Reconnecting fragmented sturgeon populations in North American rivers
Abstract
The majority of large North American rivers are fragmented by dams that interrupt migrations of wide-ranging fishes like sturgeons. Reconnecting habitat is viewed as an important means of protecting sturgeon species in U.S. rivers because these species have lost between 5% and 60% of their historical ranges. Unfortunately, facilities designed to pass other fishes have rarely worked well for sturgeons. The most successful passage facilities were sized appropriately for sturgeons and accommodated bottom-oriented species. For upstream passage, facilities with large entrances, full-depth guidance systems, large lifts, or wide fishways without obstructions or tight turns worked well. However, facilitating upstream migration is only half the battle. Broader recovery for linked sturgeon populations requires safe round-trip passage involving multiple dams. The most successful downstream passage facilities included nature-like fishways, large canal bypasses, and bottom-draw sluice gates. We outline an adaptive approach to implementing passage that begins with temporary programs and structures and monitors success both at the scale of individual fish at individual dams and the scale of metapopulations in a river basin. The challenge will be to learn from past efforts and reconnect North American sturgeon populations in a way that promotes range expansion and facilitates population recovery.
- Authors:
-
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)
- Univ. of Guelph, ON (Canada)
- United States Geological Survey (USGS), Cook, WA (United States). Columbia River Research Laboratory
- United States Fish and Wildlife Service, New Franken, WI (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1240513
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC05-00OR22725
- Resource Type:
- Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Fisheries
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 41; Journal Issue: 3; Journal ID: ISSN 0363-2415
- Publisher:
- Taylor & Francis
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES
Citation Formats
Jager, Yetta, Forsythe, Patrick S., McLaughlin, Robert L., Joseph J. Cech, Jr., Parsley, Michael, Elliott, Robert F., and Pracheil, Brenda M. Reconnecting fragmented sturgeon populations in North American rivers. United States: N. p., 2016.
Web. doi:10.1080/03632415.2015.1132705.
Jager, Yetta, Forsythe, Patrick S., McLaughlin, Robert L., Joseph J. Cech, Jr., Parsley, Michael, Elliott, Robert F., & Pracheil, Brenda M. Reconnecting fragmented sturgeon populations in North American rivers. United States. https://doi.org/10.1080/03632415.2015.1132705
Jager, Yetta, Forsythe, Patrick S., McLaughlin, Robert L., Joseph J. Cech, Jr., Parsley, Michael, Elliott, Robert F., and Pracheil, Brenda M. 2016.
"Reconnecting fragmented sturgeon populations in North American rivers". United States. https://doi.org/10.1080/03632415.2015.1132705. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1240513.
@article{osti_1240513,
title = {Reconnecting fragmented sturgeon populations in North American rivers},
author = {Jager, Yetta and Forsythe, Patrick S. and McLaughlin, Robert L. and Joseph J. Cech, Jr. and Parsley, Michael and Elliott, Robert F. and Pracheil, Brenda M.},
abstractNote = {The majority of large North American rivers are fragmented by dams that interrupt migrations of wide-ranging fishes like sturgeons. Reconnecting habitat is viewed as an important means of protecting sturgeon species in U.S. rivers because these species have lost between 5% and 60% of their historical ranges. Unfortunately, facilities designed to pass other fishes have rarely worked well for sturgeons. The most successful passage facilities were sized appropriately for sturgeons and accommodated bottom-oriented species. For upstream passage, facilities with large entrances, full-depth guidance systems, large lifts, or wide fishways without obstructions or tight turns worked well. However, facilitating upstream migration is only half the battle. Broader recovery for linked sturgeon populations requires safe round-trip passage involving multiple dams. The most successful downstream passage facilities included nature-like fishways, large canal bypasses, and bottom-draw sluice gates. We outline an adaptive approach to implementing passage that begins with temporary programs and structures and monitors success both at the scale of individual fish at individual dams and the scale of metapopulations in a river basin. The challenge will be to learn from past efforts and reconnect North American sturgeon populations in a way that promotes range expansion and facilitates population recovery.},
doi = {10.1080/03632415.2015.1132705},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1240513},
journal = {Fisheries},
issn = {0363-2415},
number = 3,
volume = 41,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Feb 24 00:00:00 EST 2016},
month = {Wed Feb 24 00:00:00 EST 2016}
}
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