Ecological requirements for pallid sturgeon reproduction and recruitment in the Missouri River—Annual report 2014

Abstract

For more information on the USGS-the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment-visit http://www.usgs.gov/ or call 1-888-ASK-USGS.For an overview of USGS information products, including maps, imagery, and publications, visit http://www.usgs.gov/pubprod/.Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.Although this information product, for the most part, is in the public domain, it also may contain copyrighted materials as noted in the text. Permission to reproduce copyrighted items must be secured from the copyright owner. AbstractThe Comprehensive Sturgeon Research Project is a multiyear, multiagency collaborative research framework developed to provide information to support pallid sturgeon recovery and Missouri River management decisions. The project strategy integrates field and laboratory studies of sturgeon reproductive ecology, early life history, habitat requirements, and physiology. The project scope of work is developed annually with collaborating research partners and in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Missouri River Recovery Program-Integrated Science Program. The project research consists of several interdependent and complementary tasks that involve multiple disciplines.The project research tasks in the 2014 scope of work emphasized understanding of reproductive migrations and spawning of adult pallid sturgeon and hatch and drift of larvae. These tasks were addressed in three hydrologically and geomorphologically distinct parts of the Missouri River Basin: the Lower Missouri River downstream from Gavins Point Dam, the Upper Missouri River downstream from Fort Peck Dam and downstream reaches of the Milk River, and the Lower Yellowstone River. The project research is designed to inform management decisions related to channel re-engineering, flow modification, and pallid sturgeon population augmentation on the Missouri River and throughout the range of the species. Research and progress made through this project are reported to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers annually. This annual report details the research effort and progress made by the Comprehensive Sturgeon Research Project during 2014.

Reproductive strategy, spawning induction, spawning temperatures and early life history of captive sicklefin chub Macrhybopsis meeki

“…hyostoma : Minckley, ; Cross, ; Reeves, ). The second temperature treatment was based on the daily temperature fluctuations observed during the ascending annual temperature cycle in the Missouri River; eight sites below rkm 565 with 7–11 years of annual temperature data (Delonay et al ., ). The highest temperature in this treatment was 23° C from 1600 to 2200 hours and the lowest temperature was 20° C from 0400 to 1000 hours; in between these two periods the temperatures changed 1° C every 3 h. In all treatments, temperature was recorded every 30 min and differed from target temperatures by 0·20 ± 0·06° C ( n = 73).…”

Improved genetic identification of acipenseriform embryos with application to the endangered pallid sturgeon Scaphirhynchus albus

“…However, pallid sturgeon commonly co‐occurs with two far more numerous acipenseriforms, shovelnose sturgeon Scaphirhynchus platorynchus (Rafinesque 1820) and paddlefish Polyodon spathula (Walbaum 1792). Eggs, developing embryos and free‐drifting embryos of paddlefish, shovelnose sturgeon and pallid sturgeon are commonly collected together in field samples (DeLonay et al ., ; Eichelberger et al ., ) and, in particular, eggs and developing embryos of the three species are morphologically indistinguishable. Fish eggs can typically be identified to species using mitochondrial (mt)DNA, which is abundant in even unfertilized fish eggs (Daniel and Graves, ).…”

Stakeholder Involvement in Natural Resource Decisions: The Missouri River

“…This LandSat image (September 2018) of the Missouri River just below Gavins Point Dam, Yankton, South Dakota, river mile 811, shows the least engineered section of the lower Missouri River including 59 mi of the Missouri National Recreational River (not shown), which retains much of the anabranching nature of the pre‐dam river and with sandbars, vegetated islands, and side channels (DeLonay et al 2016b) Photo courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey.…”

“…Additionally, emerging data from genetic studies suggest that the population structuring has at least three distinct subpopulations; an upper Missouri and Yellowstone River subpopulation, a lower Missouri River subpopulation, and the Mississippi River subpopulation, although no physical barrier separates the lower two subpopulations (DeLonay et al. 2016b). The subpopulation in the upper Missouri and Yellowstone rivers consists of less than 200 wild‐origin individuals (Braaten et al.…”