Open-File Report 2014–1106
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 cooperating research partners and in collaboration with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Missouri River Recovery—Integrated Science Program. The research consists of several interdependent and complementary tasks that engage multiple disciplines. The research tasks in the 2011 scope of work emphasized understanding of reproductive migrations and spawning of adult 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 including downstream reaches of the Milk River, and the Lower Yellowstone River. The 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 2011. |
First posted September 11, 2014 For additional information, contact: Part or all of this report is presented in Portable Document Format (PDF). For best results viewing and printing PDF documents, it is recommended that you download the documents to your computer and open them with Adobe Reader. PDF documents opened from your browser may not display or print as intended. Download the latest version of Adobe Reader, free of charge. More information about viewing, downloading, and printing report files can be found here. |
DeLonay, A.J., Jacobson, R.B., Chojnacki, K.A., Annis, M.L., Braaten, P.J., Elliott, C.M., Fuller, D.B., Haas, J.D., Haddix, T.M., Ladd, H.L.A., McElroy, B.J., Mestl, G.E., Papoulias, D.M., Rhoten, J.C., and Wildhaber, M.L., 2014, Ecological requirements for pallid sturgeon reproduction and recruitment in the Missouri River—Annual report 2011: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2014–1106, 96 p., https://dx.doi.org/10.3133/ofr20141106.
ISSN 2331-1258 (online)
Acknowledgments
Conversion Factors
Abstract
Introduction
Scope of Work
Hydroclimatic Conditions During 2011
Task 1—Movement, Habitat Use, and Reproductive Behavior of Shovelnose Sturgeon and Pallid Sturgeon in the Lower Missouri River
Task 2—Reproductive Ecology and Migrations of Pallid Sturgeon in the Yellowstone River
Task 3—Pilot Study to Assess Male Sturgeon Reproductive Biology and Indicators of Successful Spawning, Lower Missouri River
Task 4—Missouri River Pallid Sturgeon Population Assessment Program Synthesis towards Understanding Population Trends of Pallid Sturgeon and Other Targeted Species
Task 5—Examination of Pallid Sturgeon Use, Migrations, and Spawning in the Milk River and Missouri River below Fort Peck Dam
Summary and Conclusions
References Cited