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AUTHORS: Jerrod Hall, Gerald Mestl - Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
ABSTRACT: Anthropogenic modifications to the Missouri River have resulted in the loss of over 40,000 hectares of aquatic habitat. These alterations have negatively affected native riverine fish populations with 51 of 67 native species now rare, uncommon, or decreasing in abundance, including Pallid Sturgeon that were listed as federally endangered in 1990. Subsequent research has identified several potential factors contributing to the recruit bottleneck for Pallid Sturgeon.
One hypothesized limitation is insufficient interception and rearing habitats for age-0 Pallid Sturgeon. The recent Effects Analysis (EA) labeled these types of habitats as Interception Rearing Complexes (IRCs). The EA identified physical metrics for rearing and foraging habitats, but did not provide quantifiable metrics for interception habitats. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and the Missouri Department of Conservation in a joint project proposed depth and velocity metrics for settling habitat, an important component of interception habitat for Age-0 sturgeon. These metrics in conjunction with hydraulic modeling would allow for identification and quantification of these important areas.
We will present some initial findings detailing settling habitat metrics and potential areas that may function as IRCs in the Nebraska reach of the Missouri River.
