flows, fresh water sediments, loess and volcanic deposits cover its surface. Elevation increases eastward from 650 to 2,150 m altitude. Climate is semi-arid with annual precipitation ranging from 150 to 400 mm, arriving primarily in winter and spring. Native shrub steppe...
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Nature Naturally, 1983
1983-01-01
Designed for students in grades 4-6, the teaching unit presents illustrations and facts about snakes. Topics include common snakes found in the United States, how snakes eat, how snakes shed their skin, poisonous snakes, the Eastern Indigo snake, and the anatomy of a snake. A student page includes a crossword puzzle and surprising snake facts. A…
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Donato, Mary M.
2000-01-01
As ground water continues to provide an ever-growing proportion of Idaho?s drinking water, concerns about the quality of that resource are increasing. Pesticides (most commonly, atrazine/desethyl-atrazine, hereafter referred to as atrazine) and nitrite plus nitrate as nitrogen (hereafter referred to as nitrate) have been detected in many aquifers in the State. To provide a sound hydrogeologic basis for atrazine and nitrate management in southern Idaho—the largest region of land and water use in the State—the U.S. Geological Survey produced maps showing the probability of detecting these contaminants in ground water in the upper Snake River Basin (published in a 1998 report) and the western Snake River Plain (published in this report). The atrazine probability map for the western Snake River Plain was constructed by overlaying ground-water quality data with hydrogeologic and anthropogenic data in a geographic information system (GIS). A data set was produced in which each well had corresponding information on land use, geology, precipitation, soil characteristics, regional depth to ground water, well depth, water level, and atrazine use. These data were analyzed by logistic regression using a statistical software package. Several preliminary multivariate models were developed and those that best predicted the detection of atrazine were selected. The multivariate models then were entered into a GIS and the probability maps were produced. Land use, precipitation, soil hydrologic group, and well depth were significantly correlated with atrazine detections in the western Snake River Plain. These variables also were important in the 1998 probability study of the upper Snake River Basin. The effectiveness of the probability models for atrazine might be improved if more detailed data were available for atrazine application. A preliminary atrazine probability map for the entire Snake River Plain in Idaho, based on a data set representing that region, also was produced
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Prey preferences and prey acceptance in juvenile Brown Treesnakes (Boiga irregularis)
Lardner, Bjorn; Savidge, Julie A.; Rodda, Gordon H.; Reed, Robert N.
2009-01-01
On the Pacific island of Guam, control of the invasive Brown Treesnake (Boiga irregularis) relies largely on methods that use mice as bait. Juvenile B. irregularis feed primarily on lizards and their eggs, but little is known about their prey preference. We conducted an experiment to investigate preferences for, and acceptance of, dead geckos, skinks, and neonatal mice, in juvenile B. irregularis ranging from 290 mm to ca. 700 mm snout-vent length (SVL). Snakes of all sizes showed a preference for geckos over skinks and neonatal mice. Geckos were the first prey chosen in 87% of 224 initial trials (56 snakes subjected to four trials each; 33% would be expected from a random choice). The smallest snakes had the most pronounced preference. Although many of the snakes accepted neonatal mice and/or skinks, some snakes of all sizes were reluctant to feed on anything but geckos, especially when well fed. We also addressed the hypothesis that repeated encounters with a particular prey type increase a snake's preference for that prey. Our study does not support this hypothesis. Our results suggest that control methods relying solely on rodent bait may be inefficient for targeting snakes < 700 mm SVL and that individual heterogeneity in prey preference may cause a significant part of this juvenile cohort to be completely refractory to capture with rodent bait, even if the bait is dead and small enough to be readily swallowed.
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Stream channel responses to streamflow diversion on small streams of the Snake River drainage, Idaho
Carolyn C. Bohn; John G. King
2000-01-01
The effects on channels of small, low-head seasonal water diversions in the Snake River drainage were investigated. Channels below small diversions were compared to the channels immediately above the same diversions to determine if differences in flow conveyance, substrate sediment size distribution, or streamside vegetation density were present. Estimates of flow...
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The Snake River Plain Volcanic Province: Insights from Project Hotspot
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Shervais, J. W.; Potter, K. E.; Hanan, B. B.; Jean, M. M.; Duncan, R. A.; Champion, D. E.; Vetter, S.; Glen, J. M. G.; Christiansen, E. H.; Miggins, D. P.; Nielson, D. L.
2017-12-01
The Snake River Plain (SRP) Volcanic Province is the best modern example of a time-transgressive hotspot track beneath continental crust. The SRP began 17 Ma with massive eruptions of Columbia River basalt and rhyolite. After 12 Ma volcanism progressed towards Yellowstone, with early rhyolite overlain by basalts that may exceed 2 km thick. The early rhyolites are anorogenic with dry phenocryst assemblages and eruption temperatures up to 950C. Tholeiitic basalts have major and trace element compositions similar to ocean island basalts (OIB). Project Hotspot cored three deep holes in the central and western Snake River Plain: Kimama (mostly basalt), Kimberly (mostly rhyolite), and Mountain Home (lake sediments and basaslt). The Kimberly core documents rhyolite ash flows up to 700 m thick, possibly filling a caldera or sag. Chemical stratigraphy in Kimama and other basalt cores document fractional crystallization in relatively shallow magma chambers with episodic magma recharge. Age-depth relations in the Kimama core suggest accumulation rates of roughly 305 m/Ma. Surface and subsurface basalt flows show systematic variations in Sr-Nd-Pb isotopes with distance from Yellowstone interpreted to reflect changes in the proportion of plume source and the underlying heterogeneous cratonic lithosphere, which varies in age, composition, and thickness from west to east. Sr-Nd-Pb isotopes suggest <5% lithospheric input into a system dominated by OIB-like plume-derived basalts. A major flare-up of basaltic volcanism occurred 75-780 ka throughout the entire SRP, from Yellowstone in the east to Boise in the west. The youngest western SRP basalts are transitional alkali basalts that range in age from circa 900 ka to 2 ka, with trace element and isotopic compositions similar to the plume component of Hawaiian basalts. These observations suggest that ancient SCLM was replaced by plume mantle after the North America passed over the hotspot in the western SRP, which triggered renewed
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Murphy, James M.; Howard, Kathrine G.; Gann, Jeanette C.; Cieciel, Kristin C.; Templin, William D.; Guthrie, Charles M.
2017-01-01
Juvenile Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) abundance in the northern Bering Sea is used to provide insight into future returns and fisheries in the Yukon River. The status of Yukon River Chinook Salmon is of concern due to recent production declines and subsequent closures of commercial, sport, and personal use fisheries, and severe restrictions on subsistence fisheries in the Yukon River. Surface trawl catch data, mixed layer depth adjustments, and genetic stock mixtures are used to estimate juvenile abundance for the Canadian-origin stock group from the Yukon River. Abundance ranged from a low of 0.62 million in 2012 to a high of 2.58 million in 2013 with an overall average of 1.5 million from 2003 to 2015. Although abundance estimates indicate that average survival is relatively low (average of 5.2%), juvenile abundance was significantly correlated (r=0.87, p=0.005) with adult returns, indicating that much of the variability in survival occurs during early life-history stages (freshwater and initial marine). Juvenile abundance in the northern Bering Sea has increased since 2013 due to an increase in early life-history survival (average juveniles-per-spawner increased from 29 to 59). The increase in juvenile abundance is projected to produce larger runs and increased subsistence fishing opportunities for Chinook Salmon in the Yukon River as early as 2016.
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Hoyt, William Glenn
1925-01-01
Thousands of people are familiar with that part of Snake River where it flows for more than 300 miles in a general westward course across the plains of southern Idaho, but few have traversed the river where it flows northward and for 200 miles forms the boundary between Idaho and Oregon and for 30 miles the boundary between Idaho and Washington. Below the mining town of Homestead, Oreg., which is the end of a branch line of the Oregon Short Line Railroad, Snake River finds its way through the mountain ranges that seem to block its way to Columbia River in a canyon which, though not so well known, so majestic, nor so kaleidoscopic in color, is in some respects worthy of comparison with the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, for at some places it is deeper and narrower than the Grand Canyon at El Tovar. The Snake, unlike the Colorado, can be reached at many points through the valleys of tributary streams, and the early prospectors no doubt thoroughly explored all parts of the canyon. To traverse the river between Homestead, Oreg., and Lewiston, Idaho, is, however, a difficult undertaking and there are only a few records of boat journeys through the entire stretch. It has long been known that this portion of Snake River contains large potential water powers, but until recently no detailed surveys or examinations covering the entire stretch of the river had been made to determine their location or extent. A railroad has been proposed between Homestead and Lewiston which would provide a direct connection between the railroad systems of northern and southern Idaho. One function of the Geological Survey is to determine the possible interface between transportation routes on land and potential water-power development, and the information set forth in this paper has a bearing on that problem.
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Theobald, P.K.; Lakin, H.W.; Hawkins, D.B.
1963-01-01
The oxidation of disseminated pyrite in relatively acid schists and gneisses of the Snake River drainage basin provides abundant iron sulfate and sulfuric acid to ground and surface water. This acid water dissolves large quantities of many elements, particularly aluminum and surprisingly large quantities of elements, such as magnesium and zinc, not expected to be abundant in the drainage basin. The adjoining drainage to the west, Deer Creek, is underlain by basic rocks, from which the water inherits a high pH. Despite the presence of base- and precious- metal veins in the drainage basin of Deer Creek, it carries less metal than the Snake River. The principal precipitate on the bed of the Snake River is hydrated iron oxide with small quantities of the other metals. In Deer Creek manganese oxide is precipitated with iron oxide and large quantities of other metals are carried down with this precipitate. Below the junction of these streams the pH stabilizes at a near-neutral value. Iron is removed from the Snake River water at the junction, and aluminum is precipitated for some distance downstream. The aluminum precipitate carries down other metals in concentrations slightly less than that in the manganese precipitate on Deer Creek. The natural processes observed in this junction if carried to a larger scale could provide the mechanism described by Ansheles (1927) for the formation of bauxite. In the environment described, geochemical exploration by either water or stream sediment techniques is difficult because of (1) the extreme pH differential between the streams above their junction and (2) the difference in the precipitates formed on the streambeds. ?? 1963.
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John G. Himes; Laurence M. Hardy; D. Craig Rudolph; Shirley J. Burgdorf
2006-01-01
The thermal ecology of the Louisiana pine snake, Pituophis ruthveni, was studied from 1993-97 in Louisiana and Texas. All snakes were implanted with temperature-sensitive radiotransmitters. Temperatures were recorded from snakes located above ground and underground and were compared between size and sex classes (juveniles, adult males, adult females). Associated air...
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Plummer, Niel; Rupert, M.G.; Busenberg, E.; Schlosser, P.
2000-01-01
Stable isotope data (2H and 18O) were used in conjunction with chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) and tritium/helium-3 (3H/3He) data to determine the fraction and age of irrigation water in ground water mixtures from farmed parts of the Eastern Snake River Plain (ESRP) Aquifer in south-central Idaho. Two groups of waters were recognized: (1) regional background water, unaffected by irrigation and fertilizer application, and (2) mixtures of irrigation water from the Snake River with regional background water. New data are presented comparing CFC and 3H/3He dating of water recharged through deep fractured basalt, and dating of young fractions in ground water mixtures. The 3H/3He ages of irrigation water in most mixtures ranged from about zero to eight years. The CFC ages of irrigation water in mixtures ranged from values near those based on 3H/3He dating to values biased older than the 3H/3He ages by as much as eight to 10 years. Unsaturated zone air had CFC-12 and CFC-113 concentrations that were 60% to 95%, and 50% to 90%, respectively, of modern air concentrations and were consistently contaminated with CFC-11. Irrigation water diverted from the Snake River was contaminated with CFC-11 but near solubility equilibrium with CFC-12 and CFC-113. The dating indicates ground water velocities of 5 to 8 m/d for water along the top of the ESRP Aquifer near the southwestern boundary of the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). Many of the regional background waters contain excess terrigenic helium with a 3He/4He isotope ratio of 7 x 10-6 to 11 x 10-6 (R/Ra = 5 to 8) and could not be dated. Ratios of CFC data indicate that some rangeland water may contain as much as 5% to 30% young water (ages of less than or equal to two to 11.5 years) mixed with old regional background water. The relatively low residence times of ground water in irrigated parts of the ESRP Aquifer and the dilution with low-NO3 irrigation water from the Snake River lower the potential for
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Ward, David L.; Kern, J. Chris; Hughes, Michele L.
2004-02-01
We report on our progress from April 2002 through March 2003 on determining the effects of mitigative measures on productivity of white sturgeon populations in the Columbia River downstream from McNary Dam, and on determining the status and habitat requirements of white sturgeon populations in the Columbia and Snake rivers upstream from McNary Dam.
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Summary of Survival Data from Juvenile Coho Salmon in the Klamath River, Northern California, 2006
Beeman, John W.
2007-01-01
Little is known about the survival of ESA-listed juvenile coho salmon during their seaward migration in the lower Klamath River. In 2006, the Bureau of Reclamation funded a study to estimate the survival of radio-tagged juvenile coho salmon in the Klamath River downstream of Iron Gate Dam. A series of models were evaluated to determine if survival varied between hatchery and wild fish and among several river reaches between the dam river kilometer 33, a total distance of 276 kilometers. The results from 2006, the first year of study, indicated little support for differences in survival between hatchery and wild fish and lower survival in the most upstream reach than in those farther downstream. This document is a brief summary of survival results to date.
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R.W. Haynes; N.A. Bolon; D.T. Hormaechea
1992-01-01
Economic implications of critical habitat designation (CHD) for salmon in the Columbia River basin were estimated in advance of actual designation and recovery plan development. Economic impacts on Pacific, Northwest, Intermountain, and Northern Region National Forests' range, recreation, timber, and mineral programs in the Columbia and Snake River basins were...
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Snake River Sockeye Salmon Captive Broodstock Program; Research Element, 2002 Annual Report.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Willard, Catherine; Hebdon, J. Lance; Castillo, Jason
2004-06-01
On November 20, 1991, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration listed Snake River sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka as endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. In 1991, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes and Idaho Department of Fish and Game initiated the Snake River Sockeye Salmon Sawtooth Valley Project to conserve and rebuild populations in Idaho. Restoration efforts are focusing on Redfish, Pettit, and Alturas lakes within the Sawtooth Valley. The first release of hatchery-produced juvenile sockeye salmon from the captive broodstock program occurred in 1994. The first anadromous adult returns from the captive broodstock program were recorded in 1999 when six jacksmore » and one jill were captured at IDFG's Sawtooth Fish Hatchery. In 2002, progeny from the captive broodstock program were released using four strategies: age-0 presmolts were released to Alturas, Pettit, and Redfish lakes in August and to Pettit and Redfish lakes in October, age-1 smolts were released to Redfish Lake Creek in May, eyed-eggs were planted in Pettit Lake in December, and hatchery-produced and anadromous adult sockeye salmon were released to Redfish Lake for volitional spawning in September. Oncorhynchus nerka population monitoring was conducted on Redfish, Alturas, and Pettit lakes using a midwater trawl in September 2002. Age-0, age-1, and age-2 O. nerka were captured in Redfish Lake, and population abundance was estimated at 50,204 fish. Age-0, age-1, age-2, and age-3 kokanee were captured in Alturas Lake, and population abundance was estimated at 24,374 fish. Age-2 and age-3 O. nerka were captured in Pettit Lake, and population abundance was estimated at 18,328 fish. The ultimate goal of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) captive broodstock development and evaluation efforts is to recover sockeye salmon runs in Idaho waters. Recovery is defined as reestablishing sockeye salmon runs and providing for utilization of sockeye salmon and kokanee resources by
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Porter, Russell G.; Winther, Eric C.; Fox, Lyle G.
2003-03-01
This report presents results for year eleven in a basin-wide program to harvest northern pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus oregonensis). This program was started in an effort to reduce predation by northern pikeminnow on juvenile salmonids during their emigration from natal streams to the ocean. Earlier work in the Columbia River Basin suggested predation by northern pikeminnow on juvenile salmonids might account for most of the 10-20% mortality juvenile salmonids experience in each of eight Columbia River and Snake River reservoirs. Modeling simulations based on work in John Day Reservoir from 1982 through 1988 indicated that, if predator-size northern pikeminnow were exploited atmore » a 10-20% rate, the resulting restructuring of their population could reduce their predation on juvenile salmonids by 50%. To test this hypothesis, we implemented a sport-reward angling fishery and a commercial longline fishery in the John Day Pool in 1990. We also conducted an angling fishery in areas inaccessible to the public at four dams on the mainstem Columbia River and at Ice Harbor Dam on the Snake River. Based on the success of these limited efforts, we implemented three test fisheries on a system-wide scale in 1991--a tribal longline fishery above Bonneville Dam, a sport-reward fishery, and a dam-angling fishery. Low catch of target fish and high cost of implementation resulted in discontinuation of the tribal longline fishery. However, the sport-reward and dam-angling fisheries were continued in 1992 and 1993. In 1992, we investigated the feasibility of implementing a commercial longline fishery in the Columbia River below Bonneville Dam and found that implementation of this fishery was also infeasible.« less
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Magnitude and frequency of floods in the United States. Part 13. Snake River basin
Thomas, C.A.; Broom, H.C.; Cummans, J.E.
1963-01-01
The magnitude of a flood of any selected frequency up to 50 years for any site on any stream in the Snake River basin can be determined by methods outlined in this report, with some limitations. The methods are not applicable for regulated streams, for drainage basins smaller than 10 or larger than 5,000 square miles, for streams fed by large springs, or for streams that have flow characteristics materially different from the regional pattern. The magnitude of a flood for a selected frequency at a given site is determined by using the appropriate composite frequency curve and the mean annual flood for the given site. The mean annual flood is computed from either a formula or a nomograph in which drainage area, mean annual precipitation, and a geographic factor are used as independent variables. The standard error of estimate for the computation of mean annual floods is plus 17 percent and minus 15 percent.Nine flood-frequency regions (A-I) are defined. In all except regions B and I, frequency relations vary with the mean altitude of the basin as well as with the geographic location; therefore, families of curves are required for 7 of the 9 flood-frequency regions.The report includes a brief description of the physiography and climate of the Snake River basin to explain the reason for the large variation in mean annual floods, which range from zero to about 27 cubic feet per second per square mile.Composite frequency curves and formulas for computing mean annual floods are based on all suitable flood data collected in the Snake River basin. Tables show the data used to derive the formula. Following the analysis of data are station descriptions and lists of peak stages and discharges for 295 gaging stations at which 5 or more years of annual flood records were collected pr'or to Sept. 30, 1957. Many flood peak data are not usable in defining the frequency curves and deriving the formula because of large diversions and regulation upstream from the gaging stations.
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Graham, Carly F.; Martino, Jessica A.; Frasier, Timothy R.; Lance, Stacey L.; Gardiner, Laura E.; Poulin, Ray G.
2017-01-01
On the North American Great Plains, several snake species reach their northern range limit where they rely on sparsely distributed hibernacula located in major river valleys. Independent colonization histories for the river valleys and barriers to gene flow caused by the lack of suitable habitat between them may have produced genetically differentiated snake populations. To test this hypothesis, we used 10 microsatellite loci to examine the population structure of two species of conservation concern in Canada: the eastern yellow-bellied racer (Coluber constrictor flaviventris) and bullsnake (Pituophis catenifer sayi) in 3 major river valleys in southern Saskatchewan. Fixation indices (FST) showed that populations in river valleys were significantly differentiated for both species (racers, FST = 0.096, P = 0.001; bullsnakes FST = 0.045–0.157, P = 0.001). Bayesian assignment (STRUCTURE) and ordination (DAPC) strongly supported genetically differentiated groups in the geographically distinct river valleys. Finer-scale subdivision of populations within river valleys was not apparent based on our data, but is a topic that should be investigated further. Our findings highlight the importance of major river valleys for snakes at the northern extent of their ranges, and raise the possibility that populations in each river valley may warrant separate management strategies. PMID:29095863
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Somers, Christopher M; Graham, Carly F; Martino, Jessica A; Frasier, Timothy R; Lance, Stacey L; Gardiner, Laura E; Poulin, Ray G
2017-01-01
On the North American Great Plains, several snake species reach their northern range limit where they rely on sparsely distributed hibernacula located in major river valleys. Independent colonization histories for the river valleys and barriers to gene flow caused by the lack of suitable habitat between them may have produced genetically differentiated snake populations. To test this hypothesis, we used 10 microsatellite loci to examine the population structure of two species of conservation concern in Canada: the eastern yellow-bellied racer (Coluber constrictor flaviventris) and bullsnake (Pituophis catenifer sayi) in 3 major river valleys in southern Saskatchewan. Fixation indices (FST) showed that populations in river valleys were significantly differentiated for both species (racers, FST = 0.096, P = 0.001; bullsnakes FST = 0.045-0.157, P = 0.001). Bayesian assignment (STRUCTURE) and ordination (DAPC) strongly supported genetically differentiated groups in the geographically distinct river valleys. Finer-scale subdivision of populations within river valleys was not apparent based on our data, but is a topic that should be investigated further. Our findings highlight the importance of major river valleys for snakes at the northern extent of their ranges, and raise the possibility that populations in each river valley may warrant separate management strategies.
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Beeman, J.W.; Braatz, A.C.; Hansel, H.C.; Fielding, S.D.; Haner, P.V.; Hansen, G.S.; Shurtleff, D.J.; Sprando, J.M.; Rondorf, D.W.
2010-01-01
This report describes a study of dam passage and survival of radio-tagged juvenile salmonids after installation of a temporary spillway weir (TSW) at Little Goose Dam, Washington, in 2009. The purpose of the study was to document fish passage and survival when the dam was operated with the TSW in place. Spillway weirs are one of several methods used to improve downstream passage of juvenile salmonids. Each spillway weir design is based on the concept of providing an overflow weir with a depth more similar to the natural migration depth of juvenile salmonids than conventional spill bays. Little Goose Dam was the last of the four lower Snake River dams to have a spillway weir installed. This was the first year that some form of surface passage device was operating at all Snake River and Columbia River dams between Lewiston, Idaho, and the Columbia River estuary. The study design stipulated that a total of 30 percent of the river discharge would continuously be passed over the TSW and the conventional spill bays, and this percentage was achieved. The TSW also was to be operated at the 'low crest' elevation during the spring and the 'high crest' elevation during the summer, but the TSW was only operated at the low crest elevation during this study. Behavior, passage, and survival of spring and summer juvenile salmonid migrants passing through Little Goose Dam were examined using radio telemetry. Survival was estimated using the Route Specific Survival Model (RSSM) by releasing tagged fish near Central Ferry State Park 21 kilometers upstream of the dam and in the tailrace approximately 0.5 kilometer downstream of the dam. From April 18 to May 21, 2009, 1,520 yearling Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and 1,517 juvenile steelhead (O. mykiss) were radio tagged and released. From June 6 to July 5, 2009, 4,251 subyearling Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha) were radio tagged and released. Release dates of subyearling Chinook salmon were selected to avoid 'reservoir
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Billman, E.J.; Whitman, L.D.; Schroeder, R.K.; Sharpe, C.S.; Noakes, David L. G.; Schreck, Carl B.
2014-01-01
Body morphology of juvenile Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha in the upper Willamette River, Oregon, U.S.A., was analysed to determine if variation in body shape is correlated with migratory life-history tactics followed by juveniles. Body shape was compared between migrating juveniles that expressed different life-history tactics, i.e. autumn migrants and yearling smolts, and among parr sampled at three sites along a longitudinal river gradient. In the upper Willamette River, the expression of life-history tactics is associated with where juveniles rear in the basin with fish rearing in downstream locations generally completing ocean ward migrations earlier in life than fish rearing in upstream locations. The morphological differences that were apparent between autumn migrants and yearling smolts were similar to differences between parr rearing in downstream and upstream reaches, indicating that body morphology is correlated with life-history tactics. Autumn migrants and parr from downstream sampling sites had deeper bodies, shorter heads and deeper caudal peduncles compared with yearling smolts and parr from the upstream sampling site. This study did not distinguish between genetic and environmental effects on morphology; however, the results suggest that downstream movement of juveniles soon after emergence is associated with differentiation in morphology and with the expression of life-history variation.
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Climate Change Impacts on Stream Temperatures in the Columbia River System
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Yearsley, J. R.; Crozier, L.
2014-12-01
The Columbia River system, a drainage basin of 668,000 sq. km that includes the Columbia and Snake River rivers, supports a large population of anadromous, cold-water fishes. 13 species of these fishes are listed under the Endangered Species Act and are vulnerable to impacts of climate change. Bioenergetics models for these species have been developed by the federal agencies that operate the Federal Columbia River Power System. These models simulate the impacts on anadromous fishes as they move through the power system both upstream as adults and downstream as juveniles. Water temperature simulations required for input to the bioenergetics models were made for two different segments of the Columbia River system; one being the portions from the Canadian border to Bonneville Dam and the Snake River from Brownlee Dam in Idaho to its confluence and the other, the Salmon River basin in Idaho. Simulations were performed for the period 1928-1998 with the semi-Lagrangian stream temperature model, RBM, for existing conditions and for a two 2040 climate scenarios, a cool, dry condition (ECHO_g model) and a warm, wet condition (MIROC_3.2 model). Natural flows were simulated with the variable infiltration capacity model, VIC, and modified for Columbia River project operations using HYDSIM, a hydro system regulation model that simulates month-to-month operation of the Pacific Northwest hydropower system.
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Tiffan, K.F.; Connor, W.P.
2011-01-01
We used body morphology to distinguish between natural- and hatchery-origin subyearling fall Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha in rearing areas of the Snake River and at a downstream dam during seaward migration. Using subjective eye and body shape characteristics, field personnel correctly classified 88.9–100% of natural subyearlings (N = 626) and 90.0–100% of hatchery subyearlings (N = 867) in rearing areas from 2001 to 2008. The morphological characteristics used by these personnel proved to have a quantitative basis, as was shown by digital photography and principal components analysis. Natural subyearlings had smaller eyes and pupils, smaller heads, deeper bodies, and shorter caudal peduncles than their hatchery counterparts during rearing and at the dam. A discriminant function fitted from this set of morphological characteristics classified the origin of fish during rearing and at the dam with over 97% accuracy. We hypothesize that these morphological differences were primarily due to environmental influences during incubation and rearing because it is highly probable that a large portion of the natural juveniles we studied were the offspring of hatchery × hatchery mating in the wild. The findings in this paper might provide guidance for others seeking to differentiate between natural and hatchery fish.
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Trested, D.G.; Chan, Matthew D.; Bridges, W.C.; Isely, J.J.
2011-01-01
Long-term restoration efforts for lake sturgeon Acipenser fulvescens populations will benefit from better understanding of this species' movements and habitat use in riverine systems. Radio transmitters were implanted in both juvenile and adult lake sturgeon in the Grasse River, New York, and individuals were relocated over a 2-year period. Adult lake sturgeon demonstrated greater minimum daily distance moved, absolute distance moved, and mean home range size than juvenile lake sturgeon during the spring. During the course of the study, both adult and juvenile lake sturgeon exhibited movements upstream and downstream through a breached low-head weir, and individuals did not necessarily remain resident on an annual basis in the Grasse River. Mesohabitat and substrate use patterns were determined based on comparisons of frequency distributions for relocated lake sturgeon and quantified mesohabitat and substrate over a 15-km river reach. Lake sturgeon used pool mesohabitat and limited their use of run mesohabitat under both low- and mid-flow conditions. During most of the year, adult and juvenile lake sturgeon were detected over silt substrate. This study illustrates behavioral differences and similarities between the movements and habitat use of adult and juvenile lake sturgeon in a riverine system.
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Gravity survey in part of the Snake River Plain, Idaho - a preliminary report
Baldwin, Harry L.; Hill, David P.
1960-01-01
During the early summer of 1959, a total of 1,187 gravity stations were occupied on the western part of the Snake River plain in Idaho. An area of 2,000 square miles extending from Glenns Ferry, Idaho, to Caldwell, Idaho, was covered with a station density of one station per two square miles. An additional 1,200 square miles of surrounding area, mainly from Caldwell, Idaho, to the Oregon-Idaho state line, was covered with a density of one station per seven square miles. The mean reproducibility of the observed gravities of these stations was 0.05 milligal, with a maximum discrepancy of 0.2 milligal. Gravity data were reduced to simple Bouguer values using a combined free-air and Bouguer correction of 0.06 milligal per foot. The only anomalies found with closure in excess of 10 milligals are two elongated highs, orientated northwest-southeast, with the northwestern high offset to the northeast by 10 miles. The smaller of these highs extends from Meridian, Idaho, to Nyssa, Oregon, and the larger extends from Swan Falls, Idaho, to Glenns Ferry, Idaho. The maximum value recorded is a simple Bouguer value of -66.5 milligals with respect to the International Ellipsoid. Gradients on the sides of these highs are largest on the northeast sides, reaching six milligals per mile in places. Graticule interpretations of a profile across the southeastern high using a density contrast of 0.3 gm per cubic centimeter indicate an accumulation of lava reaching a thickness of at least 28,000 feet. The Snake River investigation was made for the purpose of searching out, defining, and interpreting gravity anomalies present on the western part of the Snake River lava plain in Idaho. In particular, it was desired to further define gradients associated with the gravity high shown by the regional work of Bonini and Lavin (1957). It was not planned to cover any specific area, but rather to let the observed anomalies determine the course of the field work. The study was undertaken as part of a
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Rakowski, Cynthia L.; Serkowski, John A.; Richmond, Marshall C.
2010-12-01
Although fisheries biology studies are frequently performed at US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) projects along the Columbia and Snake Rivers, there is currently no consistent definition of the ``forebay'' and ``tailrace'' regions for these studies. At this time, each study may use somewhat arbitrary lines (e.g., the Boat Restriction Zone) to define the upstream and downstream limits of the study, which may be significantly different at each project. Fisheries researchers are interested in establishing a consistent definition of project forebay and tailrace regions for the hydroelectric projects on the lower Columbia and Snake rivers. The Hydraulic Extent of amore » project was defined by USACE (Brad Eppard, USACE-CENWP) as follows: The river reach directly upstream (forebay) and downstream (tailrace) of a project that is influenced by the normal range of dam operations. Outside this reach, for a particular river discharge, changes in dam operations cannot be detected by hydraulic measurement. The purpose of this study was to, in consultation with USACE and regional representatives, develop and apply a consistent set of criteria for determining the hydraulic extent of each of the projects in the lower Columbia and Snake rivers. A 2D depth-averaged river model, MASS2, was applied to the Snake and Columbia Rivers. New computational meshes were developed most reaches and the underlying bathymetric data updated to the most current survey data. The computational meshes resolved each spillway bay and turbine unit at each project and extended from project to project. MASS2 was run for a range of total river flows and each flow for a range of project operations at each project. The modeled flow was analyzed to determine the range of velocity magnitude differences and the range of flow direction differences at each location in the computational mesh for each total river flow. Maps of the differences in flow direction and velocity magnitude were created. USACE fishery
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Kinematics of the Snake River Plain and Centennial Shear Zone, Idaho, from GPS and earthquatte data
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Payne, Suzette J.
occurring in the Snake River Plain. Alternatively, the preferred model reveals a low deforming region (-0.1 +/- 0.4 x 10-9 yr -1, which is not discernable from zero) covering 125 km x 650 km within the Snake River Plain and Owyhee-Oregon Plateau that is separated from the actively extending adjacent Basin and Range regions by narrow belts of localized shear. Velocities reveal rapid extension occurs to the north of the Snake River Plain in the Centennial Tectonic Belt (5.6 +/- 0.7 x 10 -9 yr-1) and to the south in the Intermountain Seismic Belt and Great Basin (3.5 +/- 0.2 x 10-9 yr-1). The "Centennial Shear Zone" is a NE-trending zone of up to 1.5 mm yr -1 of right-lateral shear and is the result of rapid extension in the Centennial Tectonic Belt adjacent to the low deforming region of the Snake River Plain. Variations of the preferred model that test the hypothesis of bookshelf faulting demonstrate shear does not drive Basin and Range extension in the Centennial Tectonic Belt. Instead, the velocity gradient across the Centennial Shear Zone indicates that shear is distributed and deformation is due to strike-slip faulting, distributed simple shear, regional-scale rotation, or any combination of these. Near the fastest rates of right-lateral slip, focal mechanisms are observed with strike-slip components of motion consistent with right-lateral shear. Here also, the segment boundary between two E-trending Basin and Range faults, which are oriented subparallel to the NE-trending shear zone, provides supporting Holocene to mid-Pleistocene geologic evidence for accommodation of right-lateral shear in the Centennial Shear Zone. The southernmost ends of NW-trending Basin and Range faults in the Centennial Tectonic Belt at their juncture with the eastern Snake River Plain could accommodate right-lateral shear through components of left-lateral oblique slip. Right-lateral shear may be accommodated by components of strike-slip motion on multiple NE-trending faults since geologic
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Summary of the Snake River plain Regional Aquifer-System Analysis in Idaho and eastern Oregon
Lindholm, G.F.
1996-01-01
Regional aquifers underlying the 15,600-square-mile Snake River Plain in southern Idaho and eastern Oregon was studied as part of the U.S. Geological Survey's Regional Aquifer-System Analysis program. The largest and most productive aquifers in the Snake River Plain are composed of Quaternary basalt of the Snake River Group, which underlies most of the 10,8000-square-mile eastern plain. Aquifer tests and simulation indicate that transmissivity of the upper 200 feet of the basalt aquifer in the eastern plain commonly ranges from about 100,000 to 1,000,000 feet squared per day. However, transmissivity of the total aquifer thickness may be as much as 10 million feet squared per day. Specific yield of the upper 200 feet of the aquifer ranges from about 0.01 to 0.20. Average horizontal hydraulic conductivity of the upper 200 feet of the basalt aquifer ranges from less than 100 to 9,000 feet per day. Values may be one to several orders of magnitude higher in parts in individual flows, such as flow tops. Vertical hydraulic conductivity is probably several orders of magnitude lower than horizontal hydraulic conductivity and is generally related to the number of joints. Pillow lava in ancestral Snake River channels has the highest hydraulic conductivity of all rock types. Hydraulic conductivity of the basalt decreases with depth because of secondary filling of voids with calcite and silica. An estimated 80 to 120 million acre-feet of water is believed to be stored in the upper 200 feet of the basalt aquifer in the eastern plain. The most productive aquifers in the 4,800-square-mile western plain are alluvial sand and gravel in the Boise River valley. Although aquifer tests indicate that transmissivity of alluvium in the Boise River valley ranges from 5,000 to 160,000 feet squared per day, simulation suggests that average transmissivity of the upper 500 feet is generally less than 20,000 feet squared per day. Vertically averaged horizontal hydraulic conductivity of the upper
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Cecil, L. DeWayne; Hall, L. Flint; Green, Jaromy R.
2003-01-01
Background concentrations of iodine-129 (129I, half-life = 15.7 million years) resulting from natural production in the earth?s atmosphere, in situ production in the earth by spontaneous fission of uranium-238(238U), and fallout from nuclear weapons tests conducted in the 1950s and 1960s were reevaluated on the basis of 52 analyses of ground- and surface-water samples collected from the eastern Snake River Plain in southeastern Idaho. The background concentration estimated using the results of a subset of 30 ground-water samples analyzed in this reevaluation is 5.4 attocuries per liter (aCi/L; 1 aCi = 10-18 curies) and the 95-percent nonparametric confidence interval is 5.2 to 10.0 aCi/L. In a previous study, a background 129I concentration was estimated on the basis of analyses of water samples from 16 sites on or tributary to the eastern Snake River Plain. At the 99-percent confidence level, background concentrations of 129I in that study were less than or equal to 8.2 aCi/L. During 1993?94, 34 water samples from 32 additional sites were analyzed for 129I to better establish the background concentrations in surface and ground water from the eastern Snake River Plain that is presumed to be unaffected by wastedisposal practices at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). Surface water contained larger 129I concentrations than water from springs and wells contained. Because surface water is more likely to be affected by anthropogenic fallout and evapotranspiration, background 129I concentrations were estimated in the current research using the laboratory results of ground-water samples that were assumed to be unaffected by INEEL disposal practices.
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Ecology of the Sand Roller (Percopsis transmontana) in a lower Snake River Reservoir, Washington
Tiffan, Kenneth F.; Erhardt, John M.; Rhodes, Tobyn N.; Hemingway, Rulon J.
2017-01-01
The Sand Roller (Percopsis transmontana), has not been abundant in the Snake River since it was first found in the system in the 1950s, but its population has apparently increased in recent years. As a result, we initiated a study to better understand its ecology in habitats of Lower Granite Reservoir. From November 2014 to October 2015, Sand Rollers were present along shorelines, with peak abundance being observed during spring months. Logistic regression analyses showed that Sand Rollers were more likely to be present in shoreline habitats at temperatures ≤18.4°C. Fish were found over a range of substrates, with the lowest odds of fish presence being associated with riprap, which is common in hydropower reservoirs. From length-frequency analysis, we suggest that Sand Roller spawning occurs primarily in May and early June. Assessment of Sand Roller diets found dipteran (chironomid) larvae and pupae were the most important prey consumed by all sizes of Sand Rollers, but Opossum Shrimp (Neomysis mercedis) were also prominent in diets of larger fish in shoreline and offshore habitats. At a time when the populations of so many native species are in decline, the increase of the Sand Roller population in the lower Snake River represents a positive, yet curious occurrence.
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Monitoring the Migrations of Wild Snake River Spring/Summer Chinook Salmon Juveniles, 2007-2008
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Achord, Stephen; Sandford, Benjamin P.; Hockersmith, Eric E.
2009-07-09
This report provides results from an ongoing project to monitor the migration behavior and survival of wild juvenile spring/summer Chinook salmon in the Snake River Basin. Data reported is from detections of PIT tagged fish during late summer 2007 through mid-2008. Fish were tagged in summer 2007 by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in Idaho and by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) in Oregon. Our analyses include migration behavior and estimated survival of fish at instream PIT-tag monitors and arrival timing and estimated survival to Lower Granite Dam. Principal results from tagging and interrogation during 2007-2008more » are: (1) In July and August 2007, we PIT tagged and released 7,390 wild Chinook salmon parr in 12 Idaho streams or sample areas. (2) Overall observed mortality from collection, handling, tagging, and after a 24-hour holding period was 1.4%. (3) Of the 2,524 Chinook salmon parr PIT tagged and released in Valley Creek in summer 2007, 218 (8.6%) were detected at two instream PIT-tag monitoring systems in lower Valley Creek from late summer 2007 to the following spring 2008. Of these, 71.6% were detected in late summer/fall, 11.9% in winter, and 16.5% in spring. Estimated parr-to-smolt survival to Lower Granite Dam was 15.5% for the late summer/fall group, 48.0% for the winter group, and 58.5% for the spring group. Based on detections at downstream dams, the overall efficiency of VC1 (upper) or VC2 (lower) Valley Creek monitors for detecting these fish was 21.1%. Using this VC1 or VC2 efficiency, an estimated 40.8% of all summer-tagged parr survived to move out of Valley Creek, and their estimated survival from that point to Lower Granite Dam was 26.5%. Overall estimated parr-to-smolt survival for all summer-tagged parr from this stream at the dam was 12.1%. Development and improvement of instream PIT-tag monitoring systems continued throughout 2007 and 2008. (4) Testing of PIT-tag antennas in lower Big Creek during 2007
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Li, Xinya; Deng, Zhiqun D; Brown, Richard S; Fu, Tao; Martinez, Jayson J; McMichael, Geoffrey A; Skalski, John R; Townsend, Richard L; Trumbo, Bradly A; Ahmann, Martin L; Renholds, Jon F
2015-01-01
Little is known about the three-dimensional depth distributions in rivers of individually marked fish that are in close proximity to hydropower facilities. Knowledge of the depth distributions of fish approaching dams can be used to understand how vulnerable fish are to injuries such as barotrauma as they pass through dams. To predict the possibility of barotrauma injury caused by pressure changes during turbine passage, it is necessary to understand fish behaviour relative to acclimation depth in dam forebays as they approach turbines. A guiding study was conducted using high-resolution three-dimensional tracking results of salmonids implanted with Juvenile Salmon Acoustic Telemetry System transmitters to investigate the depth distributions of subyearling and yearling Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and juvenile steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) passing two dams on the Snake River in Washington State. Multiple approaches were evaluated to describe the depth at which fish were acclimated, and statistical analyses were performed on large data sets extracted from ∼28 000 individually tagged fish during 2012 and 2013. Our study identified patterns of depth distributions of juvenile salmonids in forebays prior to passage through turbines or juvenile bypass systems. This research indicates that the median depth at which juvenile salmonids approached turbines ranged from 2.8 to 12.2 m, with the depths varying by species/life history, year, location (which dam) and diel period (between day and night). One of the most enlightening findings was the difference in dam passage associated with the diel period. The amount of time that turbine-passed fish spent in the immediate forebay prior to entering the powerhouse was much lower during the night than during the day. This research will allow scientists to understand turbine-passage survival better and enable them to assess more accurately the effects of dam passage on juvenile salmon survival.
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Li, Xinya; Deng, Zhiqun D.; Brown, Richard S.; Fu, Tao; Martinez, Jayson J.; McMichael, Geoffrey A.; Skalski, John R.; Townsend, Richard L.; Trumbo, Bradly A.; Ahmann, Martin L.; Renholds, Jon F.
2015-01-01
Little is known about the three-dimensional depth distributions in rivers of individually marked fish that are in close proximity to hydropower facilities. Knowledge of the depth distributions of fish approaching dams can be used to understand how vulnerable fish are to injuries such as barotrauma as they pass through dams. To predict the possibility of barotrauma injury caused by pressure changes during turbine passage, it is necessary to understand fish behaviour relative to acclimation depth in dam forebays as they approach turbines. A guiding study was conducted using high-resolution three-dimensional tracking results of salmonids implanted with Juvenile Salmon Acoustic Telemetry System transmitters to investigate the depth distributions of subyearling and yearling Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and juvenile steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) passing two dams on the Snake River in Washington State. Multiple approaches were evaluated to describe the depth at which fish were acclimated, and statistical analyses were performed on large data sets extracted from ∼28 000 individually tagged fish during 2012 and 2013. Our study identified patterns of depth distributions of juvenile salmonids in forebays prior to passage through turbines or juvenile bypass systems. This research indicates that the median depth at which juvenile salmonids approached turbines ranged from 2.8 to 12.2 m, with the depths varying by species/life history, year, location (which dam) and diel period (between day and night). One of the most enlightening findings was the difference in dam passage associated with the diel period. The amount of time that turbine-passed fish spent in the immediate forebay prior to entering the powerhouse was much lower during the night than during the day. This research will allow scientists to understand turbine-passage survival better and enable them to assess more accurately the effects of dam passage on juvenile salmon survival. PMID:27293685
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Oxygen and strontium isotopic studies of basaltic lavas from the Snake River plain, Idaho
Leeman, William P.; Whelan, Joseph F.
1983-01-01
The Snake Creek-Williams Canyon pluton of the southern Snake Range crops out over an area of about 30 km2, about 60 km southeast of Ely, Nev. This Jurassic intrusion displays large and systematic chemical and mineralogical zonation over a horizontal distance of 5 km. Major-element variations compare closely with Dalyls average andesite-dacite-rhyolite over an SiO2 range of 63 to 76 percent. For various reasons it was originally thought that assimilation played a dominant role in development of the Snake Creek-Williams Canyon pluton. However, based on modeling of more recently obtained trace element and isotopic data, we have concluded that the zonation is the result of in-situ fractional crystallization, with little assimilation at the level of crystallization. This report summarizes data available for each of the mineral species present in the zoned intrusion. Special attention has been paid to trends We present oxygen and strontium isotopic data for olivine tholeiites, evolved (that is, differentiated and (or) contaminated) lavas, rhyolites, and crustal- derived xenoliths from the Snake River Plain. These data show that the olivine tholeiites are fairly uniform in d80 (5.1 to 6.2) and 87Sr/86Sr (0.7056 to 0.7076) and reveal no correlation between these ratios. The tholeiites are considered representative of mantle-derived magmas that have not interacted significantly with crustal material or meteoric water. The evolved lavas display a wider range in d 80 (5.6 to 7.6) and 87Sr/86Sr (0.708 to 0.717) with positive correlations between these ratios in some suites but not in others. Crustal xenoliths have high and variable 8?Sr/86Sr (0.715 to 0.830) and d80 values that vary widely (6.7 to 9.2) and are a few permil greater than d80 values of the Snake River basalts. Thus, isotopic data for the evolved lavas are permissive of small degrees of contamination by crustal rocks similar to the most d80-depleted xenoliths. The d80 enrichments in some evolved lavas also are
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Design of Deflectors for Little Goose Spillway, Snake River, Oregon: A Physical Model Study
2017-06-01
model of the spillway. Four different deflector designs were compared relative to flow conditions in the stilling basin and tailrace area of the...performance in a 1:40-scale section model of the spillway. Four different deflector designs were compared relative to flow conditions in the stilling basin and...ER D C/ CH L TR -1 7- 10 Dissolved Gas Abatement Studies Design of Deflectors for Little Goose Spillway, Snake River, Oregon A
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Shively, Rip S.; Poe, Thomas P.; Sheer, Mindi B.; Peters, Rock
1996-01-01
Predation by northern squawfish (Ptychocheilus oregonensis) has been documented to be significant on emigrating juvenile salmonids near juvenile bypass outfalls at hydroelectric dams on the Columbia River. Criteria for siting juvenile fish bypass outfalls to reduce predation were developed using locational data from radio-tagged northern squawfish in The Dalles Dam trailrace, Columbia River. Radio transmitters were surgically implanted in 164 northern squawfish in 1993 and 1994, and their movements and distribution were monitored. Position estimates of northern squawfish were compared with data from a physical hydraulic model of the dam to estimate water velocities where northern squawfish were located. Eighty-two percent of northern squawfish position estimates were in water velocities ≤110 cm/s in 1993 and ≤90 cm/s in 1994. Fish locations were usually associated with water depths ≤10 m (84% in 1993 and 82% in 1994); 90% were within 110 m of the shore or dam structure in 1993, and 86% were within 80 m in 1994. In a related study at John Day Dam, Columbia River, where the juvenile bypass outfall is located 40 m from shore, water depth is 10 m and water velocities typically exceed 75 cm/s, only 13 of 1443 (0.9%) contacts on radio-tagged northern squawfish were located within 200 m of the bypass outfall. We recommend that new or modified juvenile bypass outfalls on the Columbia River be located in water velocities of ≥100 cm/s, ≥75 m from the shore or dam structure, and in water ≥10 m deep.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Link, Paul Karl; Fanning, C. Mark; Beranek, Luke P.
2005-12-01
Detrital-zircon age-spectra effectively define provenance in Holocene and Neogene fluvial sands from the Snake River system of the northern Rockies, U.S.A. SHRIMP U-Pb dates have been measured for forty-six samples (about 2700 zircon grains) of fluvial and aeolian sediment. The detrital-zircon age distributions are repeatable and demonstrate predictable longitudinal variation. By lumping multiple samples to attain populations of several hundred grains, we recognize distinctive, provenance-defining zircon-age distributions or "barcodes," for fluvial sedimentary systems of several scales, within the upper and middle Snake River system. Our detrital-zircon studies effectively define the geochronology of the northern Rocky Mountains. The composite detrital-zircon grain distribution of the middle Snake River consists of major populations of Neogene, Eocene, and Cretaceous magmatic grains plus intermediate and small grain populations of multiply recycled Grenville (˜950 to 1300 Ma) grains and Yavapai-Mazatzal province grains (˜1600 to 1800 Ma) recycled through the upper Belt Supergroup and Cretaceous sandstones. A wide range of older Paleoproterozoic and Archean grains are also present. The best-case scenario for using detrital-zircon populations to isolate provenance is when there is a point-source pluton with known age, that is only found in one location or drainage. We find three such zircon age-populations in fluvial sediments downstream from the point-source plutons: Ordovician in the southern Beaverhead Mountains, Jurassic in northern Nevada, and Oligocene in the Albion Mountains core complex of southern Idaho. Large detrital-zircon age-populations derived from regionally well-defined, magmatic or recycled sedimentary, sources also serve to delimit the provenance of Neogene fluvial systems. In the Snake River system, defining populations include those derived from Cretaceous Atlanta lobe of the Idaho batholith (80 to 100 Ma), Eocene Challis Volcanic Group and
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Mantle-lithosphere interaction beneath the Yellowstone-Snake River province
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
van Keken, P. E.; Lin, S.
2006-12-01
The Yellowstone-Snake River province (YSRP) is one the few currently active continental hotspot locations and the only one with a clear age progression from 16-17 Ma eruptions at the Oregon-Nevada border to the present day activity at in Western Wyoming. The province has a number of characteristics that are quite similar to oceanic hotspot regions, which include a topographic bulge and geoid anomaly. The initial silicic magmatism is contemporaneous with the Columbia River Basalts, but this would require significant northward transport of basalt from the hotspot track, which is potentially accommodated by lateral transport in the crust or by a sideways transport from more competent lithosphere to a weaker spot. We will present 3D models of plumes and plume heads interacting with the lithosphere for the YSRP following the approach of Lin et al. (2005). We are particularly interested in the role of the variable properties of the lithosphere and surface tectonics influence the magmatic emplacement. We investigate the type conditions under which we can generate the Columbia River Basalts as a part of a single Yellowstone plume rising below the western US. This provides important estimates of the original size of the plume head, the current buoyancy flux and the lateral transport of mantle below the lithosphere. S.C. Lin, B.Y. Kuo, L.Y. Chiao, P.E. van Keken, Thermal plume models and melt generation in East Africa: A dynamical modeling approach, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 237, 175-192, 2005.
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Wetzel, Lisa A.; Larsen, Kimberly A.; Parsley, Michael J.; Zimmerman, Christian E.
2011-01-01
American shad are native to the Atlantic coast of North America and were successfully introduced to the Pacific coast in the 1870s. They are now more abundant in the Columbia River than are its native salmon. As in their native range, Columbia River American shad are anadromous and have been assumed to solely exhibit an ‘ocean-type’ life history, characterized by a short period of juvenile rearing in freshwater, followed by seaward migration and saltwater entry before age-1, with sexually mature individuals returning to freshwater to spawn beginning at age-3. During October 2007, emigrating juvenile American shad were captured in the juvenile fish monitoring facility at Bonneville Dam (river kilometer 235) on the Columbia River. Their length frequencies revealed the presence of two modes; the lower mode averaged 77 mm fork length (FL) and the upper mode averaged 184 mm FL. A subsample of fish from each mode was aged using otoliths. Otoliths from the lower mode (n=10) had no annuli, indicating that they were all age-0, while otoliths from the upper mode (n=25) had one or two annuli, indicating that they were either age-1 or age-2, respectively. Spawning adults collected in June 2007 averaged 393 mm FL (range 305-460 mm; n=21) and were estimated to range in age from 3-6. Elemental analyses of juvenile and adult otoliths provide evidence for deviations from the typical migration pattern expected for this species, including extensive freshwater rearing of up to two years. This evidence shows that a ‘freshwater-type’ of juvenile American shad exists as year-round or transient residents in the Columbia River basin. The ecological role of this life history variant within the fish community is unknown.
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Ground water for irrigation in the Snake River Basin in Idaho
Mundorff, Maurice John; Crosthwaite, E.G.; Kilburn, Chabot
1964-01-01
The Snake River basin, in southern Idaho, upstream from the mouth of the Powder River in Oregon, includes more than 50 percent of the land area and 65 percent of the total population of the State. More than 2.5 million acres of land is irrigated ; irrigation agriculture and industry allied with agriculture are the basis of the economy of the basin. Most of the easily developed sources of surface water are fully utilized, and few storage sites remain where water could be made available to irrigate lands under present economic conditions. Because surface-water supplies have be come more difficult to obtain, use of ground water has increased greatly. At the present time (1959), about 600,000 acres of land is irrigated with ground water. Ground-water development has been concentrated in areas where large amounts of water are available beneath or adjacent to tracts of arable land and where the depth to water is not excessive under the current economy. Under these criteria, many of the most favorable areas already have been developed; however, tremendous volumes of water are still available for development. In some places, water occurs at depths considered near or beyond the limit for economic recovery, whereas in some other places, water is reasonably close to the surface but no arable land is available in the vicinity. In other parts of the basin large tracts of arable land are without available water supply. Thus the chief tasks in development of the ground-water resources include not only locating and evaluating ground-water supplies but also the planning necessary to bring the water to the land. Irrigation began in the 1860's ; at the present time more than 10 million acre feet of surface water, some of which is recirculated water, is diverted annually for irrigation of more than 2.5 million acres. Diversion of this large quantity of water has had a marked effect on the ground-water regimen. In some areas, the water table has risen more than 100 feet and the
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Cramer, Steven P.; Neeley, Doug
1993-06-01
We develop a framework for distinguishing healthy and threatened populations, and we analyze specific criteria by which these terms can be measured for threatened populations of salmon in the Snake River. We review reports and analyze existing data on listed populations of salmon in the Snake River to establish a framework for two stages of the recovery process: (1) defining de-listing criteria, and (2) estimating the percentage increase in survival that will be necessary for recovery of the population within specified time frames, given the de-listing criteria that must be achieved. We develop and apply a simplified population model tomore » estimate the percentage improvement in survival that will be necessary to achieve different rates of recovery. We considered five main concepts identifying de-listing criteria: (1) minimum population size, (2) rates of population change, (3) number of population subunits, (4) survival rates, and (5) driving variables. In considering minimum population size, we conclude that high variation in survival rates poses a substantially greater probability of causing extinction than does loss of genetic variation. Distinct population subunits exist and affect both the genetic variability of the population and the dynamics of population decline and growth. We distinguish between two types of population subunits, (1) genetic and (2) geographic, and we give examples of their effects on population recovery.« less
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Anthropogenic Impacts of Recreational Use on Sandbars in Hells Canyon on the Snake River, Idaho
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Morehead, M. D.
2014-12-01
Sandbars along large rivers are important cultural, recreational, and natural resources. In modern, historic and prehistoric times the sandbars have been used for camping, hunting, fishing and recreational activities. Sandbars are a dynamic geomorphic unit of the river system that stores and exchanges sand with the main river channel. Both natural and anthropogenic changes to river systems affect the size, shape and dynamics of sandbars. During high spring flows, the Snake River can resupply and build the sand bars. During the lower flows of the summer and fall the sand is redistributed to lower levels by natural and anthropogenic forces, where it can be remobilized by the river and exported from the bar. During the summer and fall high use season many people camp and recreate on the bars and redistribute the sand. This study utilizes change detection from repeat high resolution terrestrial LiDAR scanning surveys to study the impacts humans have on the sandbars in Hells Canyon. Nearly a decade of annual LiDAR and Bathymetric surveys were used to place these recreational impacts into the context of overall sandbar dynamics.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Fabris, L.; Malcolm, I.; Millidine, K. J.; Buddendorf, B.; Tetzlaff, D.; Soulsby, C.
2015-12-01
Wild Atlantic salmon populations in Scottish rivers constitute an important economic and recreational resource, as well as being a key component of biodiversity. Salmon have very specific habitat requirements at different life stages and their distribution is therefore strongly influenced by a complex suite of biological and physical controls. Previous research has shown that stream hydrodynamics and channel morphology have a strong influence on the distribution and density of juvenile salmon. Here, we utilise a unique 20 year data set of spatially distributed juvenile salmon densities derived from annual electro-fishing surveys in an upland Scottish river. We examine to what extent the spatial and temporal variability of in-stream hydraulics regulates the spatial and temporal variability in the performance and density of juvenile salmon. A 2-D hydraulic model (River2D) is used to simulate water velocity and water depth under different flow conditions for seven different electro-fishing sites. The selected sites represent different hydromorphological environments including plane-bed, step-pool and pool riffle reaches. The bathymetry of each site was characterised using a total station providing an accurate DTM of the bed, and hydraulic simulations were driven by 20 year stream flow records. Habitat suitability curves, based on direct observations during electro-fishing surveys, were produced for a range of hydraulic indices for juvenile salmon. The hydraulic simulations showed marked spatial differences in juvenile habitat quality both within and between reaches. They also showed marked differences both within and between years. This is most evident in extreme years with wet summers when salmon feeding opportunities may be constrained. Integration of hydraulic habitat models, with fish preference curves and the long term hydrological data allows us to assess whether long-term changes in hydroclimate may be affecting juvenile salmonid populations in the study stream
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Faurot, Dave; Kucera, Paul A.; Armstrong, Robyn D.
1998-06-01
Chinook salmon populations in the Northwest are decreasing in number. The Nez Perce Tribe was funded in 1997 by the Bonneville Power Administration to coordinate and initiate gene banking of adult male gametes from Endangered Species Act (ESA) listed spring and summer chinook salmon in the Snake River basin.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Colotelo, Alison HA; Harnish, Ryan A.; Jones, Bryan W.
Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) populations have declined throughout their range in the last century and many populations, including those of the Snake River Basin are listed under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. The reasons for their decline are many and complex, but include habitat loss and degradation, overharvesting, and dam construction. The 2008 Biological Opinion calls for an increase in the abundance of female steelhead through an increase in iteroparity (i.e., repeat spawning) and this can be realized through a combination of reconditioning and in-river survival of migrating kelts. The goal of this study is to provide the data necessarymore » to inform fisheries managers and dam operators of Snake River kelt migration patterns, survival, and routes of dam passage. Steelhead kelts (n = 487) were captured and implanted with acoustic transmitters and passive integrated transponder (PIT)-tags at the Lower Granite Dam (LGR) Juvenile Fish Facility and at weirs located in tributaries of the Snake and Clearwater rivers upstream of LGR. Kelts were monitored as they moved downstream through the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) by 15 autonomous and 3 cabled acoustic receiver arrays. Cabled receiver arrays deployed on the dam faces allowed for three-dimensional tracking of fish as they approached the dam face and were used to determine the route of dam passage. Overall, 27.3% of the kelts tagged in this study successfully migrated to Martin Bluff (rkm 126, as measured from the mouth of the Columbia River), which is located downstream of all FCRPS dams. Within individual river reaches, survival per kilometer estimates ranged from 0.958 to 0.999; the lowest estimates were observed in the immediate forebay of FCRPS dams. Steelhead kelts tagged in this study passed over the spillway routes (spillway weirs, traditional spill bays) in greater proportions and survived at higher rates compared to the few fish passed through powerhouse routes (turbines and
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Colotelo, Alison H.A.; Harnish, Ryan A.; Jones, Bryan W.
2014-12-15
Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) populations have declined throughout their range in the last century and many populations, including those of the Snake River Basin are listed under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. The reasons for their decline are many and complex, but include habitat loss and degradation, overharvesting, and dam construction. The 2008 Biological Opinion calls for an increase in the abundance of female steelhead through an increase in iteroparity (i.e., repeat spawning) and this can be realized through a combination of reconditioning and in-river survival of migrating kelts. The goal of this study is to provide the data necessarymore » to inform fisheries managers and dam operators of Snake River kelt migration patterns, survival, and routes of dam passage. Steelhead kelts (n = 487) were captured and implanted with acoustic transmitters and passive integrated transponder (PIT)-tags at the Lower Granite Dam (LGR) Juvenile Fish Facility and at weirs located in tributaries of the Snake and Clearwater rivers upstream of LGR. Kelts were monitored as they moved downstream through the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) by 15 autonomous and 3 cabled acoustic receiver arrays. Cabled receiver arrays deployed on the dam faces allowed for three-dimensional tracking of fish as they approached the dam face and were used to determine the route of dam passage. Overall, 27.3% of the kelts tagged in this study successfully migrated to Martin Bluff (rkm 126, as measured from the mouth of the Columbia River), which is located downstream of all FCRPS dams. Within individual river reaches, survival per kilometer estimates ranged from 0.958 to 0.999; the lowest estimates were observed in the immediate forebay of FCRPS dams. Steelhead kelts tagged in this study passed over the spillway routes (spillway weirs, traditional spill bays) in greater proportions and survived at higher rates compared to the few fish passed through powerhouse routes (turbines and
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Pearson, Walter H.; Skalski, John R.
2011-09-01
The effects of deep-draft vessel traffic in confined riverine channels on shorelines and fish are of widespread concern. In the Pacific Northwest of the United States, wakes and subsequent beach run-up from ships transiting the Lower Columbia River have been observed to strand juvenile salmon and other fish. As part of a before-and-after study to assess stranding effects that may be associated with channel deepening, we measured 19 co-variables from observations of 126 vessel passages at three low-slope beaches and used multiple logistic regression to discern the significant factors influencing the frequency of stranding. Subyearling Chinook salmon were 82% ofmore » the fish stranded over all sites and seasons. Given a low-slope beach, stranding frequencies for juvenile salmon were significantly related to river location, salmon density in the shallows, a proxy for ship kinetic energy, tidal height, and two interactions. The beach types selected for our study do not include all the beach types along the Lower Columbia River so that the stranding probabilities described here cannot be extrapolated river-wide. A more sophisticated modeling effort, informed by additional field data, is needed to assess salmon losses by stranding for the entire lower river. Such modeling needs to include river-scale factors such as beach type, berms, proximity to navigation channel, and perhaps, proximity to tributaries that act as sources of out-migrating juvenile salmon. At both river and beach scales, no one factor produces stranding; rather interactions among several conditions produce a stranding event and give stranding its episodic nature.« less
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Johnson, Gary E.; Ploskey, Gene R.; Sather, Nichole K.
We estimated seasonal residence times of acoustic-tagged juvenile salmonids in off-channel, tidal freshwater habitats of the Columbia River near the Sandy River delta (rkm 198; 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2011) and Cottonwood Island (rkm 112; 2012).
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Hanrahan, Timothy P.; Richmond, Marshall C.; Arntzen, Evan V.
2007-11-13
This report describes research conducted by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) as part of the Fish and Wildlife Program directed by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council. The study evaluated the restoration potential of Snake River fall Chinook salmon spawning habitat within the impounded lower Snake River. The objective of the research was to determine if hydroelectric dam operations could be modified, within existing system constraints (e.g., minimum to normal pool levels; without partial removal of a dam structure), to increase the amount of available fall Chinook salmon spawning habitat in the lower Snakemore » River. Empirical and modeled physical habitat data were used to compare potential fall Chinook salmon spawning habitat in the Snake River, under current and modified dam operations, with the analogous physical characteristics of an existing fall Chinook salmon spawning area in the Columbia River. The two Snake River study areas included the Ice Harbor Dam tailrace downstream to the Highway 12 bridge and the Lower Granite Dam tailrace downstream approximately 12 river kilometers. These areas represent tailwater habitat (i.e., riverine segments extending from a dam downstream to the backwater influence from the next dam downstream). We used a reference site, indicative of current fall Chinook salmon spawning areas in tailwater habitat, against which to compare the physical characteristics of each study site. The reference site for tailwater habitats was the section extending downstream from the Wanapum Dam tailrace on the Columbia River. Fall Chinook salmon spawning habitat use data, including water depth, velocity, substrate size and channelbed slope, from the Wanapum reference area were used to define spawning habitat suitability based on these variables. Fall Chinook salmon spawning habitat suitability of the Snake River study areas was estimated by applying the Wanapum reference reach
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Waples, Robin S.; Teel, David J.; Aebersold, Paul B.
This is the first report of research for an ongoing study to evaluate the genetic effects of using hatchery-reared fish to supplement natural populations of chinook salmon and steelhead in the Snake River Basin.
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Evans, Scott D.; Walker, Christopher E.; Brewer, Scott J.; Adams, Noah S.
2010-01-01
Few studies have evaluated survival of juvenile salmon over long river reaches in the Columbia River and information regarding the survival of sockeye salmon at lower Columbia River dams is lacking. To address these information gaps, the U.S. Geological Survey was contracted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to evaluate the possibility of using tagged fish released in the Mid-Columbia River to assess passage and survival at and downstream of McNary Dam. Using the acoustic telemetry systems already in place for a passage and survival study at McNary Dam, fish released from the tailraces of Wells, Rocky Reach, Rock Island, Wanapum, and Priest Rapids Dams were detected at McNary Dam and at the subsequent downstream arrays. These data were used to generate route-specific survival probabilities using single-release models from fish released in the Mid-Columbia River. We document trends in passage and survival probabilities at McNary Dam for yearling Chinook and sockeye salmon and juvenile steelhead released during studies in the Mid-Columbia River. Trends in the survival and passage of these juvenile salmonid species are presented and discussed. However, comparisons made across years and between study groups are not possible because of differences in the source of the test fish, the type of acoustic tags used, the absence of the use of passive integrated transponder tags in some of the release groups, differences in tagging and release protocols, annual differences in dam operations and configurations, differences in how the survival models were constructed (that is, number of routes that could be estimated given the number of fish detected), and the number and length of reaches included in the analysis (downstream reach length and arrays). Despite these differences, the data we present offer a unique opportunity to examine the migration behavior and survival of a group of fish that otherwise would not be studied. This is particularly true for sockeye salmon because
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Solute geochemistry of the Snake River plain regional aquifer system, Idaho and eastern Oregon
Wood, Warren W.; Low, Walton H.
1988-01-01
Geothermometry calculations of selected ground-water samples from known geothermal areas throughout the basin suggest that the geother- mal system is large in areal extent but has relatively low temperatures. Approximately half of the silica-quartz calculated water temperatures are greater than 90 °C. Radiocarbon dating of geothermal water in the Salmon Falls and Bruneau-Grand View areas in the south central part of the Snake River basin suggests that residence time of the geother- mal water is about 17,700 years.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Pflugrath, Brett D.; Brown, Richard S.; Carlson, Thomas J.
This study investigated the maximum depth at which juvenile Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha can acclimate by attaining neutral buoyancy. Depth of neutral buoyancy is dependent upon the volume of gas within the swim bladder, which greatly influences the occurrence of injuries to fish passing through hydroturbines. We used two methods to obtain maximum swim bladder volumes that were transformed into depth estimations - the increased excess mass test (IEMT) and the swim bladder rupture test (SBRT). In the IEMT, weights were surgically added to the fishes exterior, requiring the fish to increase swim bladder volume in order to remain neutrallymore » buoyant. SBRT entailed removing and artificially increasing swim bladder volume through decompression. From these tests, we estimate the maximum acclimation depth for juvenile Chinook salmon is a median of 6.7m (range = 4.6-11.6 m). These findings have important implications to survival estimates, studies using tags, hydropower operations, and survival of juvenile salmon that pass through large Kaplan turbines typical of those found within the Columbia and Snake River hydropower system.« less
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Blankenship, H. Lee; Mendel, Glen W.
This final report of the 3-year study summarizes activities and results for 1993. Study objectives were to: (1) determine the source of losses (or accounting errors) for adult chinook salmon between Ice Harbor Dam (IHR) and Lower Granite Dam (LGR), and upstream of LGR in the Snake River; (2) identify spawning locations upstream of LGR for calibration of aerial redd surveys, redd habitat mapping, carcass recovery for genetic stock profile analysis, and correction of estimated adult/redd ratios; and (3) estimate passage and migration times at Snake River. 200 fall chinook salmon were radio tagged and tracked with aerial, fixed-site, andmore » ground mobile tracking. Fish were released upstream of IHR at Charbonneau Park (CHAR). 190 of the fish were tracked or relocated away from CHAR. 59 fish descended to below IHR without crossing Lower Monumental Dam (LMO). Another 128 salmon passed upstream of LMO without falling back at IHR. Only 80 salmon passed Little Goose Dam (LGO) without falling back at a downstream dam; 66 of these fish passed LGR. Many fish that fell back reascended the dams. A total of 72 salmon released at CHAR passed upstream of LGR, including fish that had fallen back and reascended a dam. Over 80 percent of the salmon that entered Lyons Ferry Hatchery each year had reached LGO before descending to the hatchery. Extensive wandering was documented between LMO and upstream of LGR before salmon entered Lyons Ferry Hatchery or the Tucannon River. In 1993, 41 salmon were found to be of hatchery origin when recovered. These fish entered Lyons Ferry Hatchery with similar movements to unmarked salmon. Each year a few salmon have remained near the hatchery without entering, which suggests the hatchery may have inadequate attraction flows. Fall chinook passed lower Snake River dams in 2-5 days each on average. Median travel times through LMO and LGO were 1.0-1.3 days each, which was slower than for spring chinook or steelhead in 1993. 5 refs., 21 figs., 20
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Food and growth parameters of juvenile chinook in the central Columbia River
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Becker, C.D.
1994-10-01
Juvenile chinook, salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the Hanford area of the free-flowing central Columbia River, Washington consume almost entirely adult and larval stages of aquatic insects. The diet is dominated by midges (Diptera: Chironomidae). By numbers, adult midges provided 64 and 58% of the diet and larval midges 17 and 18% of the diet, in 1968 and 1969, respectively. The families Hydropsychidae (Trichoptera), Notonectidae (Hemiptera) and Hypogastruridae (Collembola) are of minor numerical importance with a combined utilization of 7% in 1968 and 15% in 1969. Distinctive features of food and feeding activity of juvenile chinook at Hanford are fourfold: (1)more » the fish utilize relatively few insect groups, predominantly Chironomidae; (2) they depend largely upon autochthonous river organisms; (3) they visually select living prey drifting, floating or swimming in the water; and (4) they are apparently habitat opportunists to a large extent. Analyses were made of variations in diet and numbers of insects consumed between six sampling stations distributed along a 38 km section of the river. Data are provided on feeding intensity, fish lengths, length-weight relationships, and coefficients of condition. Seasonal changes in river temperature and discharge, as well as variations in regulated flow levels are environmental features influencing feeding, growth, and emigration of fish in the Hanford environs.« less
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Emerson, Joshua E.; Bollens, Stephen M.; Counihan, Timothy D.
2015-01-01
The Asian copepod Pseudodiaptomus forbesi has recently become established in the Columbia River. However, little is known about its ecology and effects on invaded ecosystems. We undertook a 2-year (July 2009 to June 2011) field study of the mesozooplankton in four reservoirs in the Columbia and Snake Rivers, with emphasis on the relation of the seasonal variation in distribution and abundance of P. forbesi to environmental variables. Pseudodiaptomus forbesi was abundant in three reservoirs; the zooplankton community of the fourth reservoir contained no known non-indigenous taxa. The composition and seasonal succession of zooplankton were similar in the three invaded reservoirs: a bloom of rotifers occurred in spring, native cyclopoid and cladoceran species peaked in abundance in summer, and P. forbesi was most abundant in late summer and autumn. In the uninvaded reservoir, total zooplankton abundance was very low year-round. Multivariate ordination indicated that temperature and dissolved oxygen were strongly associated with zooplankton community structure, with P. forbesi appearing to exhibit a single generation per year . The broad distribution and high abundance of P. forbesi in the Columbia–Snake River System could result in ecosystem level effects in areas intensively managed to improve conditions for salmon and other commercially and culturally important fish species.
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Finch, Colton G.; Pine, William E.; Yackulic, Charles B.; Dodrill, Michael J.; Yard, Michael D.; Gerig, Brandon S.; Coggins,, Lewis G.; Korman, Josh
2016-01-01
The Colorado River below Glen Canyon Dam, Arizona, is part of an adaptive management programme which optimizes dam operations to improve various resources in the downstream ecosystem within Grand Canyon. Understanding how populations of federally endangered humpback chub Gila cypha respond to these dam operations is a high priority. Here, we test hypotheses concerning temporal variation in juvenile humpback chub apparent survival rates and abundance by comparing estimates between hydropeaking and steady discharge regimes over a 3-year period (July 2009–July 2012). The most supported model ignored flow type (steady vs hydropeaking) and estimated a declining trend in daily apparent survival rate across years (99.90%, 99.79% and 99.67% for 2009, 2010 and 2011, respectively). Corresponding abundance of juvenile humpback chub increased temporally; open population model estimates ranged from 615 to 2802 individuals/km, and closed model estimates ranged from 94 to 1515 individuals/km. These changes in apparent survival and abundance may reflect broader trends, or simply represent inter-annual variation. Important findings include (i) juvenile humpback chub are currently surviving and recruiting in the mainstem Colorado River with increasing abundance; (ii) apparent survival does not benefit from steady fall discharges from Glen Canyon Dam; and (iii) direct assessment of demographic parameters for juvenile endangered fish are possible and can rapidly inform management actions in regulated rivers.
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The ICDP Snake River Geothermal Drilling Project: preliminary overview of borehole geophysics
Schmitt, Douglas R.; Liberty, Lee M.; Kessler, James E.; Kuck, Jochem; Kofman, Randolph; Bishop, Ross; Shervais, John W.; Evans, James P.; Champion, Duane E.
2012-01-01
Hotspot: The Snake River Geothermal Drilling Project was undertaken to better understand the geothermal systems in three locations across the Snake River Plain with varying geological and hydrological structure. An extensive series of standard and specialized geophysical logs were obtained in each of the wells. Hydrogen-index neutron and γ-γ density logs employing active sources were deployed through the drill string, and although not fully calibrated for such a situation do provide semi-quantitative information related to the ‘stratigraphy’ of the basalt flows and on the existence of alteration minerals. Electrical resistivity logs highlight the existence of some fracture and mineralized zones. Magnetic susceptibility together with the vector magnetic field measurements display substantial variations that, in combination with laboratory measurements, may provide a tool for tracking magnetic field reversals along the borehole. Full waveform sonic logs highlight the variations in compressional and shear velocity along the borehole. These, together with the high resolution borehole seismic measurements display changes with depth that are not yet understood. The borehole seismic measurements indicate that seismic arrivals are obtained at depth in the formations and that strong seismic reflections are produced at lithological contacts seen in the corresponding core logging. Finally, oriented ultrasonic borehole televiewer images were obtained over most of the wells and these correlate well with the nearly 6 km of core obtained. This good image log to core correlations, particularly with regards to drilling induced breakouts and tensile borehole and core fractures will allow for confident estimates of stress directions and or placing constraints on stress magnitudes. Such correlations will be used to orient in core orientation giving information useful in hydrological assessments, paleomagnetic dating, and structural volcanology.
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Hereford, Danielle M.; Burdick, Summer M.; Elliott, Diane G.; Dolan-Caret, Amari; Conway, Carla M.; Harris, Alta C.
2016-01-28
The recovery of endangered Lost River suckers (Deltistes luxatus) in Upper Klamath Lake is limited by poor juvenile survival and failure to recruit into the adult population. Poor water quality, degradation of rearing habitat, and toxic levels of microcystin are hypothesized to contribute to low juvenile survival. Studies of wild juvenile suckers are limited in that capture rates are low and compromised individuals are rarely captured in passive nets. The goal of this study was to assess the use of a mesocosm for learning about juvenile survival, movement, and health. Hatchery-raised juvenile Lost River suckers were PIT (passive integrated transponder) tagged and monitored by three vertically stratified antennas. Fish locations within the mesocosm were recorded at least every 30 minutes and were assessed in relation to vertically stratified water-quality conditions. Vertical movement patterns were analyzed to identify the timing of mortality for each fish. Most mortality occurred from July 28 to August 16, 2014. Juvenile suckers spent daylight hours near the benthos and moved throughout the entire water column during dark hours. Diel movements were not in response to dissolved-oxygen concentrations, temperature, or pH. Furthermore, low dissolved-oxygen concentrations, high temperatures, high pH, high un-ionized ammonia, or high microcystin levels did not directly cause mortality, although indirect effects may have occurred. However, water-quality conditions known to be lethal to juvenile Lost River suckers did not occur during the study period. Histological assessment revealed severe gill hyperplasia and Ichthyobodo sp. infestations in most moribund fish. For these fish, Ichthyobodo sp. was likely the cause of mortality, although it is unclear if this parasite originated in the rearing facility because fish were not screened for this parasite prior to introduction. This study has demonstrated that we can effectively use a mesocosm equipped with antennas to learn
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Clark, Gregory M.
1997-01-01
Quality Assessment Program. As part of the investigation, intensive monitoring was conducted during water years 1993 through 1995 to assess surface-water quality in the basin. Sampling and analysis focused on nutrients, suspended sediments, and pesticides because of nationwide interest in these constituents. Concentrations of nutrients and suspended sediment in water samples from 19 sites in the upper Snake River Basin, including nine on the main stem, were assessed. In general, concentrations of nutrients and suspended sediment were smaller in water from the 11 sites upstream from American Falls Reservoir than in water from the 8 sites downstream from the reservoir where effects from land-use activities are most pronounced. Median concentrations of dissolved nitrite plus nitrate as nitrogen at the 19 sites ranged from less than 0.05 to 1.60 milligrams per liter; total phosphorus as phosphorus, less than 0.01 to 0.11 milligrams per liter; and suspended sediment, 4 to 72 milligrams per liter. Concentrations of nutrients and suspended sediment in the main stem of the Snake River, in general, increased downstream. The largest concentrations in the main stem were in the middle reach of the Snake River between Milner Dam and the outlet of the upper Snake River Basin at King Hill. Significant differences (p Nutrient and suspended sediment inputs to the middle Snake reach were from a variety of sources. During water year 1995, springs were the primary source of water and total nitrogen to the river and accounted for 66 and 60 percent of the total input, respectively. Isotope and water-table information indicated that the springs derived most of their nitrogen from agricultural activities along the margins of the Snake River. Aquacultural effluent was a major source of ammonia (82 percent), organic nitrogen (30 percent), and total phosphorus (35 percent). Tributary streams were a major source of organic nitrogen (28 percent) and suspended sediment (58 percent). In
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Braun, Christopher L.; Wilson, Jennifer T.; Van Metre, Peter C.; Weakland, Rhonda J.; Fosness, Ryan L.; Williams, Marshall L.
2012-01-01
Fifty subsamples from 15 cores were analyzed for major and trace elements. Concentrations of trace elements were low, with respect to sediment quality guidelines, in most cores. Typically, major and trace element concentrations were lower in the subsamples collected from the Snake River compared to those collected from the Clearwater River, the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater Rivers, and Lower Granite Reservoir. Generally, lower concentrations of major and trace elements were associated with coarser sediments (larger than 0.0625 millimeter) and higher concentrations of major and trace elements were associated with finer sediments (smaller than 0.0625 millimeter).
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Mapping the response of riparian vegetation to possible flow reductions in the Snake River, Idaho
Johnson, W. Carter; Dixon, Mark D.; Simons, Robert W.; Jenson, Susan; Larson, Kevin
1995-01-01
This study was initiated to determine the general effects of potential flow reductions in the middle Snake River (Swan Falls Dam downstream to the Idaho-Oregon border) on its riparian vegetation. Considerable water from the river is currently used to irrigate the adjacent Snake River Plain, and increased demand for water in the future is likely. The problem was subdivided into several research components including: field investigation of the existing riparian vegetation and river environment, hydrological modeling to calculate the effects of one flow scenario on hydrological regime, and integration of vegetation and hydrological modeling results with a Geographic Information System (GIs) to map the riverbed, island, and bank conditions under the scenario flow. Field work was conducted in summer 1990. Riparian vegetation along 40 U.S. Geological Survey cross-sections was sampled at approximately 1.25 mile intervals within the 50 mile long study area. Cross-section and flow data were provided by the U.S. Geological. Survey. GIs mapping of land/water cover using ARC/INFO was based on 1987 aerial photographs. Riverbed contour maps were produced by linking cross-section data, topographic contouring software (anudem), and GIs. The maps were used to spatially display shallow areas in the channel likely to become vegetated under reduced flow conditions. The scenario would reduce flow by approximately 20% (160 MAF) and lower the river an average of 0.5 ft. The scenario flow could cause a drop in the elevation of the riparian zone comparable to the drop in mean river level and expansion of the lower riparian zone into shallow areas of the channel. The GIs maps showed that the shallow areas of the channel more likely to become vegetated under the scenario flow are located in wide reaches near islands. Some possible ecological consequences of the scenario flow include a greater area of riparian habitat, reduced flow velocity and sedimentation in shallow channels leading to
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Teuscher, D.
1996-05-01
The objective of this study was to determine if hatchery rainbow trout compete with or prey on juvenile Snake River sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka in Pettit Lake, Idaho. In 1995, a total of 8,570 age-0 sockeye and 4,000 hatchery rainbow trout were released in Pettit Lake. After releasing the fish, gillnets were set in the pelagic and littoral zones to collected diet and spatial distribution data. Interactions were assessed monthly from June 1995 through March 1996. Competition for food was discounted based on extremely low diet overlap results observed throughout the sample period. Conversely, predation interactions were more significant. Amore » total of 119 rainbow trout stomachs were analyzed, two contained O. nerka. The predation was limited to one sample period, but when extrapolated to the whole rainbow trout populations results in significant losses. Total consumption of O. nerka by rainbow trout ranged from an estimated 10 to 23% of initial stocking numbers. Predation results contradict earlier findings that stocked rainbow trout do not prey on wild kokanee or sockeye in the Sawtooth Lakes. The contradiction may be explained by a combination of poorly adapted hatchery sockeye and a littoral release site that forced spatial overlap that was not occurring in the wild populations. Releasing sockeye in the pelagic zone may have reduced or eliminated predation losses to rainbow trout.« less
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Contemporary Deformation within the Snake River Plain and Northern Basin and Range Province, USA
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Payne, S. J.; McCaffrey, R.; King, R. W.
2007-05-01
GPS velocities, earthquakes, faults, and volcanic features are used to evaluate contemporary deformation within the Snake River Plain (SRP) and surrounding northern Basin and Range Province. The SRP is a prominent low- relief physiographic feature that extends from eastern Oregon through southern Idaho and into northwestern Wyoming, USA. The Eastern Snake River Plain (ESRP) is a 400-km long, NE-trending volcanic province that is characterized by bimodal volcanism, which represents the track of the Yellowstone Hotspot currently located in Wyoming. The Western Snake River Plain (WSRP) is a 300-km long, NW-trending graben that extends into eastern Oregon. The WSRP is an extensional basin that formed adjacent to an earlier position of the Yellowstone Hotspot in southern Idaho. Previous geodetic investigations suggest the ESRP and, perhaps the WSRP, have GPS velocities indicative of rigid block motion of the SRP along its physiographic boundaries. GPS data compiled for this study are used to test this hypothesis. Several institutions including the National Geodetic Survey, Idaho National Laboratory, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and University of Utah observed GPS stations from 1994 to 2006 within the SRP and surrounding region. Horizontal velocities show generally consistent N110°W orientations with an average rate of 1.5 ± 0.3 mm/yr (for 11 stations) along most of the ESRP and adjacent northwest Basin and Range, although some Basin and Range velocities are less and may be influenced by post viscoelastic relaxation following the 1983 Mw 6.9 normal-faulting Borah Peak, Idaho earthquake. GPS velocities with an average rate of 1.9 ± 0.3 mm/yr (for 5 stations) change orientation to N95°W at a distance of 190 km from the Yellowstone Hotspot within the southern region of the ESRP and adjacent Basin and Range. Within the WSRP, GPS velocities have an average rate of 2.0 ± 0.5 mm/yr (for 7 stations) and change orientation to N40°W. These GPS velocities are more
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Burdick, Summer M.
2011-01-01
Passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags are commonly used to mark small catostomids, but tag loss and the effect of tagging on mortality have not been assessed for juveniles of the endangered Lost River sucker Deltistes luxatus. I evaluated tag loss and short-term (34-d) mortality associated with the PIT tagging of juvenile Lost River suckers in the laboratory by using a completely randomized design and three treatment groups (PIT tagged, positive control, and control). An empty needle was inserted into each positive control fish, whereas control fish were handled but not tagged. Only one fish expelled its PIT tag. Mortality rate averaged 9.8 ± 3.4% (mean ± SD) for tagged fish; mortality was 0% for control and positive control fish. All tagging mortalities occurred in fish with standard lengths of 71 mm or less, and most of the mortalities occurred within 48 h of tagging. My results indicate that 12.45- × 2.02-mm PIT tags provide a viable method of marking juvenile Lost River suckers that are 72 mm or larger.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Beasley, Chris; Tabor, R.A.; Kinzer, Ryan
2003-04-01
This report summarizes brood year 1999 juvenile production and emigration data and adult return information for 2000 for streams studied by the Nez Perce Tribe for the cooperative Idaho Salmon Supplementation Studies in Idaho Rivers (ISS) project. In order to provide inclusive juvenile data for brood year 1999, we include data on parr, presmolt, smolt and yearling captures. Therefore, our reporting period includes juvenile data collected from April 2000 through June 2001 for parr, presmolts, and smolts and through June 2002 for brood year 1999 yearling emigrants. Data presented in this report include; fish outplant data for treatment streams, snorkelmore » and screw trap estimates of juvenile fish abundance, juvenile emigration profiles, juvenile survival estimates to Lower Granite Dam (LGJ), redd counts, and carcass data. There were no brood year 1999 treatments in Legendary Bear or Fishing Creek. As in previous years, snorkeling methods provided highly variable population estimates. Alternatively, rotary screw traps operated in Lake Creek and the Secesh River provided more precise estimates of juvenile abundance by life history type. Juvenile fish emigration in Lake Creek and the Secesh River peaked during July and August. Juveniles produced in this watershed emigrated primarily at age zero, and apparently reared in downstream habitats before detection as age one or older fish at the Snake and Columbia River dams. Over the course of the ISS study, PIT tag data suggest that smolts typically exhibit the highest relative survival to Lower Granite Dam (LGJ) compared to presmolts and parr, although we observed the opposite trend for brood year 1999 juvenile emigrants from the Secesh River. SURPH2 survival estimates for brood year 1999 Lake Creek parr, presmolt, and smolt PIT tag groups to (LGJ) were 27%, 39%, and 49% respectively, and 14%, 12%, and 5% for the Secesh River. In 2000, we counted 41 redds in Legendary Bear Creek, 4 in Fishing Creek, 5 in Slate Creek
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Evaluation of a pumping test of the Snake River Plain aquifer using axial-flow numerical modeling
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Johnson, Gary S.; Frederick, David B.; Cosgrove, Donna M.
2002-06-01
The Snake River Plain aquifer in southeast Idaho is hosted in a thick sequence of layered basalts and interbedded sediments. The degree to which the layering impedes vertical flow has not been well understood, yet is a feature that may exert a substantial control on the movement of contaminants. An axial-flow numerical model, RADFLOW, was calibrated to pumping test data collected by a straddle-packer system deployed at 23 depth intervals in four observation wells to evaluate conceptual models and estimate properties of the Snake River Plain aquifer at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory. A delayed water-table response observed in intervals beneath a sediment interbed was best reproduced with a three-layer simulation. The results demonstrate the hydraulic significance of this interbed as a semi-confining layer. Vertical hydraulic conductivity of the sediment interbed was estimated to be about three orders of magnitude less than vertical hydraulic conductivity of the lower basalt and upper basalt units. The numerical model was capable of representing aquifer conceptual models that could not be represented with any single analytical technique. The model proved to be a useful tool for evaluating alternative conceptual models and estimating aquifer properties in this application.
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Welhan, J.A.; Reed, M.F.
1997-01-01
The regional spatial correlation structure of bulk horizontal hydraulic conductivity (Kb) estimated from published transmissivity data from 79 open boreholes in the fractured basalt aquifer of the eastern Snake River Plain was analyzed with geostatistical methods. The two-dimensional spatial correlation structure of In Kb shows a pronounced 4:1 range anisotropy, with a maximum correlation range in the north-northwest- south-southeast direction of about 6 km. The maximum variogram range of In Kb is similar to the mean length of flow groups exposed at the surface. The In Kb range anisotropy is similar to the mean width/length ratio of late Quaternary and Holocene basalt lava flows and the orientations of the major volcanic structural features on the eastern Snake River Plain. The similarity between In Kb correlation scales and basalt flow dimensions and between basalt flow orientations and correlation range anisotropy suggests that the spatial distribution of zones of high hydraulic conductivity may be controlled by the lateral dimensions, spatial distribution, and interconnection between highly permeable zones which are known to occur between lava flows within flow groups. If hydraulic conductivity and lithology are eventually shown to be cross correlative in this geologic setting, it may be possible to stochastically simulate hydraulic conductivity distributions, which are conditional on a knowledge of volcanic stratigraphy.
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2003-01-01
Sockeye salmon ( Oncorhynchus nerka ) Snake River Endangered Stream Yearling + 11/2/91 Steelhead trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss) Snake River... Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) Snake River spring/summer Threatened Stream Yearling + 4/22/92 Snake River fall Threatened Ocean Subyearling 4...Willamette River Threatened Ocean Subyearling + 3/24/99 Chum salmon ( Oncorhynchus keta) Columbia River Threatened Ocean Subyearling 3/25/99
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The spatial and temporal relationships of winter snowpack and terrestrial water storage (TWS) in the Upper Snake River were analyzed for water years 2001–2010 at a monthly time step. We coupled a regionally validated snow model with gravimetric measurements of the Earth’s water...
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Beeman, John W.; Hansel, Hal; Juhnke, Steve; Stutzer, Greg
2009-01-01
The survival of hatchery-origin juvenile coho salmon from the Trinity River Hatchery was estimated as they migrated seaward through the Trinity and Klamath Rivers. The purpose of the study was to collect data for comparison to a similar study in the Klamath River and provide data to the Trinity River Restoration Program. A total of 200 fish fitted with radio transmitters were released into the Trinity River near the hatchery (river kilometer 252 from the mouth of the Klamath River) biweekly from March 19 to May 28, 2008. Fish from the earliest release groups took longer to pass the first detection site 10 kilometers downstream of the hatchery than fish from the later release groups, but travel times between subsequent sites were often similar among the release groups. The travel times of individuals through the 239 kilometer study area ranged from 15.5 to 84.6 days with a median of 43.3 days. The data and models did not support differences in survival among release groups, but did support differences among river reaches. The probability of survival in the first 53 kilometers was lower than in the reaches farther downstream, which is similar to trends in juvenile coho salmon in the Klamath River. The lowest estimated survival in this study was in the first 10 kilometers from release in the Trinity River (0.676 SE 0.036) and the highest estimated survival was in the final 20 kilometer reach in the Klamath River (0.987 SE 0.013). Estimated survivals of radio-tagged juvenile coho salmon from release to Klamath River kilometer 33 were 0.639 per 100 kilometers for Trinity River fish and 0.721 per 100 kilometers for Klamath River fish.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Nelson, N. C.; Schmidt, J. C.
2006-05-01
Geomorphic and hydrologic analyses of the Snake River in Grand Teton National Park (GTNP) indicate that flow contributions of tributaries mitigate impacts of regulation. Since a flow regime change in 1958, regulation resulted in a 43 and 35% decrease in estimated unregulated flows immediately downstream of Jackson Lake Dam (JLD) and at Moose (43 km and 5 tributaries downstream of JLD), respectively. Geomorphic evidence indicates that some channel characteristics are more sensitive than others to this decreasing influence of flow regulation. First, entrainment of tracer rocks suggests that the ability of the Snake River to mobilize its bed increases downstream. A greater proportion of the bed became active, and the mobilized clasts moved further, in the two study reaches furthest downstream. Second, repeat mapping from aerial photographs suggest that some changes in channel form are the result of flow regulation and some are the result of climatically driven changes in runoff determined by tributaries. Initial decreases in flows due to regulation may have caused the observed channel narrowing between 1945 and 1969, and greater precipitation causing greater natural flows may have resulted in the subsequent channel widening between 1969 and 1990. Third, flow models were used to obtain the magnitudes of flows necessary to inundate two floodplain surfaces in 4 reaches from JLD to Moose. Recurrence intervals and inundation periods were similar for a narrow, inset floodplain in all 4 reaches, suggesting that this surface developed due to regulation. Recurrence intervals for a much broader and higher floodplain decreased downstream from 9 to 3.2 years and inundation periods increased downstream from 1.1 to 3 days immediately below JLD and at Moose, respectively. This suggests the upper floodplain was formed prior to regulation of the Snake River. Thus, the effects of flow regulation on bed mobility and connectivity between the channel and the upper floodplain decrease
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Mann, L.J.; Beasley, T.M.
1994-01-01
From 1953 to 1990, an estimated 0.56 to 1.18 curies of iodine-129 were contained in wastewater generated by the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant (ICPP) at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. The waste- water was discharged directly to the Snake River Plain aquifer through a deep disposal well prior to February 1984 and through unlined disposal ponds in 1984-90. The wastewater did not contain measurable concentrations of iodine-129 in 1989-90. Samples were collected from 51 wells that obtain water from the Snake River Plain aquifer and 1 well that obtains water from a perched ground-water zone. The samples were analyzed for iodine-129 using an accelerator mass spectrometer which is two to six orders of magnitude more sensitive than neutron- activation methods. Therefore, iodine-129 was detectable in samples from a larger number of wells distributed over a larger area than previously was possible. Ground-water flow velocities calculated using iodine-129 data are estimated to be at least 6 feet per day. These velocities compare favorably with those of 4 to 10 feet per day calculated from tritium data and tracer studies at wells down- gradient from the ICPP. In 1990-91, concentrations of iodine-129 in water samples from wells that obtain water from the Snake River Plain aquifer ranged from less than 0.0000006+0.0000002 to 3.82.+0.19 picocuries per liter (pCi/L). The mean concentration in water from 18 wells was 0.81+0.19 pCi/L as compared with 1.30+0.26 pCi/L in 1986. The decrease in the iodine-l29 concentrations from 1986 to 1990-91 chiefly was the result of a decrease in the amount of iodine-129 disposed of annually, and changes in disposal techniques.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Buchanan, Rebecca A.; Skalski, John R.; Broms, Kristin
The combined juvenile and adult detection histories of PIT-tagged wild salmonids migrating through the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) were analyzed using the ROSTER (River-Ocean Survival and Transportation Effects Routine) statistical release-recapture model. This model, implemented by software Program ROSTER, was used to estimate survival on large temporal and spatial scales for PIT-tagged wild spring and summer Chinook salmon and steelhead released in the Snake River Basin upstream of Lower Granite Dam from 1996 to 2004. In addition, annual results from wild salmonids were compared with results from hatchery salmonids, which were presented in a previous report in thismore » series (Buchanan, R. A., Skalski, J. R., Lady, J. L., Westhagen, P., Griswold, J., and Smith, S. 2007, 'Survival and Transportation Effects for Migrating Snake River Hatchery Chinook Salmon and Steelhead: Historical Estimates from 1996-2003', Technical report, Bonneville Power Administration, Project 1991-051-00). These results are reported here. Annual estimates of the smolt-to-adult return ratio (SAR), juvenile inriver survival from Lower Granite to Bonneville, the ocean return probability from Bonneville to Bonneville, and adult upriver survival from Bonneville to Lower Granite are reported. Annual estimates of transport-inriver (T/I) ratios and differential post-Bonneville mortality (D) are reported on a dam-specific basis for release years with sufficient numbers of wild PIT-tagged smolts transported. Transportation effects are estimated only for dams where at least 1,000 tagged wild smolts were transported from a given upstream release group. Because few wild Chinook salmon and steelhead tagged upstream of Lower Granite Dam were transported before the 2003 release year, T/I and D were estimated only for the 2003 and 2004 release years. Performance measures include age-1-ocean adult returns for steelhead, but not for Chinook salmon. Spring and summer Chinook salmon release
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Brown, David S; Ebenezer, Katie L; Symondson, William O C
2014-08-01
Reptiles are declining in many parts of the world, mainly due to habitat loss and environmental change. A major factor in this is availability of suitable food. For many animals, dietary requirements shift during developmental stages and a habitat will only be suitable for conserving a species if it supports all stages. Conventional methods for establishing diet often rely on visual recognition of morphologically identifiable features of prey in faeces, regurgitation or stomach contents, which suffer from biases and poor resolution of taxa. DNA-based techniques facilitate noninvasive analysis of diet from faeces without these constraints. We tested the hypothesis that diet changes during growth stages of smooth snakes (Coronella austriaca), which have a highly restricted distribution in the UK but are widespread in continental Europe. Small numbers of the sympatric grass snake (Natrix natrix) were analysed for comparison. Faecal samples were collected from snakes and prey DNA analysed using PCR, targeting amphibians, reptiles, mammals and invertebrates. Over 85% of smooth snakes were found to have eaten reptiles and 28% had eaten mammals. Predation on mammals increased with age and was entirely absent among juveniles and subadults. Predation on reptiles did not change ontogenetically. Smooth snakes may, therefore, be restricted to areas of sufficiently high reptile densities to support young snakes. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Rein, Thomas A.; Hughes, Michele L.; Kern, J. Chris
2005-08-01
We report on our progress from April 2003 through March 2004 on determining the effects of mitigative measures on productivity of white sturgeon populations in the Columbia River downstream from McNary Dam, and on determining the status and habitat requirements of white sturgeon populations in the Columbia and Snake rivers upstream from McNary Dam. This is a multi-year study with many objectives requiring more than one year to complete; therefore, findings from a given year may be part of more significant findings yet to be reported.
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Boase, James C.; Manny, Bruce A.; Donald, Katherine A.L.; Kennedy, Gregory W.; Diana, James S.; Thomas, Michael V.; Chiotti, Justin A.
2014-01-01
Lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) occupy the St. Clair River, part of a channel connecting lakes Huron and Erie in the Laurentian Great Lakes. In the North Channel of the St. Clair River, juvenile lake sturgeon (3–7 years old and 582–793 mm in length) were studied to determine movement patterns and habitat usage. Fourteen juveniles were implanted with ultrasonic transmitters and tracked June–August of 2004, 2005 and 2006. Telemetry data, Geographic Information System software, side-scan sonar, video images of the river bottom, scuba diving, and benthic substrate samples were used to determine the extent and composition of habitats they occupied. Juvenile lake sturgeon habitat selection was strongly related to water depth. No fish were found in 700 mm in length selected sand and gravel areas mixed with zebra mussels and areas dominated by zebra mussels, while fish < 700 mm used these habitat types in proportion to their availability.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Chuku, E. C.; Ogbonna, D. N.; Onuegbu, B. A.; Adeleke, M. T. V.
Comparative studies on the fungi and biochemical characteristics of Tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentus Mill) and the Snake gourd (Trichosanthes curcumerina Linn) products were investigated in Rivers State using various analytical procedures. Results of the proximate analysis of fresh snake gourd and tomatoes show that the essential minerals such as protein, ash, fibre, lipid, phosphorus and niacin contents were higher in snake gourd but low in carbohydrate, calcium, iron, vitamins A and C when compared to the mineral fractions of tomatoes which has high values of calcium, iron, vitamins A and C. The mycoflora predominantly associated with the fruit rot of tomato were Fusarium oxysporium, Fusarium moniliforme, Rhizopus stolonifer and Aspergillus niger, while other fungi isolates from Snake gourd include Rhizopus stolonifer, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus tamari, Penicillium ita/icum and Neurospora crassa. Rhizopus stolonifer and Aspergillus niger were common spoilage fungi to both the Tomato and Snake gourd. All the fungal isolates were found to be pathogenic. The duration for storage of the fruits at room temperature (28±1°C) showed that Tomato could store for 5 days while Snake gourd stored for as much as 7 days. Sensory evaluation shows that Snake gourd is preferred to Tomatoes because of its culinary and medicinal importance.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Loomis, John
2002-06-01
A travel cost demand model that uses intended trips if dams are removed and the river restored is presented as a tool for evaluating the potential recreation benefits in this counterfactual but increasingly policy relevant analysis of dam removal. The model is applied to the Lower Snake River in Washington using data from mail surveys of households in the Pacific Northwest region. Five years after dam removal, about 1.5 million visitor days are estimated, with this number growing to 2.5 million annually during years 20-100. Using the travel cost method model estimate of the value of river recreation, if the four dams are removed and the 225 km river is restored, the annualized benefits at a 6.875% discount rate would be $310 million. This gain in river recreation exceeds the loss of reservoir recreation but is about $60 million less than the total costs of the dam removal alternative. The analysis suggests this extension of the standard travel cost method may be suitable for evaluating the gain in river recreation associated with restoration of river systems from dam removal or associated with dam relicensing conditions.
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Carreon-Martinez, Lucia B.; Walter, Ryan P.; Johnson, Timothy B.; Ludsin, Stuart A.; Heath, Daniel D.
2015-01-01
Nutrient-rich, turbid river plumes that are common to large lakes and coastal marine ecosystems have been hypothesized to benefit survival of fish during early life stages by increasing food availability and (or) reducing vulnerability to visual predators. However, evidence that river plumes truly benefit the recruitment process remains meager for both freshwater and marine fishes. Here, we use genotype assignment between juvenile and larval yellow perch (Perca flavescens) from western Lake Erie to estimate and compare recruitment to the age-0 juvenile stage for larvae residing inside the highly turbid, south-shore Maumee River plume versus those occupying the less turbid, more northerly Detroit River plume. Bayesian genotype assignment of a mixed assemblage of juvenile (age-0) yellow perch to putative larval source populations established that recruitment of larvae was higher from the turbid Maumee River plume than for the less turbid Detroit River plume during 2006 and 2007, but not in 2008. Our findings add to the growing evidence that turbid river plumes can indeed enhance survival of fish larvae to recruited life stages, and also demonstrate how novel population genetic analyses of early life stages can contribute to determining critical early life stage processes in the fish recruitment process. PMID:25954968
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Assessment of habitat of wildlife communities on the Snake River, Jackson, Wyoming
Schroeder, Richard L.; Allen, Arthur W.
1992-01-01
The composition of the wildlife community in western riparian habitats is influenced by the horizontal and vertical distribution of vegetation, the physical complexity of the channel, and barriers to movement along the corridor. Based on information from the literature and a workshop, a model was developed to evaluate the wildlife community along the Snake River near Jackson, Wyoming. The model compares conditions of the current or future years with conditions in 1956, before constructions of levees along the river. Conditions in 1956 are assumed to approximate the desirable distribution of plant cover types and the associated wildlife community and are used as a standard of comparison in the model. The model may be applied with remotely sensed data and is compatible with a geographic information systems analysis. In addition to comparing existing or future conditions with conditions in 1956, the model evaluated floodplain and channel complexity and assesses anthropogenic disturbance and its potential effect on the quality of wildlife habitat and movements of wildlife in the riparian corridor.
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Juvenile salmonid monitoring in the White Salmon River, Washington, post-Condit Dam removal, 2016
Jezorek, Ian G.; Hardiman, Jill M.
2017-06-23
Condit Dam, at river kilometer 5.3 on the White Salmon River, Washington, was breached in 2011 and removed completely in 2012, allowing anadromous salmonids access to habitat that had been blocked for nearly 100 years. A multi-agency workgroup concluded that the preferred salmonid restoration alternative was natural recolonization with monitoring to assess efficacy, followed by a management evaluation 5 years after dam removal. Limited monitoring of salmon and steelhead spawning has occurred since 2011, but no monitoring of juveniles occurred until 2016. During 2016, we operated a rotary screw trap at river kilometer 2.3 (3 kilometers downstream of the former dam site) from late March through May and used backpack electrofishing during summer to assess juvenile salmonid distribution and abundance. The screw trap captured primarily steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss; smolts, parr, and fry) and coho salmon (O. kisutch; smolts and fry). We estimated the number of steelhead smolts at 3,851 (standard error = 1,454) and coho smolts at 1,093 (standard error = 412). In this document, we refer to O. mykiss caught at the screw trap as steelhead because they were actively migrating, but because we did not know migratory status of O. mykiss caught in electrofishing surveys, we simply refer to them as O. mykiss or steelhead/rainbow trout. Steelhead and coho smolts tagged with passive integrated transponder tags were subsequently detected downstream at Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River. Few Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha) fry were captured, possibly as a result of trap location or effects of a December 2015 flood. Sampling in Mill, Buck, and Rattlesnake Creeks (all upstream of the former dam site) showed that juvenile coho were present in Mill and Buck Creeks, suggesting spawning had occurred there. We compared O. mykiss abundance data in sites on Buck and Rattlesnake Creeks to pre-dam removal data. During 2016, age-0 O. mykiss were more abundant in Buck Creek than in 2009 or
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Scientific Drilling in the Snake River Plain: Past, Present, and Future
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Shervais, J. W.; Hanan, B. B.; Hughes, S. S.; Geist, D.; Vetter, S. K.
2006-12-01
The Snake River-Yellowstone volcanic province has long been linked to the concept of lithospheric drift over a fixed mantle thermal anomaly or hotspot. This concept is reinforced by seismic tomography that images this anomaly to depths around 500 km, but alternative proposals still present a serious challenge. Basaltic volcanism spans a significant age range and basaltic volcanism in the western SRP lies well off the hotspot track and cannot be related directly to the hotspot in any simple way. The plume-track age progression is documented by rhyolite volcanic centers, but even these represent extended time periods that overlap in age with adjacent centers. Scientific drilling projects carried out over the last two decades have made significant contributions to our understanding of both basaltic and rhyolitic volcanism associated with the Snake River-Yellowstone hotspot system. Because these drill holes also intercept sedimentary interbeds or, in the case of the western SRP, thick sections of Pliocene and Pleistocene sediments, they have also contributed to our understanding of basin formation by thermal collapse in the wake of the hotspot passage or by rifting, paleoclimate of the interior west, and groundwater systems in volcanic rocks. Many of these drill holes are associated with the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in the eastern plain; others were drilled for geothermal or petroleum exploration. The latter include older holes that were not instrumented or logged in detail, but which still provide valuable stratigraphic controls. We focus here on the result of basalt drilling, which have been high-lighted in recent publications. Basaltic volcanism in the Snake River plain is dominated by olivine tholeiites that have major and trace element characteristics of ocean island basalt: the range in MgO is similar to MORB, but Ti, Fe, P, K, Sr, Zr and LREE/HREE ratios are all higher. Recent studies of basalts from the drill holes show that they evolved by fractionation
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USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
Long-term invasion by cheatgrass often increases availability of soil N and P thereby fostering increased competitive ability. We designed an experiment to test if cheatgrass (exotic annual), Snake River wheatgrass (native perennial), and crested wheatgrass (exotic perennial) all benefit from this e...
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Keller, G. R.; Khatiwada, M.
2016-12-01
The Snake River Plain region in the Pacific Northwest of North America has been the target of a number of recent studies that have revealed further complexities in its structure and tectonic evolution. Based on surface morphology and Late Cenozoic volcanic activity, the Snake River Plain consists of an eastern and western arm (ESRP and WSRP) that are similar in many respects but also quite different in other respects. Thus, its origin, evolution, structural complexities, the role of extension and magmatism in its formation, and the tectonic drivers are still subjects of debate. Numerous seismic studies have specifically focused on the structure of the ESRP and Yellowstone area. However, crustal-scale studies of the WSRP are limited. We added new gravity data to the existing coverage in the WSRP region and undertook a regional, integrated analysis approach that included magnetic, seismic reflection and refraction profiling, receiver function results, geological and geospatial data, and interpreted well logs. Our integrated geophysical modeling focused on the structure of the WSRP. We generated two crustal models across it at locations where the most existing geophysical and geological constraints were available. We observed both differences and similarities in the structure of the WSRP and ESRP. Although, the shallow crustal structures are different, a mid-crustal mafic intrusion is a major source of the high gravity anomaly values. Within the context of recent studies in the surrounding region, the intersection of the two arms of the Snake River Plain emerges as a major element of a complex tectonic intersection that includes the High Lava Plains of eastern Oregon, the Northern Nevada Rift, a southwestern extension of the ESRP into northern Nevada, as well as, faulting and volcanism extending northwestward to connect with the Columbia River Basalts region.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
James, D. E.; Fouch, M. J.; Long, M. D.; Druken, K. A.; Wagner, L. S.; Chen, C.; Carlson, R. W.
2012-12-01
We interpret post-20 Ma tectonomagmatism across the U.S. Pacific Northwest in the context of subduction related processes. While mantle plume models have long enjoyed favor as an explanation for the post 20-Ma magmatism in the region, conceptually their support has hinged almost entirely on two major features: (1) Steens/Columbia River flood basalt volcanism (plume head); and (2) The Snake River Plain/Yellowstone hotspot track (plume tail). Recent work, synthesized in this presentation, suggests that these features are more plausibly the result of mantle dynamical processes driven by southerly truncation of the Farallon/Juan de Fuca subduction zone and slab detachment along the evolving margin of western North America (Long et al., 2012; James et al., 2011). Plate reconstructions indicate that shortening of the subduction zone by the northward migration of the Mendocino triple junction resulted in a significant increase in the rate of trench retreat and slab rollback ca 20 Ma. Both numerical modeling and physical tank experiments in turn predict large-scale mantle upwelling and flow around the southern edge of the rapidly retreating slab, consistent both with the observed Steens/Columbia River flood volcanism and with the strong E-W mantle fabric observed beneath the region of the High Lava Plains of central and eastern Oregon. The High Lava Plains and Snake River Plain time-progressive volcanism began concurrently about 12 Ma, but along highly divergent tracks and characterized by strikingly different upper mantle structure. Crustal and upper mantle structure beneath the High Lava Plains exhibits evidence typical of regional extension; i.e. thin crust, flat and sharp Moho, and an uppermost mantle with low velocities but otherwise largely devoid of significant vertical structure. In contrast, the Snake River Plain exhibits ultra-low mantle velocities to depths of about 180 km along the length of the hotspot track. Seismic images of the upper mantle in the depth
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Rupert, Michael G.
1994-01-01
Nutrient and organic compound data from the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency STORET data bases provided information for development of a preliminary conceptual model of spatial and temporal ground-water quality in the upper Snake River Basin. Nitrite plus nitrate (as nitrogen; hereafter referred to as nitrate) concentrations exceeded the Federal drinking-water regulation of 10 milligrams per liter in three areas in Idaho" the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, the area north of Pocatello (Fort Hall area), and the area surrounding Burley. Water from many wells in the Twin Falls area also contained elevated (greater than two milligrams per liter) nitrate concentrations. Water from domestic wells contained the highest median nitrate concentrations; water from industrial and public supply wells contained the lowest. Nitrate concentrations decreased with increasing well depth, increasing depth to water (unsaturated thickness), and increasing depth below water table (saturated thickness). Kjeldahl nitrogen concentrations decreased with increasing well depth and depth below water table. The relation between kjeldahl nitrogen concentrations and depth to water was poor. Nitrate and total phosphorus concentrations in water from wells were correlated among three hydrogeomorphic regions in the upper Snake River Basin, Concentrations of nitrate were statistically higher in the eastern Snake River Plain and local aquifers than in the tributary valleys. There was no statistical difference in total phosphorus concentrations among the three hydrogeomorphic regions. Nitrate and total phosphorus concentrations were correlated with land-use classifications developed using the Geographic Information Retrieval and Analysis System. Concentrations of nitrate were statistically higher in area of agricultural land than in areas of rangeland. There was no statistical difference in concentrations between rangeland and urban land and between urban land
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Movements and activity of juvenile Brown Treesnakes (Boiga irregularis)
Lardner, Bjorn; Savidge, Julie A.; Reed, Robert N.; Rodda, Gordon H.
2014-01-01
Understanding the spatial ecology and foraging strategy of invasive animals is essential for success in control or eradication. We studied movements and activity in juvenile Brown Treesnakes on Guam, as this population segment has proven particularly difficult to control. Distance between daytime refugia (from telemetry of 18 juveniles, 423-800 mm snout-vent length) ranged from 0-118 m (n = 86), with a grand mean of 43 m. There were tendencies for shorter snake movements on nights directly following a full moon and on dry nights, but variation among snakes was of a larger magnitude and would greatly reduce chances to detect moon or rain effects unless corrected for. Snake activity was estimated from audio recordings of signals from “tipping” radio transmitters, analyzed for pulse period and amplitude. Activity was highest in the hours immediately after sunset, and gradually declined throughout the night before dropping abruptly in conjunction with sunrise. Snake activity was higher on rainy nights, and tended to be highest during waning moons and when the moon was below the horizon. We conclude that small Brown Treesnakes forage actively and appear to move far enough to regularly encounter the traps and bait used on Guam for control purposes, suggesting that alternative explanations are required for their low capture rates with these control tools.
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Population viability of the Snake River chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)
Emlen, John M.
1995-01-01
In the presence of historical data, population viability models of intermediate complexity can be parameterized and utilized to project the consequences of various management actions for endangered species. A general stochastic population dynamics model with density feedback, age structure, and autocorrelated environmental fluctuations was constructed and parameterized for best fit over 36 years of spring chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) redd count data in five Idaho index streams. Simulations indicate that persistence of the Snake River spring chinook salmon population depends primarily on density-independent mortality. Improvement of rearing habitat, predator control, reduced fishing pressure, and improved dam passage all would alleviate density-independent mortality. The current value of the Ricker α should provide for a continuation of the status quo. A recovery of the population to 1957–1961 levels within 100 years would require an approximately 75% increase in survival and (or) fecundity. Manipulations of the Ricker β are likely to have little or no effect on persistence versus extinction, but considerable influence on population size.
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Chemosensory age discrimination in the snake Boa constrictor (Serpentes: Boidae).
Gabirot, Marianne; Picerno, Pablo; Valencia, Jorge; Lopez, Pilar; Martin, José
2012-12-01
Many snakes are able to use their chemosensory system to detect scent of conspecifics, which is important in many social contexts. Age discrimination based on chemical cues may be especially important to ensure access to sexually mature potential partners. In this study, we used 24 individual Boa constrictor snakes (12 adults mature and 12 non-mature individuals) that had been captured in different areas of Ecuador, and were maintained in captivity at the Vivarium of Quito. We used tongue-flick experiments to examine whether these snakes were able to discriminate between scents from mature and non-mature individuals. Results showed that B. constrictor snakes used chemical cues to recognize conspecifics and that the scent of individuals of different ages elicited chemosensory responses of different magnitudes. The scents from adult conspecifics elicited the quickest and highest chemosensory responses (i.e., short latency times and high tongue-flick rates), although we did not find differential responses to scent of males and females. The magnitude of the responses was lower to scent of sub adult individuals, and then even lower to scent of juvenile snakes, but in all cases the scent of snakes was discriminated from a blank control. We discuss the potential chemical mechanisms that may allow age recognition and its implications for social and sexual behavior of this snake species.
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Food habits of Juvenile American Shad and dynamics of zooplankton in the lower Columbia River
Haskell, C.A.; Tiffan, K.F.; Rondorf, D.W.
2006-01-01
As many as 2.4 million adult American shad annually pass John Day Dam, Columbia River to spawn upriver, yet food web interactions of juvenile shad rearing in John Day Reservoir are unexplored. We collected zooplankton and conducted mid-water trawls in McNary (June-July) and John Day reservoirs (August-November) from 1994 through 1996 during the outmigration of subyearling American shad and Chinook salmon. Juvenile American shad were abundant and represented over 98% of the trawl catch in late summer. The five major taxa collected in zooplankton tows were Bosmina longirostris, Daphnia, cyclopoid cope-pods, rotifers, and calanoid copepods. We evaluated total crustacean zooplankton abundance and Daphnia biomass in relation to water temperature, flow, depth, diel period, and cross-sectional location using multiple regression. Differences in zooplankton abundance were largely due to differences in water temperature and flow. Spatial variation in total zooplankton abundance was observed in McNary Reservoir, but not in John Day Reservoir. Juvenile American shad generally fed on numerically abundant prey, despite being less preferred than larger bodied zooplankton. A decrease in cladoceran abundance and size in August coupled with large percentages of Daphnia in juvenile American shad stomachs indicated heavy planktivory. Smaller juvenile American shad primarily fed on Daphnia in August, but switched to more evasive copepods as the mean size of fish increased and Daphnia abundance declined. Because Daphnia are particularly important prey items for subyearling Chinook salmon in mainstem reservoirs in mid to late summer, alterations in the cladoceran food base is of concern for the management of outmigrating salmonids and other Columbia River fishes. ?? 2006 by the Northwest Scientific Association. All rights reserved.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Jonasson, Brian C.; Carmichael, Richard W.; Keefe, MaryLouise
1997-09-01
Historically, the Grande Ronde River produced an abundance of salmonids including stocks of spring, summer and fall chinook salmon, sockeye salmon, coho salmon, and summer steelhead. During the past century, numerous factors have caused the reduction of salmon stocks such that only sustainable stocks of spring chinook salmon and summer steelhead remain. The sizes of spring chinook salmon populations in the Grande Ronde River basin also have been declining steadily and are substantially depressed from estimates of historic levels. In addition to a decline in population abundance, a reduction of spring chinook salmon spawning distribution is evident in the Grandemore » Ronde River basin. Numerous factors are thought to contribute to the decline of spring chinook salmon in the Snake River and its tributaries. These factors include passage problems and increased mortality of juvenile and adult migrants at mainstem Columbia and Snake river dams, overharvest, and habitat degradation associated with timber, agricultural, and land development practices. This study was designed to describe aspects of the life history strategies exhibited by spring chinook salmon in the Grande Ronde River basin. During the past year the focus was on rearing and migration patterns of juveniles in the upper Grande Ronde River and Catherine Creek. The study design included three objectives: (1) document the annual in-basin migration patterns for spring chinook salmon juveniles in the upper Grande Ronde River and Catherine Creek, including the abundance of migrants, migration timing and duration; (2) estimate and compare smolt survival indices to mainstem Columbia and Snake river dams for fall and spring migrating spring chinook salmon; and (3) determine summer and winter habitat utilization and preference of juvenile spring chinook salmon in the upper Grande Ronde River and Catherine Creek.« less
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Burdick, Summer M.
2012-01-01
Federally endangered Lost River sucker (Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose sucker (Chasmistes brevirostris) were once abundant throughout their range but populations have declined. They were extirpated from several lakes in the 1920s and may no longer reproduce in other lakes. Poor recruitment to the adult spawning populations is one of several reasons cited for the decline and lack of recovery of these species and may be the consequence of high mortality during juvenile life stages. High larval and juvenile sucker mortality may be exacerbated by an insufficient quantity of suitable or high-quality rearing habitat. In addition, larval suckers may be swept downstream from suitable rearing areas in Upper Klamath Lake into Keno Reservoir, where they are assumed lost to Upper Klamath Lake populations. The Nature Conservancy flooded about 3,600 acres (1,456 hectares) to the north of the Williamson River mouth (Tulana) in October 2007, and about 1,400 acres (567 hectares) to the south and east of the Williamson River mouth (Goose Bay Farms) in October 2008, in order to retain larval suckers in Upper Klamath Lake, create nursery habitat, and improve water quality. The U.S. Geological Survey joined a long-term research and monitoring program in collaboration with The Nature Conservancy, the Bureau of Reclamation, and Oregon State University in 2008 to assess the effects of the Williamson River Delta restoration on the early life-history stages of Lost River and shortnose suckers. The primary objectives of the research were to describe habitat colonization and use by larval and juvenile suckers and non-sucker fishes and to evaluate the effects of the restored habitat on the health and condition of juvenile suckers. This report summarizes data collected in 2010 by the U.S. Geological Survey as a part of this monitoring effort and follows two annual reports on data collected in 2008 and 2009. Restoration modifications made to the Williamson River Delta appeared to provide
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Aly, M. H.; Hughes, S. S.; Rodgers, D. W.; Glenn, N. F.; Thackray, G. D.
2007-12-01
The Snake River Plain-Yellowstone tectono-volcanic province was created when North America migrated over a fixed hotspot in the mantle. Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry (InSAR) has been applied in this study to address the recent tectono-volcanic activity in the Eastern Snake River Plain (ESRP) and the southwestern part of Yellowstone Plateau. InSAR results show that crustal deformation across the tectono-volcanic province is episodic. An episode of uplift (about 1 cm/yr) along the ESRP axial volcanic zone, directly southwest of Island Park, has been detected from a time-series of independent differential interferograms created for the 1993-2000 period. Episodes of subsidence (1 cm/yr) during 1997-2000 and uplift (3 cm/yr) during 2004-2006 have been also detected in the active Yellowstone caldera, just northeast of Island Park. The detected interferometric signals indicate that deformation across the axial volcanic zone near Island Park is inversely linked to deformation in the active Yellowstone caldera. One explanation is that the inverse motions reflect a flexure response of the ESRP crust to magma chamber activity beneath the active caldera, although other interpretations are possible. The time-series of differential interferograms shows that no regional deformation has occurred across the central part of ESRP during the periods of observations, but local surface displacements of 1-3 cm magnitude have been detected in the adjacent Basin-Range province. Differential surface movements of varying rates have been also detected along Centennial, Madison, and Hebgen faults between 1993 and 2006.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Harnish, Ryan A.; Colotelo, Alison HA; Li, Xinya
2014-12-01
In 2012 and 2013, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory conducted a study that summarized the passage proportions and route-specific survival rates of steelhead kelts that passed through Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) dams. To accomplish this, a total of 811 steelhead kelts were tagged with Juvenile Salmon Acoustic Telemetry System (JSATS) transmitters. Acoustic receivers, both autonomous and cabled, were deployed throughout the FCRPS to monitor the downstream movements of tagged-kelts. Kelts were also tagged with Passive Integrated Transponder tags to monitor passage through juvenile bypass systems and detect returning fish. The current study evaluated data collected in 2012 and 2013more » to identify individual, behavioral, environmental and dam operation variables that were related to passage and survival of steelhead kelts that passed through FCRPS dams. Bayesian model averaging of multivariable logistic regression models was used to identify the environmental, temporal, operational, individual, and behavioral variables that had the highest probability of influencing the route of passage and the route-specific survival probabilities for kelts that passed Lower Granite (LGR), Little Goose (LGS), and Lower Monumental (LMN) dams in 2012 and 2013. The posterior probabilities of the best models for predicting route of passage ranged from 0.106 for traditional spill at LMN to 0.720 for turbine passage at LGS. Generally, the behavior (depth and near-dam searching activity) of kelts in the forebay appeared to have the greatest influence on their route of passage. Shallower-migrating kelts had a higher probability of passing via the weir and deeper-migrating kelts had a higher probability of passing via the JBS and turbines than other routes. Kelts that displayed a higher level of near-dam searching activity had a higher probability of passing via the spillway weir and those that did less near-dam searching had a higher probability of passing via the JBS
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Perry, R.; Farley , M.; Hansen, G.; Morse , J.; Rondorf, D.
2005-01-01
Passage through dams is a major source of mortality of anadromous juvenile salmonids because some populations must negotiate up to eight dams in Columbia and Snake rivers. Dams cause direct mortality when fish pass through turbines, but dams may also cause indirect mortality by altering migration conditions in rivers. Forebays immediately upstream of dams have decreased the water velocity of rivers and may contribute substantially to the total migration delay of juvenile salmonids. Recently, Coutant (2001a) suggested that in addition to low water velocities, lack of natural turbulence may contribute to migration delay by causing fish to lose directional cues. Coutant (2001a) further hypothesized that restoring turbulence in dam forebays may reduce migration delay by providing directional cues that allow fish to find passage routes more quickly (Coutant 2001a). Although field experiments have yielded proof of the concept of using induced turbulence to guide fish to safe passage routes, little is known about mechanisms actually causing behavioral changes. To test hypotheses about how turbulence influences movement and behavior of migrating juvenile salmonids, we conducted two types of controlled experiments at Cowlitz Falls Dam, Washington. A common measure of migration delay is the elapsed time between arrival at, and passage through, a dam. Therefore, for the first set of experiments, we tested the effect of induced turbulence on the elapsed time needed for fish to traverse through a raceway and pass over a weir at its downstream end (time trial experiment). If turbulence helps guide fish to passage routes, then fish should pass through the raceway quicker in the presence of appropriately scaled and directed turbulent cues. Second, little is known about how the physical properties of water movement provide directional cues to migrating juvenile salmonids. To examine the feasibility of guiding fish with turbulence, we tested whether directed turbulence could guide
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Heart rates increase after hatching in two species of natricine snakes
Aubret, Fabien
2013-01-01
Experimental studies have shown heart rates to decrease from embryo to hatchling stage in turtles, remain steady in skinks, and increase in birds. However, no snake species has been studied in this regard. I recorded heart rate evolution trajectories from embryo to juvenile stage in 78 eggs from two species of European Natricine snakes. Unexpectedly, snakes behaved more like birds than turtles or lizards: heart rates increased after hatching in both N. maura and N. natrix, respectively by 43.92 ± 22.84% and 35.92 ± 24.52%. Heart rate shift was not related to an abrupt elevation of metabolism per se (snakes that increased their heart rates the most sharply grew the least after birth), but rather due to a number of smaller eggs that experienced lower than normal heart rates throughout the incubation and recovered a normal heart rate post-birth. This finding is discussed in the light of hatching synchrony benefits. PMID:24287712
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Porter, Russell G.; Winther, Eric C.; Fox, Lyle G.
2004-01-01
This report presents results for year twelve in a basin-wide program to harvest northern pikeminnow1 (Ptychocheilus oregonensis). This program was started in an effort to reduce predation by northern pikeminnow on juvenile salmonids during their emigration from natal streams to the ocean. Earlier work in the Columbia River Basin suggested predation by northern pikeminnow on juvenile salmonids might account for most of the 10-20% mortality juvenile salmonids experience in each of eight Columbia River and Snake River reservoirs. Modeling simulations based on work in John Day Reservoir from 1982 through 1988 indicated that, if predator-size northern pikeminnow were exploited atmore » a 10-20% rate, the resulting restructuring of their population could reduce their predation on juvenile salmonids by 50%. To test this hypothesis, we implemented a sport-reward angling fishery and a commercial longline fishery in the John Day Pool in 1990. We also conducted an angling fishery in areas inaccessible to the public at four dams on the mainstem Columbia River and at Ice Harbor Dam on the Snake River. Based on the success of these limited efforts, we implemented three test fisheries on a system-wide scale in 1991--a tribal longline fishery above Bonneville Dam, a sport-reward fishery, and a dam-angling fishery. Low catch of target fish and high cost of implementation resulted in discontinuation of the tribal longline fishery. However, the sport-reward and dam-angling fisheries were continued in 1992 and 1993. In 1992, we investigated the feasibility of implementing a commercial longline fishery in the Columbia River below Bonneville Dam and found that implementation of this fishery was also infeasible. Estimates of combined annual exploitation rates resulting from the sport-reward and damangling fisheries remained at the low end of our target range of 10-20%. This suggested the need for additional effective harvest techniques. During 1991 and 1992, we developed and tested a
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Potter, K. E.; Shervais, J. W.; Champion, D.; Duncan, R. A.; Christiansen, E. H.
2012-12-01
Project Hotspot produced continuous core from three drill sites in the Snake River plain, including 1912 m of core from the Kimama drill site on the axis of the plain. Ongoing major and trace element chemical characterization of the Kimama core and new 40Ar/39Ar and paleomagnetic age data demonstrate temporal variations in the evolution of Snake River Plain volcanism. Cyclic fluctuations in magma chemistry identify over a hundred chemically distinct basalt flow groups (comprising 550 individual lava flows) within 54 periods of volcanic activity, separated by hiatuses of decades to many millennia. From a surface age of 700 ka to a bottom-hole age of 6.5 Ma, the Kimama core records the presence of several nearly coeval but compositionally different lava flows, ranging from highly evolved lavas to non-evolved tholeiites. Determining whether Kimama lavas are genetically unrelated or extreme differentiates of a single magma batch relies upon a combination of detailed chemostratigraphy and absolute and relative age data. Age and geochemical data introduce new ideas on the role of multiple magma sources and/or differentiation processes in the development of central Snake River Plain volcanic systems. The relatively short gestation of evolved liquids is demonstrated throughout the Kimama core, with evidence for cyclic fractionation of mafic lavas at depths of 318 m, 350 m, 547 m, and 1078 m. Here, highly evolved lava flows (FeOT 16.0-18.4 wt %; TiO2 3.43-4.62 wt %) are stratigraphically bounded by more primitive tholeiitic basalts (FeOT 9.9-14.8 wt%; TiO2 1.22-3.56 wt%) within the same inclination range, suggesting that cyclic fractionation is a regular feature of shield volcano development on the central Snake River Plain. Between 1.60 ± 0.13 Ma (453.5 m depth) and 1.54 ± 0.15 Ma (320.0 m depth), Kimama lavas ranged in composition from primitive tholeiite (FeOT 11.7 wt %; TiO2 1.76 wt %) to evolved basalt (FeOT 16.0 wt %; TiO2 4.00 wt %). At depths of 1119 m and 1138 m
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Survival of Juvenile Chinook Salmon during Barge Transport
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
McMichael, Geoffrey A.; Skalski, J. R.; Deters, Katherine A.
2011-12-01
To mitigate for fish losses related to passage through the Federal Columbia River Power System, an extensive fish transportation program using barges and trucks to move fish around and downstream of dams and reservoirs was implemented in 1981. Population modeling and other analyses to support Pacific salmon recovery efforts have assumed that the survival of juvenile salmonids during the transportation experience was 98%. To estimate survival during barge transport from Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River to a release area downstream of Bonneville Dam, a distance of 470 km, we used a novel adaptation of a release-recapture model withmore » acoustic-tagged yearling Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) smolts. A total of 1,494 yearling Chinook salmon were surgically implanted with Juvenile Salmon Acoustic Telemetry System (JSATS) acoustic transmitters and passive integrated transponders (PIT) and divided into three groups. The three tagged groups consisted of; (1) a group which was released into the raceway with the population of fish which were later loaded into transportation barges (R{sub B}), (2) a group which was held in a net-pen suspended within the general barge population until 5-6 h prior to barge evacuation, at which time they were confirmed to be alive and then released into the general barge population (R{sub A}), and (3) to validate a model assumption, a group which was euthanized and released into the barge population 2-8 h prior to barge evacuation (R{sub D}). Six replicates of these groups were loaded onto fish transport barges that departed Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River between 29 April and 13 May, 2010. Acoustic receiver arrays between 70 and 220 km downstream of the barge evacuation site were used to detect tagged fish and served as the basis for estimation of survival within the barge. Tag-life-corrected estimates of reach survival were calculated for barged and control fish in each of the six replicate trials. The ratio of survival
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Willingness to pay for non angler recreation at the lower Snake River reservoirs
McKean, J.R.; Johnson, D.; Taylor, R.G.; Johnson, Richard L.
2005-01-01
This study applied the travel cost method to estimate demand for non angler recreation at the impounded Snake River in eastern Washington. Net value per person per recreation trip is estimated for the full non angler sample and separately for camping, boating, water-skiing, and swimming/picnicking. Certain recreation activities would be reduced or eliminated and new activities would be added if the dams were breached to protect endangered salmon and steelhead. The effect of breaching on non angling benefits was found by subtracting our benefits estimate from the projected non angling benefits with breaching. Major issues in demand model specification and definition of the price variables are discussed. The estimation method selected was truncated negative binomial regression with adjustment for self selection bias.
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Burdick, Summer M.; Ottinger, Christopher; Brown, Daniel T.; VanderKooi, Scott P.; Robertson, Laura; Iwanowicz, Deborah
2009-01-01
Federally endangered Lost River sucker Deltistes luxatus and shortnose sucker Chasmistes brevirostris were once abundant throughout their range but populations have declined; they have been extirpated from several lakes, and may no longer reproduce in others. Poor recruitment into the adult spawning populations is one of several reasons cited for the decline and lack of recovery of these species, and may be the consequence of high mortality during juvenile life stages. High larval and juvenile sucker mortality may be exacerbated by an insufficient quantity of suitable rearing habitat. Within Upper Klamath Lake, a lack of marshes also may allow larval suckers to be swept from suitable rearing areas downstream into the seasonally anoxic waters of the Keno Reservoir. The Nature Conservancy (TNC) flooded about 3,600 acres to the north of the Williamson River mouth (Tulana Unit) in October 2007, and about 1,400 acres to the south and east of the Williamson River mouth (Goose Bay Unit) a year later, to retain larval suckers in Upper Klamath Lake, create nursery habitat for suckers, and improve water quality. In collaboration with TNC, the Bureau of Reclamation, and Oregon State University, we began a long-term collaborative research and monitoring program in 2008 to assess the effects of the Williamson River Delta restoration on the early life-history stages of Lost River and shortnose suckers. Our approach includes two equally important aspects. One component is to describe habitat use and colonization processes by larval and juvenile suckers and non-sucker fish species. The second is to evaluate the effects of the restored habitat on the health and condition of juvenile suckers. This report contains a summary of the first year of data collected as a part of this monitoring effort.
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Burdick, Summer M.; Brown, Daniel T.
2010-01-01
Federally endangered Lost River sucker (Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose sucker (Chasmistes brevirostris) were once abundant throughout their range but populations have declined. They were extirpated from several lakes in the 1920s and may no longer reproduce in others. Poor recruitment to the adult spawning populations is one of several reasons cited for the decline and lack of recovery of these species and may be the consequence of high mortality during juvenile life stages. High larval and juvenile sucker mortality may be exacerbated by an insufficient quantity of suitable or high quality rearing habitat. In addition, larval suckers may be swept downstream from suitable rearing areas in Upper Klamath Lake into Keno Reservoir, which is seasonally anoxic. The Nature Conservancy flooded about 3,600 acres (1,456 hectares) to the north of the Williamson River mouth (Tulana Unit) in October 2007 and about 1,400 acres (567 hectares) to the south and east of the Williamson River mouth (Goose Bay Unit) a year later to retain larval suckers in Upper Klamath Lake, create nursery habitat, and improve water quality. The U.S. Geological Survey joined a long-term research and monitoring program in collaboration with The Nature Conservancy, the Bureau of Reclamation, and Oregon State University in 2008 to assess the effects of the Williamson River Delta restoration on the early life-history stages of Lost River and shortnose suckers. The primary objectives of the research were to describe habitat colonization and use by larval and juvenile suckers and non-sucker fishes and to evaluate the effects of the restored habitat on the health and condition of juvenile suckers. This report summarizes data collected in 2009 by the U.S. Geological Survey as a part of this monitoring effort. The Williamson River Delta appeared to provide suitable rearing habitat for endangered larval Lost River and shortnose suckers in 2008 and 2009. Larval suckers captured in this delta typically were
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Achord, Stephen; Sandford, Benjamin P.; Hockersmith, Eric E.
2009-05-26
This report provides results from an ongoing project to monitor the migration behavior and survival of wild juvenile spring/summer Chinook salmon in the Snake River Basin. Data reported is from detections of PIT tagged fish during late summer 2007 through mid-2008. Fish were tagged in summer 2007 by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in Idaho and by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) in Oregon. Our analyses include migration behavior and estimated survival of fish at instream PIT-tag monitors and arrival timing and estimated survival to Lower Granite Dam. Principal results from tagging and interrogation during 2007-2008more » are listed below: (1) In July and August 2007, we PIT tagged and released 7,390 wild Chinook salmon parr in 12 Idaho streams or sample areas. (2) Overall observed mortality from collection, handling, tagging, and after a 24-hour holding period was 1.4%. (3) Of the 2,524 Chinook salmon parr PIT tagged and released in Valley Creek in summer 2007, 218 (8.6%) were detected at two instream PIT-tag monitoring systems in lower Valley Creek from late summer 2007 to the following spring 2008. Of these, 71.6% were detected in late summer/fall, 11.9% in winter, and 16.5% in spring. Estimated parr-to-smolt survival to Lower Granite Dam was 15.5% for the late summer/fall group, 48.0% for the winter group, and 58.5% for the spring group. Based on detections at downstream dams, the overall efficiency of VC1 (upper) or VC2 (lower) Valley Creek monitors for detecting these fish was 21.1%. Using this VC1 or VC2 efficiency, an estimated 40.8% of all summer-tagged parr survived to move out of Valley Creek, and their estimated survival from that point to Lower Granite Dam was 26.5%. Overall estimated parr-to-smolt survival for all summer-tagged parr from this stream at the dam was 12.1%. Development and improvement of instream PIT-tag monitoring systems continued throughout 2007 and 2008. (4) Testing of PIT-tag antennas in lower Big
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Maret, Terry R.
1995-01-01
The 35,800-square-mile upper Snake River Basin in eastern Idaho and western Wyoming was one of 20 areas selected for water-quality study under the National Water-Quality Assessment Program. As part of the initial phase of the study, data were compiled to describe the current (1992) and historical aquatic biological conditions of surface water in the basin. This description of natural and human environmental factors that affect aquatic life provides the framework for evaluating the status and trends of aquatic biological conditions in streams of the basins. Water resource development and stream alterations, irrigated agriculture, grazing, aquaculture, and species introductions have affected stream biota in the upper Snake River Basin. Cumulative effects of these activities have greatly altered cold-water habitat and aquatic life in the middle Snake River reach (Milner Dam to King Hill). Most of the aquatic Species of Special Concern in the basin , consisting of eight native mollusks and three native fish species, are in this reach of the Snake River. Selected long-term studies, including comprehensive monitoring on Rock Creek, have shown reduced pollutant loadings as a result of implementing practice on cropland; however, aquatic life remains affected by agricultural land use. Community level biological data are lacking for most of the streams in the basin, especially for large river. Aquatic life used to assess water quality of the basin includes primarily macroinvertebrate and fish communities. At least 26 different macroinvertebrate and fish community metrics have been utilized to assess water quality of the basin. Eight species of macroinvertebrates and fish are recognized as Species of Special Concern. The native fish faunas of the basin are composed primarily of cold-water species representing 5 families and 26 species. An additional 13 fish species have been introduced to the basin. Concentrations of synthetic organic compounds and trace-element contaminants
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Small, Kade; Kopf, R. Keller; Watts, Robyn J.; Howitt, Julia
2014-01-01
Hypoxia represents a growing threat to biodiversity in freshwater ecosystems. Here, aquatic surface respiration (ASR) and oxygen thresholds required for survival in freshwater and simulated blackwater are evaluated for four lowland river fishes native to the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB), Australia. Juvenile stages of predatory species including golden perch Macquaria ambigua, silver perch Bidyanus bidyanus, Murray cod Maccullochella peelii, and eel-tailed catfish Tandanus tandanus were exposed to experimental conditions of nitrogen-induced hypoxia in freshwater and hypoxic blackwater simulations using dried river red gum Eucalyptus camaldulensis leaf litter. Australia's largest freshwater fish, M. peelii, was the most sensitive to hypoxia but given that we evaluated tolerances of juveniles (0.99±0.04 g; mean mass ±SE), the low tolerance of this species could not be attributed to its large maximum attainable body mass (>100,000 g). Concentrations of dissolved oxygen causing 50% mortality (LC50) in freshwater ranged from 0.25±0.06 mg l−1 in T. tandanus to 1.58±0.01 mg l−1 in M. peelii over 48 h at 25–26°C. Logistic models predicted that first mortalities may start at oxygen concentrations ranging from 2.4 mg l−1 to 3.1 mg l−1 in T. tandanus and M. peelii respectively within blackwater simulations. Aquatic surface respiration preceded mortality and this behaviour is documented here for the first time in juveniles of all four species. Despite the natural occurrence of hypoxia and blackwater events in lowland rivers of the MDB, juvenile stages of these large-bodied predators are vulnerable to mortality induced by low oxygen concentration and water chemistry changes associated with the decomposition of organic material. Given the extent of natural flow regime alteration and climate change predictions of rising temperatures and more severe drought and flooding, acute episodes of hypoxia may represent an underappreciated risk to riverine fish communities. PMID
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Small, Kade; Kopf, R Keller; Watts, Robyn J; Howitt, Julia
2014-01-01
Hypoxia represents a growing threat to biodiversity in freshwater ecosystems. Here, aquatic surface respiration (ASR) and oxygen thresholds required for survival in freshwater and simulated blackwater are evaluated for four lowland river fishes native to the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB), Australia. Juvenile stages of predatory species including golden perch Macquaria ambigua, silver perch Bidyanus bidyanus, Murray cod Maccullochella peelii, and eel-tailed catfish Tandanus tandanus were exposed to experimental conditions of nitrogen-induced hypoxia in freshwater and hypoxic blackwater simulations using dried river red gum Eucalyptus camaldulensis leaf litter. Australia's largest freshwater fish, M. peelii, was the most sensitive to hypoxia but given that we evaluated tolerances of juveniles (0.99 ± 0.04 g; mean mass ±SE), the low tolerance of this species could not be attributed to its large maximum attainable body mass (>100,000 g). Concentrations of dissolved oxygen causing 50% mortality (LC50) in freshwater ranged from 0.25 ± 0.06 mg l(-1) in T. tandanus to 1.58 ± 0.01 mg l(-1) in M. peelii over 48 h at 25-26 °C. Logistic models predicted that first mortalities may start at oxygen concentrations ranging from 2.4 mg l(-1) to 3.1 mg l(-1) in T. tandanus and M. peelii respectively within blackwater simulations. Aquatic surface respiration preceded mortality and this behaviour is documented here for the first time in juveniles of all four species. Despite the natural occurrence of hypoxia and blackwater events in lowland rivers of the MDB, juvenile stages of these large-bodied predators are vulnerable to mortality induced by low oxygen concentration and water chemistry changes associated with the decomposition of organic material. Given the extent of natural flow regime alteration and climate change predictions of rising temperatures and more severe drought and flooding, acute episodes of hypoxia may represent an underappreciated risk to riverine fish communities.
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Survival, movement, and distribution of juvenile Burbot in a tributary of the Kootenai River
Beard, Zachary S.; Quist, Michael C.; Hardy, Ryan S.; Ross, Tyler J.
2017-01-01
Burbot Lota lota in the lower Kootenai River, Idaho, have been the focus of extensive conservation efforts, particularly the release of hatchery-reared juvenile Burbot into small tributaries. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game installed a fixed PIT antenna on Deep Creek, a tributary of the Kootenai River, to evaluate movement of juvenile Burbot to the Kootenai River. Since then, approximately 12,000 juvenile Burbot have been PIT-tagged and released into Deep Creek, but few Burbot have been detected at the antenna, thus raising questions about their fate in the creek. The objectives of this study were to evaluate survival, movement, and distribution of Burbot released into Deep Creek. During 2014, 3,000 age-0, 200 age-1, 16 age-2, and 16 age-4 Burbot were released at two different locations; during 2015, 3,000 age-0 Burbot were released at six different locations (i.e., 500 fish/site). Five additional stationary PIT tag antennas were installed on Deep Creek prior to stocking in 2014. Mobile PIT tag antennas were used to survey the creek in 2015 and 2016. A Barker model in Program MARK was used to estimate survival. Stationary and mobile PIT tag antennas relocated 3,372 (56%) of the Burbot released in Deep Creek during 2014 and 2015. Eighty-eight percent of PIT tags relocated during mobile surveys were relocated within 1 km of a release location. Mobile surveys of release locations in Deep Creek suggested poor dispersal from stocking locations. Survival did not vary across years or release groups. Initial 7-month survival in Deep Creek was 0.27, and survival improved to 0.63 after the first 7 months. Although survival did not differ between years or among release groups, managers may consider releasing Burbot at lower densities across multiple locations.
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Mann, L.J.; Low, W.H.
1994-01-01
In 1990-93, water from 19 springs along the north side of the Snake River near Twin Falls and Hagerman contained from 9.2+0.6 to 78.4+5.1 picocuries per liter (pCi/L) of tritium. The springs were placed into three categories based on their locations and tritium concentrations: Category I was the upstream most and contained from 52.8+3.2 to 78.4+5.1 pCi/L of tritium; Category 11 was downstream from those in Category I and contained from 9.2+0.6 to 18.6+1.2 pCi/L; and Category III was the farthest downstream and contained from 28.3+1.9 to 47.7+3.2 pCi/L. Differences in tritium concentrations in the Category I, II, and III springs are a function of the ground-water flow regime, land use, and irrigation practices in and hydraulically upgradient from each category of springs. A comparatively large part of the water from the Category I springs is derived from recharge in heavily irrigated areas in which the irrigation water largely is diverted from the Snake River. A large part of the recharge for Category II springs occurs as much as 140 miles upgradient. Tritium concentrations in Category III springs indicate an intermediate proportion of the recharge is from excess applied-irrigation water. The concept that recharge from excess applied- irrigation water from the Snake River has affected tritium in the aquifer is supported by isotopic and nitrogen data. Deuterium and oxygen-18 isotopic values, and nitrite plus nitrate as nitrogen concentrations in the flow of some springs has been impacted by irrigation.
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Quantifying mortal injury of juvenile Chinook salmon exposed to simulated hydro-turbine passage
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Brown, Richard S.; Carlson, Thomas J.; Gingerich, Andrew J.
A proportion of juvenile Chinook salmon and other salmonids travel through one or more turbines during seaward migration in the Columbia and Snake River every year. Despite this understanding, limited information exists on how these fish respond to hydraulic pressures found during turbine passage events. In this study we exposed juvenile Chinook salmon to varied acclimation pressures and subsequent exposure pressures (nadir) to mimic the hydraulic pressures of large Kaplan turbines (ratio of pressure change). Additionally, we varied abiotic (total dissolved gas, rate of pressure change) and biotic (condition factor, fish length, fish weight) factors that may contribute to themore » incidence of mortal injury associated with fish passing through hydro-turbines. We determined that the main factor associated with mortal injury of juvenile Chinook salmon during simulated turbine passage was the ratio between acclimation and nadir pressures. Condition factor, total dissolved gas, and the rate of pressure change were found to only slightly increase the predictive power of equations relating probability of mortal injury to conditions of exposure or characteristics of test fish during simulated turbine passage. This research will assist engineers and fisheries managers in operating and improving hydroelectric facility efficiency while minimizing mortality and injury of turbine-passed juvenile Chinook salmon. The results are discussed in the context of turbine development and the necessity of understanding how different species of fish will respond to the hydraulic pressures of turbine passage.« less
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Daraio, J.A.; Weber, L.J.; Newton, T.J.
2010-01-01
Because unionid mussels have a parasitic larval stage, they are able to disperse upstream and downstream as larvae while attached to their host fish and with flow as juveniles after excystment from the host. Understanding unionid population ecology requires knowledge of the processes that affect juvenile dispersal prior to establishment. We examined presettlement (transport and dispersion with flow) and early postsettlement (bed shear stress) hydraulic processes as negative censoring mechanisms. Our approach was to model dispersal using particle tracking through a 3-dimensional flow field output from hydrodynamic models of a reach of the Upper Mississippi River. We tested the potential effects of bed shear stress (??b) at 5 flow rates on juvenile mussel dispersal and quantified the magnitude of these effects as a function of flow rate. We explored the reach-scale relationships of Froude number (Fr), water depth (H), local bed slope (S), and unit stream power (QS) with the likelihood of juvenile settling (??). We ran multiple dispersal simulations at each flow rate to estimate ??, the parameter of a Poisson distribution, from the number of juveniles settling in each grid cell, and calculated dispersal distances. Virtual juveniles that settled in areas of the river where b > critical shear stress (c) were resuspended in the flow and transported further downstream, so we ran simulations at 3 different conditions for ??c (??c = ??? no resuspension, 0.1, and 0.05 N/m2). Differences in virtual juvenile dispersal distance were significantly dependent upon c and flow rate, and effects of b on settling distribution were dependent upon c. Most simulations resulted in positive correlations between ?? and ??b, results suggesting that during early postsettlement, ??b might be the primary determinant of juvenile settling distribution. Negative correlations between ?? and ??b occurred in some simulations, a result suggesting that physical or biological presettlement processes
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Haacke, Jon E.; Barclay, C. S. Venable; Hettinger, Robert D.
2016-09-30
In the 1970s and 1980s, C.S. Venable Barclay conducted geologic mapping of areas primarily underlain by Cretaceous coals in the eastern part of the Little Snake River coal field (LSR) in Carbon County, southwest Wyoming. With some exceptions, most of the mapping data were never published. Subsequently, after his retirement from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), his field maps and field notebooks were archived in the USGS Field Records. Due to a pending USGS coal assessment of the Little Snake River coal field area and planned geological mapping to be conducted by the Wyoming State Geological Survey, Barclay’s mapping data needed to be published to support these efforts. Subsequently, geologic maps were scanned and georeferenced into a geographic information system, and project and field notes were scanned into Portable Document Format (PDF) files. Data for seventeen 7½-minute quadrangles are presented in this report. This publication is solely intended to compile the mapping data as it was last worked on by Barclay and provides no interpretation or modification of his work.
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Summary of survival data from juvenile coho salmon in the Klamath River, northern California, 2009
Beeman, John W.; Juhnke, Steven D.
2009-01-01
A study of the effects of the discharge from Iron Gate Dam on the Klamath River on juvenile coho salmon during their seaward migration began in 2005. Estimates of fish survival through various reaches of the river downstream of the dam were completed in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009. This report describes the estimates of survival during 2009, and is a complement to similar reports for 2006, 2007, and 2008. For each year, a series of numerical models were evaluated to determine apparent survival and recapture probabilities of radio-tagged fish in several river reaches between Iron Gate Hatchery at river kilometer 309 and a site at river kilometer 33. The evaluations indicate that the primary differences among years are in the survivals through reaches upstream of the confluence of the Scott River with the Klamath River. Data from 2009, one of two years when fish from both hatchery and wild origins were available for analysis, indicate that survival of wild and hatchery fish are similar.
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Sediment transport in the Snake and Clearwater rivers in the vicinity of Lewiston, Idaho
Jones, Michael L.; Seitz, Harold R.
1980-01-01
During the period 1972-79, the bedload in the Clearwater River ranged from about 50,000 tons (45,000 metric tons) per year in 1972 and 1974 to about 1,000 tons (910 metric tons) per year in the drought years of 1973 and 1977. Suspended-sediment load at the same location ranged from about 1,000,000 tons (910,000 metric tons) per year to about 50,000 tons (45,000 metric tons) per year for the same respective years. In the Snake River, bedload ranged from about 200,000 tons (180,000 metric tons) per year for 1972 and 1974 to about 10,000 tons (9,100 metric tons) per year in 1973; bedload was too low for determination in 1977. Suspended-sediment load ranged from about 5,000,000 tons (4,500,000 metric tons) per year in 1974 to about 50,000 tons (45,000 metric tons) per year in 1977. Bedload thus ranged from about 2 to 10 percent of suspended load and average about 5 percent. For either river, bedload particle size was bimodal. Modes were in the medium- to coarse-sand range and in the very coarse-gravel range. Suspended-sediment particle size was generally finer than sand.
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Low, Walton H.
1997-01-01
In 1991, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began a full-scale National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program. The long-term goals of the NAWQA Program are to describe the status and trends in the water quality of a large part of the Nation's rivers and aquifers and to improve understanding of the primary natural and human factors that affect water-quality conditions. In meeting these goals, the program will produce water-quality, ecological, and geographic information that will be useful to policy makers and managers at the national, State, and local levels. A major component of the program is study-unit investigations, upon which national-level assessment activities are based. The program's 60 study-unit investigations are associated with principal river basins and aquifer systems throughout the Nation. Study units encompass areas from 1,200 to more than 65,000 mi2 (square miles) and incorporate about 60 to 70 percent of the Nation's water use and population served by public water supply. In 1991, the upper Snake River Basin was among the first 20 NAWQA study units selected for implementation. From 1991 to 1995, a high-intensity data-collection phase of the upper Snake River Basin study unit (fig. 1) was implemented and completed. Components of this phase are described in a report by Gilliom and others (1995). In 1997, a low-intensity phase of data collection began, and work continued on data analysis, report writing, and data documentation and archiving activities that began in 1996. Principal data-collection activities during the low-intensity phase will include monitoring of surface-water and ground-water quality, assessment of aquatic biological conditions, and continued compilation of environmental setting information.
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Davis, Linda C.
2006-01-01
Radiochemical and chemical wastewater discharged since 1952 to infiltration ponds, evaporation ponds, and disposal wells at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has affected water quality in the Snake River Plain aquifer underlying the INL. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, maintains ground-water monitoring networks at the INL to determine hydrologic trends, and to delineate the movement of radiochemical and chemical wastes in the aquifer. This report presents an analysis of water-level and water-quality data collected from wells in the USGS ground-water monitoring networks during 1999-2001. Water in the Snake River Plain aquifer moves principally through fractures and interflow zones in basalt, generally flows southwestward, and eventually discharges at springs along the Snake River. The aquifer is recharged principally from infiltration of irrigation water, infiltration of streamflow, ground-water inflow from adjoining mountain drainage basins, and infiltration of precipitation. Water levels in wells rose in the northern and west-central parts of the INL by 1 to 3 feet, and declined in the southwestern parts of the INL by up to 4 feet during 1999-2001. Detectable concentrations of radiochemical constituents in water samples from wells in the Snake River Plain aquifer at the INL generally decreased or remained constant during 1999-2001. Decreases in concentrations were attributed to decreased rates of radioactive-waste disposal, radioactive decay, changes in waste-disposal methods, and dilution from recharge. Tritium concentrations in water samples decreased as much as 8.3 picocuries per milliliter (pCi/mL) during 1999-2001, ranging from 0.43?0.14 to 13.6?0.6 pCi/mL in October 2001. Tritium concentrations in five wells near the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center (INTEC) increased a few picocuries per milliliter from October 2000 to October 2001. Strontium-90 concentrations decreased or remained
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Skalski, John R.; Weiland, Mark A.; Ham, Kenneth D.
Survival studies of juvenile salmonids implanted with acoustic tags have been conducted at hydroelectric dams within the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) in the Columbia and Snake rivers between 2010 and 2014 to assess compliance with dam passage survival standards stipulated in the 2008 Biological Opinion (BiOp). For juvenile salmonids migrating downstream in the spring, dam passage survival defined as survival from the upstream dam face to the tailrace mixing zone must be ≥96% and for summer migrants, ≥93%, and estimated with a standard error ≤1.5% (i.e., 95% confidence interval of ±3%). A total of 29 compliance tests havemore » been conducted at 6 of 8 FCRPS main-stem dams, using over 109,000 acoustic-tagged salmonid smolts. Of these 29 compliance studies, 23 met the survival standards and 26 met the precision requirements. Of the 6 dams evaluated to date, individual survival estimates range from 0.9597 to 0.9868 for yearling Chinook Salmon, 0.9534 to 0.9952 for steelhead, and 0.9076 to 0.9789 for subyearling Chinook Salmon. These investigations suggest the large capital investment over the last 20 years to improve juvenile salmon passage through the FCRPS dams has been beneficial.« less
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Tiffan, Kenneth F.; Kock, Tobias J.; Haskell, Craig A.; Connor, William P.; Steinhorst, R. Kirk
2009-01-01
We studied the migratory behavior of subyearling fall Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha in free-flowing and impounded reaches of the Snake River to evaluate the hypothesis that velocity and turbulence are the primary causal mechanisms of downstream migration. The hypothesis states that impoundment reduces velocity and turbulence and alters the migratory behavior of juvenile Chinook salmon as a result of their reduced perception of these cues. At a constant flow (m3 /s), both velocity (km/d) and turbulence (the SD of velocity) decreased from riverine to impounded habitat as cross-sectional areas increased. We found evidence for the hypothesis that subyearling Chinook salmon perceive velocity and turbulence cues and respond to these cues by varying their behavior. The percentage of the subyearlings that moved faster than the average current speed decreased as fish made the transition from riverine reaches with high velocities and turbulence to upper reservoir reaches with low velocities and turbulence but increased to riverine levels again as the fish moved further down in the reservoir, where velocity and turbulence remained low. The migration rate (km/d) decreased in accordance with longitudinal reductions in velocity and turbulence, as predicted by the hypothesis. The variation in migration rate was better explained by a repeatedmeasures regression model containing velocity (Akaike’s information criterion ¼ 1,769.0) than a model containing flow (2,232.6). We conclude that subyearling fall Chinook salmon respond to changes in water velocity and turbulence, which work together to affect the migration rate.
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Impacts of the Columbia River hydroelectric system on main-stem habitats of fall chinook salmon
Dauble, D.D.; Hanrahan, T.P.; Geist, D.R.; Parsley, M.J.
2003-01-01
Salmonid habitats in main-stem reaches of the Columbia and Snake rivers have changed dramatically during the past 60 years because of hydroelectric development and operation. Only about 13% and 58% of riverine habitats in the Columbia and Snake rivers, respectively, remain. Most riverine habitat is found in the upper Snake River; however, it is upstream of Hells Canyon Dam and not accessible to anadromous salmonids. We determined that approximately 661 and 805 km of the Columbia and Snake rivers, respectively, were once used by fall chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha for spawning. Fall chinook salmon currently use only about 85 km of the main-stem Columbia River and 163 km of the main-stem Snake River for spawning. We used a geomorphic model to identify three river reaches downstream of present migration barriers with high potential for restoration of riverine processes: the Columbia River upstream of John Day Dam, the Columbia-Snake-Yakima River confluence, and the lower Snake River upstream of Little Goose Dam. Our analysis substantiated the assertion that historic spawning areas for fall chinook salmon occurred primarily within wide alluvial floodplains, which were once common in the mainstem Columbia and Snake rivers. These areas possessed more unconsolidated sediment and more bars and islands and had lower water surface slopes than did less extensively used areas. Because flows in the main stem are now highly regulated, the predevelopment alluvial river ecosystem is not expected to be restored simply by operational modification of one or more dams. Establishing more normative flow regimes - specifically, sustained peak flows for scouring - is essential to restoring the functional characteristics of existing, altered habitats. Restoring production of fall chinook salmon to any of these reaches also requires that population genetics and viability of potential seed populations (i.e., from tributaries, tailrace spawning areas, and hatcheries) be considered.
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Honjo, N.; Bonnichsen, B.; Leeman, W.P.; Stormer, J.C.
1992-01-01
Voluminous mid-Miocene rhyolitic ash-flow tuffs and lava flows are exposed along the northern and southern margins of the central and western Snake River Plain. These rhyolites are essentially anhydrous with the general mineral assemblage of plagioclase ??sanidine ?? quartz + augite + pigeonite ?? hypersthene ?? fayalitic olivine + Fe-Ti oxides + apatite + zircon which provides an opportunity to compare feldspar, pyroxene, and Fe-Ti oxide equilibration temperatures for the same rocks. Estimated pyroxene equilibration temperatures (based on the geothermometers of Lindsley and coworkers) range from 850 to 1000??C, and these are well correlated with whole-rock compositions. With the exception of one sample, agreement between the two-pyroxene thermometers tested is well within 50??C. Fe-Ti oxide geothermometers applied to fresh magnetite and ilmenite generally yield temperatures about 50 to 100??C lower than the pyroxene temperatures, and erratic results are obtained if these minerals exhibit effects of subsolidus oxidation and exsolution. Results of feldspar thermometry are more complicated, and reflect uncertainties in the thermometer calibrations as well as in the degree of attainment of equilibrium between plagioclase and sanidine. In general, temperatures obtained using the Ghiorso (1984) and Green and Usdansky (1986) feldspar thermometers agree with the pyroxene temperatures within the respective uncertainties. However, uncertainties in the feldspar temperatures are the larger of the two (and exceed ??60??C for many samples). The feldspar thermometer of Fuhrman and Lindsley (1988) produces systematically lower temperatures for many of the samples studied. The estimated pyroxene temperatures are considered most representative of actual magmatic temperatures for these rhyolites. This range of temperatures is significantly higher than those for rhyolites from many other suites, and is consistent with the hypothesis that the Snake River Plain rhyolitic magmas formed
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Movement and habitat use of stocked juvenile paddlefish in the Ohio River system, Pennsylvania
Barry, P.M.; Carline, R.F.; Argent, D.G.; Kimmel, William G.
2007-01-01
In 2002 and 2003 we released a total of 66 hatchery-reared, juvenile paddlefish Polyodon spathula (249-318 mm eye-to-fork length) in Pennsylvania's upper Ohio River system and tracked them with radiotelemetry in two different pools of the Ohio and Allegheny rivers to determine (1) poststocking survival, (2) whether release site influences survival, (3) dispersal distance and direction of movement, and (4) habitat selection. Survival was fair (mean = 78% in 2002 and 67% in 2003) for 0.23-0.43-kg paddlefish after 9 weeks. In 2003, fish stocked in the upstream half of the pool had a greater survival (100%) after 63 d than those stocked in the downstream half (44%). Within 4 d of stocking, 77% of juvenile paddlefish were located in tailwaters, and fish found these habitats regardless of stocking location. Habitat measurements at all postdispersal locations had median depths of 5.2 and 6.1 m in 2002 and 2003, respectively, and median near-surface velocities of 0.17 and 0.12 m/s. Fish selected tailwater habitats and avoided habitats with disturbance from commercial barge traffic in both years. ?? Copyright by the American Fisheries Society 2007.
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Steelhead Supplementation in Idaho Rivers, 2000 Annual Report.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Byrne, Alan
In 2000, we continued our assessment of the Sawtooth Hatchery steelhead stock to reestablish natural populations in Beaver and Frenchman creeks in the upper Salmon River. We stocked both streams with 15 pair of hatchery adults and estimated the potential smolt production from the 1999 outplant. I estimated that about nine smolts per female could be produced in both streams from the 1999 outplant. The smolt-to-adult return would need to exceed 20% to return two adults at this level of production. In the Red River drainage, we stocked Dworshak hatchery stock fingerlings and smolts, from 1993 to 1999, to assessmore » which life-stage produces more progeny when the adults return to spawn. In 2000, we operated the Red River weir to trap adults that returned from these stockings, but none were caught from either group. We continued to monitor wild steelhead populations in the Lochsa and Selway river drainages. We estimated that 26 wild adult steelhead returned to Fish Creek. This is the lowest adult escapement we have documented (when the weir was intact all spring) since we began monitoring Fish Creek in 1992. I estimated that nearly 25,000 juvenile steelhead migrated out of Fish Creek this year. Juvenile steelhead densities in Lochsa and Selway tributaries were similar to those observed in 1999. In 2000, we obtained funding for a DNA analysis to assess Idaho's steelhead stock structure. We collected fin samples from wild steelhead in 70 streams of the Clearwater, Snake, and Salmon River drainages and from our five hatchery stocks. The DNA analysis was subcontracted to Dr. Jennifer Nielsen, Alaska Biological Science Center, Anchorage, and will be completed in 2001.« less
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Petersen, James H.; Barfoot, Craig A.; Sheer, Mindi B.
2001-01-01
Predation by resident fish is known to be a substantial cause of juvenile salmonid mortality, especially in dam tailraces and outfall locations. Conditions in The Dalles Dam tailrace are unique compared to other projects on the Columbia or Snake rivers, having a complex basin with a series of downriver islands where predators are known to reside. In May-June of 1999, northern pikeminnow and smallmouth bass were sampled in the tailrace of The Dalles Dam during periods immediately following the release of PIT-tagged juvenile salmonids for survival studies. Over twice as many smallmouth bass (N = 101) were collected as northern pikeminnow (N = 40), but none of the predators had PIT tags within their gut. A laboratory study was conducted to estimate the time required for PIT tags in juvenile salmonids to be evacuated from the gut of northern pikeminnow after consuming a tagged preyfish. Evacuation rate was sensitive to temperature, with median evacuation time being 21 h at 18 oC and 30 h at 14 oC. These results suggest that field studies to estimate predator population sizes, feeding rates, or predation on specific release groups would require considerably more effort than we allocated during 1999.
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Bjorneberg, David L; Leytem, April B; Ippolito, James A; Koehn, Anita C
2015-03-01
Watersheds using surface water for irrigation often return a portion of the water to a water body. This irrigation return flow often includes sediment and nutrients that reduce the quality of the receiving water body. Research in the 82,000-ha Upper Snake Rock (USR) watershed from 2005 to 2008 showed that, on average, water diverted from the Snake River annually supplied 547 kg ha of total suspended solids (TSS), 1.1 kg ha of total P (TP), and 0.50 kg ha of dissolved P (DP) to the irrigation tract. Irrigation return flow from the USR watershed contributed 414 kg ha of TSS, 0.71 kg ha of TP, and 0.32 kg ha of DP back to the Snake River. Significantly more TP flowed into the watershed than returned to the Snake River, whereas there was no significant difference between inflow and return flow loads for TSS and DP. Average TSS and TP concentrations in return flow were 71 and 0.12 mg L, respectively, which exceeded the TMDL limits of 52 mg L TSS and 0.075 mg L TP set for this section of the Snake River. Monitoring inflow and outflow for five water quality ponds constructed to reduce sediment and P losses from the watershed showed that TSS concentrations were reduced 36 to 75%, but DP concentrations were reduced only 7 to 16%. This research showed that continued implementation of conservation practices should result in irrigation return flow from the USR watershed meeting the total maximum daily load limits for the Snake River. Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
L. D. Cecil; L. L. Knobel; J. R. Green
2000-06-01
The purpose of this report is to describe the calculated contribution to ground water of natural, in situ produced 36Cl in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer and to compare these concentrations in ground water with measured concentrations near a nuclear facility in southeastern Idaho. The scope focused on isotopic and chemical analyses and associated 36Cl in situ production calculations on 25 whole-rock samples from 6 major water-bearing rock types present in the eastern Snake River Plain. The rock types investigated were basalt, rhyolite, limestone, dolomite, shale, and quartzite. Determining the contribution of in situ production to 36Cl inventories inmore » ground water facilitated the identification of the source for this radionuclide in environmental samples. On the basis of calculations reported here, in situ production of 36Cl was determined to be insignificant compared to concentrations measured in ground water near buried and injected nuclear waste at the INEEL. Maximum estimated 36Cl concentrations in ground water from in situ production are on the same order of magnitude as natural concentrations in meteoric water.« less
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Perkins, Kim S.
2008-01-01
Sediments are believed to comprise as much as 50 percent of the Snake River Plain aquifer thickness in some locations within the Idaho National Laboratory. However, the hydraulic properties of these deep sediments have not been well characterized and they are not represented explicitly in the current conceptual model of subregional scale ground-water flow. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the nature of the sedimentary material within the aquifer and to test the applicability of a site-specific property-transfer model developed for the sedimentary interbeds of the unsaturated zone. Saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) was measured for 10 core samples from sedimentary interbeds within the Snake River Plain aquifer and also estimated using the property-transfer model. The property-transfer model for predicting Ksat was previously developed using a multiple linear-regression technique with bulk physical-property measurements (bulk density [pbulk], the median particle diameter, and the uniformity coefficient) as the explanatory variables. The model systematically underestimates Ksat,typically by about a factor of 10, which likely is due to higher bulk-density values for the aquifer samples compared to the samples from the unsaturated zone upon which the model was developed. Linear relations between the logarithm of Ksat and pbulk also were explored for comparison.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Geist, David R.; Abernethy, Cary S.; Hand, Kristine D.
2006-11-01
Fall Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) initiate spawning in the Hells Canyon reach of the Snake River, Idaho (rkm 240-397), at water temperatures above 16 C. This temperature exceeds the states of Idaho and Oregon water quality standards for salmonid spawning. These standards are consistent with results from studies of embryos exposed to a constant thermal regime, while salmon eggs in the natural environment are rarely exposed to a constant temperature regime. The objective of this study was to assess whether variable temperatures (i.e., declining after spawning) affected embryo survival, development, and growth of Snake River fall Chinook salmon alevins andmore » fry. In 2003, fall Chinook salmon eggs were exposed to initial incubation temperatures ranging from 11-19 C in 2 C increments, and in 2004 eggs were exposed to initial temperatures of 13 C, 15 C, 16 C, 16.5 C, and 17 C. In both years, temperatures were adjusted downward approximately 0.2 C/day to mimic the thermal regime of the Snake River where these fish spawn. At 37-40 days post-fertilization, embryos were moved to a common exposure regime that followed the thermal profile of the Snake River through emergence. Mortality of fall Chinook salmon embryos increased markedly at initial incubation temperatures >17 C in both years. A logistic regression model estimated that a 50% reduction in survival from fertilization to emergence would occur at an initial incubation temperature of {approx}16 C. The laboratory results clearly showed a significant reduction in survival between 15 C and 17 C, which supported the model estimate. Results from 2004 showed a rapid decline in survival occurred between 16.5 C and 17 C, with no significant differences in survival at initial incubation temperatures <16.5 C. There were no significant differences across the range of initial temperature exposures for alevin and fry size at hatch and emergence. Differences in egg mass among females (notably 2003) most likely
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Peterson, Michael E
2006-11-01
North American coral snakes are distinctively colored beginning with a black snout and an alternating pattern of black, yellow, and red. They have fixed front fangs and a poorly developed system for venom delivery, requiring a chewing action to inject the venom. The severity of a coral snake bite is related to the volume of venom injected and the size of the victim. The length of the snake correlates positively with the snakes venom yield. Coral snake venom is primarily neurotoxic with little local tissue reaction or pain at the bite site. The net effect of the neurotoxins is a curare like syndrome. In canine victims there have been reports of marked hemolysis with severe anemia and hemoglobinuria. The onset of clinical signs may be delayed for as much as 10 to 18 hours. The victim begins to have alterations in mental status and develops generalized weakness and muscle fasciculations. Progression to paralysis of the limbs and respiratory muscles then follows. The best flied response to coral snake envenomation is rapid transport to a veterinary medical facility capable of 24 hour critical care and assisted ventilation. First aid treatment advocated in Australia for Elapid bites is the immediate use of a compression bandage. The victim should be hospitalized for a minimum of 48 hours for continuous monitoring. The only definitive treatment for coral snake envenomation is the administration of antivenin (M. fulvius). Once clinical signs of coral snake envenomation become manifest they progress with alarming rapidity and are difficult to reverse. If antivenin is not available or if its administration is delayed, supportive care includes respiratory support. Assisted mechanical ventilation can be used but may have to be employed for up to 48 to 72 hours.
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Steelhead Supplementation in Idaho Rivers : 2001 Project Progress Report.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Byrne, Alan
In 2001, Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) continued an assessment of the Sawtooth Hatchery steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss stock to reestablish natural populations in Beaver and Frenchman creeks in the upper Salmon River. Crews stocked both streams with 20 pair of hatchery adults, and I estimated the potential smolt production from the 2000 adult outplants. n the Red River drainage, IDFG stocked Dworshak hatchery stock fingerlings and smolts from 1993 to 1999 to assess which life stage produces more progeny when the adults return to spawn. In 2001, IDFG operated the Red River weir to trap adults that returnedmore » from these stockings, but none were caught from either group. Wild steelhead populations in the Lochsa and Selway river drainages were assessed and the chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha escapement was enumerated in Fish Creek. I estimated that 75 wild adult steelhead and 122 adult chinook salmon returned to Fish Creek in 2001. I estimated that slightly more than 30,000 juvenile steelhead migrated out of Fish Creek. This is the largest number of steelhead to migrate out of Fish Creek in a single year since I began estimating the yearly migration in 1994. Juvenile steelhead densities in Lochsa and Selway tributaries were somewhat higher in 2001 than those observed in 2000. Crews from IDFG collected over 4,800 fin samples from wild steelhead in 74 streams of the Clearwater, Snake, and Salmon river drainages and from five hatchery stocks during the summer of 2000 for a DNA analysis to assess Idaho's steelhead stock structure. The DNA analysis was subcontracted to Dr. Jennifer Nielsen, Alaska Biological Science Center, Anchorage. Her lab developed protocols to use for the analysis in 2001 and is continuing to analyze the samples. Dr. Nielsen plans to have the complete set of wild and hatchery stocks analyzed in 2002.« less
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Cleary, Peter J.
2002-12-01
This report details the smolt performance of natural and hatchery chinook salmon and steelhead from the Imnaha River to the Snake River and Columbia River dams during migration year 2000. Flow conditions in the Imnaha River and Snake River were appreciably lower during May and June in 2000, compared to historic levels at gauging stations, but flow conditions in the Imnaha and Snake River were above average during April. Overall, water conditions for the entire Columbia River were characterized by the Fish Passage Center as below normal levels. Spill occurred continuously at Lower Granite Dam (LGR), Little Goose Dam (LGO),more » and Lower Monumental Dam (LMO) from April 5, April 10, and April 4, respectively, to June 20, and encompassed the periods of migration of Imnaha River juvenile chinook salmon and steelhead, with a few exceptions. Outflow in the tailraces of LGR, LGO, and LMO decreased in May and June while temperatures increased. Chinook salmon and steelhead were captured using rotary screw traps at river kilometer (rkm) 74 and 7 during the fall from October 20 to November 24, 1999, and during the spring period from February 26 to June 15, 2000, at rkm 7. Spring trapping information was reported weekly to the Fish Passage Center's Smolt Monitoring Program. A portion of these fish were tagged weekly with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags and were detected migrating past interrogation sites at Snake River and Columbia River dams. Survival of PIT tagged fish was estimated with the Survival Using Proportional Hazards model (SURPH model). Estimated survival of fall tagged natural chinook (with {+-} 95% confidence intervals in parenthesis) from the upper Imnaha (rkm 74) to LGR was 29.6% ({+-} 2.8 ). Natural chinook salmon tagged in the fall in the lower Imnaha River at rkm 7, which over wintered in the Snake River, had an estimated survival of 36.8% ({+-} 2.9%) to LGR. Spring tagged natural chinook salmon from the lower site had an estimated survival of
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Burril, Sean E.; Zimmerman, Christian E.; Finn, James E.; ,; Gillikin, Daniel; ,
2010-01-01
To better understand and partition mortality among life stages of chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta), we used inclined-plane traps to monitor the migration of juveniles in the Kwethluk River, Alaska in 2007 and 2008. The migration of juvenile chum salmon peaked in mid-May and catch rates were greatest when water levels were rising. Movement of chum salmon was diurnal with highest catch rates occurring during the hours of low light (that is, 22:00 to 10:00). Trap efficiency ranged from 0.37 to 4.04 percent (overall efficiency = 1.94 percent). Total abundance of juvenile chum salmon was estimated to be 2.0 million fish in 2007 and 2.9 million fish in 2008. On the basis of the estimate of chum salmon females passing the Kwethluk River weir and age-specific fecundity, we estimated the potential egg deposition (PED) upstream of the weir and trapping site. Egg-to-smolt survival, calculated by dividing the estimate of juvenile chum salmon emigrating past the weir site by the estimate of PED, was 4.6 percent in 2007 and 5.2 percent in 2008. In addition to chum salmon, Chinook salmon O. tshawytscha), coho salmon (O. kisutch), sockeye salmon (O. nerka), and pink salmon (O. gorbuscha), as well as ten other fish species, were captured in the traps. As with chum salmon, catch of these species increased during periods of increasing discharge and peaked during hours of low light. This study successfully determined the characteristics of juvenile salmon migrations and estimated egg-to-smolt survival for chum salmon. This is the first estimate of survival for any juvenile salmon in the Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim region of Alaska and demonstrates an approach that can help to partition mortality between freshwater and marine life stages, information critical to understanding the dynamics of salmon in this region.
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Beasley, T.M.; Cecil, L.D.; Sharma, P.; Kubik, P.W.; Fehn, U.; Mann, L.J.; Gove, H.E.
1993-01-01
Between 1952 and 1984, low-level radioactive waste was introduced directly into the Snake River Plain aquifer at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL), Idaho Falls, Idaho. These wastes were generated, principally, at the nuclear fuel reprocessing facility on the site. Our measurements of 36C1 in monitoring and production well waters, downgradient from disposal wells and seepage ponds, found easily detectable, nonhazardous concentrations of this radionuclide from the point of injection to the INEL southern site boundary. Comparisons are made between 3H and 36Cl concentrations in aquifer water and the advantages of 36C1 as a tracer of subsurface-water dynamics at the site are discussed.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Beer, W. Nicholas; Iltis, Susannah; Anderson, James J.
2009-01-01
Columbia Basin Research uses the COMPASS model on a daily basis during the outmigration of Snake River Chinook and steelhead smolts to predict downstream passage and survival. Fish arrival predictions and observations from program RealTime along with predicted and observed environmental conditions are used to make in-season predictions of arrival and survival to various dams in the Columbia and Snake Rivers. For 2008, calibrations of travel and survival parameters for two stocks of fish-Snake River yearling PIT-tagged wild chinook salmon (chin1pit) and Snake River PIT-tagged steelhead (lgrStlhd)-were used to model travel and survival of steelhead and chinook stocks from Lowermore » Granite Dam (LWG) or McNary Dam (MCN) to Bonneville Dam (BON). This report summarizes the success of the COMPASS/RealTime process to model these migrations as they occur. We compared model results on timing and survival to data from two sources: stock specific counts at dams and end-of-season control survival estimates (Jim Faulkner, NOAA, pers. comm. Dec. 16, 2008). The difference between the predicted and observed day of median passage and the Mean Absolute Deviation (MAD) between predicted and observed arrival cumulative distributions are measures of timing accuracy. MAD is essentially the average percentage error over the season. The difference between the predicted and observed survivals is a measure of survival accuracy. Model results and timing data were in good agreement from LWG to John Day Dam (JDA). Predictions of median passage days for the chin1pit and lgrStlhd stocks were 0 and 2 days (respectively) later than observed. MAD for chin1pit and lgrStlhd stocks at JDA were 2.3% and 5.9% (respectively). Between JDA and BON modeling and timing data were not as well matched. At BON, median passage predictions were 6 and 10 days later than observed and MAD values were 7.8% and 16.0% respectively. Model results and survival data were in good agreement from LWG to MCN. COMPASS
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Dispersal and dam passage of sonic-tagged juvenile lake sturgeon in the upper Tennessee River
Collier, William R.; Bettoli, Phillip William; Scholten, George D.
2011-01-01
More than 90,000 state-endangered lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) have been stocked into the French Broad River, Holston River, and Fort Loudoun Lake in the upper Tennessee River system. Although incidental reports of anglers catching these fish have increased, little is known about their fate after stocking. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate lake sturgeon dispersal throughout the system. Seven submersible ultrasonic receivers were deployed in the upper Tennessee River system and 37 juvenile fish (mean fork length = 660 mm) were surgically implanted with ultrasonic transmitters in the fall of 2007. These fish were stocked at two sites in the headwaters of Fort Loudoun Lake. The receivers logged 1,345 detections of tagged fish and manual tracking located 32 of the 37 tagged lake sturgeon over 21 months. Ten (31%) tagged fish passed through Fort Loudoun Dam and were located downstream in the headwaters of Watts Bar Reservoir; the other tagged fish were still at large above Fort Loudoun Dam when tracking ceased in 2009. Of all fish stocked, three (9%) were last located in the French Broad River and none were located in the Holston River.
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Assessment of smolt condition for travel time analysis. Annual report 1989
Beeman, J.W.; Rondorf, D.W.; Faler, J.C.; Free, M.E.; Haner, P.V.
1990-01-01
The Water Budget is a volume of water used to enhance environmental conditions (flows) in the Columbia and Snake rivers for juvenile salmonids during their seaward migration. To manage the Water Budget, the Fish Passage Center estimates travel times of juvenile salmonids in index reaches of the main-stem rivers, using information on river flows and the migrational characteristics of the juvenile salmonids. This study was initiated to provide physiological information on the juvenile salmonids used for these travel time estimates. The physiological ability to respond to stressors was evaluated by measuring concentrations of plasma cortisol, glucose, and chlorides before and after a 30-s handling-stress challenge test. As in 1988, most groups responded satisfactorily to the challenge. The scope for response was compromised among two groups of juvenile chinook salmon that were trucked to release sites and in steelhead from one hatchery after unusual marking and transportation protocols were used. The development of smoltification was assessed by measuring gill Na+-K+ ATPase activity and plasma thyroxine concentrations. Mean ATPase activities of marked hatchery groups of juvenile chinook salmon and steelhead changed little during the month before release and rose sharply for about the first 20 d of the migration after release. Mean plasma thyroxine was highest during the first 20 d after release. Mean gill ATPase activity of spring chinook salmon from the migration-at-large peaked at about the 90th percentile of passage at Rock Island and Lower Granite dams, and at about the 50th percentile of passage at McNary Dam. Mean gill ATPase activity of wild steelhead was higher than gill ATPase activity of hatchery steelhead at Rock Island Dam, the Snake River Trap, and Lower Granite Dam, but not at McNary Dam. This was attributed to a time-dependent relationship between increases in ATPase activity and the number of days fish migrated before recapture. Correlations of gill
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
McCarthy, J.M.; Arnett, R.C.; Neupauer, R.M.
This report documents a study conducted to develop a regional groundwater flow model for the Eastern Snake River Plain Aquifer in the area of the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. The model was developed to support Waste Area Group 10, Operable Unit 10-04 groundwater flow and transport studies. The products of this study are this report and a set of computational tools designed to numerically model the regional groundwater flow in the Eastern Snake River Plain aquifer. The objective of developing the current model was to create a tool for defining the regional groundwater flow at the INEL. The model wasmore » developed to (a) support future transport modeling for WAG 10-04 by providing the regional groundwater flow information needed for the WAG 10-04 risk assessment, (b) define the regional groundwater flow setting for modeling groundwater contaminant transport at the scale of the individual WAGs, (c) provide a tool for improving the understanding of the groundwater flow system below the INEL, and (d) consolidate the existing regional groundwater modeling information into one usable model. The current model is appropriate for defining the regional flow setting for flow submodels as well as hypothesis testing to better understand the regional groundwater flow in the area of the INEL. The scale of the submodels must be chosen based on accuracy required for the study.« less
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Dodrill, Michael J.; Yackulic, Charles B.; Gerig, Brandon; Pine, William E.; Korman, Josh; Finch, Colton
2015-01-01
Many management actions in aquatic ecosystems are directed at restoring or improving specific habitats to benefit fish populations. In the Grand Canyon reach of the Colorado River, experimental flow operations as part of the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program have been designed to restore sandbars and associated backwater habitats. Backwaters can have warmer water temperatures than other habitats, and native fish, including the federally endangered humpback chub Gila cypha, are frequently observed in backwaters, leading to a common perception that this habitat is critical for juvenile native fish conservation. However, it is unknown how fish densities in backwaters compare with that in other habitats or what proportion of juvenile fish populations reside in backwaters. Here, we develop and fit multi-species hierarchical models to estimate habitat-specific abundances and densities of juvenile humpback chub, bluehead suckerCatostomus discobolus, flannelmouth sucker Catostomus latipinnis and speckled dace Rhinichthys osculus in a portion of the Colorado River. Densities of all four native fish were greatest in backwater habitats in 2009 and 2010. However, backwaters are rare and ephemeral habitats, so they contain only a small portion of the overall population. For example, the total abundance of juvenile humpback chub in this study was much higher in talus than in backwater habitats. Moreover, when we extrapolated relative densities based on estimates of backwater prevalence directly after a controlled flood, the majority of juvenile humpback chub were still found outside of backwaters. This suggests that the role of controlled floods in influencing native fish population trends may be limited in this section of the Colorado River.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Mallette, Christine
2009-07-28
We report on our progress from April 2007 through March 2008 on determining the effects of mitigative measures on productivity of white sturgeon populations in the Columbia River downstream from McNary Dam, and on determining the status and habitat requirements of white sturgeon populations in the Columbia and Snake rivers upstream from McNary Dam. The study is a cooperative effort by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW; Report A), Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW; Report B), Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (CRITFC; Report C), and Montana State University (MSU; Report D). This is a multi-year studymore » with many objectives requiring more than one year to complete; therefore, findings from a given year may be part of more significant findings yet to be reported.« less
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Bartholomay, Roy C.
1998-01-01
Radiochemical and chemical constituents in wastewater generated at facilities of the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) (figure 1) have been discharged to waste-disposal ponds and wells since the early 1950 s. Public concern has been expressed that some of these constituents could migrate through the Snake River Plain aquifer to the Snake River in the Twin Falls-Hagerman area Because of these concerns the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) requested that the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conduct three studies to gain a greater understanding of the chemical quality of water in the aquifer. One study described a one-time sampling effort for radionuclides, trace elements, and organic compounds in the eastern part of the A&B Irrigation District in Minidoka County (Mann and Knobel, 1990). Another ongoing study involves sampling for tritium from 19 springs on the north side of the Snake River in the Twin Falls-Hagerman area (Mann, 1989; Mann and Low, 1994). A third study an ongoing annual sampling effort in the area between the southern boundary of the INEEL and Hagerman (figure 1) (hereafter referred to as the Magic Valley study area), is being conducted with the Idaho Department of Water Resources in cooperation with the DOE. Data for a variety of radiochemical and chemical constituents from this study have been published by Wegner and Campbell (1991); Bartholomay, Edwards, and Campbell (1992, 1993, 1994a, 1994b); and Bartholomay, Williams, and Campbell (1995, 1996, 1997b). Data discussed in this fact sheet were taken from these reports. An evaluation of data collected during the first four years of this study (Bartholomay Williams, and Campbell, 1997a) showed no pattern of water-quality change for radionuclide data as concentrations randomly increased or decreased. The inorganic constituent data showed no statistical change between sample rounds.
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Haskell, Craig A.; Beauchamp, David A.; Bollins, Stephen M
2017-01-01
We used a large lampara seine coupled with nonlethal gastric lavage to examine the diets and estimate consumption rates of subyearling Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha during July and August 2013. During August we also examined the diet and consumption rates of juvenile American Shad Alosa sapidissima, a potential competitor of subyearling Chinook Salmon. Subyearling Chinook Salmon consumed Daphnia in July but switched to feeding on smaller juvenile American Shad in August. We captured no juvenile American Shad in July, but in August juvenile American Shad consumed cyclopoid and calanoid copepods. Stomach evacuation rates for subyearling Chinook Salmon were high during both sample periods (0.58 h−1 in July, 0.51 h−1 in August), and daily ration estimates were slightly higher than values reported in the literature for other subyearlings. By switching from planktivory to piscivory, subyearling Chinook Salmon gained greater growth opportunity. While past studies have shown that juvenile American Shad reduce zooplankton availability for Chinook Salmon subyearlings, our work indicates that they also become important prey after Daphnia abundance declines. The diet and consumption data here can be used in future bioenergetics modeling to estimate the growth of subyearling Chinook Salmon in lower Columbia River reservoirs.
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Characteristics and origin of Earth-mounds on the Eastern Snake River Plain, Idaho
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Tullis, J.A.
1995-09-01
Earth-mounds are common features on the Eastern Snake River Plain, Idaho. The mounds are typically round or oval in plan view, <0.5 m in height, and from 8 to 14 m in diameter. They are found on flat and sloped surfaces, and appear less frequently in lowland areas. The mounds have formed on deposits of multiple sedimentary environments. Those studied included alluvial gravel terraces along the Big Lost River (late Pleistocene/early Holocene age), alluvial fan segments on the flanks of the Lost River Range (Bull Lake and Pinedale age equivalents), and loess/slopewash sediments overlying basalt flows. Backhoe trenches were dugmore » to allow characterization of stratigraphy and soil development. Each mound has features unique to the depositional and pedogenic history of the site; however, there are common elements to all mounds that are linked to the history of mound formation. Each mound has a {open_quotes}floor{close_quotes} of a sediment or basement rock of significantly different hydraulic conductivity than the overlying sediment. These paleosurfaces are overlain by finer-grained sediments, typically loess or flood-overbank deposits. Mounds formed in environments where a sufficient thickness of fine-grained sediment held pore water in a system open to the migration to a freezing front. Heaving of the sediment occurred by the growth of ice lenses. Mound formation occurred at the end of the Late Pleistocene or early in the Holocene, and was followed by pedogenesis. Soils in the mounds were subsequently altered by bioturbation, buried by eolian deposition, and eroded by slopewash runoff. These secondary processes played a significant role in maintaining or increasing the mound/intermound relief.« less
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Snake River Plain Geothermal Play Fairway Analysis - Phase 1 Raster Files
John Shervais
2015-10-09
Snake River Plain Play Fairway Analysis - Phase 1 CRS Raster Files. This dataset contains raster files created in ArcGIS. These raster images depict Common Risk Segment (CRS) maps for HEAT, PERMEABILITY, AND SEAL, as well as selected maps of Evidence Layers. These evidence layers consist of either Bayesian krige functions or kernel density functions, and include: (1) HEAT: Heat flow (Bayesian krige map), Heat flow standard error on the krige function (data confidence), volcanic vent distribution as function of age and size, groundwater temperature (equivalue interval and natural breaks bins), and groundwater T standard error. (2) PERMEABILTY: Fault and lineament maps, both as mapped and as kernel density functions, processed for both dilational tendency (TD) and slip tendency (ST), along with data confidence maps for each data type. Data types include mapped surface faults from USGS and Idaho Geological Survey data bases, as well as unpublished mapping; lineations derived from maximum gradients in magnetic, deep gravity, and intermediate depth gravity anomalies. (3) SEAL: Seal maps based on presence and thickness of lacustrine sediments and base of SRP aquifer. Raster size is 2 km. All files generated in ArcGIS.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Porter, Russell
2009-09-10
This report presents results for year seventeen in the basin-wide Experimental Northern Pikeminnow Management Program to harvest northern pikeminnow1 (Ptychocheilus oregonensis) in the Columbia and Snake Rivers. This program was started in an effort to reduce predation by northern pikeminnow on juvenile salmonids during their emigration from natal streams to the ocean. Earlier work in the Columbia River Basin suggested predation by northern pikeminnow on juvenile salmonids might account for most of the 10-20% mortality juvenile salmonids experience in each of eight Columbia River and Snake River reservoirs. Modeling simulations based on work in John Day Reservoir from 1982 throughmore » 1988 indicated that, if predator-size northern pikeminnow were exploited at a 10-20% rate, the resulting restructuring of their population could reduce their predation on juvenile salmonids by 50%. To test this hypothesis, we implemented a sport-reward angling fishery and a commercial longline fishery in the John Day Pool in 1990. We also conducted an angling fishery in areas inaccessible to the public at four dams on the mainstem Columbia River and at Ice Harbor Dam on the Snake River. Based on the success of these limited efforts, we implemented three test fisheries on a system-wide scale in 1991 - a tribal longline fishery above Bonneville Dam, a sport-reward fishery, and a dam-angling fishery. Low catch of target fish and high cost of implementation resulted in discontinuation of the tribal longline fishery. However, the sport-reward and dam-angling fisheries were continued in 1992 and 1993. In 1992, we investigated the feasibility of implementing a commercial longline fishery in the Columbia River below Bonneville Dam and found that implementation of this fishery was also infeasible. Estimates of combined annual exploitation rates resulting from the sport-reward and dam-angling fisheries remained at the low end of our target range of 10-20%. This suggested the need for
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Perry, J A
1979-01-01
The Teton Dam in Southeastern Idaho collapsed on June 5, 1976. The resulting flood damaged a large area and caused the release of toxicants into the Snake River. A pesticide recovery team in a helicopter worked the flooded area for three weeks and collected 1,104 containers, about 35% of which contained toxicants. It was estimated that less than 60% of the lost pesticide containers were recovered. This paper addresses the results of a one-time sampling effort designed to determine the magnitude of the chemical contamination. Over 300 samples of fish, plankton, waterfowl, sediments, water, stream drift, aquatic plants, and soil were taken. Pesticide residues were measured as microgram/kg (ppb) wet weight, whole animal basis. Rainbow trout had as much as 1432 micrograms/kg total DDT plus analogs, 66 micrograms/kg dieldrin, and 1010 micrograms/kg PCBs. Utah suckers had up to 1420 micrograms/kg total DDT plus analogs, 32 micrograms/kg dieldrin, and 1800 micrograms/kg PCB. Rocky Mountain whitefish had as much as 2650 micrograms/kg total DDT and analogs, 30 micrograms/kg dieldrin and 1400 micrograms/kg PCBs. These PCB and DDT levels were high, approaching the 2,000 micrograms/kg FDA proposed tolerance, but were below the 5,000 micrograms/kg present tolerance. Dieldrin levels were low and organophosphates were undetectable. An undeveloped area (the Fort Hall Bottoms) showed higher levels of contaminants than did an industrialized area (the lower Portneuf River). This apparent discrepancy remains unexplained. Very little pre-flood data on a whole fish basis were available for comparison (Johnson et al 1977). However, it does not appear that any human health hazard due to pesticide levels exists in this portion of the Snake River.
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Karl M. Polivka; E. Ashley Steel; Jenni L. Novak; Bror Jonsson
2015-01-01
We observed habitat occupancy by juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tschawytscha) and steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) at in-stream habitat restoration structures constructed in the Entiat River, Washington, USA. In 2009â2013, fish abundance measurements during rearing (JulyâOctober) showed high temporal variability in...
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Langford, Gabriel J; Janovy, John
2009-10-01
The present study used experimental infections to compare the life cycles and life histories of 6 Rhabdias spp. infecting snakes and anurans. Free-living development of anuran lungworms was primarily limited to heterogonic reproduction, and females utilized matricidal endotoky exclusively, whereas snake lungworms primarily reproduced homogonically and, when heterogonic reproduction occurred, females used a combination of releasing eggs and matricidal endotoky. Infective snake lungworms survived for longer periods in fresh water compared to anuran worms. Infective anuran lungworms penetrated into the skin of frogs and toads; few infections resulted from per os infections. In contrast, snake lungworms were unable to penetrate skin; instead, infective juveniles penetrated into snake esophageal tissue during per os infections. Despite separate points of entry, anuran and snake lungworms both migrated and developed in the fascia, eventually penetrating into the body cavity of the host. Worms molted to adulthood inside the body cavity and subsequently penetrated into the host's lungs, where they fed on blood while becoming gravid. Adult lungworm survival varied among lungworm species, but, in general, snake lungworms were longer lived than anuran worms. Anuran lungworms were poorly suited for transmission via transport hosts, whereas snake lungworms were consistently capable of establishing infections using transport hosts. Overall, these observations suggest that snake and anuran lungworms have discrepant life cycles and life history strategies.
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Isbell, Lynne A; Etting, Stephanie F
2017-01-01
Predatory snakes are argued to have been largely responsible for the origin of primates via selection favoring expansion of the primate visual system, and even today snakes can be deadly to primates. Neurobiological research is now beginning to reveal the mechanisms underlying the ability of primates (including humans) to detect snakes more rapidly than other stimuli. However, the visual cues allowing rapid detection of snakes, and the cognitive and ecological conditions contributing to faster detection, are unclear. Since snakes are often partially obscured by vegetation, the more salient cues are predicted to occur in small units. Here we tested for the salience of snake scales as the smallest of potential visual cues by presenting four groups of wild vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pytherythrus) with a gopher snake (Pituophis catenifer) skin occluded except for no more than 2.7 cm, in natural form and flat, the latter to control for even small curvilinear cues from their unusual body shape. Each of these treatments was preceded by a treatment without the snakeskin, the first to provide a baseline, and the second, to test for vigilance and memory recall after exposure to the snakeskin. We found that (1) vervets needed only a small portion of snakeskin for detection, (2) snake scales alone were sufficient for detection, (3) latency to detect the snakeskin was longer with more extensive and complex ground cover, and (4) vervets that were exposed to the snakeskin remembered where they last saw "snakes", as indicated by increased wariness near the occluding landmarks in the absence of the snakeskin and more rapid detection of the next presented snakeskin. Unexpectedly, adult males did not detect the snakeskin as well as adult females and juveniles. These findings extend our knowledge of the complex ecological and evolutionary relationships between snakes and primates.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
McLean, Michael L.; Seeger, Ryan; Hewitt, Laurie
2004-01-01
fish stocks in future artificial propagation programs. The GRESCSSP was implemented in three Grande Ronde River basin tributaries; the Lostine and upper Grande Ronde rivers and Catherine Creek. The GRESCSSP employs two broodstock strategies utilizing captive and conventional brood sources. The captive brood program began in 1995, with the collection of parr from the three tributary areas. The conventional broodstock component of the program began in 1997 with the collection of natural adults returning to these tributary areas. Although LGH was available as the primary production facility for spring chinook programs in the Grande Ronde Basin, there were never any adult or juvenile satellite facilities developed in the tributary areas that were to be supplemented. An essential part of the GRESCSSP was the construction of adult traps and juvenile acclimation facilities in these tributary areas. Weirs were installed in 1997 for the collection of adult broodstock for the conventional component of the program. Juvenile facilities were built in 2000 for acclimation of the smolts produced by the captive and conventional broodstock programs and as release sites within the natural production areas of their natal streams. The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) operate both the juvenile acclimation and adult trapping facilities located on Catherine Creek and the upper Grande Ronde River under this project. The Nez Perce Tribe (NPT) operate the facilities on the Lostine River under a sister project. Hatcheries were also built in Oregon, Washington and Idaho under the LSRCP to compensate for losses of summer steelhead due to the construction and operation of the lowest four Snake River dams. Despite these harvest-driven hatchery programs, natural summer steelhead populations continued to decline as evidenced by declining counts at Lower Granite Dam since 1995 (Columbia River Data Access in Real Time, DART) and low steelhead redd counts on index streams in
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2017-07-01
ER D C/ EL T R- 17 -1 0 Two-Dimensional Movement Patterns of Juvenile Winter- Run and Late-Fall- Run Chinook Salmon at the Fremont Weir...default. ERDC/EL TR-17-10 July 2017 Two-Dimensional Movement Patterns of Juvenile Winter- Run and Late-Fall- Run Chinook Salmon at the Fremont Weir...Sacramento River, smaller winter- run Chinook and larger late-fall- run Chinook salmon were tagged and released into a 2D telemetry array dur- ing the
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Dodd, C.K.
1993-01-01
The snout – vent length, tail length, weight, sex, activity, and orientation of a population of swamp snakes (Seminatrix pygaea) in north – central Florida were recorded from 1985 through 1990. A small temporary pond was monitored for 1343 days, using a drift fence – pitfall trap sampling regime. I captured 123 different snakes, plus 45 recaptures. Juveniles comprised 89% of the snakes at the pond. Females were generally longer and weighed more than males, although regression analysis showed no differences between the sexes in the relationship of length versus wet body mass. Males had longer tails than females. The sex ratio of snakes with a snout – vent length of more than 150 mm was 1:1. Activity occurred throughout the year but peaked during summer. Hydroperiod and weather conditions did not appear to influence snake activity. During the latter years of the study, a regional drought that began in the mid-1980s became quite severe. However, drought had little direct effect on overland migration or body condition but caused snakes to leave or to shorten the amount of time they spent within the pond basin. Snakes immigrated and emigrated nonrandomly; orientation was directed to and from the nearest large water body. Certain temporary ponds may comprise developmental habitat for Seminatrix pygaea. The dynamic wet – dry climatic cycles in southeastern North America may lead to the formation of metapopulations in some aquatic snakes.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Poe, Thomas P.; Rieman, Bruce E.
1988-07-01
In 1982 the NPPC included in its Fish and Wildlife Program a measure that called for studies ''... to investigate juvenile salmon and steelhead losses to predators while these fish are migrating through Columbia and Snake River reservoirs.'' In the same year the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) funded ODFW and FWS to conduct collaborative studies to estimate the number of juvenile salmonids lost to predators in John Day Reservoir. Also included as study objectives were: (1) a description of the importance of predation losses relative to mortality at the dam and total reservoir mortality; (2) a description of how predationmore » losses might vary (spatially and temporally); and (3) recommendations of measures to control predation on smolts. We studied four species of predator: northern squawfish, walleye, smallmouth bass, and channel catfish. We selected John Day Reservoir as the study site because the following factors led us to believe if predation was a problem in any reservoir, it would be most obvious there because: (1) the reservoir is an important subyearling chinook rearing area; (2) passage and residualism of juvenile salmonids were considered a problem there; and (3) substantial populations of predators were known to reside in the reservoir. Individual reports were processed separately for the data base.« less
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Welcker, C. W.; Burke, M.
2015-12-01
The Snake River in Hells Canyon supports a growing population of spawning Fall Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) immediately downstream of the Hells Canyon Complex (HCC) of hydroelectric dams for the last 60 years. The long-term survival of this salmon run depends on the input of spawning gravel (25-150 mm) from local tributaries balancing the losses of spawning gravel through attrition and export out of the reach between the HCC and the Salmon River confluence. We are working to quantify the gravel input of these local tributaries at different time-scales and put this into the context of historical supply and transport. Long-term total sediment production rates of these tributaries estimated through various methods have varied by over 2 orders of magnitude, but we have recently completed 10Be work to constrain these estimates. We are measuring the change in storage of Fall Chinook spawning-size gravel through repeat multibeam echosounder surveys of the riverbed. The limited amount of repeat data collected to date has shown complex patterns of change in the riverbed. One possible driver of this complexity is the episodic and spatially variable nature of sediment inputs from these tributaries. We are attempting to quantify the frequency of the debris flows or floods capable of transporting spawning gravel through digitizing historic imagery of the last 60 years to determine the recurrence interval. We are measuring the magnitude of these events by surveying tributary fans pre and post-event to measure the sediment volume and particle size produced by specific events. These floods and debris flows are driven by extreme rainfall or snowmelt events, so we have also reconstructed historical meteorological conditions to identify the triggering conditions for transport, and identify the areas where snowmelt or rainfall is the more likely trigger. We are currently testing whether the unique bedrock geology of Hells Canyon can be used as a tracer to identify the
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Return to the river: strategies for salmon restoration in the Columbia River Basin.
Richard N. Williams; Jack A. Standford; James A. Lichatowich; William J. Liss; Charles C. Coutant; Willis E. McConnaha; Richard R. Whitney; Phillip R. Mundy; Peter A. Bisson; Madison S. Powell
2006-01-01
The Columbia River today is a great "organic machine" (White 1995) that dominates the economy of the Pacific Northwest. Even though natural attributes remainfor example, salmon production in Washington State's Hanford Reach, the only unimpounded reach of the mainstem Columbia Riverthe Columbia and Snake River mainstems are dominated...
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Rien, Thomas A.; Beiningen, Kirk T.
This project began in July 1986 and is a cooperative effort of federal, state, and tribal fisheries entities to determine (1) the status and habitat requirements, and (2) effects of mitigative measures on productivity of white sturgeon populations in the lower Colombia and Snake rivers.
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David, Aaron T.; Ellings, Christopher; Woo, Isa; Simenstad, Charles A.; Takekawa, John Y.; Turner, Kelley L.; Smith, Ashley L.; Takekawa, Jean E.
2014-01-01
We evaluated whether restoring tidal flow to previously diked estuarine wetlands also restores foraging and growth opportunities for juvenile Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha. Several studies have assessed the value of restored tidal wetlands for juvenile Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp., but few have used integrative measures of salmon performance, such as habitat-specific growth potential, to evaluate restoration. Our study took place in the Nisqually River delta, Washington, where recent dike removals restored tidal flow to 364 ha of marsh—the largest tidal marsh restoration project in the northwestern contiguous United States. We sampled fish assemblages, water temperatures, and juvenile Chinook Salmon diet composition and consumption rates in two restored and two reference tidal channels during a 3-year period after restoration; these data were used as inputs to a bioenergetics model to compare Chinook Salmon foraging performance and growth potential between the restored and reference channels. We found that foraging performance and growth potential of juvenile Chinook Salmon were similar between restored and reference tidal channels. However, Chinook Salmon densities were significantly lower in the restored channels than in the reference channels, and growth potential was more variable in the restored channels due to their more variable and warmer (2°C) water temperatures. These results indicate that some—but not all—ecosystem attributes that are important for juvenile Pacific salmon can recover rapidly after large-scale tidal marsh restoration.
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Summary of Survival Data from Juvenile Coho Salmon in the Klamath River, Northern California, 2008
Beeman, John W.; Juhnke, Steven; Hansel, Hal C.
2009-01-01
A study to estimate the effects of Iron Gate Dam discharge on ESA-listed juvenile coho salmon during their seaward migration to the ocean was begun in 2005. Estimates of survival through various reaches of river downstream from the dam were completed in 2006, 2007, and 2008 as part of this process. This report describes the estimates of survival during 2008, and is a complement to similar reports from 2006 and 2007. In each year, a series of models were evaluated to determine apparent survival and recapture probabilities of radio-tagged fish in several river reaches between Iron Gate Hatchery at river kilometer 309 and a site at river kilometer 33. These results indicate most trends in survival among reaches were similar to those from 2006 and 2007, but the magnitudes of the estimated survivals were lower in 2008. The differences in survivals from Iron Gate Hatchery to river kilometer 33 in 2006 (0.653 SE 0.039), 2007 (0.497 SE 0.044), and 2008 (0.406 SE 0.032) were caused primarily by differences in survival upstream from the Scott River. This report is intended as a brief description of the survivals estimated from the fish released in 2008 to be used by others interested in the data.
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Project HOTSPOT: Borehole geophysics log interpretation from the Snake River Plain, Idaho
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lee, M. D.; Schmitt, D. R.; Chen, X.; Shervais, J. W.; Liberty, L. M.; Potter, K. E.; Kessler, J. A.
2013-12-01
The Snake River Plain (SRP), Idaho, hosts potential geothermal resources due to elevated groundwater temperatures associated with the thermal anomaly Yellowstone-Snake River hotspot. Project HOTSPOT has coordinated international institutions and organizations to understand subsurface stratigraphy and assess geothermal potential. Over 5.9km of core were drilled from three boreholes within the SRP in an attempt to acquire continuous core documenting the volcanic and sedimentary record of the hotspot: (1) Kimama, (2) Kimberely, and (3) Mountain Home. The most eastern drill hole is Kimama located along the central volcanic axis of the SRP and documents basaltic volcanism. The Kimberely drill hole was selected to document continuous volcanism when analysed in conjunction with the Kimama drill hole and is located near the margin of the plain. The Mountain Home drill hole is located along the western plain and documents older basalts overlain by sediment. A suite of ground and borehole geophysical surveys were carried out within the SRP between 2010 and 2012. The borehole geophysics logs included gamma ray (spectral and natural), neutron hydrogen index, electrical resistivity, magnetic susceptibility, ultrasonic borehole televiewer imaging, full waveform sonic, and vertical seismic profile. The borehole geophysics logs were qualitatively assessed through visual interpretation of lithological horizons and quantitatively through physical property specialized software and digital signal processing automated filtering process to identify step functions and high frequency anomalies. Preliminary results were published by Schmitt et al. (2012), Potter et al. (2012), and Shervais et al. (2013). The results are continuously being enhanced as more information is qualitatively and quantitatively delineated from the borehole geophysics logs. Each drill hole encounters three principal units: massive basalt flows, rhyolite, and sediments. Basalt has a low to moderate porosity and is
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Maupin, Molly A.
1997-01-01
As part of the U.S. Geological Survey's National Water-Quality Assessment Program in the upper Snake River Basin study unit, land- and water-use data were used to describe activities that have potential effects on water quality, including biological conditions, in the basin. Land-use maps and estimates of water use by irrigated agriculture were needed for Gooding, Jerome, Lincoln, and Minidoka Counties (south-central Idaho), four of the most intensively irrigated counties in the study unit. Land use in the four counties was mapped from Landsat Thematic Mapper imagery data for the 1992 water year using the SPECTRUM computer program. Land-use data were field verified in 108 randomly selected sections (640 acres each); results compared favorably with land-use maps from other sources. Water used for irrigation during the 1992 water year was estimated using land-use and ancillary data. In 1992, a drought year, estimated irrigation withdrawals in the four counties were about 2.9 million acre-feet of water. Of the 2.9 million acre-feet, an estimated 2.12 million acre-feet of water was withdrawn from surface water, mainly the Snake River, and nearly 776,000 acre-feet was withdrawn from ground water. One-half of the 2.9 million acre-feet of water withdrawn for irrigation was considered to be lost during conveyance or was returned to the Snake River; the remainder was consumptively used by crops during the growing season.
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Robert, Kylie A; Brunet-Rossinni, Anja; Bronikowski, Anne M
2007-06-01
We test the 'free radical theory of aging' using six species of colubrid snakes (numerous, widely distributed, non-venomous snakes of the family Colubridae) that exhibit long (> 15 years) or short (< 10 years) lifespans. Because the 'rate of living theory' predicts metabolic rates to be correlated with rates of aging and oxidative damage results from normal metabolic processes we sought to answer whether physiological parameters and locomotor performance (which is a good predictor of survival in juvenile snakes) mirrored the evolution of lifespans in these colubrid snakes. We measured whole animal metabolic rate (oxygen consumption Vo2), locomotor performance, cellular metabolic rate (mitochondrial oxygen consumption), and oxidative stress potential (hydrogen peroxide production by mitochondria). Longer-lived colubrid snakes have greater locomotor performance and reduced hydrogen peroxide production than short-lived species, while whole animal metabolic rates and mitochondrial efficiency did not differ with lifespan. We present the first measures testing the 'free radical theory of aging' using reptilian species as model organisms. Using reptiles with different lifespans as model organisms should provide greater insight into mechanisms of aging.
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Coral snake mimicry: live snakes not avoided by a mammalian predator.
Beckers, Gabriel J L; Leenders, Twan A A M; Strijbosch, Henk
1996-06-01
The occurrence of coral snake coloration among unrelated venomous and non-venomous New World snake species has often been explained in terms of warning coloration and mimicry. The idea that snake predators would avoid coral snakes in nature seems widely established and is postulated in many discussions on coral snake mimicry. However, the few workers that have tested a potential aposematic function of the conspicuous colour pattern focused exclusively on behaviour of snake predators towards coloured abstract models. Here we report on behaviour of temporarily caged, wild coatis (Nasua narica) when confronted with co-occurring live snakes, among which were two species of venomous coral snakes. Five different types of responses have been observed, ranging from avoidance to predation, yet none of the coatis avoided either of the two coral snake species or other species resembling these. As in earlier studies coatis appeared to avoid coral snake models, our findings show that results from studies with abstract snake models cannot unconditionally serve as evidence for an aposematic function of coral snake coloration.
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Haskell, Craig A.; Tiffan, Kenneth F.
2011-01-01
Under the 2004 Biological Opinion for operation of the Federal Columbia River Power System released by the National Marine Fisheries Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), and the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) were directed to restore more than 4,047 hectares (10,000 acres) of tidal marsh in the Columbia River estuary by 2010. Restoration of Crims Island near Longview, Washington, restored 38.1 hectares of marsh and swamp in the tidal freshwater portion of the lower Columbia River. The goal of the restoration was to improve habitat for juveniles of Endangered Species Act (ESA)-listed salmon stocks and ESA-listed Columbian white-tailed deer. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) monitored and evaluated the fisheries and aquatic resources at Crims Island in 2004 prior to restoration (pre-restoration), which began in August 2004, and then post-restoration from 2006 to 2009. This report summarizes pre- and post-restoration monitoring data used by the USGS to evaluate project success. We evaluated project success by examining the interaction between juvenile salmon and a suite of broader ecological measures including sediments, plants, and invertebrates and their response to large-scale habitat alteration. The restoration action at Crims Island from August 2004 to September 2005 was to excavate a 0.6-meter layer of soil and dig channels in the interior of the island to remove reed canary grass and increase habitat area and tidal exchange. The excavation created 34.4 hectares of tidal emergent marsh where none previously existed and 3.7 hectares of intertidal and subtidal channels. Cattle that had grazed the island for more than 50 years were relocated. Soil excavated from the site was deposited in upland areas next to the tidal marsh to establish an upland forest. Excavation deepened and widened an existing T-shaped channel to increase tidal flow to the interior of the island. The western arm of the existing 'T
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Burdick, Summer M.; Wilkens, Alexander X.; VanderKooi, Scott P.
2008-01-01
We continued sampling juvenile suckers in 2006 as part of an effort to develop bioenergetics models for juvenile Lost River and shortnose suckers. This study required us to collect fish to determine growth rates and energy content of juvenile suckers. We followed the sampling protocols and methods described by Hendrixson et al. (2007b) to maintain continuity and facilitate comparisons with data collected in recent years, but sampled at a reduced level of effort compared to previous years (approximately one-third) due to limited funding. Here we present a summary of catch data collected in 2006. Bioenergetics models will be reported separately
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Rupert, Michael G.; Hunt, Charles D.; Skinner, Kenneth D.; Frans, Lonna M.; Mahler, Barbara J.
2015-01-01
The Columbia Plateau, Snake River Plain, and Hawaii are large volcanic areas in the western United States and mid-Pacific ocean that contain extensive regional aquifers of a hard, gray, volcanic rock called basalt. Residents of the Columbia Plateau, the Snake River Plain, and the island of Oahu depend on groundwater as their primary source of drinking water. Although the depth to the water table can be several hundred feet, the groundwater is highly vulnerable to contamination because the permeable sediments and rocks allow contaminants to move readily down to the water table. Intense agricultural and urban activities occur above the drinking-water supply and are increasing in some areas. Contaminants, such as nitrate, pesticides, and volatile organic compounds, associated with agricultural and urban activities, have adversely affected groundwater quality.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Overstreet, B. T.; Legleiter, C. J.
2012-12-01
The Snake River in Grand Teton National Park is a dam-regulated but highly dynamic gravel-bed river that alternates between a single thread and a multithread planform. Identifying key drivers of channel change on this river could improve our understanding of 1) how flow regulation at Jackson Lake Dam has altered the character of the river over time; 2) how changes in the distribution of various types of vegetation impacts river dynamics; and 3) how the Snake River will respond to future human and climate driven disturbances. Despite the importance of monitoring planform changes over time, automated channel extraction and understanding the physical drivers contributing to channel change continue to be challenging yet critical steps in the remote sensing of riverine environments. In this study we use the random forest statistical technique to first classify land cover within the Snake River corridor and then extract channel features from a sequence of high-resolution multispectral images of the Snake River spanning the period from 2006 to 2012, which encompasses both exceptionally dry years and near-record runoff in 2011. We show that the random forest technique can be used to classify images with as few as four spectral bands with far greater accuracy than traditional single-tree classification approaches. Secondly, we couple random forest derived land cover maps with LiDAR derived topography, bathymetry, and canopy height to explore physical drivers contributing to observed channel changes on the Snake River. In conclusion we show that the random forest technique is a powerful tool for classifying multispectral images of rivers. Moreover, we hypothesize that with sufficient data for calculating spatially distributed metrics of channel form and more frequent channel monitoring, this tool can also be used to identify areas with high probabilities of channel change. Land cover maps of a portion of the Snake River produced from digital aerial photography from 2010 and
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Brooks, R.A.; Sulak, K.J.
2005-01-01
Gulf sturgeon, Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi, forage extensively in the Suwannee River estuary following emigration out of the Suwannee River, Florida. While in the estuary, juvenile Gulf sturgeon primarily feed on benthic infauna. In June-July 2002 and February-April 2003, random sites within the estuary were sampled for benthic macrofauna (2002 n = 156; 2003 n = 103). A mean abundance of 2,562 ind m-2 (SE ?? 204) was found in the summer, with significantly reduced macrofaunal abundance in the winter (mean density of 1,044 ind m-2, SE ?? 117). Benthic biomass was significantly higher in the summer with an average summer sample dry weight of 5.92 g m-2 (SE ?? 0.82) compared to 3.91 g m-2 (SE ?? 0.67) in the winter. Amphipods and polychaetes were the dominant taxa collected during both sampling periods. Three different estimates of food availability were examined taking into account principal food item information and biomass estimates. All three estimates provided a slightly different view of potential resources but were consistent in indicating that food resource values for juvenile Gulf sturgeon are spatially heterogeneous within the Suwannee River estuary. ?? 2005 Estuarine Research Federation.
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Responses by corn snakes (Elaphe guttata) to chemicals from heterospecific snakes.
Weldon, P J; Ford, N B; Perry-Richardson, J J
1990-01-01
Young corn snakes,Elaphe guttata, were tested for responses to chemicals from heterospecific snakes. Corn snakes exhibited more tongue-flicks to swabs freshly rubbed against the skin of an ophiophagous kingsnake,Lampropeltis getulus, than to blank swabs. Responses toL. getulus and a nonophiophagous western plains garter snake,Thamnophis radix haydeni, did not differ significantly. Corn snakes exhibited more tongue-flicks to swabs treated with chloroform extracts of the shed skins ofL. getulus; an ophiophagous eastern coachwhip,Masticophis flagellum; and a nonophiophagous gray ratsnake,Elaphe obsoleta, than to blank swabs, but they did not discriminate between ophiophagous and nonophiophagous species in every case. Corn snakes, when offered shelters containing bedding from the home cages of a nonophiophagous water snake,Nerodia erythrogaster, an occasionally ophiophagous water moccasin,Agkistrodon pisdvorus; orL. getulus and untreated bedding, failed to reside under snake-scented shelters at a rate significantly different from that expected by chance. The responses of corn snakes are compared with those reported for other snakes presented with heterospecific snake chemicals.
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The Irrigation Effect: How River Regulation Can Promote Some Riparian Vegetation.
Gill, Karen M; Goater, Lori A; Braatne, Jeffrey H; Rood, Stewart B
2018-04-01
River regulation impacts riparian ecosystems by altering the hydrogeomorphic conditions that support streamside vegetation. Obligate riparian plants are often negatively impacted since they are ecological specialists with particular instream flow requirements. Conversely, facultative riparian plants are generalists and may be less vulnerable to river regulation, and could benefit from augmented flows that reduce drought stress during hot and dry periods. To consider this 'irrigation effect' we studied the facultative shrub, netleaf hackberry (Celtis reticulata), the predominant riparian plant along the Hells Canyon corridor of the Snake River, Idaho, USA, where dams produce hydropeaking, diurnal flow variation. Inventories of 235 cross-sectional transects revealed that hackberry was uncommon upstream from the reservoirs, sparse along the reservoir with seasonal draw-down and common along two reservoirs with stabilized water levels. Along the Snake River downstream, hackberry occurred in fairly continuous, dense bands along the high water line. In contrast, hackberry was sparsely scattered along the free-flowing Salmon River, where sandbar willow (Salix exigua), an obligate riparian shrub, was abundant. Below the confluence of the Snake and Salmon rivers, the abundance and distribution of hackberry were intermediate between the two upstream reaches. Thus, river regulation apparently benefited hackberry along the Snake River through Hells Canyon, probably due to diurnal pulsing that wets the riparian margin. We predict similar benefits for some other facultative riparian plants along other regulated rivers with hydropeaking during warm and dry intervals. To analyze the ecological impacts of hydropeaking we recommend assessing daily maxima, as well as daily mean river flows.
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The Irrigation Effect: How River Regulation Can Promote Some Riparian Vegetation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Gill, Karen M.; Goater, Lori A.; Braatne, Jeffrey H.; Rood, Stewart B.
2018-04-01
River regulation impacts riparian ecosystems by altering the hydrogeomorphic conditions that support streamside vegetation. Obligate riparian plants are often negatively impacted since they are ecological specialists with particular instream flow requirements. Conversely, facultative riparian plants are generalists and may be less vulnerable to river regulation, and could benefit from augmented flows that reduce drought stress during hot and dry periods. To consider this `irrigation effect' we studied the facultative shrub, netleaf hackberry ( Celtis reticulata), the predominant riparian plant along the Hells Canyon corridor of the Snake River, Idaho, USA, where dams produce hydropeaking, diurnal flow variation. Inventories of 235 cross-sectional transects revealed that hackberry was uncommon upstream from the reservoirs, sparse along the reservoir with seasonal draw-down and common along two reservoirs with stabilized water levels. Along the Snake River downstream, hackberry occurred in fairly continuous, dense bands along the high water line. In contrast, hackberry was sparsely scattered along the free-flowing Salmon River, where sandbar willow ( Salix exigua), an obligate riparian shrub, was abundant. Below the confluence of the Snake and Salmon rivers, the abundance and distribution of hackberry were intermediate between the two upstream reaches. Thus, river regulation apparently benefited hackberry along the Snake River through Hells Canyon, probably due to diurnal pulsing that wets the riparian margin. We predict similar benefits for some other facultative riparian plants along other regulated rivers with hydropeaking during warm and dry intervals. To analyze the ecological impacts of hydropeaking we recommend assessing daily maxima, as well as daily mean river flows.
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Weise, Florian J; van Vuuren, Rudie J; Echement, Katherine E; Cleverley, Matthew P; van Vuuren, Marlice
2013-03-27
This article reports the first documented treatment of venomous snakebite with a polyvalent snake antivenom from the South African Institute for Medical Research in endangered African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus). Three juvenile male animals (6.5 months of age) showed clinical signs after being bitten by an unidentified venomous snake. The signs included loss of appetite, disorientation, impaired locomotion, excessive facial swelling, profuse salivation, reduced respiratory effort and an apparent depressed mental state. Intravenous treatment with isotonic Ringer lactate solution, hetastarch 6% and dexamethazone, subcutaneous administration of procaine benzylpenicillin and benzathine benzylpenicillin, and ultimately intravenous administration of the polyvalent snake antivenom resulted in the complete recovery of all three wild dogs.
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Responses by king snakes (Lampropeltis getulus) to chemicals from colubrid and crotaline snakes.
Weldon, P J; Schell, F M
1984-10-01
Four litters of king snakes (Lampropeltis getulus), a snake-eating species, were tested for responses to chemicals from colubrid and crotaline snakes. King snakes presented with swabs rubbed against the dorsal skin of living snakes and with swabs treated with methylene chloride extracts of shed snake skins tongue-flicked more to swabs from a northern copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix), a crotaline, than to swabs from some colubrid snakes or to blank swabs. Six out of 10 king snakes in one litter attacked and attempted to ingest swabs treated with snake skin chemicals, implicating these chemicals as feeding stimuli for these ophiophagous snakes. Ingestively naive king snakes presented with plain air and snake odors in an olfactometer tongue-flicked more to snake odors. This study and others suggest that crotaline and colubrid snakes can be distinguished by chemical cues.
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Hartfield, Paul D.; Kuntz, Nathan M.; Schramm, Harold L.
2013-01-01
Scaphirhynchus albus (Pallid Sturgeon) and S. platorynchus (Shovelnose Sturgeon) are sympatric and not uncommon in the lower Mississippi River from the confluence of the Ohio River to the Gulf of Mexico, and in its distributary, the Atchafalaya River. Reports of sturgeon larvae have been rare in the Mississippi River but have been increasing with more effective collection methods. A suite of characters identified in hatchery-reared larval Pallid Sturgeon and Shovelnose Sturgeon from the Yellowstone and upper Missouri rivers has been used to distinguish larval Scaphirhynchus spp. In the Mississippi River; however, a large proportion of wild Scaphirhynchus spp. larvae are intermediate in these characters and have been identified by some as hybridized Pallid Sturgeon and Shovelnose Sturgeon. We applied three diagnostic characters developed from Missouri River sturgeon larvae to hatchery-reared progeny of Atchafalaya River Pallid Sturgeon and found them inadequate to identify most of the known Pallid sturgeon larvae. Additionally, fewer than 10% of a large sample of wild Scaphirhynchusspp. larvae from the lower Mississippi River conformed to either Pallid Sturgeon or Shovelnose Sturgeon at two or more of the characters. We also found a small mouth width relative to head width and a concave forward barbel position may be useful for the identification of 30% or more Scaphirhynchus spp. larvae and postlarval young-of-year as Shovelnose Sturgeon. Established adult character indices and diagnostic measurement proportionalities also failed to correctly identify any hatchery-reared Pallid Sturgeon juveniles recaptured 6–7 years following their release.
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Adams, Noah S.; Plumb, John M.; Perry, Russell W.; Rondorf, Dennis W.
2014-01-01
An integral part of efforts to recover stocks of Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp. and steelhead O. mykiss in Pacific Northwest rivers is to increase passage efficacy and survival of juveniles past hydroelectric dams. As part of this effort, we evaluated the efficacy of a prototype surface bypass structure, the removable spillway weir (RSW), installed in a spillbay at Lower Granite Dam, Washington, on the Snake River during 2002, 2003, 2005, and 2006. Radio-tagged juvenile steelhead were released upstream from the dam and their route of passage through the turbines, juvenile bypass, spillway, or RSW was recorded. The RSW was operated in an on-or-off condition and passed 3–13% of the total discharge at the dam when it was on. Poisson rate models were fit to the passage counts of hatchery- and natural-origin juvenile steelhead to predict the probability of fish passing the dam. Main-effect predictor variables were RSW operation, diel period, day of the year, proportion of flow passed by the spillway, and total discharge at the dam. The combined fish passage through the RSW and spillway was 55–85% during the day and 37–61% during the night. The proportion of steelhead passing through nonturbine routes was <88% when the RSW was off during the day and increased to >95% when the RSW was on during the day. The ratio of the proportion of steelhead passed to the proportion of water passing the RSW was from 6.3:1 to 10.0:1 during the day and from 2.7:1 to 5.2:1 during the night. Steelhead passing through the RSW exited the tailrace about 15 min faster than fish passing through the spillway. Mark–recapture single-release survival estimates for steelhead passing the RSW ranged from 0.95 to 1.00. The RSW appeared to be an effective bypass structure compared with other routes of fish passage at the dam.
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Wintering bats of the upper Snake River Plain: occurrence in lava-tube caves
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Genter, D.L.
Distribution and habitat selection of hibernating bats at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) and adjacent area are reported. Exploration of over 30 lava-tube caves revealed that two species, Myotis leibii and Plecotus townsendii, hibernate in the upper Snake River Plain. Five species, M. lucifugus, M. evotis, Eptesicus fuscus, Lasionycteris noctivagans, and Lasiurus cinereus are considered migratory. Myotis leibii and P. townsendii hibernate throughout much of the area, occasionally in mixed-species groups. Myotis leibii uses the dark and protected regions of the cave, usually wedged into tiny pockets and crevices near or at the highest portion of the ceiling. Individualsmore » of P. townsendii may be found at any height or depth in the cave. Temperature appears to be primary limiting factor in habitat selection. Myotis leibii was found in significantly cooler air temperatures than P. townsendii. Neither species tolerated continuous temperatures below 1.5 C. Relative humidity does not seem to be a significant factor in the distribution or habitat selection of the two species in lava-tube caves. 18 references, 1 figure, 1 table.« less
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Wright, Peter R.
2010-01-01
The hydrogeology and water quality of the Snake River alluvial aquifer, at the Jackson Hole Airport in northwest Wyoming, was studied by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Jackson Hole Airport Board and the Teton Conservation District during September 2008-June 2009. Hydrogeologic conditions were characterized using data collected from 14 Jackson Hole Airport wells. Groundwater levels are summarized in this report and the direction of groundwater flow, hydraulic gradients, and estimated groundwater velocity rates in the Snake River alluvial aquifer underlying the study area are presented. Analytical results of chemical, dissolved gas, and stable isotopes are presented and summarized. Seasonally, the water table at Jackson Hole Airport was lowest in early spring and reached its peak in July, with an increase of 12 to 14 feet between April and July 2009. Groundwater flow was predominantly horizontal but had the hydraulic potential for downward flow. The direction of groundwater flow was from the northeast to the west-southwest. Horizontal groundwater velocities within the Snake River alluvial aquifer at the airport were estimated to be about 26 to 66 feet per day. This indicates that the traveltime from the farthest upgradient well to the farthest downgradient well was approximately 53 to 138 days. This estimate only describes the movement of groundwater because some solutes may move at a rate much slower than groundwater flow through the aquifer. The quality of the water in the alluvial aquifer generally was considered good. The alluvial aquifer was a fresh, hard to very hard, calcium carbonate type water. No constituents were detected at concentrations exceeding U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Maximum Contaminant Levels, and no anthropogenic compounds were detected at concentrations greater than laboratory reporting levels. The quality of groundwater in the alluvial aquifer generally was suitable for domestic and other uses; however, dissolved
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Sluiceway Operations to Pass Juvenile Salmonids at The Dalles Dam, Columbia River, USA
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Johnson, Gary E.; Khan, Fenton; Skalski, J. R.
Existing ice and trash sluiceways are commonly used to pass juvenile salmonids downstream at hydropower dams through a benign, non-turbine route. At The Dalles Dam on the Columbia River, managers undertook optimizing operations of sluiceway weirs to maximize survival of juvenile salmonids at the powerhouse. We applied fixed-location hydroacoustic methods to compare fish passage rates and sluiceway efficiencies for two weir configurations during 2004 and 2005: three weirs versus six weirs, located at the mid- versus east powerhouse, respectively. We also analyzed horizontal distributions of passage at the sluiceway and turbines and the effects of operating turbines beneath open sluicewaymore » gates to provide supporting data relevant to operations optimization. Based on the findings, we recommend the following for long-term operations for the sluiceway at The Dalles Dam: open six rather than three sluiceway weirs to take advantage of the maximum hydraulic capacity of the sluiceway; open the three weirs above the western-most operating main turbine unit (MU) and the three weirs at MU 8 where turbine passage rates are relatively high; operate the turbine units below open sluiceway weirs as a standard procedure; operate the sluiceway 24 h/d year-round to maximize its benefits to juvenile salmonids; and use the same operations for spring and summer emigrants. These operational concepts are transferable to dams where sluiceway surface flow outlets are used protect downstream migrating fishes.« less
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Snake River fall Chinook salmon life history investigations, annual report 2008
Tiffan, Kenneth F.; Connor, William P.; Bellgraph, Brian J.; Buchanan, Rebecca A.
2010-01-01
In 2009, we used radio and acoustic telemetry to evaluate the migratory behavior, survival, mortality, and delay of subyearling fall Chinook salmon in the Clearwater River and Lower Granite Reservoir. We released a total of 1,000 tagged hatchery subyearlings at Cherry Lane on the Clearwater River in mid August and we monitored them as they passed downstream through various river and reservoir reaches. Survival through the free-flowing river was high (>0.85) for both radio- and acoustic-tagged fish, but dropped substantially as fish delayed in the Transition Zone and Confluence areas. Estimates of the joint probability of migration and survival through the Transition Zone and Confluence reaches combined were similar for both radio- and acoustic-tagged fish, and ranged from about 0.30 to 0.35. Estimates of the joint probability of delaying and surviving in the combined Transition Zone and Confluence peaked at the beginning of the study, ranging from 0.323 ( SE =NA; radio-telemetry data) to 0.466 ( SE =0.024; acoustic-telemetry data), and then steadily declined throughout the remainder of the study. By the end of October, no live tagged juvenile salmon were detected in either the Transition Zone or the Confluence. As estimates of the probability of delay decreased throughout the study, estimates of the probability of mortality increased, as evidenced by the survival estimate of 0.650 ( SE =0.025) at the end of October (acoustic-telemetry data). Few fish were detected at Lower Granite Dam during our study and even fewer fish passed the dam before PIT-tag monitoring ended at the end of October. Five acoustic-tagged fish passed Lower Granite Dam in October and 12 passed the dam in November based on detections in the dam tailrace; however, too few detections were available to calculate the joint probabilities of migrating and surviving or delaying and surviving. Estimates of the joint probability of migrating and surviving through the reservoir was less than 0
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Saiki, Michael K.; Martin, Barbara A.; Thompson, Larry D.; Walsh, Daniel
2001-01-01
This study assessed the downstream extent andseverity of copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), and zinc (Zn)contamination from acid mine drainage on juvenile chinook salmon(Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and aquatic insects over aroughly 270-km reach of the Sacramento River below KeswickReservoir. During April–May 1998, salmon were collected fromfour sites in the river and from a fish hatchery that receiveswater from Battle Creek. Salmon from river sites were examinedfor gut contents to document their consumption of variousinvertebrate taxa, whereas salmon from river sites and thehatchery were used for metal determinations. Midge(Chironomidae) and caddisfly (Trichoptera) larvae and mayfly(Ephemeroptera) nymphs were collected for metal determinationsduring April–June from river sites and from Battle and Buttecreeks. The fish hatchery and Battle and Butte creeks served asreference sites because they had no history of receiving minedrainage. Salmon consumed mostly midge larvae and pupae (44.0%,damp-dry biomass), caddisfly larvae (18.9%), Cladocera (5.8%),and mayfly nymphs (5.7%). These results demonstrated thatinsects selected for metal determinations were important as fishforage. Dry-weight concentrations of Cu, Cd, and Zn weregenerally far higher in salmon and insects from the river thanfrom reference sites. Within the river, high metalconcentrations persisted as far downstream as South Meridian (thelowermost sampling site). Maximum concentrations of Cd (30.7 μg g-1) and Zn (1230 μg g-1),but not Cu (87.4 μg g-1), in insects exceeded amounts that other investigators reported as toxic when fed for prolonged periods to juvenile salmonids.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
McKnight, D. M.; Rue, G.
2017-12-01
Recent research in Snake River Watershed, located near the historic boomtown of Montezuma and adjacent the Continental Divide in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, has revealed the distinctive occurrence of rare earth elements (REE) at high concentrations. Here the weathering of the mineralized lithology naturally generates acid rock drainage (ARD) in addition to drainage recieved from abandoned mine adits throughout the area, results in aqueous REE concentrations three orders of magnitude higher than in most major rivers. The dominant mechanism responsible for this enrichment; their dissolution from secondary and accessory mineral stocks, abundant in REEs, promoted by the low pH waters generated from geochemical weathering of disseminated sulfide minerals. While REEs behave conservatively in acidic conditions, as well as in the presence of stabilizing ligands such as sulfate, downstream circumneutral inputs from pristine streams and a rising pH are resulting in observed fractional losses of heavy rare earth elements as well as partitioning towards colloidal and solid phases. These finding in combination with the established role of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in binding with both trace metals and REEs, suggest that competitive interactions, complexation, and scavenging are likely contributing to these proportional losses. However, outstanding questions yet remain regarding the effects of an increasing flux of trace metals as well as REEs from the Snake River Watershed into Dillon Reservoir, a major drinking water supply for the City of Denver, in part due to hydroclimatological drivers that are enhancing geochemical weathering and reducing groundwater recharge in alpine areas across the Colorado Rockies. Based on these findings also we seek to broaden this body of work to further investigate the behavior of rare earth elements (REE) in other aquatic environment as well the influence of trace metals, DOM, and pH in altering their reactivity and subsequent watershed
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Spatial and temporal drivers of phenotypic diversity in polymorphic snakes.
Cox, Christian L; Davis Rabosky, Alison R
2013-08-01
Color polymorphism in natural populations presents an ideal opportunity to study the evolutionary drivers of phenotypic diversity. Systems with striking spatial, temporal, and qualitative variation in color can be leveraged to study the mechanisms promoting the distribution of different types of variation in nature. We used the highly polymorphic ground snake (Sonora semiannulata), a putative coral snake mimic with both cryptic and conspicuous morphs, to compare patterns of neutral genetic variation and variation over space and time in color polymorphism to investigate the mechanistic drivers of phenotypic variation across scales. We found that strong selection promotes color polymorphism across spatial and temporal scales, with morph frequencies differing markedly between juvenile and adult age classes within a single population, oscillating over time within multiple populations, and varying drastically over the landscape despite minimal population genetic structure. However, we found no evidence that conspicuousness of morphs was related to which color pattern was favored by selection or to any geographic factors, including sympatry with coral snakes. We suggest that complex patterns of phenotypic variation in polymorphic systems may be a fundamental outcome of the conspicuousness of morphs and that explicit tests of temporal and geographic variation are critical to the interpretation of conspicuousness and mimicry.
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Rine, Kristin M.; Wipfli, Mark S.; Schoen, Erik R.; Nightengale, Timothy L.; Stricker, Craig A.
2016-01-01
Contributions of terrestrial-, freshwater-, and marine-derived prey resources to stream fishes vary over time and space, altering the energy pathways that regulate production. In this study, we determined large-scale use of these resources by juvenile Chinook and coho salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha and Oncorhynchus kisutch, respectively) in the glacial Susitna River, Alaska. We resolved spatial and temporal trophic patterns among multiple macrohabitat types along a 97 km segment of the river corridor via stable isotope and stomach content analyses. Juvenile salmon were supported primarily by freshwater-derived resources and secondarily by marine and terrestrial sources. The relative contribution of marine-derived prey to rearing salmon was greatest in the fall within off-channel macrohabitats, whereas the contributions of terrestrial invertebrate prey were generally greatest during midsummer, across all macrohabitats. No longitudinal (upstream–downstream) diet pattern was discernable. These results highlight large-scale spatial and seasonal patterns of energy flow and the dynamic interplay of pulsed marine and terrestrial prey subsidies to juvenile Chinook and coho salmon in a large, complex, and relatively pristine glacial river.
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Analgesic efficacy of butorphanol and morphine in bearded dragons and corn snakes.
Sladky, Kurt K; Kinney, Matthew E; Johnson, Stephen M
2008-07-15
To test the hypothesis that administration of butorphanol or morphine induces antinociception in bearded dragons and corn snakes. Prospective crossover study. 12 juvenile and adult bearded dragons and 13 corn snakes. Infrared heat stimuli were applied to the plantar surface of bearded dragon hind limbs or the ventral surface of corn snake tails. Thermal withdrawal latencies (TWDLs) were measured before (baseline) and after SC administration of physiologic saline (0.9% NaCl) solution (equivalent volume to opioid volumes), butorphanol tartrate (2 or 20 mg/kg [0.91 or 9.1 mg/lb]), or morphine sulfate (1, 5, 10, 20, or 40 mg/kg [0.45, 2.27, 4.5, 9.1, or 18.2 mg/lb]). For bearded dragons, butorphanol (2 or 20 mg/kg) did not alter hind limb TWDLs at 2 to 24 hours after administration. However, at 8 hours after administration, morphine (10 and 20 mg/kg) significantly increased hind limb TWDLs from baseline values (mean +/- SEM maximum increase, 2.7+/-0.4 seconds and 2.8+/-0.9 seconds, respectively). For corn snakes, butorphanol (20 mg/kg) significantly increased tail TWDLs at 8 hours after administration (maximum increase from baseline value, 3.0+/-0.8 seconds); the low dose had no effect. Morphine injections did not increase tail TWDLs at 2 to 24 hours after administration. Compared with doses used in most mammalian species, high doses of morphine (but not butorphanol) induced analgesia in bearded dragons, whereas high doses of butorphanol (but not morphine) induced analgesia in corn snakes.
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Yang, Kun; Li, Shu; Liu, Xiaoshuai; Gan, Weixiong; Deng, Longjun; Tang, Yezhong
2017-01-01
Schizothorax wangchiachii is a key fish species in the stock enhancement program of the Yalong River hydropower project, China. Alizarin red S (ARS) was used to mark large numbers of juvenile S. wangchiachii in the Jinping Hatchery and later used to evaluate stock enhancement in the Jinping area of the Yalong River. In a small-scale pilot study, 7,000 juveniles of the 2014 cohort were successfully marked by immersion in ARS solution, and no mortality was recorded during the marking process. The ARS mark in the fish otoliths remained visible 20 months later. In the large-scale marking study, approximately 600,000 juveniles of the 2015 cohort were successfully marked. Mortalities of both marked and unmarked juveniles were very low and did not differ significantly. Total length, wet mass and condition factor did not differ significantly between unmarked and marked individuals after three months. On 24 July 2015, about 840,000 Jinping Hatchery-produced young S. wangchiachii, including 400,000 marked individuals, were released at two sites in the Jinping area. Recapture surveys showed that (1) marked and unmarked S. wangchiachii did not differ significantly in total length, wet mass and condition factor; (2) stocked individuals became an important part of recruitment of the 2015 cohort; (3) instantaneous growth rate of marked individuals tended to slightly increase; and (4) most stocked individuals were distributed along a 10–15 km stretch near the release sites. These results suggest that the ARS method is a cost-efficient way to mass mark juvenile S. wangchiachii and that releasing juveniles is an effective means of stock recruitment. PMID:29230371
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Skinner, Kenneth D.
2018-05-11
Groundwater-quality samples and water-level data were collected from 36 wells in the Jerome/Gooding County area of the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer during June 2017. The wells included 30 wells sampled for the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Water-Quality Assessment project, plus an additional 6 wells were selected to increase spatial distribution. The data provide water managers with the ability for an improved understanding of groundwater quality and flow directions in the area. Groundwater-quality samples were analyzed for nutrients, major ions, trace elements, and stable isotopes of water. Quality-assurance and quality-control measures consisted of multiple blank samples and a sequential replicate sample. All data are available online at the USGS National Water Information System.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Anderson, S.R.; Liszewski, M.J.
1997-08-01
The unsaturated zone and the Snake River Plain aquifer at and near the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) are made up of at least 178 basalt-flow groups, 103 sedimentary interbeds, 6 andesite-flow groups, and 4 rhyolite domes. Stratigraphic units identified in 333 wells in this 890-mile{sup 2} area include 121 basalt-flow groups, 102 sedimentary interbeds, 6 andesite-flow groups, and 1 rhyolite dome. Stratigraphic units were identified and correlated using the data from numerous outcrops and 26 continuous cores and 328 natural-gamma logs available in December 1993. Basalt flows make up about 85% of the volume of deposits underlying the area.
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Hotspot: the Snake River Geothermal Drilling Project--initial report
Shervais, J.W.; Nielson, D.; Lachmar, T.; Christiansen, E.H.; Morgan, L.; Shanks, Wayne C.; Delahunty, C.; Schmitt, D.R.; Liberty, L.M.; Blackwell, D.D.; Glen, J.M.; Kessler, J.A.; Potter, K.E.; Jean, M.M.; Sant, C.J.; Freeman, T.
2012-01-01
The Snake River volcanic province (SRP) overlies a thermal anomaly that extends deep into the mantle; it represents one of the highest heat flow provinces in North America. The primary goal of this project is to evaluate geothermal potential in three distinct settings: (1) Kimama site: inferred high sub-aquifer geothermal gradient associated with the intrusion of mafic magmas, (2) Kimberly site: a valley-margin setting where surface heat flow may be driven by the up-flow of hot fluids along buried caldera ringfault complexes, and (3) Mountain Home site: a more traditional fault-bounded basin with thick sedimentary cover. The Kimama hole, on the axial volcanic zone, penetrated 1912 m of basalt with minor intercalated sediment; no rhyolite basement was encountered. Temperatures are isothermal through the aquifer (to 960 m), then rise steeply on a super-conductive gradient to an estimated bottom hole temperature of ~98°C. The Kimberly hole is on the inferred margin of a buried rhyolite eruptive center, penetrated rhyolite with intercalated basalt and sediment to a TD of 1958 m. Temperatures are isothermal at 55-60°C below 400 m, suggesting an immense passive geothermal resource. The Mountain Home hole is located above the margin of a buried gravity high in the western SRP. It penetrates a thick section of basalt and lacustrine sediment overlying altered basalt flows, hyaloclastites, and volcanic sediments, with a TD of 1821 m. Artesian flow of geothermal water from 1745 m depth documents a power-grade resource that is now being explored in more detail. In-depth studies continue at all three sites, complemented by high-resolution gravity, magnetic, and seismic surveys, and by downhole geophysical logging.
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Large-volume, low-δ18O rhyolites of the central Snake River Plain, Idaho, USA
Boroughs, Scott; Wolff, John; Bonnichsen, Bill; Godchaux, Martha; Larson, Peter
2005-01-01
The Miocene Bruneau-Jarbidge and adjacent volcanic fields of the central Snake River Plain, southwest Idaho, are dominated by high-temperature rhyolitic tuffs and lavas having an aggregate volume estimated as 7000 km3. Samples from units representing at least 50% of this volume are strongly depleted in 18O, with magmatic feldspar δ18OVSMOW (Vienna standard mean ocean water) values between −1.4‰ and 3.8‰. The magnitude of the 18O depletion and the complete lack of any rhyolites with normal values (7‰–10‰) combine to suggest that assimilation or melting of a caldera block altered by near- contemporaneous hydrothermal activity is unlikely. Instead, we envisage generation of the high-temperature rhyolites by shallow melting of Idaho Batholith rocks, under the influence of the Yellowstone hotspot, affected by Eocene meteoric-hydrothermal events. The seeming worldwide scarcity of strongly 18O-depleted rhyolites may simply reflect a similar scarcity of suitable crustal protoliths.
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Tabor, Roger A.; Shively, Rip S.; Poe, Thomas P.
1993-01-01
The importance of juvenile salmonids in the diet of smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu and northern squawfish Ptychocheilus oregonensis was examined at a 6-km stretch of the Columbia River. Piscivorous fish were sampled with electrofishing gear on 4 d (May 2–3 and June 20–21, 1990) during emigration of juvenile anadromous salmonids. Sixty-two smallmouth bass and 69 northern squawfish were collected for diet analysis. Juvenile salmonids made up 59% of smallmouth bass diet by weight and were present in 65% of the stomachs of smallmouth bass. By a meal turnover method, smallmouth bass were estimated to consume from 1.4 (May 2–3) to 1.0 (June 20–21) salmonids per predator daily. Crayfish were the dominant prey item (41.4% by weight) of northern squawfish, but juvenile salmonids (28.8%) were also important. Northern squawfish consumed from 0.55 (May 2–3) to 0.34 (June 20–21) salmonids per predator daily. Smallmouth bass and northern squawfish consumed mostly subyearling Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, which may have been wild Chinook salmon that emigrated downstream from the Hanford reach. Predation rates on salmonids by smallmouth bass are apparently high during spring and early summer because subyearling Chinook salmon are abundant and of suitable forage size and their habitat overlaps with that of smallmouth bass.
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Perry, Russell W.; Brandes, Patricia L.; Burau, Jon R.; Sandstrom, Philip T.; Skalski, John R.
2015-01-01
Juvenile Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha emigrating from natal tributaries of the Sacramento River, California, must negotiate the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (hereafter, the Delta), a complex network of natural and man-made channels linking the Sacramento River with San Francisco Bay. Fish that enter the interior and southern Delta—the region to the south of the Sacramento River where water pumping stations are located—survive at a lower rate than fish that use alternative migration routes. Consequently, total survival decreases as the fraction of the population entering the interior Delta increases, thus spurring management actions to reduce the proportion of fish that are entrained into the interior Delta. To better inform management actions, we modeled entrainment probability as a function of hydrodynamic variables. We fitted alternative entrainment models to telemetry data that identified when tagged fish in the Sacramento River entered two river channels leading to the interior Delta (Georgiana Slough and the gated Delta Cross Channel). We found that the probability of entrainment into the interior Delta through both channels depended strongly on the river flow and tidal stage at the time of fish arrival at the river junction. Fish that arrived during ebb tides had a low entrainment probability, whereas fish that arrived during flood tides (i.e., when the river's flow was reversed) had a high probability of entering the interior Delta. We coupled our entrainment model with a flow simulation model to evaluate the effect of nighttime closures of the Delta Cross Channel gates on the daily probability of fish entrainment into the interior Delta. Relative to 24-h gate closures, nighttime closures increased daily entrainment probability by 3 percentage points on average if fish arrived at the river junction uniformly throughout the day and by only 1.3 percentage points if 85% of fish arrived at night. We illustrate how our model can be used to
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Can Australians identify snakes?
Morrison, J J; Pearn, J H; Covacevich, J; Nixon, J
1983-07-23
A study of the ability of Australians to identify snakes was undertaken, in which 558 volunteers (primary and secondary schoolchildren, doctors and university science and medical students) took part. Over all, subjects correctly identified an average of 19% of snakes; 28% of subjects could identify a taipan, 59% could identify a death adder, 18% a tiger snake, 23% an eastern (or common) brown snake, and 0.5% a rough-scaled snake. Eighty-six per cent of subjects who grew up in rural areas could identify a death adder; only 4% of those who grew up in an Australian capital city could identify a nonvenomous python. Male subjects identified snakes more accurately than did female subjects. Doctors and medical students correctly identified an average of 25% of snakes. The ability to identify medically significant Australian snakes was classified according to the observer's background, education, sex, and according to the individual snake species. Australians need to be better educated about snakes indigenous to this country.
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Origin of hybrid ferrolatite lavas from Magic Reservoir eruptive center, Snake River Plain, Idaho
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Honjo, Norio; Leeman, William P.
1987-06-01
The mineralogy and geochemical characteristics of intermediate composition ferrolatites and related lavas from the Magic Reservoir eruptive center (central Snake River Plain) have been investigated to evaluate the origin and petrologic significance of these hybrid lavas. The ferrolatites are chemically uniform, but contain a disequilibrium phenocryst/xenocryst assemblage derived in part from mixed rhyolitic and basaltic magmas that are closely represented by extrusive units in the area. The hybrid lavas also contain xenoliths of Archean granulites and have high 87Sr/ 86Sr and low 143Nd/144Nd ratios, all of which suggest significant magma-crust interaction. Quantitative models including magma mixing, minor crystal fractionation, and crustal contamination very closely reproduce the observed compositions of these ferrolatites; closed system fractionation and (or) simple bulk contamination models are not as successful and can be ruled out. It appears that preexisting mafic and silicic magmas from distinct sources (e.g., mantle and crust) encounter one another in crustal-level magma chambers under conditions where intimate mixing may occur despite wide differences in the physical properties of these liquids.
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Oxbow Fish Hatchery Snake River Sockeye Salmon Smolt Program, 2008 Annual Report.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Banks, Duane D.
2009-11-14
This contract proposal is in response to the Federal Columbia River Power System Biological Opinion Implementation Plan/Update Proposed Action (UPA) associated with increasing the number of Snake River sockeye smolts by 150,000. To accomplish this proposal the cooperation and efforts of three government entities has been planned (e.g., Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG), Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)). Improvements at the IDFG Eagle Fish Hatchery and NMFS Burley Creek Hatchery will focus on increasing sockeye salmon captive broodstock and egg production. Improvements at the ODFW Oxbow Fish Hatchery willmore » be made to accommodate the incubation, hatching and rearing of 150,000 sockeye salmon smolts for release into Idaho's Sawtooth Valley, Upper Salmon River near IDFG's Sawtooth Fish Hatchery and/or Redfish Lake Creek 1.4 km downstream of Redfish Lake. Modifications to Oxbow Fish Hatchery (ODFW) will include retro-fit existing pond drains so pond cleaning effluent water can be routed to the pollution abatement pond, and modifications to the abatement pond. Also included in this project as an added phase, was the rerouting of the hatchery building effluent water to meet state DEQ guidelines for the use of formalin to treat salmonid eggs. Some additional funding for the described Oxbow Hatchery modifications will come from Mitchell Act Funding. All personnel costs associated with this project will come from Mitchell Act funding. Due to heavy work load issues, being under staffed, and two emergency projects in the spring and summer of 2006, ODFW engineers were not able to complete all plans and get them out for bid in 2006. As a result of these circumstances retro-fitting pond drains and modifications to the abatement pond was carried over into fiscal year 2007-2008. A no cost time extension to the contract was approved by BPA. The format for this report will follow the standard format for
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Ackerman, Daniel J.; Rousseau, Joseph P.; Rattray, Gordon W.; Fisher, Jason C.
2010-01-01
Three-dimensional steady-state and transient models of groundwater flow and advective transport in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer were developed by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy. The steady-state and transient flow models cover an area of 1,940 square miles that includes most of the 890 square miles of the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). A 50-year history of waste disposal at the INL has resulted in measurable concentrations of waste contaminants in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer. Model results can be used in numerical simulations to evaluate the movement of contaminants in the aquifer. Saturated flow in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer was simulated using the MODFLOW-2000 groundwater flow model. Steady-state flow was simulated to represent conditions in 1980 with average streamflow infiltration from 1966-80 for the Big Lost River, the major variable inflow to the system. The transient flow model simulates groundwater flow between 1980 and 1995, a period that included a 5-year wet cycle (1982-86) followed by an 8-year dry cycle (1987-94). Specified flows into or out of the active model grid define the conditions on all boundaries except the southwest (outflow) boundary, which is simulated with head-dependent flow. In the transient flow model, streamflow infiltration was the major stress, and was variable in time and location. The models were calibrated by adjusting aquifer hydraulic properties to match simulated and observed heads or head differences using the parameter-estimation program incorporated in MODFLOW-2000. Various summary, regression, and inferential statistics, in addition to comparisons of model properties and simulated head to measured properties and head, were used to evaluate the model calibration. Model parameters estimated for the steady-state calibration included hydraulic conductivity for seven of nine hydrogeologic zones and a global value of vertical anisotropy. Parameters
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Ward, David L.
The authors report on their progress from April 1998 through March 1999 on determining the effects of mitigative measures on productivity of white sturgeon populations in the Columbia River downstream from McNary Dam, and on determining the status and habitat requirements of white sturgeon populations in the Columbia and Snake rivers upstream from McNary Dam. The study is a cooperative effort by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW; Report A), Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW; Report B), U.S. Geological Survey Biological Resources Division (USGS; Report C), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS; Report D), Columbia Rivermore » Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (CRITFC; Report E), and the University of Idaho (UI; Report F). This is a multi-year study with many objectives requiring more than one year to complete. Therefore, findings from a given year may be part of more significant findings yet to be reported. Highlights of results of our work from April 1998 through March 1999 are given.« less
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Allender, Matthew C; Junge, Randall E; Baker-Wylie, Sarah; Hileman, Eric T; Faust, Lisa J; Cray, Carolyn
2015-12-01
The purpose of this study was to establish reference intervals of the protein electrophoretic fractions and the acute-phase proteins hemoglobin binding protein (as determined by the haptoglobin assay) and C-reactive protein (CRP) and assess any possible correlations between varying age class, sex, location (Illinois or Michigan), year, or presence of snake fungal disease (SFD). Banked plasma samples were assayed from 130 eastern massasaugas from 2009 to 2014 in Illinois and Michigan. Snakes from Michigan had higher total protein (mean: 5.50 g/dl), albumin/globulin ratio (0.42), albumin (1.59 g/dl), and gamma globulins (0.55 g/dl) than from snakes in Illinois (4.72 g/dl, 0.29, 1.03 g/dl, 0.38 g/dl, respectively). Snakes in Illinois (22.19 g/ml) had higher CRP than snakes in Michigan (10.89 mg/ml). Adults had higher gamma globulins (0.47 g/dl) than juveniles (0.28 g/dl). Males had higher alpha-2 globulins (0.98 g/dl) and CRP (21.4 mg/ml) than females (0.85, 11.6, respectively). There were no significant differences in absolute plasma proteins in SFD-positive snakes, but the percentage of gamma globulins was significantly higher in positive snakes. Future research in this area can now build on this data to determine changes in population health over time or due to specific environmental or disease threats.
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Bartholomay, Roy C.; Twining, Brian V.
2010-01-01
From 2005 to 2008, the U.S. Geological Survey's Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Project office, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, collected water-quality samples from multiple water-bearing zones in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer. Water samples were collected from six monitoring wells completed in about 350-700 feet of the upper part of the aquifer, and the samples were analyzed for major ions, selected trace elements, nutrients, selected radiochemical constituents, and selected stable isotopes. Each well was equipped with a multilevel monitoring system containing four to seven sampling ports that were each isolated by permanent packer systems. The sampling ports were installed in aquifer zones that were highly transmissive and that represented the water chemistry of the top four to five model layers of a steady-state and transient groundwater-flow model. The model's water chemistry and particle-tracking simulations are being used to better define movement of wastewater constituents in the aquifer. The results of the water chemistry analyses indicated that, in each of four separate wells, one zone of water differed markedly from the other zones in the well. In four wells, one zone to as many as five zones contained radiochemical constituents that originated from wastewater disposal at selected laboratory facilities. The multilevel sampling systems are defining the vertical distribution of wastewater constituents in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer and the concentrations of wastewater constituents in deeper zones in wells Middle 2051, USGS 132, and USGS 103 support the concept of groundwater flow deepening in the southwestern part of the INL.
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A standard operating procedure for the surgical implantation of transmitters in juvenile salmonids
Liedtke, T.L.; Beeman, J.W.; Gee, L.P.
2012-01-01
Biotelemetry is a useful tool to monitor the movements of animals and is widely applied in fisheries research. Radio or acoustic technology can be used, depending on the study design and the environmental conditions in the study area. A broad definition of telemetry also includes the use of Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tags, either separately or with a radio or acoustic transmitter. To use telemetry, fish must be equipped with a transmitter. Although there are several attachment procedures available, surgical implantation of transmitters in the abdominal cavity is recognized as the best technique for long-term telemetry studies in general (Stasko and Pincock, 1977; Winter, 1996; Jepsen, 2003), and specifically for juvenile salmonids, Oncorhynchus spp. (Adams and others, 1998a, 1998b; Martinelli and others, 1998; Hall and others, 2009). Studies that use telemetry assume that the processes by which the animals are captured, handled, and tagged, as well as the act of carrying the transmitter, will have minimal effect on their behavior and performance. This assumption, commonly stated as a lack of transmitter effects, must be valid if telemetry studies are to describe accurately the movements and behavior of an entire population of interest, rather than the subset of that population that carries transmitters. This document describes a standard operating procedure (SOP) for surgical implantation of radio or acoustic transmitters in juvenile salmonids. The procedures were developed from a broad base of published information, laboratory experiments, and practical experience in tagging thousands of fish for numerous studies of juvenile salmon movements near Columbia River and Snake River hydroelectric dams. Staff from the Western Fisheries Research Center's Columbia River Research Laboratory (CRRL) frequently have used telemetry studies to evaluate new structures or operations at hydroelectric dams in the Columbia River Basin, and these evaluations typically
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Total Dissolved Gas Effects on Fishes of the Lower Columbia River
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
McGrath, Kathy E.; Dawley, Earl; Geist, David R.
2006-03-31
Gas supersaturation problems generated by spill from dams on the Columbia River were first identified in the 1960s. Since that time, considerable research has been conducted on effects of gas supersaturation on aquatic life, primarily juvenile salmonids. Also since that time, modifications to dam structures and operations have reduced supersaturated gas levels produced by the dams. The limit for total dissolved gas saturation (TDGS) as mandated by current Environmental Protection Agency water quality standards is 110%. State management agencies issue limited waivers to water quality, allowing production of levels of up to 120% TDGS to facilitate the downstream migration ofmore » juvenile salmonids. Recently, gas supersaturation as a water quality issue has resurfaced as concerns have grown regarding chronic effects of spill-related total dissolved gas on salmonids, including incubating embryos and larvae, resident fish species, and other aquatic organisms. Because of current concerns, and because the last comprehensive review of research on supersaturation effects on fishes was conducted in 1997, we reviewed recent supersaturation literature to identify new or ongoing issues that may not be adequately addressed by the current 110% TDGS limit and the 120% TDGS water quality waiver. We found that recent work supports older research indicating that short-term exposure to levels up to 120% TDGS does not produce acute effects on migratory juvenile or adult salmonids when compensating depths are available. Monitoring programs at Snake and Columbia river dams from 1995 to the early 2000s documented a low incidence of significant gas bubble disease or mortality in Columbia River salmonids, resident fishes, or other taxa. We did, however, identify five areas of concern in which total dissolved gas levels lower than water quality limits may produce sublethal effects on fishes of the Columbia River. These areas of concern are 1) sensitive and vulnerable species or life
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ramón Casañas, Cintia; Burau, Jon; Blake, Aaron; Acosta, Mario; Rueda, Francisco
2017-04-01
River junctions where water may follow two or more alternative pathways (diffluences) could be critical points in river networks where aquatic migratory species select different migration routes. Federally listed Sacramento River Chinook salmon juveniles must survive passage through the tidal Sacramento - San Joaquin River Delta in order to successfully out-migrate to the ocean. Two of the four main migration routes identified for salmon in the Sacramento River direct them to the interior of the delta, where salmon survival is known to decrease dramatically. Migration route selection is thought to be advection-dominated, but the combination of physical and biological processes that control route selection is still poorly understood. The reach in the Sacramento-River where the entrances of the two lower-survival migration routes are located is strongly influenced by the tides, with flows reversing twice daily, and the two diffluences are located in the outside of the same Sacramento River bend where secondary circulation occurs. Three dimensional simulations are conducted, both in the Eularian and Lagrangian frame, to understand tidal and secondary-circulation effects on the migration route selection of juveniles within this reach of the Sacramento River. Although salmon behavior is reduced to the simplest (passively-driven neutrally-buoyant particles), the preliminary results here presented are consistent with previous studies that show that during the flood tide almost all the flow, and thus, all the salmon, are directed to the interior delta through these two migration routes. Simulated fish entrainment rates into the interior of the delta tend to be larger than those expected from flow entrainment calculations alone, particularly during ebb tides. Several factors account for these tendencies. First, the fraction of the flow diverted to the side channel in the shallowest layers tend to be higher than in the deeper layers, as a result of the secondary circulation
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Columbia River System Operation Review
1995-11-01
This Appendix C of the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Columbia River System discusses impacts on andromous fish and juvenile fish transportation. The principal andromous fish in the Columbia basin include salmonid species (Chinook, coho, and sockeye salmon, and steelhead) and nonsalmoinid andromous species (sturgeon, lamprey, and shad). Major sections in this document include the following: background, scope and process; affected environment for salmon and steelhead, shaded, lamprey, sturgeon; study methods; description of alternatives: qualitative and quantitative findings.
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Burdick, Summer M.; Rasmussen, Josh
2012-01-01
Poor recruitment appears to limit the recovery of Lost River and shortnose sucker populations in Clear Lake Reservoir, California, but the cause is unknown. Adult suckers migrate up Willow Creek and its tributaries to spawn in some years, but low flow in Willow Creek may inhibit spawning migrations in other years. It is unclear whether spawning is successful, larvae survive, or juveniles persist to adulthood. Environmental variables associated with successful spawning or young-of-year survival have not been identified and early life history for these populations is poorly understood. The U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Ruby Pipeline L.L.C. Corporation (El Paso, Tex.) initiated a study in 2011 to better understand juvenile sucker life history in Clear Lake Reservoir, and to identify constraints in the early life history that may limit recruitment to the adult spawning populations. This is a report on the 2011 pilot study for this project.
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Given the strong influence of water temperature on salmonid physiology and behavior, in the summers of 2004 and 2005 we studied juvenile male and female coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch in two reaches of Oregon’s West Fork Smith River with different thermal profiles. Our goals we...
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Big snake, small snake: which wound is worse when bitten?
Hon, Kam-Lun Ellis; Lee, Ka-Wah Tony; Cheung, Kam-Lau; Ng, Pak-Cheung
2009-08-01
Snakebites in children and teenagers are relatively uncommon in the metropolitan city of Hong Kong. They are rarely fatal but may cause significant morbidity and fear. We report two cases of snakebites to illustrate that the spectrum of morbidity is independent of the size of the snakes. A 7-year-old boy was bitten in successions by a green snake. Envenomation occurred at the second bite site. He developed local and systemic signs that were promptly relieved with anti-venom therapy at the intensive care unit. An 18-year-old girl was bitten by a large python but only sustained minor local soft tissue injuries. This report serves to alert the public that snake may bite in successions and envenomation may occur with the subsequent bite. A small snake may be venomous and a large snake may not be. Avoidable risk factors associated with snakebites (such as avoiding areas known to harbour snakes in the evening in summer and autumn and wearing protective footwear) are highlighted.
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Timing and development of the Heise volcanic field, Snake River Plain, Idaho, western USA
Morgan, L.A.; McIntosh, W.C.
2005-01-01
The Snake River Plain (SRP) developed over the last 16 Ma as a bimodal volcanic province in response to the southwest movement of the North American plate over a fixed melting anomaly. Volcanism along the SRP is dominated by eruptions of explosive high-silica rhyolites and represents some of the largest eruptions known. Basaltic eruptions represent the final stages of volcanism, forming a thin cap above voluminous rhyolitic deposits. Volcanism progressed, generally from west to east, along the plain episodically in successive volcanic fields comprised of nested caldera complexes with major caldera-forming eruptions within a particular field separated by ca. 0.5-1 Ma, similar to, and in continuation with, the present-day Yellowstone Plateau volcanic field. Passage of the North American plate over the melting anomaly at a particular point in time and space was accompanied by uplift, regional tectonism, massive explosive eruptions, and caldera subsidence, and followed by basaltic volcanism and general subsidence. The Heise volcan ic field in the eastern SRP, Idaho, represents an adjacent and slightly older field immediately to the southwest of the Yellowstone Plateau volcanic field. Five large-volume (>0.5 km3) rhyolitic ignimbrites constitute a time-stratigraphic framework of late Miocene to early Pliocene volcanism for the study region. Field relations and high-precision 40Ar/39Ar age determinations establish that four of these regional ignimbrites were erupted from the Heise volcanic field and form the framework of the Heise Group. These are the Blacktail Creek Tuff (6.62 ?? 0.03 Ma), Walcott Tuff (6.27 ?? 0.04 Ma), Conant Creek Tuff (5.51 ?? 0.13 Ma), and Kilgore Tuff (4.45 ?? 0.05 Ma; all errors reported at ?? 2??). The fifth widespread ignimbrite in the regions is the Arbon Valley Tuff Member of the Starlight Formation (10.21 ?? 0.03 Ma), which erupted from a caldera source outside of the Heise volcanic field. These results establish the Conant Creek Tuff as a
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Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program Annual Implementation Work Plan for Fiscal Year 1994.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
United States. Bonneville Power Administration; Northwest Power Planning Council; Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority
1994-02-01
This document is part of Bonneville Power Administration`s program to protect, mitigate, and enhance fish and wildlife affected by the development and operation of hydroelectric facilities on the Columbia River and its tributaries. The Fiscal Year 1994 (FY 1994) Annual Implementation Work Plan (AIWP) presents Bonneville Power Administration`s (BPA`s) plan for implementation of the Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program (Program). The purpose of the Program is to guide BPA and other federal agencies in carrying out their responsibilities to protect, mitigate, and enhance fish and wildlife in the Columbia River Basin. Phase I began the work of salmonmore » recovery with certain fast-track measures completed in August 1991. Phase II dealt with Snake and Columbia river flow and salmon harvest and was completed in December 1991. Phase III dealt with system-wide habitat and salmon production issues and was completed in September 1992. Phase IV planning, focusing on resident fish and wildlife, began in August 1993, and was finished and adopted in November 1993. This report provides summaries of the ongoing and new projects for FY 1994 within the areas of juvenile migration, adult migration, salmon harvest, production and habitat, coordinated implementation, monitoring and evaluation, resident fish, and wildlife.« less
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Guedes, Thaís B; Nogueira, Cristiano; Marques, Otavio A V
2014-09-19
The present study is a synthesis on snake diversity and distribution in the Caatinga region of northeastern Brazil, providing an updated species list and data on natural history and geographic distribution. Our study is based on the careful revision of 7,102 voucher specimens, housed in 17 herpetological collections, complemented by data on taxonomic literature. We recorded a total of 112 snake species in the Caatinga, belonging to nine families: Anomalepididae, Leptotyphlopidae, Typhlopidae, Aniliidae, Boidae, Viperidae, Elapidae, Colubridae, and Dipsadidae. Our list includes at least 13 never recorded species for this region, as well as distribution records for all species known from the Caatinga (including expansion and new records of distribution). The snake assemblage of the Caatinga is complex, sharing species with other continental open areas (38.4%), forested areas (27.7%), and both open and forested areas (32.1%). The richest areas were isolated plateaus, followed by contact areas, semi-arid caatinga, and sandy dunes of the São Franscisco River. We identified 22 Caatinga endemic species with the sandy dunes of São Franscico River showing the highest endemism level (12 species, with six endemic species restricted to the area) followed by semi-arid caatinga, and isolated plateaus (eight endemic species each, and six and three endemic species with restricted distribution to each area, respectively). Most species show relatively restricted ranges in parts of the Caatinga. The snake assemblage in Caatinga includes mainly terrestrial species (38.4%), followed by fossorial/cryptozoic (26.8%), arboreal/semi-arboreal (26.8%), and aquatic/semi-aquatic (7.1%) species. Vertebrates are the most important dietary item (80.4%), with 56.6% of species being generalist consumers of this kind of prey; 24.4% are frog-eaters, 7.8% prey on caecilians/amphisbaenians, 6.7% lizard-eaters, 3.3% mammal-eaters, and 1.1% are fish-eaters. Only 18.7% of the snakes eat invertebrate
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Snake River Plain Play Fairway Analysis - Phase 1 Report
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Shervais, John W.; Glen, Jonathan M.; Liberty, Lee M.
2015-09-02
The Snake River volcanic province (SRP) overlies a thermal anomaly that extends deep into the mantle; it represents one of the highest heat flow provinces in North America. Our goals for this Phase 1 study are to: (1) adapt the methodology of Play Fairway Analysis for geothermal exploration to create a formal basis for its application to geothermal systems, (2) assemble relevant data for the SRP from publicly available and private sources, and (3) build a geothermal play fairway model for the SRP and identify the most promising plays, using software tools that are standard in the petroleum industry. Themore » success of play fairway analysis in geothermal exploration depends critically on defining a systematic methodology that is grounded in theory (as developed within the petroleum industry over the last two decades) and within the geologic and hydrologic framework of real geothermal systems. Our preliminary assessment of the data suggests that important undiscovered geothermal resources may be located in several areas of the SRP, including the western SRP (associated with buried lineaments defined by gravity or magnetic anomalies, and capped by extensive deposits of lacustrine sediment), at lineament intersections in the central SRP (along the Banbury-Hagerman trend NW of Twin Falls, and along the northern margin of the Mt Bennett Hills-Camas Prairie area), and along the margins of the eastern SRP. Additional high temperature resources are likely associated with rhyolite domes and crypto-domes in the eastern SRP, but are masked by shallow groundwater flow leading to low upper crustal heat flow values. These blind resources may be exploitable with existing deep drilling technology. Groundwater modeling planned for later phases of the PFA project will address whether temperatures at viable producing depths are sufficient to support electricity production.« less
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Burdick, Summer M.; Martin, Barbara A.
2017-06-15
Executive SummaryPopulations of the once abundant Lost River (Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose suckers (Chasmistes brevirostris) of the Upper Klamath Basin, decreased so substantially throughout the 20th century that they were listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1988. Major landscape alterations, deterioration of water quality, and competition with and predation by exotic species are listed as primary causes of the decreases in populations. Upper Klamath Lake populations are decreasing because fish lost due to adult mortality, which is relatively low for adult Lost River suckers and variable for adult shortnose suckers, are not replaced by new young adult suckers recruiting into known adult spawning aggregations. Catch-at-age and size data indicate that most adult suckers presently in Upper Klamath Lake spawning populations were hatched around 1991. While, a lack of egg production and emigration of young fish (especially larvae) may contribute, catch-at-length and age data indicate high mortality during the first summer or winter of life may be the primary limitation to the recruitment of young adults. The causes of juvenile sucker mortality are unknown.We compiled and analyzed catch, length, age, and species data on juvenile suckers from Upper Klamath Lake from eight prior studies conducted from 2001 to 2015 to examine annual variation in apparent production, survival, and growth of young suckers. We used a combination of qualitative assessments, general linear models, and linear regression to make inferences about annual differences in juvenile sucker dynamics. The intent of this exercise is to provide information that can be compared to annual variability in environmental conditions with the hopes of understanding what drives juvenile sucker population dynamics.Age-0 Lost River suckers generally grew faster than age-0 shortnose suckers, but the difference in growth rates between the two species varied among years. This unsynchronized annual variation in
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Avoiding the Pitfalls of Anisotropy in Paleomagnetic Correlation of Snake River Plain Ignimbrites
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Finn, D. R.; Coe, R. S.; Kelly, H.; Murphy, J.; Reichow, M. K.; Knott, T.; Branney, M.
2013-12-01
Migration of the Yellowstone hotspot center tracks northeast along the central Snake River Plain (cSRP), leaving a succession of calderas, bimodal rhyolitic and basaltic volcanism, and crustal deformation. Large-scale explosive volcanism common to this province between 12.5-8 Ma is characterized by unusually high-temperature, intensely welded, rheomorphic rhyolitic ignimbrites, typical of what is now known as ';Snake River (SR)-type volcanism'. Individual eruption volumes likely exceed 450 km3 but are poorly known due to the difficulty of correlating units between widely spaced (50-200 km) exposures along the north and south of the plain. Radiometric dating does not have the resolution to identify the eruptive units. Our goal is to use a combination of paleomagnetic, petrographic, chemical and field characterization to establish robust correlations and better constrain eruption volumes and frequencies. Paleomagnetic correlation using the stable remanence, which is the focus of this presentation, has the advantage of very high temporal resolution of the order of centuries. This is due to the geologically rapid rate of geomagnetic secular variation and high accuracy to which extrusive rocks may record the instantaneous direction of the magnetic field. We have collected more than 1200 paleomagnetic samples from over 90 sites to help build a regional stratigraphy between the dozens of known ignimbrite units in the cSRP. During this process, however, we have found that the use of paleomagnetism is complicated by the large variation in the paleomagnetic direction that sometimes exists both within and between sub-lithologies of the same flow. Individual SR-type ignimbrite cooling-units have an upper and lower glassy margin (vitrophyre) enclosing a lithoidal (microcrystalline) zone. These vitrophyre lithologies often have a shallow paleomagnetic direction compared to the lithoidal lithologies. Here we present preliminary results from a detailed paleomagnetic and rock
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Peloquin, R.A.; McKenzie, D.H.
1994-10-01
A compartmental model has been implemented on a microcomputer as an aid in the analysis of alternative solutions to a problem. The model, entitled Smolt Survival Simulator, simulates the survival of juvenile salmon during their downstream migration and passage of hydroelectric dams in the Columbia River. The model is designed to function in a workshop environment where resource managers and fisheries biologists can study alternative measures that may potentially increase juvenile anadromous fish survival during downriver migration. The potential application of the model has placed several requirements on the implementing software. It must be available for use in workshop settings.more » The software must be easily to use with minimal computer knowledge. Scenarios must be created and executed quickly and efficiently. Results must be immediately available. Software design emphasis vas placed on the user interface because of these requirements. The discussion focuses on methods used in the development of the SSS software user interface. These methods should reduce user stress and alloy thorough and easy parameter modification.« less
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Kularatne, S A M; Hettiarachchi, R; Dalpathadu, J; Mendis, A S V; Appuhamy, P D S A N; Zoysa, H D J; Maduwage, K; Weerasinghe, V S; de Silva, A
2014-01-01
Sea snakes are highly venomous and inhabit tropical waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Enhydrina schistosa is a common species of sea snake that lives in the coastal waters, lagoons, river mouths and estuaries from the Persian Gulf through Sri Lanka and to Southeast Asia. It is considered one of the most aggressive sea snakes in Sri Lanka where fishermen and people wading are at high risk. However, sea snake bites are rarely reported. In this report, we describe three cases where E. schistosa was the offending species. These three patients presented to two hospitals on the west coast of Sri Lanka within the course of 14 months from November 2011 with different degrees of severity of envenoming. The first patient was a 26-year-old fisherman who developed severe myalgia with very high creatine kinase (CK) levels lasting longer than 7 days. The second patient was a 32-year-old fisherman who developed gross myoglobinuria, high CK levels and hyperkalaemia. Both patients recovered and their electromyographic recordings showed myopathic features. The nerve conduction and neuromuscular transmission studies were normal in both patients suggesting primary myotoxic envenoming. The third patient was a 41-year-old man who trod on a sea snake in a river mouth and developed severe myalgia seven hours later. He had severe rhabdomyolysis and died three days later due to cardiovascular collapse. In conclusion, we confirm that E. schistosa is a deadly sea snake and its bite causes severe rhabdomyolysis. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Keene, Joshua L.
2015-04-01
The Pioneer site in southeastern Idaho, an open-air, stratified, multi-component archaeological locality on the upper Snake River Plain, provides an ideal situation for understanding the geomorphic history of the Big Lost River drainage system. We conducted a block excavation with the goal of understanding the geochronological context of both cultural and geomorphological components at the site. The results of this study show a sequence of five soil formation episodes forming three terraces beginning prior to 7200 cal yr BP and lasting until the historic period, preserving one cultural component dated to ~3800 cal yr BP and multiple components dating tomore » the last 800 cal yr BP. In addition, periods of deposition and stability at Pioneer indicate climate fluctuation during the middle Holocene (~7200-3800 cal yr BP), minimal deposition during the late Holocene, and a period of increased deposition potentially linked to the Little Ice Age. In addition, evidence for a high-energy erosion event dated to ~3800 cal yr BP suggest a catastrophic flood event during the middle Holocene that may correlate with volcanic activity at the Craters of the Moon lava fields to the northwest. This study provides a model for the study of alluvial terrace formations in arid environments and their potential to preserve stratified archaeological deposits.« less
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Davis, Linda C.
2010-01-01
Since 1952, radiochemical and chemical wastewater discharged to infiltration ponds (also called percolation ponds), evaporation ponds, and disposal wells at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has affected water quality in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer and perched groundwater zones underlying the INL. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, maintains groundwater monitoring networks at the INL to determine hydrologic trends, and to delineate the movement of radiochemical and chemical wastes in the aquifer and in perched groundwater zones. This report presents an analysis of water-level and water-quality data collected from aquifer and perched groundwater wells in the USGS groundwater monitoring networks during 2006-08. Water in the Snake River Plain aquifer primarily moves through fractures and interflow zones in basalt, generally flows southwestward, and eventually discharges at springs along the Snake River. The aquifer primarily is recharged from infiltration of irrigation water, infiltration of streamflow, groundwater inflow from adjoining mountain drainage basins, and infiltration of precipitation. From March-May 2005 to March-May 2008, water levels in wells generally remained constant or rose slightly in the southwestern corner of the INL. Water levels declined in the central and northern parts of the INL. The declines ranged from about 1 to 3 feet in the central part of the INL, to as much as 9 feet in the northern part of the INL. Water levels in perched groundwater wells around the Advanced Test Reactor Complex (ATRC) also declined. Detectable concentrations of radiochemical constituents in water samples from wells in the Snake River Plain aquifer at the INL generally decreased or remained constant during 2006-08. Decreases in concentrations were attributed to decreased rates of radioactive-waste disposal, radioactive decay, changes in waste-disposal methods, and dilution from recharge and underflow. In April
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Davis, Linda C.
2008-01-01
Radiochemical and chemical wastewater discharged since 1952 to infiltration ponds, evaporation ponds, and disposal wells at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has affected water quality in the Snake River Plain aquifer and perched-water zones underlying the INL. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, maintains ground-water monitoring networks at the INL to determine hydrologic trends, and to delineate the movement of radiochemical and chemical wastes in the aquifer and in perched-water zones. This report presents an analysis of water-level and water-quality data collected from aquifer and perched-water wells in the USGS ground-water monitoring networks during 2002-05. Water in the Snake River Plain aquifer primarily moves through fractures and interflow zones in basalt, generally flows southwestward, and eventually discharges at springs along the Snake River. The aquifer is recharged primarily from infiltration of irrigation water, infiltration of streamflow, ground-water inflow from adjoining mountain drainage basins, and infiltration of precipitation. From March-May 2001 to March-May 2005, water levels in wells declined throughout the INL area. The declines ranged from about 3 to 8 feet in the southwestern part of the INL, about 10 to 15 feet in the west central part of the INL, and about 6 to 11 feet in the northern part of the INL. Water levels in perched water wells declined also, with the water level dropping below the bottom of the pump in many wells during 2002-05. For radionuclides, concentrations that equal 3s, wheres s is the sample standard deviation, represent a measurement at the minimum detectable concentration, or 'reporting level'. Detectable concentrations of radiochemical constituents in water samples from wells in the Snake River Plain aquifer at the INL generally decreased or remained constant during 2002-05. Decreases in concentrations were attributed to decreased rates of radioactive-waste disposal
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Porter, Russell G.; Glaser, Bryce G.; Amren, Jennifer
2003-03-01
This report presents results for year ten in a basin-wide program to harvest northern pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus oregonensis). This program was started in an effort to reduce predation by northern pikeminnow on juvenile salmonids during their emigration from natal streams to the ocean. Earlier work in the Columbia River Basin suggested predation by northern pikeminnow on juvenile salmonids might account for most of the 10-20% mortality juvenile salmonids experience in each of eight Columbia River and Snake River reservoirs. Modeling simulations based on work in John Day Reservoir from 1982 through 1988 indicated that, if predator-size northern pikeminnow were exploited atmore » a 10-20% rate, the resulting restructuring of their population could reduce their predation on juvenile salmonids by 50%. To test this hypothesis, we implemented a sport-reward angling fishery and a commercial longline fishery in the John Day Pool in 1990. We also conducted an angling fishery in areas inaccessible to the public at four dams on the mainstem Columbia River and at Ice Harbor Dam on the Snake River. Based on the success of these limited efforts, we implemented three test fisheries on a system-wide scale in 1991--a tribal longline fishery above Bonneville Dam, a sport-reward fishery, and a dam-angling fishery. Low catch of target fish and high cost of implementation resulted in discontinuation of the tribal longline fishery. However, the sport-reward and dam-angling fisheries were continued in 1992 and 1993. In 1992, we investigated the feasibility of implementing a commercial longline fishery in the Columbia River below Bonneville Dam and found that implementation of this fishery was also infeasible. Estimates of combined annual exploitation rates resulting from the sport-reward and damangling fisheries remained at the low end of our target range of 10-20%. This suggested the need for additional effective harvest techniques. During 1991 and 1992, we developed and tested a
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Shehata, M. M.; Petrie, J.
2015-12-01
Confluences are a basic component in all fluvial systems, which are often characterized by complex flow and sediment transport patterns. Addressing confluences, however, started only recently in parallel with new advances of flow measurement tools and computational techniques. A limited number of field studies exist investigating flow hydrodynamics through confluences, particularly for large confluences with central zone widths of 100 m or greater. Previous studies have indicated that the size of the confluent rivers and the post-confluence zone may impact flow and sediment transport processes in the confluence zone, which consequently could impact the biodiversity within the river network. This study presents the results of a field study conducted at the confluence of the Snake and the Clearwater rivers near the towns of Clarkston, WA and Lewiston, ID (average width of 700 m at the confluence center). This confluence supports many different and, sometimes, conflicting purposes including commercial navigation, recreation, and fish and wildlife conservation. The confluence properties are affected by dredging operations carried out periodically to maintain the minimum water depth required for safe flow conveyance and navigation purposes. Also, a levee system was constructed on the confluence banks as an extra flood control measure. In the recent field work, an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler was used to measure water velocity profiles at cross sections in the confluence region. Fixed and moving vessel measurements were taken at selected locations to evaluate both the spatial and temporal variation in velocity throughout the confluence. The confluence bathymetry was surveyed with a multi-beam sonar to investigate existent bed morphological elements. The results identify the velocity pattern in the mixing zone between the two rivers. The present findings are compared to previous studies on small confluences to demonstrate the influence of scale on flow processes.
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Woo, Patrick C Y; Lau, Susanna K P; Martelli, Paolo; Hui, Suk-Wai; Lau, Candy C Y; Fan, Rachel Y Y; Groff, Joseph M; Tam, Emily W T; Chan, Kwok-Hung; Yuen, Kwok-Yung
2014-10-01
Beginning in July 2011, 31 green anaconda (Eunectes murinus) juveniles from an oceanarium in Hong Kong died over a 12-month period. Necropsy revealed at least two of the following features in 23 necropsies: dermatitis, severe pan-nephritis, and/or severe systemic multiorgan necrotizing inflammation. Histopathological examination revealed severe necrotizing inflammation in various organs, most prominently the kidneys. Electron microscopic examination of primary tissues revealed intralesional accumulations of viral nucleocapsids with diameters of 10 to 14 nm, typical of paramyxoviruses. Reverse transcription (RT)-PCR results were positive for paramyxovirus (viral loads of 2.33 × 10(4) to 1.05 × 10(8) copies/mg tissue) in specimens from anaconda juveniles that died but negative in specimens from the two anaconda juveniles and anaconda mother that survived. None of the other snakes in the park was moribund, and RT-PCR results for surveillance samples collected from other snakes were negative. The virus was isolated from BHK21 cells, causing cytopathic effects with syncytial formation. The virus could also replicate in 25 of 27 cell lines of various origins, in line with its capability for infecting various organs. Electron microscopy with cell culture material revealed enveloped virus with the typical "herringbone" appearance of helical nucleocapsids in paramyxoviruses. Complete genome sequencing of five isolates confirmed that the infections originated from the same clone. Comparative genomic and phylogenetic analyses and mRNA editing experiments revealed a novel paramyxovirus in the genus Ferlavirus, named anaconda paramyxovirus, with a typical Ferlavirus genomic organization of 3'-N-U-P/V/I-M-F-HN-L-5'. Epidemiological and genomic analyses suggested that the anaconda juveniles acquired the virus perinatally from the anaconda mother rather than from other reptiles in the park, with subsequent interanaconda juvenile transmission. Copyright © 2014, American Society
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Lau, Susanna K. P.; Martelli, Paolo; Hui, Suk-Wai; Lau, Candy C. Y.; Fan, Rachel Y. Y.; Groff, Joseph M.; Tam, Emily W. T.; Chan, Kwok-Hung
2014-01-01
Beginning in July 2011, 31 green anaconda (Eunectes murinus) juveniles from an oceanarium in Hong Kong died over a 12-month period. Necropsy revealed at least two of the following features in 23 necropsies: dermatitis, severe pan-nephritis, and/or severe systemic multiorgan necrotizing inflammation. Histopathological examination revealed severe necrotizing inflammation in various organs, most prominently the kidneys. Electron microscopic examination of primary tissues revealed intralesional accumulations of viral nucleocapsids with diameters of 10 to 14 nm, typical of paramyxoviruses. Reverse transcription (RT)-PCR results were positive for paramyxovirus (viral loads of 2.33 × 104 to 1.05 × 108 copies/mg tissue) in specimens from anaconda juveniles that died but negative in specimens from the two anaconda juveniles and anaconda mother that survived. None of the other snakes in the park was moribund, and RT-PCR results for surveillance samples collected from other snakes were negative. The virus was isolated from BHK21 cells, causing cytopathic effects with syncytial formation. The virus could also replicate in 25 of 27 cell lines of various origins, in line with its capability for infecting various organs. Electron microscopy with cell culture material revealed enveloped virus with the typical “herringbone” appearance of helical nucleocapsids in paramyxoviruses. Complete genome sequencing of five isolates confirmed that the infections originated from the same clone. Comparative genomic and phylogenetic analyses and mRNA editing experiments revealed a novel paramyxovirus in the genus Ferlavirus, named anaconda paramyxovirus, with a typical Ferlavirus genomic organization of 3′-N-U-P/V/I-M-F-HN-L-5′. Epidemiological and genomic analyses suggested that the anaconda juveniles acquired the virus perinatally from the anaconda mother rather than from other reptiles in the park, with subsequent interanaconda juvenile transmission. PMID:25078906
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Coral snakes predict the evolution of mimicry across New World snakes.
Davis Rabosky, Alison R; Cox, Christian L; Rabosky, Daniel L; Title, Pascal O; Holmes, Iris A; Feldman, Anat; McGuire, Jimmy A
2016-05-05
Batesian mimicry, in which harmless species (mimics) deter predators by deceitfully imitating the warning signals of noxious species (models), generates striking cases of phenotypic convergence that are classic examples of evolution by natural selection. However, mimicry of venomous coral snakes has remained controversial because of unresolved conflict between the predictions of mimicry theory and empirical patterns in the distribution and abundance of snakes. Here we integrate distributional, phenotypic and phylogenetic data across all New World snake species to demonstrate that shifts to mimetic coloration in nonvenomous snakes are highly correlated with coral snakes in both space and time, providing overwhelming support for Batesian mimicry. We also find that bidirectional transitions between mimetic and cryptic coloration are unexpectedly frequent over both long- and short-time scales, challenging traditional views of mimicry as a stable evolutionary 'end point' and suggesting that insect and snake mimicry may have different evolutionary dynamics.
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Coral snakes predict the evolution of mimicry across New World snakes
Davis Rabosky, Alison R.; Cox, Christian L.; Rabosky, Daniel L.; Title, Pascal O.; Holmes, Iris A.; Feldman, Anat; McGuire, Jimmy A.
2016-01-01
Batesian mimicry, in which harmless species (mimics) deter predators by deceitfully imitating the warning signals of noxious species (models), generates striking cases of phenotypic convergence that are classic examples of evolution by natural selection. However, mimicry of venomous coral snakes has remained controversial because of unresolved conflict between the predictions of mimicry theory and empirical patterns in the distribution and abundance of snakes. Here we integrate distributional, phenotypic and phylogenetic data across all New World snake species to demonstrate that shifts to mimetic coloration in nonvenomous snakes are highly correlated with coral snakes in both space and time, providing overwhelming support for Batesian mimicry. We also find that bidirectional transitions between mimetic and cryptic coloration are unexpectedly frequent over both long- and short-time scales, challenging traditional views of mimicry as a stable evolutionary ‘end point' and suggesting that insect and snake mimicry may have different evolutionary dynamics. PMID:27146100
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Rose, Brien P.; Hansen, Gabriel S.; Mesa, Matthew G.
2011-01-01
In response to these recent concerns about the potential predatory impact of non-native piscivores on salmon survival, the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority (CBFWA) co-hosted a workshop to address predation on juvenile salmonids in the CRB by non-native fish (Halton 2008). The purpose of the workshop was to review, evaluate, and develop strategies to reduce predation by non-native fishes on juvenile salmonids. In the end, discussion at the workshop and at subsequent meetings considered two potential ideas to reduce predation by non-native fish on juvenile salmonids; (1) understanding the role of juvenile American shad Alosa sapidissima in the diet of non-native predators in the fall; and (2) the effects of localized, intense reductions of smallmouth bass in areas of particularly high salmonid predation. In this report, we describe initial efforts to understand the influence of juvenile American shad as a prey item for introduced predators in the middle Columbia River. Our first objective, addressed in Chapter 1, was to evaluate the efficacy of nonlethal methods to describe the physiological condition of smallmouth bass, walleye, and channel catfish from late summer through late fall. Such information will be used to understand the contribution of juvenile American shad to the energy reserves of predaceous fish prior to winter. In Chapter 2, we describe the results of some limited sampling to document the food habits of smallmouth bass, walleye, and channel catfish in three reservoirs of the middle Columbia River during late fall. Collectively, we hope to increase our understanding of the contribution of juvenile American shad to the diets of introduced predators and the contribution of this diet to their energy reserves, growth, and perhaps over-winter survival. Managers should be able to use this information for deciding whether to control the population of American shad in the CRB or for managing introduced
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Halsing, David L; Moore, Michael R
2008-04-01
The mandate to increase endangered salmon populations in the Columbia River Basin of North America has created a complex, controversial resource-management issue. We constructed an integrated assessment model as a tool for analyzing biological-economic trade-offs in recovery of Snake River spring- and summer-run chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). We merged 3 frameworks: a salmon-passage model to predict migration and survival of smolts; an age-structured matrix model to predict long-term population growth rates of salmon stocks; and a cost-effectiveness analysis to determine a set of least-cost management alternatives for achieving particular population growth rates. We assessed 6 individual salmon-management measures and 76 management alternatives composed of one or more measures. To reflect uncertainty, results were derived for different assumptions of effectiveness of smolt transport around dams. Removal of an estuarine predator, the Caspian Tern (Sterna caspia), was cost-effective and generally increased long-term population growth rates regardless of transport effectiveness. Elimination of adult salmon harvest had a similar effect over a range of its cost estimates. The specific management alternatives in the cost-effective set depended on assumptions about transport effectiveness. On the basis of recent estimates of smolt transport effectiveness, alternatives that discontinued transportation or breached dams were prevalent in the cost-effective set, whereas alternatives that maximized transportation dominated if transport effectiveness was relatively high. More generally, the analysis eliminated 80-90% of management alternatives from the cost-effective set. Application of our results to salmon management is limited by data availability and model assumptions, but these limitations can help guide research that addresses critical uncertainties and information. Our results thus demonstrate that linking biology and economics through integrated models can
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Halsing, D.L.; Moore, M.R.
2008-01-01
The mandate to increase endangered salmon populations in the Columbia River Basin of North America has created a complex, controversial resource-management issue. We constructed an integrated assessment model as a tool for analyzing biological-economic trade-offs in recovery of Snake River spring- and summer-run chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). We merged 3 frameworks: a salmon-passage model to predict migration and survival of smolts; an age-structured matrix model to predict long-term population growth rates of salmon stocks; and a cost-effectiveness analysis to determine a set of least-cost management alternatives for achieving particular population growth rates. We assessed 6 individual salmon-management measures and 76 management alternatives composed of one or more measures. To reflect uncertainty, results were derived for different assumptions of effectiveness of smolt transport around dams. Removal of an estuarine predator, the Caspian Tern (Sterna caspia), was cost-effective and generally increased long-term population growth rates regardless of transport effectiveness. Elimination of adult salmon harvest had a similar effect over a range of its cost estimates. The specific management alternatives in the cost-effective set depended on assumptions about transport effectiveness. On the basis of recent estimates of smolt transport effectiveness, alternatives that discontinued transportation or breached dams were prevalent in the cost-effective set, whereas alternatives that maximized transportation dominated if transport effectiveness was relatively high. More generally, the analysis eliminated 80-90% of management alternatives from the cost-effective set. Application of our results to salmon management is limited by data availability and model assumptions, but these limitations can help guide research that addresses critical uncertainties and information. Our results thus demonstrate that linking biology and economics through integrated models can
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Perry, R.W.; Romine, J.G.; Adams, N.S.; Blake, A.R.; Burau, J.R.; Johnston, S.V.; Liedtke, T.L.
2012-01-01
Anthropogenic alterations to river systems, such as irrigation and hydroelectric development, can negatively affect fish populations by reducing survival when fish are routed through potentially dangerous locations. Non-physical barriers using behavioural stimuli are one means of guiding fish away from such locations without obstructing water flow. In the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta, we evaluated a bio-acoustic fish fence (BAFF) composed of strobe lights, sound and a bubble curtain, which was intended to divert juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) away from Georgiana Slough, a low-survival migration route that branches off the Sacramento River. To quantify fish response to the BAFF, we estimated individual entrainment probabilities from two-dimensional movement paths of juvenile salmon implanted with acoustic transmitters. Overall, 7.7% of the fish were entrained into Georgiana Slough when the BAFF was on, and 22.3% were entrained when the BAFF was off, but a number of other factors influenced the performance of the BAFF. The effectiveness of the BAFF declined with increasing river discharge, likely because increased water velocities reduced the ability of fish to avoid being swept across the BAFF into Georgiana Slough. The BAFF reduced entrainment probability by up to 40 percentage points near the critical streakline, which defined the streamwise division of flow vectors entering each channel. However, the effect of the BAFF declined moving in either direction away from the critical streakline. Our study shows how fish behaviour and the environment interacted to influence the performance of a non-physical behavioural barrier in an applied setting.
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Morgan, Lisa A.; Pierce, Kenneth L.; Shanks, Pat; Raynolds, Robert G.H.
2008-01-01
This field trip highlights various stages in the evolution of the Snake River Plain–Yellowstone Plateau bimodal volcanic province, and associated faulting and uplift, also known as the track of the Yellowstone hotspot. The 16 Ma Yellowstone hotspot track is one of the few places on Earth where time-transgressive processes on continental crust can be observed in the volcanic and tectonic (faulting and uplift) record at the rate and direction predicted by plate motion. Recent interest in young and possible renewed volcanism at Yellowstone along with new discoveries and synthesis of previous studies, i.e., tomographic, deformation, bathymetric, and seismic surveys, provide a framework of evidence of plate motion over a mantle plume. This 3-day trip is organized to present an overview into volcanism and tectonism in this dynamically active region. Field trip stops will include the young basaltic Craters of the Moon, exposures of 12–4 Ma rhyolites and edges of their associated collapsed calderas on the Snake River Plain, and exposures of faults which show an age progression similar to the volcanic fields. An essential stop is Yellowstone National Park, where the last major caldera-forming event occurred 640,000 years ago and now is host to the world's largest concentration of hydrothermal features (>10,000 hot springs and geysers). This trip presents a quick, intensive overview into volcanism and tectonism in this dynamically active region. Field stops are directly linked to conceptual models related to hotspot passage through this volcano-tectonic province. Features that may reflect a tilted thermal mantle plume suggested in recent tomographic studies will be examined. The drive home will pass through Grand Teton National Park, where the Teton Range is currently rising in response to the passage of the North American plate over the Yellowstone hotspot.
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Champion, Duane E.; Dalrymple, G. Brent; Kuntz, Mel A.
1981-01-01
K-Ar and paleomagnetic data from cores through a sequence of basalt flows in the eastern Snake River Plain provide evidence for a brief (0.005 to 0.01 m.y.) reversal of the geomagnetic field 0.46 ± 0.05 m.y. ago. This reversed polarity event has also been found in sea-floor magnetic anomalies and in sediment cores and is probably the Emperor event of Ryan [1972].
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... larger. Southeast Asia, India, Brazil, and areas of Africa have the most deaths due to snakebite. Considerations ... of the following: Cobra Copperhead Coral snake Cottonmouth (water moccasin) Rattlesnake Various snakes found at zoos Most ...
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Caldwell, Michael W; Nydam, Randall L; Palci, Alessandro; Apesteguía, Sebastián
2015-01-27
The previous oldest known fossil snakes date from ~100 million year old sediments (Upper Cretaceous) and are both morphologically and phylogenetically diverse, indicating that snakes underwent a much earlier origin and adaptive radiation. We report here on snake fossils that extend the record backwards in time by an additional ~70 million years (Middle Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous). These ancient snakes share features with fossil and modern snakes (for example, recurved teeth with labial and lingual carinae, long toothed suborbital ramus of maxillae) and with lizards (for example, pronounced subdental shelf/gutter). The paleobiogeography of these early snakes is diverse and complex, suggesting that snakes had undergone habitat differentiation and geographic radiation by the mid-Jurassic. Phylogenetic analysis of squamates recovers these early snakes in a basal polytomy with other fossil and modern snakes, where Najash rionegrina is sister to this clade. Ingroup analysis finds them in a basal position to all other snakes including Najash.
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Beckman, B.R.; Larsen, D.A.; Sharpe, C.; Lee-Pawlak, B.; Schreck, C.B.; Dickhoff, Walton W.
2000-01-01
Two year-classes of juvenile spring chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha from the Yakima River, Washington, were sampled from July (3-4 months postemergence) through May (yearling smolt out-migration). Physiological characters measured included liver glycogen, body lipid, gill Na+-K+ ATPase, plasma thyroxine (T4), and plasma insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I). Distinct physiological changes were found that corresponded to season. Summer and fall were characterized by relatively high body lipid and condition factor. Winter was characterized by decreases in body lipid, condition factor, and plasma hormones. An increase in condition factor and body lipid was found in February and March. Finally, April and May were characterized by dramatic changes characteristic of smolting, including increased gill Na+-K+ ATPase activity, plasma T4, and IGF-I and decreased condition factor, body lipid, and liver glycogen. These results create a physiological template for juvenile spring chinook salmon in the drainage that provides a baseline for comparison with other years, populations, and life history types. In addition, this baseline provides a standard for controlled laboratory experiments and a target for fish culturists who rear juvenile spring chinook salmon for release from conservation hatcheries. The implications of these results for juvenile chinook salmon ecology and life history are discussed.
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Van Strien, Jan W; Isbell, Lynne A
2017-04-07
Studies of event-related potentials in humans have established larger early posterior negativity (EPN) in response to pictures depicting snakes than to pictures depicting other creatures. Ethological research has recently shown that macaques and wild vervet monkeys respond strongly to partially exposed snake models and scale patterns on the snake skin. Here, we examined whether snake skin patterns and partially exposed snakes elicit a larger EPN in humans. In Task 1, we employed pictures with close-ups of snake skins, lizard skins, and bird plumage. In task 2, we employed pictures of partially exposed snakes, lizards, and birds. Participants watched a random rapid serial visual presentation of these pictures. The EPN was scored as the mean activity (225-300 ms after picture onset) at occipital and parieto-occipital electrodes. Consistent with previous studies, and with the Snake Detection Theory, the EPN was significantly larger for snake skin pictures than for lizard skin and bird plumage pictures, and for lizard skin pictures than for bird plumage pictures. Likewise, the EPN was larger for partially exposed snakes than for partially exposed lizards and birds. The results suggest that the EPN snake effect is partly driven by snake skin scale patterns which are otherwise rare in nature.
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Van Strien, Jan W.; Isbell, Lynne A.
2017-01-01
Studies of event-related potentials in humans have established larger early posterior negativity (EPN) in response to pictures depicting snakes than to pictures depicting other creatures. Ethological research has recently shown that macaques and wild vervet monkeys respond strongly to partially exposed snake models and scale patterns on the snake skin. Here, we examined whether snake skin patterns and partially exposed snakes elicit a larger EPN in humans. In Task 1, we employed pictures with close-ups of snake skins, lizard skins, and bird plumage. In task 2, we employed pictures of partially exposed snakes, lizards, and birds. Participants watched a random rapid serial visual presentation of these pictures. The EPN was scored as the mean activity (225–300 ms after picture onset) at occipital and parieto-occipital electrodes. Consistent with previous studies, and with the Snake Detection Theory, the EPN was significantly larger for snake skin pictures than for lizard skin and bird plumage pictures, and for lizard skin pictures than for bird plumage pictures. Likewise, the EPN was larger for partially exposed snakes than for partially exposed lizards and birds. The results suggest that the EPN snake effect is partly driven by snake skin scale patterns which are otherwise rare in nature. PMID:28387376
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Rieman, Bruce E.; Beamesderfer, Raymond C.; Vigg, Steven; Poe, Thomas P.
1991-01-01
We estimated the loss of juvenile salmonids Oncorhynchus spp. to predation by northern squawfish Ptychocheilus oregonensis, walleyes Stizostedion vitreum, and smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu in John Day Reservoir during 1983–1986. Our estimates were based on measures of daily prey consumption, predator numbers, and numbers of juvenile salmonids entering the reservoir during the April–August period of migration. We estimated the mean annual loss was 2.7 million juvenile salmonids (95% confidence interval, 1.9–3.3 million). Northern squawfish were responsible for 78% of the total loss; walleyes accounted for 13% and smallmouth bass for 9%. Twenty-one percent of the loss occurred in a small area immediately below McNary Dam at the head of John Day Reservoir. We estimated that the three predator species consumed 14% (95% confidence interval, 9–19%) of all juvenile salmonids that entered the reservoir. Mortality changed by month and increased late in the migration season. Monthly mortality estimates ranged from 7% in June to 61% in August. Mortality from predation was highest for chinook salmon O. tshawytscha, which migrated in July and August. Despite uncertainties in the estimates, it is clear that predation by resident fish predators can easily account for previously unexplained mortality of out-migrating juvenile salmonids. Alteration of the Columbia River by dams and a decline in the number of salmonids could have increased the fraction of mortality caused by predation over what it was in the past.
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Braatne, Jeffrey H.; Goater, Lori A.; Blair, Charles L.
2007-01-01
River damming provides a dominant human impact on river environments worldwide, and while local impacts of reservoir flooding are immediate, subsequent ecological impacts downstream can be extensive. In this article, we assess seven research strategies for analyzing the impacts of dams and river flow regulation on riparian ecosystems. These include spatial comparisons of (1) upstream versus downstream reaches, (2) progressive downstream patterns, or (3) the dammed river versus an adjacent free-flowing or differently regulated river(s). Temporal comparisons consider (4) pre- versus post-dam, or (5) sequential post-dam conditions. However, spatial comparisons are complicated by the fact that dams are not randomly located, and temporal comparisons are commonly limited by sparse historic information. As a result, comparative approaches are often correlative and vulnerable to confounding factors. To complement these analyses, (6) flow or sediment modifications can be implemented to test causal associations. Finally, (7) process-based modeling represents a predictive approach incorporating hydrogeomorphic processes and their biological consequences. In a case study of Hells Canyon, the upstream versus downstream comparison is confounded by a dramatic geomorphic transition. Comparison of the multiple reaches below the dams should be useful, and the comparison of Snake River with the adjacent free-flowing Salmon River may provide the strongest spatial comparison. A pre- versus post-dam comparison would provide the most direct study approach, but pre-dam information is limited to historic reports and archival photographs. We conclude that multiple study approaches are essential to provide confident interpretations of ecological impacts downstream from dams, and propose a comprehensive study for Hells Canyon that integrates multiple research strategies. PMID:18043964
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Cross neutralization of coral snake venoms by commercial Australian snake antivenoms.
Ramos, Henrique Roman; Vassão, Ruth Camargo; de Roodt, Adolfo Rafael; Santos E Silva, Ed Carlos; Mirtschin, Peter; Ho, Paulo Lee; Spencer, Patrick Jack
2017-01-01
Although rare, coral snake envenomation is a serious health threat in Brazil, because of the highly neurotoxic venom and the scarcely available antivenom. The major bottleneck for antivenom production is the low availability of venom. Furthermore, the available serum is not effective against all coral snake species found in Brazil. An alternative to circumvent the lack of venom for serum production and the restricted protection of the actually available antivenom would be of great value. We compared the Brazilian coral snake and mono and polyvalent Australian antivenoms in terms of reactivity and protection. The immunoreactivity of venoms from 9 coral snakes species were assayed by ELISA and western blot using the Brazilian Micrurus and the Australian pentavalent as well as monovalent anti-Notechis, Oxyuranus and Pseudechis antivenoms. Neutralization assays were performed in mice, using 3 LD 50 of the venoms, incubated for 30 minutes with 100 μL of antivenom/animal. All the venoms reacted against the autologous and heterologous antivenoms. Nevertheless, the neutralization assays showed that the coral snake antivenom was only effective against M. corallinus, M. frontalis, M. fulvius, M. nigrocinctus and M. pyrrhocryptus venoms. On the other hand, the Australian pentavalent antivenom neutralized all venoms except the one from M. spixii. A combination of anti-Oxyuranus and Pseudechis monovalent sera, extended the protection to M. altirostris and, partially, to M. ibiboboca. By adding Notechis antivenom to this mixture, we obtained full protection against M. ibiboboca and partial neutralization against M. lemniscatus venoms. Our findings confirm the limited effectiveness of the Brazilian coral snake antivenom and indicate that antivenoms made from Australian snakes venoms are an effective alternative for coral snake bites in South America and also in the United States were coral snake antivenom production has been discontinued.
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Iodine-129 in the Snake River Plain aquifer at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, Idaho
Mann, L.J.; Chew, E.W.; Morton, J.S.; Randolph, R.B.
1988-01-01
From 1953 to 1983, an estimated 0.01 to 0.136 Ci (curies)/year of iodine-129 were contained in wastewater generated by the ICPP (Idaho Chemical Processing Plant) at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. The wastewater was directly discharged to the Snake River Plain aquifer through a deep disposal well until February 9, 1984, when the well was replaced by an unlined infiltration pond; a second pond was put into use on October 17, 1985. For 1984-86, the annual amount of iodine-129 in wastewater discharged to the ponds ranged from 0.0064 to 0.039 Ci. In August 1986, iodine-129 concentrations in water from 35 wells near the ICPP ranged from less than the reporting level to 3.6 +or-0.4 pCi/L (picocuries/L). By comparison, in April 1977 the water from 20 wells contained a maximum of 27 +or-1 pCi/L of iodine-129; in 1981, the maximum concentration in water from 32 wells was 41 +or-2 pCi/L. The average concentrations of iodine-129 in water from 18 wells that were sampled in 1977, 1981 and 1986 were 4.0, 6.7 and 1.3 pCi/L, respectively. The marked decrease in the iodine-129 concentration from 1981 to 1986 is the result of three factors: (1) The amount of iodine-129 disposed annually; (2) a change from the routine use of the disposal well to the infiltration ponds; and (3) a dilution of the iodine-129 in the aquifer by recharge from the Big Lost River. (USGS)
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Use of glacier river-fed estuary channels by juvenile coho salmon: transitional or rearing habitats?
Hoem Neher, Tammy D.; Rosenberger, Amanda E.; Zimmerman, Christian E.; Walker, Coowe M.; Baird, Steven J.
2014-01-01
Estuaries are among the most productive ecosystems in the world and provide important rearing environments for a variety of fish species. Though generally considered important transitional habitats for smolting salmon, little is known about the role that estuaries serve for rearing and the environmental conditions important for salmon. We illustrate how juvenile coho salmonOncorhynchus kisutch use a glacial river-fed estuary based on examination of spatial and seasonal variability in patterns of abundance, fish size, age structure, condition, and local habitat use. Fish abundance was greater in deeper channels with cooler and less variable temperatures, and these habitats were consistently occupied throughout the season. Variability in channel depth and water temperature was negatively associated with fish abundance. Fish size was negatively related to site distance from the upper extent of the tidal influence, while fish condition did not relate to channel location within the estuary ecotone. Our work demonstrates the potential this glacially-fed estuary serves as both transitional and rearing habitat for juvenile coho salmon during smolt emigration to the ocean, and patterns of fish distribution within the estuary correspond to environmental conditions.
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Elliott, D.G.; Pascho, R.J.; Jackson, L.M.; Matthews, G.M.; Harmon, J.R.
1997-01-01
We evaluated Renibacterium salmoninarum infection in smolts of hatchery and wild spring-summer chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha sampled during most of the out-migration at Little Goose (1988) and Lower Granite dams (1988-1991) on the Snake River and at Priest Rapids and McNary dams on the Columbia River (1988-1990). We sampled 860-2,178 fish per dam each year. Homogenates of kidney-spleen tissue from all fish were tested for the presence of R. salmoninarum antigens by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and homogenates from 10% of the fish were examined by the fluorescent antibody technique (FAT). Although only 1-11% of fish sampled at a given dam during any 1 year exhibited lesions characteristic of bacterial kidney disease, 86-100% of the fish tested positive for R. salmoninarum antigen by ELISA, whereas 4-17% of the fish tested positive by the FAT. During most years, a majority (68-87%) of fish testing positive by the ELISA had low R. salmoninarum antigen levels, but in 1989, 53% of positive fish from Lower Granite Dam and 52% from McNary Dam showed medium-to-high antigen levels. For most years, the highest mean antigen levels were measured in fish sampled after 75% of the total out-migrants had passed a given dam. When the largest numbers of fish were being collected for bypass or downriver transportation, mean antigen levels were relatively low.
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Diet of first-feeding larval and young-of-the-year white sturgeon in the lower Columbia River
Muir, W.D.; McCabe, G.T.; Parsley, M.J.; Hinton, S.A.
2000-01-01
In some Snake and Columbia River reservoirs, adult white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) are common but few juvenile fish are found, indicating a lack of spawning success or poor survival of larvae. In contrast, recruitment of young-of-the-year white sturgeon to juvenile and adult stages is successful in the unimpounded Columbia River downstream of Bonneville Dam. The availability and size of preferred prey during the period when white sturgeon larvae begin exogenous feeding could be an important determinant of year-class strength. To explore this issue, we examined the diet composition of 352 larval and young-of-the year white sturgeon collected from 1989 through 1991 in the lower Columbia River. Samples were collected downstream from Bonneville Dam and upstream from the dam in Bonneville and The Dalles Reservoirs. Fish that ranged in size from 15 to 290 mm in total length fed primarily on gammarid amphipods (Corophium spp.) during all months. This diet item became increasingly important to all sizes of white sturgeon examined as they grew. The length of Corophium spp. eaten by larval and young-of-the-year white sturgeon increased with increasing fish length (r2 = 45.6%, P < 0.0001). Copepods (Cyclopoida), Ceratopogonidae larvae, and Diptera pupae and larvae (primarily chironomids) were also consumed, especially at the onset of exogenous feeding. A small percentage of white sturgeon were found with empty stomachs during June (1.6% downstream from Bonneville Dam) and July (4.5% downstream and 2.6% in the reservoirs). Diets of larval and young-of-the year white sturgeon from both impounded and free-flowing sections of the Columbia River were similar and we found no evidence of larval starvation in the areas investigated, areas currently supporting healthy white sturgeon populations.
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Durso, Andrew M; Mullin, Stephen J
2017-02-01
Wild snake diets are difficult to study using traditional methods, but stable isotopes offer several advantages, including integrating dietary information over time, providing data from individuals that have not fed recently, and avoiding bias towards slowly-digesting prey items. We used stable isotope signatures of carbon and nitrogen from scale tissue, red blood cells, and blood plasma to assess the diet of wild plains hog-nosed snakes (Heterodon nasicus) in Illinois. We developed Bayesian mixing models which, taken together, predicted that H. nasicus shifted from a juvenile diet predominantly (31-63%) composed of six-lined racerunners (Aspidoscelis sexlineatus) and their eggs to an adult diet predominantly (44-56%) composed of eggs of the aquatic turtles Chrysemys picta and Chelydra serpentina, with a contribution from toads (Anaxyrus sp.; 6-27%) during their adolescent years. These results agreed with sparse data from gut contents. Combining traditional and isotopic techniques for studying the diets of wild snakes can increase the utility of both types of data. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Christiansen, E. H.; Bindeman, I. N.; Leishman, J. R.
2015-12-01
Disparate models have been proposed for the origin of A-type rhyolites--a volumetrically minor part of modern terrestrial magmatism. But understanding the origin of A-type granites and rhyolites has significance for understanding the formation of the Earth's first silicic crust and for planetary magmatism--small volumes of such granitic materials have been found in lunar rocks, martian and asteroidal meteorites, and have been speculated to have formed on Venus. On other planets, vertical tectonics and plume-like mantle convection dominate, not the recycling of wet, oxidized plates of lithosphere as on Earth. Thus, understanding the origins of A-type silicic magma is important on multiple levels. Voluminous A-type rhyolite were produced on the Snake River Plain-Yellowstone hotspot track and provide the opportunity to better understand these important silicic magmas. Detailed petrologic studies suggest that most Snake River Plain rhyolites ultimately formed by partially melting of previously emplaced basaltic intrusions rather than by fractional crystallization of basalt or melting of Archean crust. This hypothesis is favored because of the bimodal association of rhyolite and basalt without linking intermediate compositions. In addition, incompatible element ratios (e.g., La/Nb, Pb/Ce), a lack of old zircon antecrysts, low-U inherited zircon, high ɛNd and ɛHf values, high eruption temperatures (1050°C to 850°C), low fO2 (near QFM), and H2O (as low as 1.5%), link the rhyolites to a plume-derived basaltic parent through partial melting with lesser incorporation of the Archean to Mesozoic crust that underlies the plain. Moreover, the contrast with wetter, lower temperature rhyolites that must have formed by direct crustal melting (e.g., Arbon Valley Tuff) strengthens this interpretation. Many of the rhyolites also have low δ18O values that must be produced in two stages: first by partial melting of already hydrothermally altered basalt, and subsequently in single
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Watson, K. A.; Masarik, M. T.; Flores, A. N.
2016-12-01
Mountainous, snow-dominated basins are often referred to as the water towers of the world because they store precipitation in seasonal snowpacks, which gradually melt and provide water supplies to downstream communities. Yet significant uncertainties remain in terms of quantifying the stores and fluxes of water in these regions as well as the associated energy exchanges. Constraining these stores and fluxes is crucial for advancing process understanding and managing these water resources in a changing climate. Remote sensing data are particularly important to these efforts due to the remoteness of these landscapes and high spatial variability in water budget components. We have developed a high resolution regional climate dataset extending from 1986 to the present for the Snake River Basin in the northwestern USA. The Snake River Basin is the largest tributary of the Columbia River by volume and a critically important basin for regional economies and communities. The core of the dataset was developed using a regional climate model, forced by reanalysis data. Specifically the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model was used to dynamically downscale the North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR) over the region at 3 km horizontal resolution for the period of interest. A suite of satellite remote sensing products provide independent, albeit uncertain, constraint on a number of components of the water and energy budgets for the region across a range of spatial and temporal scales. For example, GRACE data are used to constrain basinwide terrestrial water storage and MODIS products are used to constrain the spatial and temporal evolution of evapotranspiration and snow cover. The joint use of both models and remote sensing products allows for both better understanding of water cycle dynamics and associated hydrometeorologic processes, and identification of limitations in both the remote sensing products and regional climate simulations.
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Tiffan, Kenneth F.; Kock, Tobias J.; Connor, William P.; Richmond, Marshall C.; Perkins, William A.
2018-01-01
We studied the influence of behavior, water velocity, and physiological development on the downstream movement of subyearling fall‐run Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha in both free‐flowing and impounded reaches of the Clearwater and Snake rivers as potential mechanisms that might explain life history diversity in this stock. Movement rates and the percentage of radio‐tagged fish that moved faster than the average current velocity were higher in the free‐flowing Clearwater River than in impounded reaches. This supports the notion that water velocity is a primary determinant of downstream movement regardless of a fish's physiological development. In contrast, movement rates slowed and detections became fewer in impounded reaches, where water velocities were much lower. The percentage of fish that moved faster than the average current velocity continued to decline and reached zero in the lowermost reach of Lower Granite Reservoir, suggesting that the behavioral disposition to move downstream was low. These findings contrast with those of a similar, previous study of Snake River subyearlings despite similarity in hydrodynamic conditions between the two studies. Physiological differences between Snake and Clearwater River migrants shed light on this disparity. Subyearlings from the Clearwater River were parr‐like in their development and never showed the increase in gill Na+/K+‐ATPase activity displayed by smolts from the Snake River. Results from this study provide evidence that behavioral and life history differences between Snake and Clearwater River subyearlings may have a physiological basis that is modified by environmental conditions.
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Doherty, David J.; McBroome, Lisa Ann; Kuntz, Mel A.
1979-01-01
A 10,365 ft (3,159 m) geothermal test well was drilled in the spring of 1979 at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, eastern Snake River Plain, Idaho: The majority of rock types encountered in the borehole are of volcanic origin. An upper section above 2,445 ft (745 m) consists of basaltic lava flows and interbedded .sediments of alluvial, lacustrine, and volcanic origin. A lower section below 2,445 ft (745 m) consists exclusively of rhyolitic welded ash-flow tuffs, air-fall ash deposits, nonwelded ash-flow ruffs, and volcaniclastic sediments. The lithology and thickness of the rhyolitic rocks suggest that they are part of an intracaldera fill.
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Reproductive Disorders in Snakes.
Di Girolamo, Nicola; Selleri, Paolo
2017-05-01
Reproduction of snakes is one of the challenging aspects of herpetology medicine. Due to the complexity of reproduction, several disorders may present before, during, or after this process. This article describes the physical examination, and radiographic, ultrasonographic, and endoscopic findings associated with reproductive disorders in snakes. Surgical techniques used to resolve reproductive disorders in snakes are described. Finally, common reproductive disorders in snakes are individually discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Frans, Lonna M.; Rupert, Michael G.; Hunt, Charles D.; Skinner, Kenneth D.
2012-01-01
Oahu and the Columbia Plateau had some of the highest percentages of soil fumigant detections in groundwater in the United States. Soil fumigants are volatile organic compounds (VOCs) used as pesticides, which are applied to soils to reduce populations of plant parasitic nematodes (harmful rootworms), weeds, fungal pathogens, and other soil-borne microorganisms. They are used in Oahu and the Columbia Plateau on crops such as pineapple and potatoes. All three areas (Columbia Plateau, Snake River Plain, and Oahu) had fumigant concentrations exceeding human-health benchmarks for drinking water.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Rondorf, Dennis W.; Miller, William H.
1993-07-01
This document is the 1991 annual progress report for selected studies of fall chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha conducted by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. The decline in abundance of fall chinook salmon in the Snake River basin has become a growing concern. In April 1992, Snake River fall chinook salmon were listed as ``threatened`` under the Endangered Species Act. Effective recovery efforts for fall chinook salmon can not be developed until we increase our knowledge of the factors that are limiting the various life history stages. This study attempts to identify those physical and biological factors which influence spawningmore » of fall chinook salmon in the free-flowing Snake River and their rearing and seaward migration through Columbia River basin reservoirs.« less
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The Geology of East Butte, a Rhyolitic Volcanic Dome on the Eastern Snake River Plain, Idaho
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Bretches, J. E.; King, J. S.
1985-01-01
East Butte is a prominent volcanic dome located on the eastern Snake River Plain. It is situated 51 km west of Idaho Fallls in the southeast corner of the Idaho National Engineering facility. East Butte rises 350 meters above the Quaternary basalt flows which encircle its 2.4 kilometer diameter base. Its maximum elevation is 2003 meters above sea level. East Butte is composed dominantly of rhyolite. Armstrong and others (1975) determined a K-Ar age of 0.6 +/- m.y. for a rhyolite sample from East Butte. Detailed geologic mapping revealed East Butte to be a single, large cumulo-dome composed dominantly of rhyolite. Major element geochemical analyses indicate that the rhyolite of East Butte is mildly peralkaline (molecular excess of Na2O and K2O over Al2O3 and compositionally homogeneous. Color variations in the East Butte rhyolite result from varying amounts of chemical and physical weathering and to the degree of devitrification that the glass in the groundmass of the rhyolite underwent.
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Boyer, Jan K.; Guy, Christopher S.; Webb, Molly A. H.; Horton, Travis B.; McMahon, Thomas E.
2017-01-01
Mountain Whitefish Prosopium williamsoni were historically common throughout much of the U.S. Intermountain West. However, within the last decade Mountain Whitefish have exhibited population-level declines in some rivers. In the Madison River, Montana, anecdotal evidence indicates Mountain Whitefish abundance has declined and the population is skewed toward larger individuals, which is typically symptomatic of recruitment problems. Describing reproductive development, spawning behavior, and juvenile distribution will form a foundation for investigating mechanisms influencing recruitment. We collected otoliths and gonadal samples from fish of all size-classes to characterize fecundity, age at maturity, and spawning periodicity. We implanted radio tags in mature Mountain Whitefish and relocated tagged fish in autumn 2012–2014. Timing of spawning was determined from spawning status of captured females and from density of eggs collected on egg mats. In spring 2014, we seined backwater and channel sites to describe age-0 whitefish distribution. Mountain Whitefish were highly fecund (18,454 eggs/kg body weight) annual spawners, and age at 50% maturity was 2.0 years for males and 2.6 years for females. In 2013 and 2014, spawning occurred between the third week of October and first week of November. During spawning, spawning adults and collected embryos were concentrated in the downstream 26 km of the study site, a reach characterized by a complex, braided channel. This reach had the highest CPUE of age-0 Mountain Whitefish, and the percentage of spawning adults in the 25 km upstream from a sampling site was positively associated with juvenile CPUE. Within this reach, age-0 Mountain Whitefish were associated with silt-laden backwater and eddy habitats. Future investigations on mechanisms influencing recruitment should be focused on the embryological phase and age-0 fish.
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Liedtke, Theresa L.; Kock, Tobias J.; Hurst, William
2018-04-03
A multi-year evaluation was conducted during 2010–16 to evaluate passage survival of juvenile steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss), Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha), and coho salmon (O. kisutch) in Lake Scanewa, and at Cowlitz Falls Dam in the upper Cowlitz River Basin, Washington. Reservoir passage survival was evaluated in 2010, 2011, and 2016, and included the tagging and release of 1,127 juvenile salmonids. Tagged fish were released directly into the Cowlitz and Cispus Rivers, 22.3 and 8.9 km, respectively, upstream of the reservoir, and were monitored as they moved downstream into, and through the reservoir. A single release-recapture survival model was used to analyze detection records and estimate reservoir passage survival, which was defined as successful passage from reservoir entry to arrival at Cowlitz Falls Dam. Tagged fish generally moved quickly downstream of the release sites and, on average, arrived in the dam forebay within 2 d of release. Median travel time from release to first detection at the dam ranged from 0.23 to 0.96 d for juvenile steelhead, from 0.15 to 1.11 d for juvenile coho salmon, and from 0.18 to 1.89 d for juvenile Chinook salmon. Minimum reservoir passage survival probabilities were 0.960 for steelhead, 0.855 for coho salmon and 0.900 for Chinook salmon.Dam passage survival was evaluated at the pilot-study level during 2013–16 and included the tagging and release of 2,512 juvenile salmonids. Juvenile Chinook salmon were evaluated during 2013–14, and juvenile steelhead and coho salmon were evaluated during 2015–16. A paired-release study design was used that included release sites located upstream and downstream of Cowlitz Falls Dam. The downstream release site was positioned at the downstream margin of the dam’s tailrace, which allowed dam passage survival to be measured in a manner that included mortality that occurred in the passage route and in the dam tailrace. More than one-half of the tagged Chinook salmon (52 percent
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Evaluating Effects of Floodplain Constriction Along a High Energy Gravel-Bed River: Snake River, WY
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Leonard, Christina M.
This study examined approximately 66 km of the Snake River, WY, USA, spanning a natural reach within Grand Teton National Park and a reach immediately downstream that is confined by artificial levees. We linked the channel adjustments observed within these two reaches between 2007 and 2012 to sediment transport processes by developing a morphological sediment budget. A pair of digital elevation models (DEMs) was generated by fusing LiDAR topography with depth estimates derived from optical image data within wetted channels. Errors for both components of the DEMs (LiDAR and optical bathymetry) were propagated through the DEM of difference and sediment budget calculations. Our results indicated that even with the best available methods for acquiring high resolution topographic data over large areas, the uncertainty associated with bed elevation estimates implied that net volumetric changes were not statistically significant. In addition to the terrain analysis, we performed a tracer study to assess the mobility of different grain size classes in different morphological units. Grain sizes, hydraulic conditions, and flow resistance characteristics along cross-sections were used to calculate critical discharges for entrainment, but this bulk characterization of fluid driving forces failed to predict bed mobility. Our results indicated that over seasonal timescales specific grain classes were not preferentially entrained. Surface and subsurface grain size data were used to calculate armoring and dimensionless sediment transport ratios for both reaches; sediment supply exceeded transport capacity in the natural reach and vice versa in the confined reach. We used a conceptual model to describe channel adjustments to lateral constriction by levees. Initially we suggest levees focused flow energy and incised the bed, resulting in bed armoring. Bed armoring promoted channel widening, but levees prevented this and instead the channel migrated more rapidly within the
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Beeman, John W.; Juhnke, Steve; Stutzer, Greg; Hetrick, Nicholas
2008-01-01
This report describes a study of survival and migration behavior of radio-tagged juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in the Klamath River, northern California, in 2007. This was the third year of a multi-year study with the goal of determining the effects of discharge at Iron Gate Dam (IGD) on survival of juvenile coho salmon downstream. Survival and factors affecting survival were estimated in 2006 and 2007 after work in 2005 showed radio telemetry could be used effectively. The study has included collaborative efforts among U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the Karuk and Yurok Tribal Fisheries Departments, and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. The objectives of the study included: (1) estimating the survival of wild and hatchery juvenile coho salmon in the Klamath River downstream of Iron Gate Dam, determining the effects of discharge and other covariates on juvenile coho salmon survival (2) and migration (3), and (4) determining if fish from Iron Gate Hatchery (IGH) could be used as surrogates for the limited source of wild fish. We have been able to meet the first objective by estimating the survivals of hatchery and wild fish (when available) downstream of IGD. We have not yet met the second or third objectives, because we have been unable to separate effects of discharge from other environmental variables as they pertain to the survival or migration of juvenile coho salmon. This was foreseen when the study began, as it was known there would likely be no experimental discharges. A multi-year analysis will be conducted after the data for the third planned year are available. The fourth objective was initiated in 2006, but wild fish were not available in 2007. The next year wild fish may be available is in 2009, based on their 3-year cycle of abundance. River discharges during the 2007 study period (April 10 through July 28, 2007) were below average compared to the period of record beginning in 1962. Average daily
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Holbrook, Christopher M.; Perry, Russell W.; Adams, Noah S.
2009-01-01
Acoustic telemetry was used to obtain the movement histories of 915 juvenile fall-run Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) through the lower San Joaquin River and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California, in 2008. Data were analyzed within a release-recapture framework to estimate survival, route distribution, and detection probabilities among three migration pathways through the Delta. The pathways included the primary route through the San Joaquin River and two less direct routes (Old River and Turner Cut). Strong inferences about survival were limited by premature tag failure, but estimates of fish distribution among migration routes should be unaffected by tag failure. Based on tag failure tests (N = 66 tags), we estimated that only 55-78 percent of the tags used in this study were still functioning when the last fish was detected exiting the study area 15 days after release. Due to premature tag failure, our 'survival' estimates represent the joint probability that both the tag and fish survived, not just survival of fish. Low estimates of fish-tag survival could have been caused by fish mortality or fish travel times that exceeded the life of the tag, but we were unable to differentiate between the two. Fish-tag survival through the Delta (from Durham Ferry to Chipps Island by all routes) ranged from 0.05 +or- 0.01 (SE) to 0.06 +or- 0.01 between the two weekly release groups. Among the three migration routes, fish that remained in the San Joaquin River exhibited the highest joint fish-tag survival (0.09 +or- 0.02) in both weeks, but only 22-33 percent of tagged fish used this route, depending on the week of release. Only 4-10 percent (depending on week) of tagged fish traveled through Turner Cut, but no tagged fish that used this route were detected exiting the Delta. Most fish (63-68 percent, depending on week of release) migrated through Old River, but fish-tag survival through this route (0.05 +or- 0.01) was only about one-half that of fish that
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Kawai, Nobuyuki; He, Hongshen
2016-01-01
Humans and non-human primates are extremely sensitive to snakes as exemplified by their ability to detect pictures of snakes more quickly than those of other animals. These findings are consistent with the Snake Detection Theory, which hypothesizes that as predators, snakes were a major source of evolutionary selection that favored expansion of the visual system of primates for rapid snake detection. Many snakes use camouflage to conceal themselves from both prey and their own predators, making it very challenging to detect them. If snakes have acted as a selective pressure on primate visual systems, they should be more easily detected than other animals under difficult visual conditions. Here we tested whether humans discerned images of snakes more accurately than those of non-threatening animals (e.g., birds, cats, or fish) under conditions of less perceptual information by presenting a series of degraded images with the Random Image Structure Evolution technique (interpolation of random noise). We find that participants recognize mosaic images of snakes, which were regarded as functionally equivalent to camouflage, more accurately than those of other animals under dissolved conditions. The present study supports the Snake Detection Theory by showing that humans have a visual system that accurately recognizes snakes under less discernible visual conditions.
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He, Hongshen
2016-01-01
Humans and non-human primates are extremely sensitive to snakes as exemplified by their ability to detect pictures of snakes more quickly than those of other animals. These findings are consistent with the Snake Detection Theory, which hypothesizes that as predators, snakes were a major source of evolutionary selection that favored expansion of the visual system of primates for rapid snake detection. Many snakes use camouflage to conceal themselves from both prey and their own predators, making it very challenging to detect them. If snakes have acted as a selective pressure on primate visual systems, they should be more easily detected than other animals under difficult visual conditions. Here we tested whether humans discerned images of snakes more accurately than those of non-threatening animals (e.g., birds, cats, or fish) under conditions of less perceptual information by presenting a series of degraded images with the Random Image Structure Evolution technique (interpolation of random noise). We find that participants recognize mosaic images of snakes, which were regarded as functionally equivalent to camouflage, more accurately than those of other animals under dissolved conditions. The present study supports the Snake Detection Theory by showing that humans have a visual system that accurately recognizes snakes under less discernible visual conditions. PMID:27783686
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Ghanashyam Neupane; Earl D. Mattson; Travis L. McLing
2014-02-01
The U.S. Geological survey has estimated that there are up to 4,900 MWe of undiscovered geothermal resources and 92,000 MWe of enhanced geothermal potential within the state of Idaho. Of particular interest are the resources of the Eastern Snake River Plain (ESRP) which was formed by volcanic activity associated with the relative movement of the Yellowstone Hot Spot across the state of Idaho. This region is characterized by a high geothermal gradient and thermal springs occurring along the margins of the ESRP. Masking much of the deep thermal potential of the ESRP is a regionally extensive and productive cold-water aquifer.more » We have undertaken a study to infer the temperature of the geothermal system hidden beneath the cold-water aquifer of the ESRP. Our approach is to estimate reservoir temperatures from measured water compositions using an inverse modeling technique (RTEst) that calculates the temperature at which multiple minerals are simultaneously at equilibrium while explicitly accounting for the possible loss of volatile constituents (e.g., CO2), boiling and/or water mixing. In the initial stages of this study, we apply the RTEst model to water compositions measured from a limited number of wells and thermal springs to estimate the regionally extensive geothermal system in the ESRP.« less
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Pliocene and early Pleistocene environments and climates of the western Snake River Plain, Idaho
Thompson, R.S.
1996-01-01
Sedimentological, palynological, and magnetic susceptibility data provide paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic information from a 989 ft (301 m) core of sediments from the upper Glenns Ferry and Bruneau Formations from near the town of Bruneau, Idaho. Chronology is based on stratigraphic position, paleomagnetism, and biostratigraphic data. Palynological data from the Glenns Ferry sediments reveal a pollen flora similar to the modern regional pollen flora, with very rare occurrences of now-extirpated taxa common earlier in the Tertiary. Palynological data from the Pliocene portion of this core indicate conditions more moist than today, with cooler summers and perhaps warmer winters. The pollen spectra from the Bruneau Formation sediments resemble those of the Wisconsinan glacial period on the Snake River Plain, and hence indicate cold and dry conditions during some portion of the early Pleistocene. The deep-water Glenns Ferry lacustrine episode appears to date between approximately 3.5 to 3.3 and 2.5 Ma, and thus occurred during the middle Pliocene period of warmer-than-modern global temperatures. Similar sustained wetter-than-present conditions occurred in the same age range at sites across the western USA. This moist period was apparently followed by an interval of regional arid conditions that persisted for several hundred thousand years. -from Author
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The Hidden Snake in the Grass: Superior Detection of Snakes in Challenging Attentional Conditions
Soares, Sandra C.; Lindström, Björn; Esteves, Francisco; Öhman, Arne
2014-01-01
Snakes have provided a serious threat to primates throughout evolution. Furthermore, bites by venomous snakes still cause significant morbidity and mortality in tropical regions of the world. According to the Snake Detection Theory (SDT Isbell, 2006; 2009), the vital need to detect camouflaged snakes provided strong evolutionary pressure to develop astute perceptual capacity in animals that were potential targets for snake attacks. We performed a series of behavioral tests that assessed snake detection under conditions that may have been critical for survival. We used spiders as the control stimulus because they are also a common object of phobias and rated negatively by the general population, thus commonly lumped together with snakes as “evolutionary fear-relevant”. Across four experiments (N = 205) we demonstrate an advantage in snake detection, which was particularly obvious under visual conditions known to impede detection of a wide array of common stimuli, for example brief stimulus exposures, stimuli presentation in the visual periphery, and stimuli camouflaged in a cluttered environment. Our results demonstrate a striking independence of snake detection from ecological factors that impede the detection of other stimuli, which suggests that, consistent with the SDT, they reflect a specific biological adaptation. Nonetheless, the empirical tests we report are limited to only one aspect of this rich theory, which integrates findings across a wide array of scientific disciplines. PMID:25493937
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The Hidden Snake in the Grass: Superior Detection of Snakes in Challenging Attentional Conditions.
Soares, Sandra C; Lindström, Björn; Esteves, Francisco; Ohman, Arne
2014-01-01
Snakes have provided a serious threat to primates throughout evolution. Furthermore, bites by venomous snakes still cause significant morbidity and mortality in tropical regions of the world. According to the Snake Detection Theory (SDT Isbell, 2006; 2009), the vital need to detect camouflaged snakes provided strong evolutionary pressure to develop astute perceptual capacity in animals that were potential targets for snake attacks. We performed a series of behavioral tests that assessed snake detection under conditions that may have been critical for survival. We used spiders as the control stimulus because they are also a common object of phobias and rated negatively by the general population, thus commonly lumped together with snakes as "evolutionary fear-relevant". Across four experiments (N = 205) we demonstrate an advantage in snake detection, which was particularly obvious under visual conditions known to impede detection of a wide array of common stimuli, for example brief stimulus exposures, stimuli presentation in the visual periphery, and stimuli camouflaged in a cluttered environment. Our results demonstrate a striking independence of snake detection from ecological factors that impede the detection of other stimuli, which suggests that, consistent with the SDT, they reflect a specific biological adaptation. Nonetheless, the empirical tests we report are limited to only one aspect of this rich theory, which integrates findings across a wide array of scientific disciplines.
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Bartholomay, Roy C.
2009-01-01
From 1953 to 1988, wastewater containing approximately 0.94 curies of iodine-129 (129I) was generated at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in southeastern Idaho. Almost all of this wastewater was discharged at or near the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center (INTEC) on the INL site. Most of the wastewater was discharged directly into the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer through a deep disposal well until 1984; however, some wastewater also was discharged into unlined infiltration ponds or leaked from distribution systems below the INTEC. In 2003, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, collected samples for 129I from 36 wells used to monitor the Snake River Plain aquifer, and from one well used to monitor a perched zone at the INTEC. Concentrations of 129I in the aquifer ranged from 0.0000066 +- 0.0000002 to 0.72 +- 0.051 picocuries per liter (pCi/L). Many wells within a 3-mile radius of the INTEC showed decreases of as much as one order of magnitude in concentration from samples collected during 1990-91, and all of the samples had concentrations less than the Environmental Protection Agency's Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) of 1 pCi/L. The average concentration of 129I in 19 wells sampled during both collection periods decreased from 0.975 pCi/L in 1990-91 to 0.249 pCi/L in 2003. These decreases are attributed to the discontinuation of disposal of 129I in wastewater after 1988 and to dilution and dispersion in the aquifer. Although water from wells sampled in 2003 near the INTEC showed decreases in concentrations of 129I compared with data collected in 1990-91, some wells south and east of the Central Facilities Area, near the site boundary, and south of the INL showed slight increases. These slight increases may be related to variable discharge rates of wastewater that eventually moved to these well locations as a mass of water from a particular disposal period. In 2007, the USGS collected samples for
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Finn, David R.; Coe, Robert S.; Brown, Ethan; Branney, Michael; Reichow, Marc; Knott, Thomas; Storey, Michael; Bonnichsen, Bill
2016-09-01
In this paper, we present paleomagnetic, geochemical, mineralogical, and geochronologic evidence for correlation of the mid-Miocene Cougar Point Tuff (CPT) in southwest Snake River Plain (SRP) of Idaho. The new stratigraphy presented here significantly reduces the frequency and increases the scale of known SRP ignimbrite eruptions. The CPT section exposed at the Black Rock Escarpment along the Bruneau River has been correlated eastward to the Brown's Bench escarpment (six common eruption units) and Cassia Mountains (three common eruption units) regions of southern Idaho. The CPT records an unusual pattern of geomagnetic field directions that provides the basis for robust stratigraphic correlations. Paleomagnetic characterization of eruption units based on geomagnetic field variation has a resolution on the order of a few centuries, providing a strong test of whether two deposits could have been emplaced from the same eruption or from temporally separate events. To obtain reliable paleomagnetic directions, the anisotropy of anhysteretic remanence was measured to correct for magnetic anisotropy, and an efficient new method was used to remove gyroremanence acquired during alternating field demagnetization.
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Ackerman, D.J.
1995-01-01
Quantitative estimates of ground-water flow directions and traveltimes for advective flow were developed for the regional aquifer system of the eastern Snake River Plain, Idaho. The work included: (1) descriptions of compartments in the aquifer that function as intermediate and regional flow systems, (2) descriptions of pathlines for flow originating at or near the water table, and (3) quantitative estimates of traveltimes for advective transport originating at or near the water table. A particle-tracking postprocessing program was used to compute pathlines on the basis of output from an existing three-dimensional steady-state flow model. The flow model uses 1980 conditions to approximate average annual conditions for 1950-80. The advective transport model required additional information about the nature of flow across model boundaries, aquifer thickness, and porosity. Porosity of two types of basalt strata has been reported for more than 1,500 individual cores from test holes, wells, and outcrops near the south side of the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. The central 80 percent of samples had porosities of 0.08 to 0.25, the central 50 percent of samples, O. 11 to 0.21. Calibration of the model involved choosing a value for porosity that yielded the best solution. Two radiologic contaminants, iodine-129 and tritium, both introduced to the flow system about 40 years ago, are relatively conservative tracers. Iodine- 129 was considered to be more useful because of a lower analytical detection limit, longer half-life, and longer flow path. The calibration value for porosity was 0.21. Most flow in the aquifer is contained within a regional-scale compartment and follows paths that discharge to the Snake River downstream from Milner Dam. Two intermediate-scale compartments exist along the southeast side of the aquifer and near Mud Lake.One intermediate-scale compartment along the southeast side of the aquifer discharges to the Snake River near American Fails
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Roby, Daniel D.; Collis, Ken; Lyons, Donald E.
2009-07-08
Crescent Island. Based on smolt PIT tag recoveries on the Crescent Island Caspian tern colony, the average predation rate on in-river migrants from the Snake River (all species and run types combined based on interrogations at Lower Monumental Dam) was at least 1.4%. Predation rates on PIT-tagged steelhead smolts were greater than those for other salmonid species; 6.0% of wild steelhead smolts from the Snake River were consumed by Crescent Island terns. The double-crested cormorant colony on Foundation Island in the mid-Columbia River consisted of at least 360 pairs nesting in trees in 2008. The proportion of juvenile salmonids in stomach samples collected from cormorants nesting on Foundation Island during the peak of the smolt out-migration was about 45% of prey biomass.« less
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The density dilemma: limitations on juvenile production in threatened salmon populations
Walters, Annika W.; Copeland, Timothy; Venditti, David A.
2013-01-01
Density-dependent processes have repeatedly been shown to have a central role in salmonid population dynamics, but are often assumed to be negligible for populations at low abundances relative to historical records. Density dependence has been observed in overall spring/summer Snake River Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha production, but it is not clear how patterns observed at the aggregate level relate to individual populations within the basin. We used a Bayesian hierarchical modelling approach to explore the degree of density dependence in juvenile production for nine Idaho populations. Our results indicate that density dependence is ubiquitous, although its strength varies between populations. We also investigated the processes driving the population-level pattern and found density-dependent growth and mortality present for both common life-history strategies, but no evidence of density-dependent movement. Overwinter mortality, spatial clustering of redds and limited resource availability were identified as potentially important limiting factors contributing to density dependence. The ubiquity of density dependence for these threatened populations is alarming as stability at present low abundance levels suggests recovery may be difficult without major changes. We conclude that density dependence at the population level is common and must be considered in demographic analysis and management.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Steenberg, L.; Gruber, B.; Boroughs, S.; Wolff, J.
2015-12-01
The Brown's Creek rhyolite (BCR), ~70 km south of Boise, Idaho, erupted during a period of widespread rhyolitic volcanism in southwestern Idaho during the middle Miocene. However, the Brown's Creek unit has several characteristics that are unusual relative to near contemporaneous units in the Central Snake Rive Plain (CSRP) and units in the Western Snake River Plain (WSRP). The BCR can contain up to 40% phenocrysts, with some feldspar and quartz crystals in excess of 2 cm in diameter. A proximal vent location is particularly well exposed in the BCR, and appears as an elongated topographic "dome" with pervasive, chaotic and steep flow banding, ramp structures, and breccias. Evidence of dome building activity is also represented by a matrix supported deposit of ash and poorly sorted, angular, rhyolite clasts up to boulder size; which crops out in a small area near the vent. The BCR is among numerous units in the CSRP and WSRP that show evidence of interaction with ancient Lake Idaho (e.g. silicification, opalized zones, pepperites, etc), but the unconformity with the sedimentary rocks of the lake and its feeder streams, is extremely well preserved in the Brown's Creek rhyolite. Geochemically, the Brown's Creek rhyolite shows greater compositional variation in comparison to other individual units in the region. This variation (e.g. Ba/Sr and Zr/Nb) may be a result of variable crystal cargo in hand samples, but could potentially represent a zoned magma body, which is also extremely rare in the CSRP or WSRP. A limited number of samples have trace element concentrations/ratios (e.g. Rb, U, and Th) that may indicate the presence of a second unit underlying the dominant outcrops of BCR, but Nb/Ta ratios are relatively invariant across the entire BCR suite; if there are two units in the BCR, their sources are the same or very similar.
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Irrigation and streamflow depletion in Columbia River basin above The Dalles, Oregon
Simons, Wilbur Douglas
1953-01-01
The Columbia River is the largest stream in western United States. Above The Dalles, Oregon, it drains an area of 237,000 square miles, of which 39,000 square miles is in Canada. This area is largely mountainous and lies between the Rocky Mountains and the Cascade Range. The Kootenai, Pend Oreille, and Snake Rivers are the principal tributaries. Precipitation varies from 7 inches near Kennewick, Wash. to over 100 inches in some of the mountainous regions. Most of the runoff occurs in the spring and summer months as a result of melting snow. Precipitation is generally light during the summer months, and irrigation is necessary for sustained crop production. Historical data indicate that irrigation in the Columbia River basin began prior to 1840 at the site of missions established near Walla Walla, Wash. and Lewiston, Idaho. During the next half century the increase in irrigated area was slow and by 1890 included only 506,000 acres. The period 1890 to 1910 was marked by phenomenal increase to a total of 2,276,000 acres in 1910. Since that time there has been more gradual addition to a total of 4,004,S00 acres of irrigated land in 1946 in the Columbia River basin above The Dalles, Oreg. Of this total 918,000 acres were located in the Columbia Basin above the mouth of the Snake River; 2,830,000 acres in the Snake River basin, and the balance, 256,000 acres below the mouth of the Snake River. Values of net consumptive use were determined or estimated for various tributary basins of the Columbia River basin and compared to available experimental data. These values were then used to compute the average depletion which could be directly attributed to irrigation. The yield of a drainage basin was considered to be the rum of the ob- served runoff and the estimated depletion. For purposes of comparison, the depletion was expressed both in terms of acre-feet and as a percentage of the yield of the basin. This percentage depletion varied from less than 1 percent for many
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When snakes bite: the management of North American Crotalinae snake envenomation.
Ashton, Jenny; Baker, Stephanie N; Weant, Kyle A
2011-01-01
There are more than 120 species of snakes indigenous to the United States, 25 of which are venomous. Although snake envenomation carries a relatively low risk of mortality in the United States, it can result in significant morbidity if left untreated. The venom of Crotalinae snakes contains a complex mixture of enzymatic proteins with various clinical implications. Of these complications, the most significant are consumptive coagulopathy, compartment syndrome, and hypovolemic shock. The development of ovine Crotalidae polyvalent immune Fab antivenin (CroFab) has greatly changed the approach to snake envenomation. Nevertheless, multiple factors complicate its use and the overall management of this clinical presentation. The intent of this review is to discuss relevant management issues associated with Crotalinae envenomation in the emergency department.
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Branney, M.J.; Bonnichsen, B.; Andrews, G.D.M.; Ellis, B.; Barry, T.L.; McCurry, M.
2008-01-01
A new category of large-scale volcanism, here termed Snake River (SR)-type volcanism, is defined with reference to a distinctive volcanic facies association displayed by Miocene rocks in the central Snake River Plain area of southern Idaho and northern Nevada, USA. The facies association contrasts with those typical of silicic volcanism elsewhere and records unusual, voluminous and particularly environmentally devastating styles of eruption that remain poorly understood. It includes: (1) large-volume, lithic-poor rhyolitic ignimbrites with scarce pumice lapilli; (2) extensive, parallel-laminated, medium to coarse-grained ashfall deposits with large cuspate shards, crystals and a paucity of pumice lapilli; many are fused to black vitrophyre; (3) unusually extensive, large-volume rhyolite lavas; (4) unusually intense welding, rheomorphism, and widespread development of lava-like facies in the ignimbrites; (5) extensive, fines-rich ash deposits with abundant ash aggregates (pellets and accretionary lapilli); (6) the ashfall layers and ignimbrites contain abundant clasts of dense obsidian and vitrophyre; (7) a bimodal association between the rhyolitic rocks and numerous, coalescing low-profile basalt lava shields; and (8) widespread evidence of emplacement in lacustrine-alluvial environments, as revealed by intercalated lake sediments, ignimbrite peperites, rhyolitic and basaltic hyaloclastites, basalt pillow-lava deltas, rhyolitic and basaltic phreatomagmatic tuffs, alluvial sands and palaeosols. Many rhyolitic eruptions were high mass-flux, large volume and explosive (VEI 6-8), and involved H2O-poor, low-??18O, metaluminous rhyolite magmas with unusually low viscosities, partly due to high magmatic temperatures (900-1,050??C). SR-type volcanism contrasts with silicic volcanism at many other volcanic fields, where the fall deposits are typically Plinian with pumice lapilli, the ignimbrites are low to medium grade (non-welded to eutaxitic) with abundant pumice lapilli
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Lorch, Jeffrey M; Lankton, Julia; Werner, Katrien; Falendysz, Elizabeth A; McCurley, Kevin; Blehert, David S
2015-11-17
Snake fungal disease (SFD) is an emerging skin infection of wild snakes in eastern North America. The fungus Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola is frequently associated with the skin lesions that are characteristic of SFD, but a causal relationship between the fungus and the disease has not been established. We experimentally infected captive-bred corn snakes (Pantherophis guttatus) in the laboratory with pure cultures of O. ophiodiicola. All snakes in the infected group (n = 8) developed gross and microscopic lesions identical to those observed in wild snakes with SFD; snakes in the control group (n = 7) did not develop skin infections. Furthermore, the same strain of O. ophiodiicola used to inoculate snakes was recovered from lesions of all animals in the infected group, but no fungi were isolated from individuals in the control group. Monitoring progression of lesions throughout the experiment captured a range of presentations of SFD that have been described in wild snakes. The host response to the infection included marked recruitment of granulocytes to sites of fungal invasion, increased frequency of molting, and abnormal behaviors, such as anorexia and resting in conspicuous areas of enclosures. While these responses may help snakes to fight infection, they could also impact host fitness and may contribute to mortality in wild snakes with chronic O. ophiodiicola infection. This work provides a basis for understanding the pathogenicity of O. ophiodiicola and the ecology of SFD by using a model system that incorporates a host species that is easy to procure and maintain in the laboratory. Skin infections in snakes, referred to as snake fungal disease (SFD), have been reported with increasing frequency in wild snakes in the eastern United States. While most of these infections are associated with the fungus Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola, there has been no conclusive evidence to implicate this fungus as a primary pathogen. Furthermore, it is not understood why the
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Lukoschek, Vimoksalehi; Osterhage, Jennifer L; Karns, Daryl R; Murphy, John C; Voris, Harold K
2011-01-01
During the Cenozoic, Southeast Asia was profoundly affected by plate tectonic events, dynamic river systems, fluctuating sea levels, shifting coastlines, and climatic variation, which have influenced the ecological and evolutionary trajectories of the Southeast Asian flora and fauna. We examined the role of these paleogeographic factors on shaping phylogeographic patterns focusing on a species of semiaquatic snake, Enhydris subtaeniata (Serpentes: Homalopsidae) using sequence data from three mitochondrial fragments (cytochrome b, ND4, and ATPase—2785 bp). We sampled E. subtaeniata from seven locations in three river drainage basins that encompassed most of this species’ range. Genetic diversities were typically low within locations but high across locations. Moreover, each location had a unique suite of haplotypes not shared among locations, and pairwise φST values (0.713–0.998) were highly significant between all location pairs. Relationships among phylogroups were well resolved and analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed strong geographical partitioning of genetic variance among the three river drainage basins surveyed. The genetic differences observed among the populations of E. subtaeniata were likely shaped by the Quaternary landscapes of Indochina and the Sunda Shelf. Historically, the middle and lower Mekong consisted of strongly dissected river valleys separated by low mountain ranges and much of the Sunda Shelf consisted of lowland river valleys that served to connect faunas associated with major regional rivers. It is thus likely that the contemporary genetic patterns observed among populations of E. subtaeniata are the result of their histories in a complex terrain that created abundant opportunities for genetic isolation and divergence yet also provided lowland connections across now drowned river valleys. PMID:22393504
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Buddendorf, B.; Fabris, L.; Malcolm, I.; Lazzaro, G.; Tetzlaff, D.; Botter, G.; Soulsby, C.
2016-12-01
Wild Atlantic salmon populations in Scottish rivers constitute an important economic and recreational resource, as well as being a key component of biodiversity. Salmon have specific habitat requirements at different life stages and their distribution is therefore strongly influenced by a complex suite of biological and physical controls. Stream hydrodynamics have a strong influence on habitat quality and affect the distribution and density of juvenile salmon. As stream hydrodynamics directly relate to stream flow variability and channel morphology, the effects of hydroclimatic drivers on the spatial and temporal variability of habitat suitability can be assessed. Critical Displacement Velocity (CDV), which describes the velocity at which fish can no longer hold station, is one potential approach for characterising habitat suitability. CDV is obtained using an empirical formula that depends on fish size and stream temperature. By characterising the proportion of a reach below CDV it is possible to assess the suitable area. We demonstrate that a generic analytical approach based on field survey and hydraulic modelling can provide insights on the interactions between flow regime and average suitable area (SA) for juvenile salmon that could be extended to other aquatic species. Analytical functions are used to model the pdf of stream flow p(q) and the relationship between flow and suitable area SA(q). Theoretically these functions can assume any form. Here we used a gamma distribution to model p(q) and a gamma function to model SA(q). Integrating the product of these functions we obtain an analytical expression of SA. Since parameters of p(q) can be estimated from meteorological and flow measurements, they can be used directly to predict the effect of flow regime on SA. We show the utility of the approach with reference to 6 electrofishing sites in a single river system where long term (50 years) data on spatially distributed juvenile salmon densities are available.
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[Bites of venomous snakes in Switzerland].
Plate, Andreas; Kupferschmidt, Hugo; Schneemann, Markus
2016-06-08
Although snake bites are rare in Europe, there are a constant number of snake bites in Switzerland. There are two domestic venomous snakes in Switzerland: the aspic viper (Vipera aspis) and the common European adder (Vipera berus). Bites from venomous snakes are caused either by one of the two domestic venomous snakes or by an exotic venomous snake kept in a terrarium. Snake- bites can cause both a local and/or a systemic envenoming. Potentially fatal systemic complications are related to disturbances of the hemostatic- and cardiovascular system as well as the central or peripheral nervous system. Beside a symptomatic therapy the administration of antivenom is the only causal therapy to neutralize the venomous toxins.
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Rupert, Michael G.
1997-01-01
Factors related to contamination of ground water by dissolved nitrite plus nitrate as nitrogen (NO2+NO3-N) in parts of the upper Snake River Basin were evaluated at regional and local scales. Regional-scale relations between NO2+NO3-N concentrations and depth to first-encountered ground water, land use, precipitation, and soils were evaluated using a geographic information system. Local-scale relations between NO 2+NO3-N concentrations and other nutrients, major ions, nitrogen isotopes, stable isotopes, and tritium in five areas with different hydrogeologic settings, land use, and sources of irrigation water were evaluated to determine the factors causing differences in NO2+NO3-N. Data were collected and analyzed as part of the U.S. Geological Survey's National Water-Quality Assessment Program, which began in 1991.
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Lankton, Julia; Werner, Katrien; Falendysz, Elizabeth A.; McCurley, Kevin; Blehert, David S.
2015-01-01
ABSTRACT Snake fungal disease (SFD) is an emerging skin infection of wild snakes in eastern North America. The fungus Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola is frequently associated with the skin lesions that are characteristic of SFD, but a causal relationship between the fungus and the disease has not been established. We experimentally infected captive-bred corn snakes (Pantherophis guttatus) in the laboratory with pure cultures of O. ophiodiicola. All snakes in the infected group (n = 8) developed gross and microscopic lesions identical to those observed in wild snakes with SFD; snakes in the control group (n = 7) did not develop skin infections. Furthermore, the same strain of O. ophiodiicola used to inoculate snakes was recovered from lesions of all animals in the infected group, but no fungi were isolated from individuals in the control group. Monitoring progression of lesions throughout the experiment captured a range of presentations of SFD that have been described in wild snakes. The host response to the infection included marked recruitment of granulocytes to sites of fungal invasion, increased frequency of molting, and abnormal behaviors, such as anorexia and resting in conspicuous areas of enclosures. While these responses may help snakes to fight infection, they could also impact host fitness and may contribute to mortality in wild snakes with chronic O. ophiodiicola infection. This work provides a basis for understanding the pathogenicity of O. ophiodiicola and the ecology of SFD by using a model system that incorporates a host species that is easy to procure and maintain in the laboratory. PMID:26578676
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Moody, A.; Fairley, J. P., Jr.
2014-12-01
In light of recent advancements in reservoir enhancement and injection tests at active geothermal fields, there is interest in investigating the geothermal potential of widespread subsurface welded tuffs related to caldera collapse on the Snake River Plain (SRP). Before considering stimulation strategies, simulating heat extraction from the reservoir under in-situ fracture geometries will give a first-order estimation of extractable heat. With only limited deep boreholes drilled on the SRP, few analyses of the bulk hydrologic properties of the tuffs exist. Acknowledging the importance of the spatial heterogeneity of fractures to the permeability and injectivity of reservoirs hosted in impermeable volcanic units, we present fracture distributions from ICDP hole 5036-2A drilled as a part of Project HOTSPOT. The core documents more than 1200 m of largely homogeneous densely welded tuff hosting an isothermal warm-water reservoir at ~60˚ C. Multiple realizations of a hypothetical reservoir are created using sequential indicator algorithms that honor the observed vertical fracture frequency statistics. Results help form criteria for producing geothermal energy from the SRP.
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Byers, David A.; Henrikson, L. Suzann; Breslawski, Ryan P.
2016-06-04
Previous archaeological research in southern Idaho has suggested that climate change over the past 8000 years was not dramatic enough to alter long-term subsistence practices in the region. However, recent isotopic analyses of bison remains from cold storage caves on the Snake River Plain contest this hypothesis. Our results, when examined against an archaeoclimate model, suggest that cold storage episodes coincided with drier, warmer phases that likely reduced forage and water, and thus limited the availability of bison on the open steppe. Within this context we build a risk model to illustrate how environment might have motivated cold storage behaviors.more » Caching bison in cold lava tubes would have mitigated both intra-annual and inter-annual food shortages under these conditions. This analysis also suggests that skeletal fat, more than meat, may have influenced the selection, transport and storage of bison carcass parts. We deciphered when and how cold storage caves which was used to provide a more comprehensive understanding of foraging behaviors in a broad range of hunting-gathering economies.« less
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Teixeira, Danilo Simonini; dos Santos, Edmilson; Leal, Silvana Gomes; de Jesus, Andrea Karla; Vargas, Waldemir Paixão; Dutra, Irapuan; Barros, Marilia
2016-01-01
Here we report the first witnessed attack on a marmoset by a constrictor snake. The incident occurred mid-morning in a gallery forest within an altered landscape of the Cerrado region of central Brazil and refers to a fatal attack by a Boa constrictor on two juvenile black-tufted-ear marmosets (Callithrix penicillata) simultaneously. The snake captured both individuals at a height of ~ 4 m while a group of eight marmosets traveled through the subcanopy. The actual strike was not seen. After 2 min, the boa fell to the ground with both marmosets in its coils and proceeded to kill one animal at a time through constriction. Two adult marmosets immediately descended to where the snake held its victims on the ground and attacked it. The snake showed no apparent reaction, and after ~ 1-2 min, the adults rejoined the remaining group members that were mobbing and vocalizing from 5 to 6 m above. The group left the scene ~ 7 min after the onset of the attack and was not seen again. The snake loosened its coils 10 min after its initial strike, left the two carcasses on the ground and stayed behind a nearby tree. Thus, we are not sure if the victims were in fact ingested. This report confirms that marmosets are vulnerable to boid snakes and capable of highly organized and cooperative antipredation behavior. It also suggests that snakes pose a greater threat to callitrichids than previously thought.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Johnson, Gary E.; Ploskey, Gene R.; Hedgepeth, J.
2008-07-29
Dams impact the survival of juvenile anadromous fishes by obstructing migration corridors, lowering water quality, delaying migrations, and entraining fish in turbine discharge. To reduce these impacts, structural and operational modifications to dams— such as voluntary spill discharge, turbine intake guidance screens, and surface flow outlets—are instituted. Over the last six years, we have used acoustic imaging technology to evaluate the effects of these modifications on fish behavior, passage rates, entrainment zones, and fish/flow relationships at hydroelectric projects on the Columbia River. The imaging technique has evolved from studies documenting simple movement patterns to automated tracking of images to mergingmore » and analysis with concurrent hydraulic data. This chapter chronicles this evolution and shows how the information gleaned from the scientific evaluations has been applied to improve passage conditions for juvenile salmonids. We present data from Bonneville and The Dalles dams that document fish behavior and entrainment zones at sluiceway outlets (14 to 142 m3/s), fish passage rates through a gap at a turbine intake screen, and the relationship between fish swimming effort and hydraulic conditions. Dam operators and fisheries managers have applied these data to support decisions on operational and structural changes to the dams for the benefit of anadromous fish populations in the Columbia River basin.« less
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On some labelings of triangular snake and central graph of triangular snake graph
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Agasthi, P.; Parvathi, N.
2018-04-01
A Triangular snake Tn is obtained from a path u 1 u 2 … u n by joining ui and u i+1 to a new vertex wi for 1≤i≤n‑1. A Central graph of Triangular snake C(T n ) is obtained by subdividing each edge of Tn exactly once and joining all the non adjacent vertices of Tn . In this paper the ways to construct square sum, square difference, Root Mean square, strongly Multiplicative, Even Mean and Odd Mean labeling for Triangular Snake and Central graph of Triangular Snake graphs are reported.
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D. Craig Rudolph; Shirley J. Burgdorf; Richard N. Conner; Christopher S. Collins; Daniel Saenz; Richard R. Schaefer; Toni Trees; C. Michael Duran; Marc Ealy; John G. Himes
2002-01-01
Diet and prey handling behavior were determined for Louisiana pine snakes (Pituophis ruthveni) and black pine snakes (P. melanoleucus lodingi). Louisiana pine snakes prey heavily on Baird's pocket gophers (Geomys breviceps), with which they are sympatric, and exhibit specialized behaviors that facilitate...
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Petersen, J.H.
2001-01-01
Predation by northern pikeminnow Ptychocheilus oregonensis on juvenile salmonids Oncorhynchus spp. occurred probably during brief feeding bouts since diets were either dominated by salmonids (>80% by weight), or contained other prey types and few salmonids (<5%). In samples where salmonids had been consumed, large rather than small predators were more likely to have captured salmonids. Transects with higher catch-per-unit of effort of predators also had higher incidences of salmonids in predator guts. Predators in two of three reservoir areas were distributed more contagiously if they had preyed recently on salmonids. Spatial and temporal patchiness of salmonid prey may be generating differences in local density, aggregation, and body size of their predators in this large river.
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Survival and Passage of Juvenile Chinook Salmon and Steelhead Passing through Bonneville Dam, 2011
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Ploskey, Gene R.; Batten, G.; Cushing, Aaron W.
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and subcontractors conducted an acoustic-telemetry study of juvenile salmonid fish passage and survival at Bonneville Dam in 2011. The study was conducted to assess the readiness of the monitoring system for official compliance studies under the 2008 Biological Opinion and Fish Accords and to assess performance measures including route-specific fish passage proportions, travel times, and survival based upon a virtual/paired-release model. The study relied on releases of live Juvenile Salmon Acoustic Telemetry System tagged smolts in the Columbia River and used acoustic telemetry to evaluate the approach, passage, and survival of passing juvenile salmon usingmore » a virtual release, paired reference release survival model. This study supports the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ continual effort to improve conditions for juvenile anadromous fish passing through Columbia River dams.« less
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Fight and air exposure times of caught and released salmonids from the South Fork Snake River
Roth, Curtis J.; Schill, Daniel J.; Quist, Michael C.
2018-01-01
Catch-and-release regulations are among the most common types of fishing regulations. In recent years, concerns have arisen regarding the exposure of fish to air during catch-and-release angling. The purpose of our study was to quantify the length of time angled fish were exposed to air by anglers in a typical catch-and-release fishery and relate it to the lengths of time reported to produce negative effects. In total, 312 individual anglers were observed on the South Fork Snake River, Idaho, from May through August 2016. Fight time varied from 1.1 s to 230.0 s, and average fight time was 40.0 s (SD = 36.8). Total air exposure times varied from 0.0 s to 91.8 s and averaged 19.3 s (SD = 15.0). Though not statistically significant, a trend in reduced fight times was observed when anglers were guided and increased air exposure times when a net was used and a picture was taken. Results of the current study suggest that anglers expose fish to air for periods that are much less than those reported to cause mortality.
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Three Rivers: Protecting the Yukon's Great Boreal Wilderness
Juri Peepre
2007-01-01
The Three Rivers Project in the Yukon, Canada, aims to protect a magnificent but little known 30,000 km2 (11,583 miles2) wilderness in the Peel watershed, using the tools of science, visual art, literature, and community engagement. After completing ecological inventories, conservation values maps, and community trips on the Wind, Snake, and Bonnet Plume rivers, the...
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Brown, Richard S.; Deng, Z. Daniel; Cook, Katrina V.; Pflugrath, Brett D.; Li, Xinya; Fu, Tao; Martinez, Jayson J.; Li, Huidong; Trumbo, Bradly A.; Ahmann, Martin L.; Seaburg, Adam G.
2013-01-01
Turbine-passed fish are exposed to rapid decreases in pressure which can cause barotrauma. The presence of an implanted telemetry tag increases the likelihood of injury or death from exposure to pressure changes, thus potentially biasing studies evaluating survival of turbine-passed fish. Therefore, a neutrally buoyant externally attached tag was developed to eliminate this bias in turbine passage studies. This new tag was designed not to add excess mass in water or take up space in the coelom, having an effective tag burden of zero with the goal of reducing pressure related biases to turbine survival studies. To determine if this new tag affects fish performance or susceptibility to predation, it was evaluated in the field relative to internally implanted acoustic transmitters (JSATS; Juvenile Salmon Acoustic Telemetry System) used widely for survival studies of juvenile salmonids. Survival and travel time through the study reach was compared between fish with either tag type in an area of high predation in the Snake and Columbia rivers, Washington. An additional group of fish affixed with neutrally-buoyant dummy external tags were implanted with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags and recovered further downstream to assess external tag retention and injury. There were no significant differences in survival to the first detection site, 12 river kilometers (rkm) downstream of release. Travel times were also similar between groups. Conversely, externally-tagged fish had reduced survival (or elevated tag loss) to the second detection site, 65 rkm downstream. In addition, the retention study revealed that tag loss was first observed in fish recaptured approximately 9 days after release. Results suggest that this new tag may be viable for short term (<8 days) single-dam turbine-passage studies and under these situations, may alleviate the turbine passage-related bias encountered when using internal tags, however further research is needed to confirm this. PMID
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Brown, Richard S; Deng, Z Daniel; Cook, Katrina V; Pflugrath, Brett D; Li, Xinya; Fu, Tao; Martinez, Jayson J; Li, Huidong; Trumbo, Bradly A; Ahmann, Martin L; Seaburg, Adam G
2013-01-01
Turbine-passed fish are exposed to rapid decreases in pressure which can cause barotrauma. The presence of an implanted telemetry tag increases the likelihood of injury or death from exposure to pressure changes, thus potentially biasing studies evaluating survival of turbine-passed fish. Therefore, a neutrally buoyant externally attached tag was developed to eliminate this bias in turbine passage studies. This new tag was designed not to add excess mass in water or take up space in the coelom, having an effective tag burden of zero with the goal of reducing pressure related biases to turbine survival studies. To determine if this new tag affects fish performance or susceptibility to predation, it was evaluated in the field relative to internally implanted acoustic transmitters (JSATS; Juvenile Salmon Acoustic Telemetry System) used widely for survival studies of juvenile salmonids. Survival and travel time through the study reach was compared between fish with either tag type in an area of high predation in the Snake and Columbia rivers, Washington. An additional group of fish affixed with neutrally-buoyant dummy external tags were implanted with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags and recovered further downstream to assess external tag retention and injury. There were no significant differences in survival to the first detection site, 12 river kilometers (rkm) downstream of release. Travel times were also similar between groups. Conversely, externally-tagged fish had reduced survival (or elevated tag loss) to the second detection site, 65 rkm downstream. In addition, the retention study revealed that tag loss was first observed in fish recaptured approximately 9 days after release. Results suggest that this new tag may be viable for short term (<8 days) single-dam turbine-passage studies and under these situations, may alleviate the turbine passage-related bias encountered when using internal tags, however further research is needed to confirm this.
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Ground-water quality in the western Snake River basin, Swan Falls to Glenns Ferry, Idaho
Parliman, D.J.
1983-01-01
Water-quality data were collected from 92 wells in the western Snake River basin, Swan Falls to Glenns Ferry, Idaho. Current data were compiled with pre-1980 data from 116 wells to define water-quality conditions in major aquifers. Factors affecting water quality are composition of aquifer materials, water temperature, and source of recharge. Mixing of water by interaquifer flow, from confined, hot water aquifers (40 degrees Celsius or greater) with water from cold water aquifers (less than 20 degrees Celsius) occurs along regional complex fault systems, and through partially cased boreholes. Cold water generally contains calcium, magnesium, and bicarbonate plus carbonate ions; hot water generally contains sodium, potassium, and bicarbonate plus carbonate ions. Warm water (between 20 degrees and 40 degrees Celsius) has an intermediate chemical composition resulting from mixing. Ground-water quality is acceptable for most uses, although it locally contains chemical constituents or physical properties that may restrict its use. Effects of thermal water used for irrigation on quality of shallow ground water are inconclusive. Long-term increase in concentrations of several constituents in parts of the study area may be due to effects of land- and water-use activities, such as infiltration of septic-tank effluent. (USGS)
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Snake fungal disease: An emerging threat to wild snakes
Lorch, Jeffrey M.; Knowles, Susan N.; Lankton, Julia S.; Michell, Kathy; Edwards, Jaime L.; Kapfer, Joshua M.; Staffen, Richard A.; Wild, Erik R.; Schmidt, Katie Z.; Ballmann, Anne; Blodgett, Doug; Farrell, Terence M.; Glorioso, Brad M.; Last, Lisa A.; Price, Steven J.; Schuler, Krysten L.; Smith, Christopher; Wellehan, James F. X.; Blehert, David S.
2016-01-01
Since 2006, there has been a marked increase in the number of reports of severe and often fatal fungal skin infections in wild snakes in the eastern USA. The emerging condition, referred to as snake fungal disease (SFD), was initially documented in rattlesnakes, where the infections were believed to pose a risk to the viability of affected populations. The disease is caused byOphidiomyces ophiodiicola, a fungus recently split from a complex of fungi long referred to as the Chrysosporium anamorph of Nannizziopsis vriesii (CANV). Here we review the current state of knowledge about O. ophiodiicola and SFD. In addition, we provide original findings which demonstrate that O. ophiodiicola is widely distributed in eastern North America, has a broad host range, is the predominant cause of fungal skin infections in wild snakes and often causes mild infections in snakes emerging from hibernation. This new information, together with what is already available in the scientific literature, advances our knowledge of the cause, pathogenesis and ecology of SFD. However, additional research is necessary to elucidate the factors driving the emergence of this disease and develop strategies to mitigate its impacts.
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Silva, Anjana; Gamlaksha, Dayal; Waidyaratne, Dhananjaya
2013-11-01
A 19 year old male was admitted to a tertiary care centre in Sri Lanka, with a history of snake bite while sleeping at night. A killed specimen of a snake was brought with the patient. It had been identified as a non-venomous snake by the doctor and handed over to relatives, with a comment to that effect. Patient had no clinical or laboratory evidence of envenoming on admission. Patient developed bilateral ptosis six hours after alleged snake bite, soon followed by respiratory paralysis and was treated with Indian polyvalent anti-venom serum. After 12 h of the bite, patient had developed hypotension that did not respond to ionotropes. Despite intensive management, patient had become deeply comatose and deceased 46 h following the snake bite. Autopsy revealed features suggestive of disseminated intravascular coagulation. Since an allegation of medical negligence too had been levelled by the relations of the patient against the clinical staff, the buried specimen of the snake was recovered by police, on a judicial order, a week later. It was found to be almost completely disintegrated and only the scales and bones were remaining. According to the scale characters, the reconstructed specimen was identified as Indian krait (Bungarus caeruleus). Authentication of snake is important in investigating a death due to snake bite, especially when the snake was initially claimed to be a non-venomous snake. This case suggests the usefulness of forensic identification of species of the snake in investigating suspected snake bite cases. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. All rights reserved.
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Clark, G.M.
1997-01-01
During May and June 1994, 37 water samples were collected at 31 sites in the upper Snake River Basin and analyzed for 83 pesticides and pesticide metabolites. EPTC, atrazine, and the atrazine metabolite deethylated atrazine were the most frequently detected and were found in 30, 20, and 13 of the samples, respectively. Fifteen additional pesticides were detected at least once. All the compounds detected were at concentrations of less than 1 microgram per liter. Total annual applications of EPTC and atrazine within subbasins and their instantaneous instream fluxes have a logarithmic relation with coefficients of determination (R2 values) of 0.55 and 0.62, respectively. At the time of sampling, the median daily flux of EPTC was about O. 0001% of the annual amount applied in a subbasin, whereas the median daily flux of atrazine was between 0.001 and 0.01%. The difference in fluxes between EPTC and atrazine probably results from differences in their physical properties and in the method and timing of application.
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Snake River Sockeye Salmon Captive Broodstock Program; Hatchery Element, 2004 Annual Report.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Baker, Dan J.; Heindel, Jeff A.; Redding, Jeremy
2006-05-01
On November 20, 1991, the National Marine Fisheries Service listed Snake River sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka as endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. In 1991, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, and the National Marine Fisheries Service initiated efforts to conserve and rebuild populations in Idaho. Initial steps to recover sockeye salmon included the establishment of a captive broodstock program at the Idaho Department of Fish and Game Eagle Fish Hatchery. Sockeye salmon broodstock and culture responsibilities are shared with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration at two locations adjacent to Puget Sound inmore » Washington State. Activities conducted by the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are reported under separate cover. Idaho Department of Fish and Game monitoring and evaluation activities of captive broodstock program fish releases (annual report to the Bonneville Power Administration for the research element of the program) are also reported separately. Captive broodstock program activities conducted between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2004 for the hatchery element of the program are presented in this report. In 2004, twenty-seven anadromous sockeye salmon returned to the Sawtooth Valley. Traps on Redfish Lake Creek and the upper Salmon River at the Sawtooth Fish Hatchery intercepted one and four adults, respectively. Additionally, one adult sockeye salmon was collected at the East Fork Salmon River weir, 18 were seined from below the Sawtooth Fish Hatchery weir, one adult sockeye salmon was observed below the Sawtooth Fish Hatchery weir but not captured, and two adult sockeye salmon were observed in Little Redfish Lake but not captured. Fish were captured/collected between July 24 and September 14, 2004. The captured/collected adult sockeye salmon (12 females and 12 males) originated from a variety of release strategies and were transferred
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Gadomski, D.M.; Parsley, M.J.; Kofoot, P.
2004-01-01
During 1 April 2002 through 31 March 2003, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) continued work on several tasks, including quantifying habitat suitable for white sturgeon Acipenser transmontanus spawning, a long-term survey of young-of-the-year (YOY) white sturgeon recruitment in the lower Columbia River, and a laboratory study investigating predation on larval and juvenile white sturgeon. River discharge and water temperatures that occurred during April through July 2002 provided relatively good conditions for spawning by white sturgeon downstream from Bonneville, The Dalles, John Day, and McNary dams. Optimal spawning temperatures in the four tailraces occurred for approximately three weeks and during a period of relatively high river discharge. Our monthly estimates of the index of spawning habitat showed that the availability of habitat for spawning peaked in June at levels higher than the average of past years. However, indices for the month of May were less than average in all four tailraces. YOY white sturgeon were collected during bottom trawling in Bonneville and The Dalles reservoirs, but none were captured in the John Day Reservoir. In an ongoing comparison of indices of abundance derived from bottom trawls and gill nets, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife also caught YOY white sturgeon in gill nets set in The Dalles Reservoir, but none in the John Day Reservoir. The third year of a three-year laboratory predation study was completed. Adult channel catfish ingested white sturgeon up to a mean total length of about 120 mm, and juvenile walleye ate white sturgeon up to a mean length of 53 mm. When white sturgeon and coho salmon were both available as prey, northern pikeminnow continued to ingest white sturgeon, but in most cases preferred salmon. Conversely, prickly sculpins preferred white sturgeon over goldfish as prey. The presence of cover and also lower light levels reduced predation by sculpins on white sturgeon larvae, but cover did not reduce
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Mauls, Alec G.; Mesa, Matthew G.
1994-01-01
We tested the efficacy of using electrofishing to collect juvenile fall chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha to assess their plasma cortisol concentrations. In laboratory experiments, plasma cortisol titers of fish sampled immediately (<4 s) after a 1.5-s, 500-V DC electroshock were not different from controls (mean ± SE, 28.8 ± 5.2 ng/mL), but within 15 min they were significantly higher (148.2 ± 19.0 ng/mL) than controls. Plasma cortisol levels of fish released through turbines and of those released through the juvenile-bypass system at Bonneville Dam, Oregon-Washington, and collected by electrofishing did not differ from each other or from prerelease samples (about 70 ± 7 ng/mL). Our results indicate that electrofishing can be used to collect fish for stress assessment in the wild, provided fish are sacrificed immediately after capture. We are concerned, however, that the small number of fish we captured by electrofishing may not be representative of the majority of fish that pass through turbines or bypass systems. The fish used in this study were not migrating smolts and so were not typical of juvenile chinook salmon passing through hydroelectric dams on the Columbia River. Developmental as well as species- and stock-related factors should be addressed in future studies.
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Snakes Have Feelings, Too: Elements of a Camp Snake Program.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Allen, Robert Ross
2001-01-01
A camp snake program can help campers overcome their fear of snakes, and people cannot truly enjoy nature when they carry a phobia about any one part of it. It can also help overcome prejudice by teaching truth and respect, instilling compassion, and helping campers develop empathy. Advice on catching, handling, identifying, keeping, and feeding…
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Keefe, MaryLouise; Tranquilli, J. Vincent
1998-01-01
We determined migration timing and abundance of juvenile spring chinook salmon from three populations in the Grande Ronde River basin. We estimated 6,716 juvenile chinook salmon left upper rearing areas of the Grande Ronde River from July 1997 to June 1998; approximately 6% of the migrants left in summer, 29% in fall, 2% in winter, and 63% in spring. We estimated 8,763 juvenile chinook salmon left upper rearing areas of Catherine Creek from July 1997 to June 1998; approximately 12% of the migrants left in summer, 37% in fall, 21% in winter, and 29% in spring. We estimated 8,859 juvenilemore » chinook salmon left the Grande Ronde Valley, located below the upper rearing areas in Catherine Creek and the Grande Ronde River, from October 1997 to June 1998; approximately 99% of the migrants left in spring. We estimated 15,738 juvenile chinook salmon left upper rearing areas of the Lostine River from July 1997 to April 1998; approximately 3% of the migrants left in summer, 61% in fall, 2% in winter, and 34% in spring. We estimated 22,754 juvenile spring chinook salmon left the Wallowa Valley, located below the mouth of the Lostine River, from September 1997 to April 1998; approximately 55% of the migrants left in fall, 5% in winter, and 40% in spring. Juvenile chinook salmon PIT-tagged on the upper Grande Ronde River were detected at Lower Granite Dam from 4 April to 26 June 1998, with a median passage date of 1 May. PIT-tagged salmon from Catherine Creek were detected at Lower Granite Dam from 3 April to 26 June 1998, with a median passage date of 8 May. PIT-tagged salmon from the Lostine River were detected at Lower Granite Dam from 31 March through 26 May 1998, with a median passage date of 28 April. Juveniles tagged as they left the upper rearing areas of the Grande Ronde and Lostine rivers in fall and that overwintered in areas downstream were detected in the hydrosystem at a higher rate than fish tagged during winter in the upper rearing areas, indicating a higher
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Budy, P.; Luecke, C.; Wurtsbaugh, W.A.
1996-05-01
Included in this section of the report on limnology of Lakes in the Snake River Plain are descriptions of four years of limnological sampling to compare inter and intra annual variability in lake productivity to evaluate potential rearing conditions for juvenile sockeyed salmon. Data was used to evaluate the effects of nutrient enhancement, annual weather patterns, and planktivore consumption on lake productivity.
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Wind River Watershed Restoration 2004-2005 Annual Report.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Connolly, Patrick J.; Jezorek, Ian G.
2008-11-10
During 2004, researchers from U.S. Geological Survey's Columbia River Research Laboratory (USGS-CRRL) collected temperature, flow, and habitat data to characterize physical habitat condition and variation within and among tributaries and mainstem sections in the Wind River subbasin. Juvenile salmonid population surveys were conducted within select study areas throughout the subbasin. We expanded our survey coverage of the mainstem Wind River to a reach in the vicinity of Carson National Fish Hatchery to assess effects of non-indigenous Chinook on native steelhead. These efforts add to a database of habitat and fish data collected in the Wind River since 1996. This researchmore » contributes to the Wind River Restoration Project, which includes active stream habitat restoration and monitoring of adult and juvenile steelhead populations. We maintained a network of 32 thermographs in the Wind River subbasin during 2004. Additionally, Underwood Conservation District provided us with data from seven thermographs that they maintained during 2004. Thermograph data are identifying areas with chronic high water temperatures and stream sections where high rates of warming are occurring. During 2004, water temperatures at 26 thermograph sites exceeded the 16 C limit for surface waters set by the Washington Department of Ecology. Water temperatures exceeded 20 C at five sites in the Trout Creek watershed. Our thermograph dataset includes information from as early as 1996 at some sites and has become a valuable long-term dataset, which will be crucial in determining bioenergetic relationships with habitat and life-histories. We have monitored salmonid populations throughout the Wind River subbasin by electrofishing and snorkeling. We electrofished four stream sections for population estimates during 2004. In these sections, and others where we simply collected fish without a population estimate, we tagged juvenile steelhead and Chinook salmon with Passive Integrated
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Burger, J; Boarman, W; Kurzava, L; Gochfeld, M
1991-01-01
The abilities of hatchling pine snakes (Pituophis melanoleucus) and king snakes (Lampropeltis getulus) to discriminate the chemical trails of pine and king snakes was investigated inY-maze experiments. Pine snakes were housed for 17 days either with shavings impregnated with pine snake odor, king snake odor, or no odor to test for the effect of experience on choice. Both pine and king snake hatchlings entered the arm with the pine snake odor and did not enter the arm with the king snake odor. The data support the hypothesis that hatchlings of both species can distinguish conspecific odors from other odors and that our manipulation of previous experience was without effect for pine snake hatchlings.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Tiffan, Kenneth F.; Kock, Tobias J.; Connor, William P.
We studied the influence of behavior, water velocity, and physiological development on the downstream movement of subyearling fall Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha in free-flowing and impounded reaches of the Clearwater and Snake rivers as potential mechanisms that might explain life history diversity in this stock. Movement rates and the percentage of radio-tagged fish that moved faster than the average current velocity were highest in the free-flowing Clearwater River compared to impounded reaches. This provided support for our hypothesis that water velocity is a primary determinant of downstream movement regardless of a fish’s physiological development. In contrast, movement rates slowed andmore » detections became fewer in impounded reaches where velocities were much lower. The percentage of fish that moved faster than the average current velocity continued to decline and reached zero in the lower-most reach of Lower Granite Reservoir suggesting that behavioral disposition to move downstream was low. These findings contrast those of a similar, previous study of Snake River subyearlings in spite of hydrodynamic conditions being similar. Physiological differences between Snake and Clearwater river migrants shed light on this disparity. Subyearlings from the Clearwater River were parr-like in their development and never showed an increase in gill Na+/K+-ATPase activity as did smolts from the Snake River. The later emergence timing and cooler rearing temperatures in the Clearwater River may suppress normal physiological development that causes many fish to delay downstream movement and adopt a yearling life history strategy.« less
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Snakes: An Integrated Unit Plan.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lawrence, Lisa
This document presents an integrated unit plan on snakes targeting second grade students. Objectives of the unit include developing concepts of living things, understanding the contribution and importance of snakes to the environment, and making connections between different disciplines. The unit integrates the topic of snakes into the areas of…
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Neurotoxic snakes of the Americas
Rolan, Terry D.
2015-01-01
Abstract Snake envenomation is a global problem and often a matter of life or death. Emergency treatment is not always readily available or effective. There are numerous neurotoxic snakes in the Americas, chiefly elapids; some crotalids have also evolved neurotoxic venom. The variability of neurotoxins found in snake venom within the same species makes development and choice of proper antivenom a major challenge that has not been completely addressed. This article reviews the epidemiology, clinical effects, and current treatment of neurotoxic snake envenomation in the Americas. PMID:29443174
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Leonard, C.; Legleiter, C. J.
2014-12-01
High-energy gravel-bed rivers are subject to a range of management practices used to control the system's dynamic behavior. The Snake River, near Jackson, WY, offers an opportunity to study the morphological effects of management practices through a comparison of a reach confined by levees to an unmanaged reach just upstream within Grand Teton National Park (GTNP). I hypothesize that levees have reduced sediment supply by disconnecting the river from its banks and increased transport capacity by increasing flow velocity. Together, these effects accentuate the sediment deficit in the leveed reach. To test this I am developing a morphological sediment budget from GTNP to Wilson, WY, using LiDAR data from 2007 and 2012. This analysis will yield insight as to how sediment transport varies between the relatively natural reach in GTNP and the leveed reach downstream. A problem inherent to morphological budgets is the inability to decipher when change occurs within the budget timeframe. To combat this, a partial mobility study was executed using 300 PIT tagged gravels within the leveed reach. Gravels were relocated to decipher how bed mobility and sediment transport varied with grain size under a range of hydraulic conditions. These results are then used to estimate a critical discharge representing the inception of bed motion and geomorphic change. The critical discharge will be used to reconstruct the timing of bed mobility based on streamflow records and thus deconvolve when morphological change occurred during the sediment budget period. I further hypothesize that a greater imbalance between transport capacity and sediment supply in the leveed reach causes the bed to armor, resulting in larger critical shear stresses and implying that the bed will be mobilized only during greater discharge events. To test this hypothesis I will measure armor ratios within the leveed reach and examine how bed mobility differs between the two reaches by comparing the results of our
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Becker, C.D.
1994-10-01
Juvenile chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the Hanford environs of the central Columbia River, Washington consumed almost entirely adult and larval stages of aquatic insects. The food organisms were dominated by midges (Diptera: Tendipedidae); by numbers, adult midges provided 64 and 58% of the diet and larval midges 17 and 18% of the diet, in 1968 and 1969, respectively. The families Hydropsychidae (Trichoptera), Notonectidae (Hemiptera) and Hypogastruridae (Collembola) were of secondary importance. Small fry fed almost exclusively on the small tendipedids. Over 95% of all food organisms originated within the river ecosystem. The distinctive features of food and feeding activitymore » were fourfold: first, relatively few insect groups were utilized; second, the fish depended on drifting, floating, or swimming organisms; third, they visually selected living prey moving in or on the water; and fourth, they were habitat opportunists to a high degree. The 1969 data, were studied to reveal possible thermal effects of heated discharges from plutonium production reactors at Hanford on food and growth parameters. All data were characterized by considerable variation between and within stations. No discernable effects between coldwater and warmwater stations were revealed by analyses of: (1) groups of food organisms utilized, (2) food and feeding activity, (3) numbers of insects consumed, (4) seasonal increases in fish length, (5) fish length-weight relationships, (6) fish coefficients of condition, and (7) stomach biomass. The lack of detectable thermal effects was apparently due to the fact that the main effluent plumes discharge in midstream and the effluents are well mixed before reaching inshore feeding areas. The transient nature of fish groups at each station, influenced by changes in regulated river flows, and the availability of food organisms in the river drift were ecological factors affecting critical thermal evaluation in situ.« less
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Analysis of stream quality in the Yampa River Basin, Colorado and Wyoming
Wentz, Dennis A.; Steele, Timothy Doak
1980-01-01
Historic data show no significant water-temperature changes since 1951 for the Little Snake or Yampa Rivers, the two major streams of the Yampa River basin in Colorado and Wyoming. Regional analyses indicate that harmonic-mean temperature is negatively correlated with altitude. No change in specific conductance since 1951 was noted for the Little Snake River; however, specific conductance in the Yampa River has increaed 14 % since that time and is attributed to increased agricultural and municipal use of water. Site-specific relationships between major inorganic constituents and specific conductance for the Little Snake and Yampa Rivers were similar to regional relationships developed from both historic and recent (1975) data. These relationships provide a means for estimating concentrations of major inorganic constituents from specific conductance, which is easily measured. Trace-element and nutrient data collected from August 1975 through September 1976 at 92 sites in the Yampa River basin indicate that water-quality degradation occurred upstream from 3 sites. The degradation resulted from underground drainage from pyritic materials that probably are associated with coal at one site, discharge from powerplant cooling-tower blowdown water at a second site, and runoff from a small watershed containing a gas field at the third site. Ambient concentrations of dissolved and total iron and manganese frequently exceeded proposed Colorado water-quality standards. The concentrations of many dissolved and total trace elements and nutrients were greatest during March 1976. These were associated with larger suspended-sediment concentrations and smaller pH values than at other times of the year. (USGS)
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Snake fungal disease: an emerging threat to wild snakes.
Lorch, Jeffrey M; Knowles, Susan; Lankton, Julia S; Michell, Kathy; Edwards, Jaime L; Kapfer, Joshua M; Staffen, Richard A; Wild, Erik R; Schmidt, Katie Z; Ballmann, Anne E; Blodgett, Doug; Farrell, Terence M; Glorioso, Brad M; Last, Lisa A; Price, Steven J; Schuler, Krysten L; Smith, Christopher E; Wellehan, James F X; Blehert, David S
2016-12-05
Since 2006, there has been a marked increase in the number of reports of severe and often fatal fungal skin infections in wild snakes in the eastern USA. The emerging condition, referred to as snake fungal disease (SFD), was initially documented in rattlesnakes, where the infections were believed to pose a risk to the viability of affected populations. The disease is caused by Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola, a fungus recently split from a complex of fungi long referred to as the Chrysosporium anamorph of Nannizziopsis vriesii (CANV). Here we review the current state of knowledge about O. ophiodiicola and SFD. In addition, we provide original findings which demonstrate that O. ophiodiicola is widely distributed in eastern North America, has a broad host range, is the predominant cause of fungal skin infections in wild snakes and often causes mild infections in snakes emerging from hibernation. This new information, together with what is already available in the scientific literature, advances our knowledge of the cause, pathogenesis and ecology of SFD. However, additional research is necessary to elucidate the factors driving the emergence of this disease and develop strategies to mitigate its impacts.This article is part of the themed issue 'Tackling emerging fungal threats to animal health, food security and ecosystem resilience'. © 2016 The Author(s).
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Snake fungal disease: an emerging threat to wild snakes
Lorch, Jeffrey M.; Knowles, Susan; Lankton, Julia S.; Michell, Kathy; Edwards, Jaime L.; Kapfer, Joshua M.; Staffen, Richard A.; Wild, Erik R.; Schmidt, Katie Z.; Ballmann, Anne E.; Blodgett, Doug; Farrell, Terence M.; Glorioso, Brad M.; Last, Lisa A.; Price, Steven J.; Schuler, Krysten L.; Smith, Christopher E.; Wellehan, James F. X.; Blehert, David S.
2016-01-01
Since 2006, there has been a marked increase in the number of reports of severe and often fatal fungal skin infections in wild snakes in the eastern USA. The emerging condition, referred to as snake fungal disease (SFD), was initially documented in rattlesnakes, where the infections were believed to pose a risk to the viability of affected populations. The disease is caused by Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola, a fungus recently split from a complex of fungi long referred to as the Chrysosporium anamorph of Nannizziopsis vriesii (CANV). Here we review the current state of knowledge about O. ophiodiicola and SFD. In addition, we provide original findings which demonstrate that O. ophiodiicola is widely distributed in eastern North America, has a broad host range, is the predominant cause of fungal skin infections in wild snakes and often causes mild infections in snakes emerging from hibernation. This new information, together with what is already available in the scientific literature, advances our knowledge of the cause, pathogenesis and ecology of SFD. However, additional research is necessary to elucidate the factors driving the emergence of this disease and develop strategies to mitigate its impacts. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Tackling emerging fungal threats to animal health, food security and ecosystem resilience’. PMID:28080983
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Shine, R; LeMaster, M P; Moore, I T; Olsson, M M; Mason, R T
2001-03-01
Huge breeding aggregations of red-sided garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis) at overwintering dens in Manitoba provide a unique opportunity to identify sources of mortality and to clarify factors that influence a snake's vulnerability to these factors. Comparisons of sexes, body sizes, and body condition of more than 1000 dead snakes versus live animals sampled at the same time reveal significant biases. Three primary sources of mortality were identified. Predation by crows, Corvus brachyrhynchos (590 snakes killed), was focussed mostly on small snakes of both sexes. Crows generally removed the snake's liver and left the carcass, but very small snakes were sometimes brought back to the nest. Suffocation beneath massive piles of other snakes within the den (301 dead animals) involved mostly small males and (to a lesser extent) large females; snakes in poor body condition were particularly vulnerable. Many emaciated snakes (n = 142, mostly females) also died without overt injuries, probably due to depleted energy reserves. These biases in vulnerability are readily interpretable from information on behavioral ecology of the snakes. For example, sex biases in mortality reflect differences in postemergence behavior and locomotor capacity, the greater attractiveness of larger females to males, and the high energy costs of reproduction for females.
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Waye, Heather L; Mason, Robert T
2008-02-01
The body condition index is a common method for quantifying the energy reserves of individual animals. Because good body condition is necessary for reproduction in many species, body condition indices can indicate the potential reproductive output of a population. Body condition is related to glucocorticoid production, in that low body condition is correlated to high concentrations of corticosterone in reptiles. We compared the body condition index and plasma corticosterone levels of brown tree snakes on Guam in 2003 to those collected in 1992/1993 to determine whether that population still showed the chronic stress and poor condition apparent in the earlier study. We also examined the relationship between fat mass, body condition and plasma corticosterone concentrations as indicators of physiological condition of individuals in the population. Body condition was significantly higher in 2003 than in the earlier sample for mature male and female snakes, but not for juveniles. The significantly lower levels of corticosterone in all three groups in 2003 suggests that although juveniles did not have significantly improved energy stores they, along with the mature males and females, were no longer under chronic levels of stress. Although the wet season of 2002 was unusually rainy, low baseline levels of corticosterone measured in 2000 indicate that the improved body condition of snakes in 2003 is likely the result of long-term changes in prey populations rather than annual variation in response to environmental conditions.
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First documented case of snake fungal disease in a free-ranging wild snake in Louisiana
Glorioso, Brad M.; Waddle, J. Hardin; Green, David E.; Lorch, Jeffrey M.
2016-01-01
Snake fungal disease (SFD) is a recently documented mycotic disease characterized by scabs or crusty scales, subcutaneous nodules, abnormal molting, cloudiness of the eyes (not associated with molting), and localized thickening or crusting of the skin. SFD has been documented in many species in the Eastern and Midwestern United States within the last decade. SFD has proven lethal in many snakes, and the disease is recognized as an emerging threat to wild snake populations. Here, we describe the first documented case of SFD in Louisiana in a free-ranging wild snake.
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Steelhead Supplementation Studies; Steelhead Supplementation in Idaho Rivers, Annual Report 2002.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Byrne, Alan
The Steelhead Supplementation Study (SSS) has two broad objectives: (1) investigate the feasibility of supplementing depressed wild and natural steelhead populations using hatchery populations, and (2) describe the basic life history and genetic characteristics of wild and natural steelhead populations in the Salmon and Clearwater Basins. Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) personnel stocked adult steelhead from Sawtooth Fish Hatchery into Frenchman and Beaver creeks and estimated the number of age-1 parr produced from the outplants since 1993. On May 2, 2002, both Beaver and Frenchman creeks were stocked with hatchery adult steelhead. A SSS crew snorkeled the creeksmore » in August 2002 to estimate the abundance of age-1 parr from brood year (BY) 2001. I estimated that the yield of age-1 parr per female stocked in 2001 was 7.3 and 6.7 in Beaver and Frenchman creeks, respectively. SSS crews stocked Dworshak hatchery stock fingerlings and smolts from 1993 to 1999 in the Red River drainage to assess which life stage produces more progeny when the adults return to spawn. In 2002, Clearwater Fish Hatchery personnel operated the Red River weir to trap adults that returned from these stockings. Twelve PIT-tagged adults from the smolt releases and one PIT-tagged adult from fingerling releases were detected during their migration up the mainstem Columbia and Snake rivers, but none from either group were caught at the weir. The primary focus of the study has been monitoring and collecting life history information from wild steelhead populations. An adult weir has been operated annually since 1992 in Fish Creek, a tributary of the Lochsa River. The weir was damaged by a rain-on-snow event in April 2002 and although the weir remained intact, some adults were able to swim undetected through the weir. Despite damage to the weir, trap tenders captured 167 adult steelhead, the most fish since 1993. The maximum likelihood estimate of adult steelhead escapement was 242. A
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kessler, J. A.; Evans, J. P.; Shervais, J. W.; Schmitt, D.
2011-12-01
The Snake River Geothermal Drilling Project (Project Hotspot) seeks to assess the potential for geothermal energy development in the Snake River Plain (SRP), Idaho. Three deep slimhole wells are drilled at the Kimama, Kimberly, and Mountain Home sites in the central SRP. The Kimama and Kimberly wells are complete and the Mountain Home well is in progress. Total depth at Kimama is 1,912 m while total depth at Kimberly is 1,958 m. Mountain Home is expected to reach around 1,900 m. Full core is recovered and complete suites of wireline borehole geophysical data have been collected at both Kimama and Kimberly sites along with vertical seismic profiles. Part of the geothermal assessment includes evaluating the changes in the nature of fractures with depth through the study of physical core samples and analysis of the wireline geophysical data to better understand how fractures affect permeability in the zones that have the potential for geothermal fluid migration. The fracture inventory is complete for the Kimama borehole and preliminary analyses indicate that fracture zones are related to basaltic flow boundaries. The average fracture density is 17 fractures/3 m. The maximum fracture density is 110 fractures/3 m. Fracture density varies with depth and increases considerably in the bottom 200 m of the well. Initial indications are that the majority of fractures are oriented subhorizontally but a considerable number are oriented subvertically as well. We expect to statistically evaluate the distribution of fracture length and orientation as well as analyze local alteration and secondary mineralization that might indicate fluid pathways that we can use to better understand permeability at depth in the borehole. Near real-time temperature data from the Kimama borehole indicate a temperature gradient of 82°C/km below the base of the Snake River Plain aquifer at a depth of 960 m bgs. The measured temperature at around 1,400 m depth is 55°C and the projected temperature at
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Foster, D. A.; Vogl, J.; Min, K. K.; Bricker, A.; Gelato, P. W.
2013-12-01
Passage of North America over the Yellowstone hotspot has had a profound influence on the topography of the northern Rocky Mountains. One of the most prominent topographic features is the Yellowstone crescent of high topography, which comprises two elevated shoulders bounding the eastern Snake River Plain (SRP) and converging at a topographic swell centered on the Yellowstone region. Kilometer-scale erosion has occurred locally within the topographic crescent, but it is unclear if rock exhumation is due to surface uplift surrounding the propagating hot spot, subsidence of the Snake River Plain after passage of the hot spot, or relief initiated by extension in the Northern Basin and Range Province. We have applied (U-Th/He) apatite (AHe) thermochronology to the Pioneer-Boulder Mountains (PBM) on the northern flank of the SRP, and the southern Beartooth Mountains (BM) directly north of the modern Yellowstone caldera, to constrain the timing, rates, and spatial distribution of exhumation. AHe ages from the PBM indicate that >2-3 km of exhumation occurred in the core of this topographic culmination since ~11 Ma. Age-elevation relationships suggest an exhumation rate of ~0.3 mm/yr between ~11 and 8 Ma. Eocene Challis volcanic rocks are extensively preserved and Eocene topographic highs are locally preserved to the north and south of the PBM, indicating minimal erosion adjacent to the PBM culmination. Spatial patterns of both exhumation and topography indicate that faulting was not the primary control on uplift and exhumation. Regional exhumation at 11-8 Ma was synchronous with silicic eruptions from the ~10.3 Ma Picabo volcanic field located immediately to the south and with S-tilting of the southern flank of the PBM that is likely the result of loading of the ESRP by mid-crustal mafic intrusions. AHe data from Archean rocks of the southern BM reveal Miocene-Pliocene cooling ages and include samples as young as ~2-6 Ma. Discordant single grain ages in samples with
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Winter habitat use by cutthroat trout in the Snake River near Jackson, Wyoming
Harper, D.D.; Farag, A.M.
2004-01-01
Winter habitat use by Yellowstone cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarki bouvieri was monitored with radiotelemetry during November-March 1998-2001 in channelized and unaltered sections of the Snake River near Jackson, Wyoming. The use of run and off-channel pool habitat was significantly correlated to water temperature; run use was most frequent when mean water temperature exceeded 1.0°C, and off-channel pool use was greatest when mean water temperature was below 1.0°C. Available habitat was surveyed during winter 1999-2000 and was compared with actual habitat use. This comparison indicated that cutthroat trout avoided riffle habitat, selected deep runs, and strongly selected off-channel pool habitat. Large, deep, off-channel pools with groundwater influence were uncommon in the study area but were frequently selected as over-wintering habitat in the channelized section during all three study years. During 2000-2001, mainstem water temperatures were significantly colder than in 1998-1999 or 1999-2000, and anchor ice was observed more frequently in 2000-2001 than in 1998-1999 or 1999-2000 (on 18 d versus 5 d and 3 d, respectively). Mean water temperatures in off-channel pools were not significantly different among years. Depth and shelf ice were most frequently identified as cover elements in the channelized section. Run habitat was more common and used more frequently upstream of the channelized section. Large woody debris was more common and selected more frequently as cover in the unaltered section than in the channelized section.
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Lainson, R; Paperna, I
2000-12-01
Sarcocysts in muscles of the teiid lizard Ameiva ameiva from north Brazil were fed to the colubrid snake Mastigodryas bifossatus, the faeces of which had been shown to be devoid of coccidial oocysts or sporocysts. When necropsied 16 days later the snake was shown to have developed a massive intestinal infection of Sarcocystis. Mature sporocysts from another, naturally infected M. bifossatus were fed to juvenile specimens of A. ameiva in which no sarcocysts could be detected in tail muscle biopsies. When examined 30 and 47 days later they had very large numbers of sarcocysts in their tail and tongue muscles. The parasite is given the name of Sarcocystis ameivamastigodryasi n. sp. An ultrastructural study has been made of the sarcocyst and of the parasite's sporulation in the lamina propria of the snake: the latter provides details of the wall formation process in developing sporocysts. Attempts to infect a specimen of the boid Boa constrictor constrictor by feeding it with infected Ameiva failed, suggesting that sporocysts previously recorded in genera of the family Boidae may be those of a different species of Sarcocystis.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Rosmanis, Ansis
2011-02-15
I introduce a continuous-time quantum walk on graphs called the quantum snake walk, the basis states of which are fixed-length paths (snakes) in the underlying graph. First, I analyze the quantum snake walk on the line, and I show that, even though most states stay localized throughout the evolution, there are specific states that most likely move on the line as wave packets with momentum inversely proportional to the length of the snake. Next, I discuss how an algorithm based on the quantum snake walk might potentially be able to solve an extended version of the glued trees problem, whichmore » asks to find a path connecting both roots of the glued trees graph. To the best of my knowledge, no efficient quantum algorithm solving this problem is known yet.« less
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Survival and Passage of Juvenile Chinook Salmon and Steelhead Passing Through Bonneville Dam, 2010
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Ploskey, Gene R.; Weiland, Mark A.; Hughes, James S.
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and subcontractors conducted an acoustic-telemetry study of juvenile salmonid fish passage and survival at Bonneville Dam in 2010. The study was conducted to assess the readiness of the monitoring system for official compliance studies under the 2008 Biological Opinion and Fish Accords and to assess performance measures including route-specific fish passage proportions, travel times, and survival based upon a single-release model. This also was the last year of evaluation of effects of a behavioral guidance device installed in the Powerhouse 2 forebay. The study relied on releases of live Juvenile Salmon Acoustic Telemetry System taggedmore » smolts in the Columbia River and used acoustic telemetry to evaluate the approach, passage, and survival of passing juvenile salmon. This study supports the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers continual effort to improve conditions for juvenile anadromous fish passing through Columbia River dams.« less
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Computational Studies of Snake Venom Toxins
Ojeda, Paola G.; Caballero, Julio; Kaas, Quentin; González, Wendy
2017-01-01
Most snake venom toxins are proteins, and participate to envenomation through a diverse array of bioactivities, such as bleeding, inflammation, and pain, cytotoxic, cardiotoxic or neurotoxic effects. The venom of a single snake species contains hundreds of toxins, and the venoms of the 725 species of venomous snakes represent a large pool of potentially bioactive proteins. Despite considerable discovery efforts, most of the snake venom toxins are still uncharacterized. Modern bioinformatics tools have been recently developed to mine snake venoms, helping focus experimental research on the most potentially interesting toxins. Some computational techniques predict toxin molecular targets, and the binding mode to these targets. This review gives an overview of current knowledge on the ~2200 sequences, and more than 400 three-dimensional structures of snake toxins deposited in public repositories, as well as of molecular modeling studies of the interaction between these toxins and their molecular targets. We also describe how modern bioinformatics have been used to study the snake venom protein phospholipase A2, the small basic myotoxin Crotamine, and the three-finger peptide Mambalgin. PMID:29271884
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Sulak, K.J.; Randall, M.T.; Edwards, R.E.; Summers, T.M.; Luke, K.E.; Smith, W.T.; Norem, A.D.; Harden, William M.; Lukens, R.H.; Parauka, F.; Bolden, S.; Lehnert, R.
2009-01-01
Three automated listening post-telemetry studies were undertaken in the Suwannee and Apalachicola estuaries to gain knowledge of habitats use by juvenile Gulf Sturgeons (Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi) on winter feeding grounds. A simple and reliable method for external attachment of small acoustic tags to the dorsal fin base was developed using shrink-tubing. Suspending receivers on masts below anchored buoys improved reception and facilitated downloading; a detection range of 500–2500 m was realized. In the Apalachicola estuary, juvenile GS stayed in shallow water (< 2 m) within the estuarine transition zone all winter in the vicinity of the Apalachicola River mouth. Juvenile GS high-use areas did not coincide with high density benthic macrofauna areas from the most recent (1999) benthos survey. In the Suwannee estuary, juveniles ranged widely and individually throughout oligohaline to mesohaline subareas of the estuary, preferentially using mesohaline subareas seaward of Suwannee Reef (52% of acoustic detections). The river mouth subarea was important only in early and late winter, during the times of adult Gulf Sturgeon migrations (41% of detections). Preferred winter feeding subareas coincided spatially with known areas of dense macrofaunal benthos concentrations. Following a dramatic drop in air and water temperatures, juvenile GS left the river mouth and estuary, subsequently being detected 8 km offshore in polyhaline open Gulf of Mexico waters, before returning to the estuary. Cold-event offshore excursions demonstrate that they can tolerate full-salinity polyhaline waters in the open Gulf of Mexico, for at least several days at a time. For juvenile sturgeons, the stress and metabolic cost of enduring high salinity (Jarvis et al., 2001; McKenzie et al., 2001; Singer and Ballantyne, 2002) for short periods in deep offshore waters seems adaptively advantageous relative to the risk of cold-event mortality in shallow inshore waters of lower salinity. Thus
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Desborough, G.A.; Foord, E.E.
1992-01-01
A mineral with the approximate composition of Au94Hg6 - Au88Hg12 (atomic %) has been identified in Pleistocene Snake River alluvial deposits. The gold-mercury mineral occurs as very small grains or as polycrystalline masses composed of subhedral to nearly euhedral attached crystals. Vibratory cold-polishing techniques with 0.05-??m alumina abrasive for polished sections revealed a porous internal texture for most subhedral crystals after 48-72 hours of treatment. Thus, optical character (isotropic or anisotropic) could not be determined by reflected-light microscopy, and pore-free areas were too small for measurement of reflectance. X-ray-diffraction lines rather than individual reflections (spots), on powder camera X-ray films of unrotated spindles of single grains that morphologically appear to be single crystals, indicate that individual subhedral or euhedral crystals are composed of domains in random orientation. Thus, no material was found suitable for single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies. -from Authors
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Hsiang, Allison Y; Field, Daniel J; Webster, Timothy H; Behlke, Adam D B; Davis, Matthew B; Racicot, Rachel A; Gauthier, Jacques A
2015-05-20
The highly derived morphology and astounding diversity of snakes has long inspired debate regarding the ecological and evolutionary origin of both the snake total-group (Pan-Serpentes) and crown snakes (Serpentes). Although speculation abounds on the ecology, behavior, and provenance of the earliest snakes, a rigorous, clade-wide analysis of snake origins has yet to be attempted, in part due to a dearth of adequate paleontological data on early stem snakes. Here, we present the first comprehensive analytical reconstruction of the ancestor of crown snakes and the ancestor of the snake total-group, as inferred using multiple methods of ancestral state reconstruction. We use a combined-data approach that includes new information from the fossil record on extinct crown snakes, new data on the anatomy of the stem snakes Najash rionegrina, Dinilysia patagonica, and Coniophis precedens, and a deeper understanding of the distribution of phenotypic apomorphies among the major clades of fossil and Recent snakes. Additionally, we infer time-calibrated phylogenies using both new 'tip-dating' and traditional node-based approaches, providing new insights on temporal patterns in the early evolutionary history of snakes. Comprehensive ancestral state reconstructions reveal that both the ancestor of crown snakes and the ancestor of total-group snakes were nocturnal, widely foraging, non-constricting stealth hunters. They likely consumed soft-bodied vertebrate and invertebrate prey that was subequal to head size, and occupied terrestrial settings in warm, well-watered, and well-vegetated environments. The snake total-group - approximated by the Coniophis node - is inferred to have originated on land during the middle Early Cretaceous (~128.5 Ma), with the crown-group following about 20 million years later, during the Albian stage. Our inferred divergence dates provide strong evidence for a major radiation of henophidian snake diversity in the wake of the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Burgess, Caitlin
1998-07-01
Program RealTime provided tracking and forecasting of the 2000 in season outmigration via the internet for stocks of wild PIT-tagged spring/summer chinook salmon. These stocks were ESUs from nineteen release sites above Lower Granite dam, including Bear Valley Creek, Big Creek, Camas Creek (new), Cape Horn Creek, Catherine Creek, Elk Creek, Herd Creek, Imnaha River, Johnson Creek (new), Lake Creek, Loon Creek, Lostine River, Marsh Creek, Minam River, East Fork Salmon River (new), South Fork Salmon River, Secesh River, Sulfur Creek and Valley Creek. Forecasts were also provided for two stocks of hatchery-reared PIT-tagged summer-run sockeye salmon, from Redfish Lakemore » and Alturas Lake (new); for a subpopulation of the PIT-tagged wild Snake River fall subyearling chinook salmon; for all wild Snake River PIT-tagged spring/summer yearling chinook salmon (new) and steelhead trout (new)detected at Lower Granite Dam during the 2000 outmigration. The 2000 RealTime project began making forecasts for combined wild- and hatchery-reared runs-at-large of subyearling and yearling chinook, coho, and sockeye salmon, and steelhead trout migrating to Rock Island and McNary Dams on the mid-Columbia River and the mainstem Columbia River. Due to the new (in 1999-2000) Snake River basin hatchery protocol of releasing unmarked hatchery-reared fish, the RealTime forecasting project no longer makes run-timing forecasts for wild Snake River runs-at-large using FPC passage indices, as it has done for the previous three years (1997-1999). The season-wide measure of Program RealTime performance, the mean absolute difference (MAD) between in-season predictions and true (observed) passage percentiles, improved relative to previous years for nearly all stocks. The average season-wide MAD of all (nineteen) spring/summer yearling chinook salmon ESUs dropped from 5.7% in 1999 to 4.5% in 2000. The 2000 MAD for the hatchery-reared Redfish Lake sockeye salmon ESU was the lowest recorded, at 6
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Dirk W. Lang; Gordon H. Reeves; James D. Hall; Mark S. Wipfli
2006-01-01
This study examined the influence of fall-spawning coho salmon (Oncorhynchrcs kisutch) on the density, growth rate, body condition, and survival to outmigration of juvenile coho salmon on the Copper River Delta, Alaska, USA. During the fall of 1999 and 2000, fish rearing in beaver ponds that received spawning salmon were compared with fish from...
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Liedtke, Theresa L.; Hurst, William R.
2017-09-12
The Yolo Bypass is a flood control bypass in Sacramento Valley, California. Flood plain habitats may be used for juvenile salmon rearing, however, the potential value of such habitats can be difficult to evaluate because of the intermittent nature of inundation events. The Yolo Bypass Juvenile Salmon Utilization Study (YBUS) used acoustic telemetry to evaluate the movements and survival of juvenile salmon adjacent to and within the Yolo Bypass during the winter of 2016. This report presents numbers, size data, and release data (times, dates, and locations) for the 1,197 acoustically tagged juvenile salmon released for the YBUS from February 21 to March 18, 2016. Detailed descriptions of the surgical implantation of transmitters are also presented. These data are presented to support the collaborative, interagency analysis and reporting of the study findings.
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Water Temperature, Invertebrate Drift, and the Scope for Growth for Juvenile Spring Chinook Salmon.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lovtang, J. C.; Li, H. W.
2005-05-01
We present a bioenergetic assessment of habitat quality based on the concept of the scope for growth for juvenile Chinook salmon. Growth of juvenile salmonids during the freshwater phase of their life history depends on a balance between two main factors: energy intake and metabolic costs. The metabolic demands of temperature and the availability of food play integral roles in determining the scope for growth of juvenile salmonids in stream systems. We investigated differences in size of juvenile spring Chinook salmon in relation to water temperature and invertebrate drift density in six unique study reaches in the Metolius River Basin, a tributary of the Deschutes River in Central Oregon. This project was initiated to determine the relative quality and potential productivity of habitat in the Metolius Basin prior to the reintroduction of spring Chinook salmon, which were extirpated from the middle Deschutes basin in the early 1970's due to the construction of a hydroelectric dam. Variations in the growth of juvenile Chinook salmon can be described using a multiple regression model of water temperature and invertebrate drift density. We also discuss the relationships between our bioenergetic model, variations of the ideal free distribution model, and physiological growth models.
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Addis, Elizabeth A; Gangloff, Eric J; Palacios, Maria G; Carr, Katherine E; Bronikowski, Anne M
2017-08-01
The morphology-performance-fitness paradigm for testing selection on morphological traits has seen decades of successful application. At the same time, life-history approaches using matrix methods and perturbation studies have also allowed the direct estimate of selection acting on vital rates and the traits that comprise them. Both methodologies have been successfully applied to the garter snakes of the long-term Eagle Lake research project to reveal selection on morphology, such as color pattern, number of vertebrae, and gape size; and life-history traits such as birth size, growth rates, and juvenile survival. Here we conduct a reciprocal transplant study in a common laboratory environment to study selection on morphology and life-history. To place our results in the ecomorphology paradigm, we measure performance outcomes (feeding rates, growth, insulin-like growth factor 1 titers) of morphological variation (body size, condition) and their fitness consequences for juvenile survival-a trait that has large fitness sensitivities in these garter snake populations, and therefore is thought to be subject to strong selection. To better merge these two complementary theories, we end by discussing our findings in a nexus of morphology-performance-fitness-life history to highlight what these approaches, when combined, can reveal about selection in the wild. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. All rights reserved. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.
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Narrow-headed garter snake (Thamnophis rufipunctatus)
Nowak, Erika M.
2006-01-01
The narrow-headed garter snake is a harmless, nonvenomous snake that is distinguished by its elongated, triangular-shaped head and the red or dark spots on its olive to tan body. Today, the narrow-headed garter snake is a species of special concern in the United States because of its decline over much of its historic range. Arizona's Oak Creek has historically contained the largest population of narrow-headed garter snakes in the United States. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Arizona Game and Fish Department jointly funded research by USGS scientists in Oak Creek to shed light on the factors causing declining population numbers. The research resulted in better understanding of the snake's habitat needs, winter and summer range, and dietary habits. Based on the research findings, the U.S. Forest Service has developed recommendations that visitors and local residents can adopt to help slow the decline of the narrow-headed garter snake in Oak Creek.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Ward, David L.
The authors report on their progress from April 1997 through March 1998 on determining the effects of mitigative measures on productivity of white sturgeon populations in the Columbia River downstream from McNary Dam, and on determining the status and habitat requirements of white sturgeon populations in the Columbia and Snake rivers upstream from McNary Dam. The study is a cooperative effort by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW; Report A), Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW; Report B), U.S. Geological Survey Biological Resources Division (USGS; Report C), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS; Report D), U.S. Fish andmore » Wildlife Service (USFWS; Report E), and Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (CRITFC; Report F). This is a multi-year study with many objectives requiring more than one year to complete. Therefore, findings from a given year may be part of more significant findings yet to be reported. Highlights of results of the work from April 1997 through March 1998 listed.« less