Concurrent Sessions D: Sturgeon Passage - Migratory Behavior of Sturgeon in the Yolo Bypass
Location
Agriculture Science Theater, Oregon State University
Start Date
25-6-2013 11:40 AM
End Date
25-6-2013 12:00 PM
Description
The Yolo Bypass is one of two flood bypasses in the Sacramento Valley of California. The Yolo Bypass protects Sacramento and other riverside communities from flooding through a system of overflow weirs. These weirs connect the bypass to the Sacramento River as well as to various local creeks where the water is eventually drained into the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Although the Yolo Bypass floodplain has been demonstrated to benefit a suite of native fishes, particularly in flood years, little is known about the movement patterns and residence time of migratory fish such as white sturgeon in the Yolo Bypass. In cooperation with the California Department of Water Resources (DWR), the Biotelemetry Lab at UC Davis implanted 68 white sturgeon with VEMCO V16 coded acoustic telemetry tags. Using an array of VEMCOVR2W 69kHz receivers, including those maintained by the California Fish Tracking Consortium, the sturgeon's movement patterns were monitored throughout the Yolo Bypass (a total reach of 38.5 river kilometers) and into the San Francisco Bay. These fish face numerous barriers to migration through the Yolo Bypass under varying river flow conditions, the most significant of which being the Fremont Weir, which blocks sturgeon passage in all but completely inundated conditions. This presentation will address the migratory behavior of sturgeon in the Yolo Bypass and will specifically focus on the analysis of residence time, reach-specific behavior, pulse-flow dynamics relative to sturgeon movement, and sturgeon behavior at the various migratory barriers.
Concurrent Sessions D: Sturgeon Passage - Migratory Behavior of Sturgeon in the Yolo Bypass
Agriculture Science Theater, Oregon State University
The Yolo Bypass is one of two flood bypasses in the Sacramento Valley of California. The Yolo Bypass protects Sacramento and other riverside communities from flooding through a system of overflow weirs. These weirs connect the bypass to the Sacramento River as well as to various local creeks where the water is eventually drained into the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Although the Yolo Bypass floodplain has been demonstrated to benefit a suite of native fishes, particularly in flood years, little is known about the movement patterns and residence time of migratory fish such as white sturgeon in the Yolo Bypass. In cooperation with the California Department of Water Resources (DWR), the Biotelemetry Lab at UC Davis implanted 68 white sturgeon with VEMCO V16 coded acoustic telemetry tags. Using an array of VEMCOVR2W 69kHz receivers, including those maintained by the California Fish Tracking Consortium, the sturgeon's movement patterns were monitored throughout the Yolo Bypass (a total reach of 38.5 river kilometers) and into the San Francisco Bay. These fish face numerous barriers to migration through the Yolo Bypass under varying river flow conditions, the most significant of which being the Fremont Weir, which blocks sturgeon passage in all but completely inundated conditions. This presentation will address the migratory behavior of sturgeon in the Yolo Bypass and will specifically focus on the analysis of residence time, reach-specific behavior, pulse-flow dynamics relative to sturgeon movement, and sturgeon behavior at the various migratory barriers.
Comments
Myfanwy Johnstonis a first-year graduate student in the Animal Behavior Graduate Group at UC Davis. Her research interests include conservation biology, behavioral ecology as it relates to migratory behavior, and behavioral responses to human-induced rapid environmental change (HIREC). She is a member of the Biotelemetry Lab at UC Davis, and is studying white sturgeon and Chinook salmon movements in the Yolo Bypass of California.