Flooding and dam operations facilitate rapid upstream migrations of native and invasive fish species on a regulated large river

Mark W. Fritts; Daniel Gibson-Reinemer; Douglas Appel; Katharine Lieder; Cody Henderson; Amanda S. Milde; Marybeth K. Brey; James T. Lamer; Dominque Turney; Zachary Witzel; Emily Szott; Grace Loppnow; Joel Stiras; Kayla Zankle; Devon Oliver; John Hoxmeier; Andrea K. Fritts

doi:10.1038/s41598-024-70076-4

Flooding and dam operations facilitate rapid upstream migrations of native and invasive fish species on a regulated large river

Scientific Reports

By: Mark W. Fritts, Daniel Gibson-Reinemer, Douglas Appel, Katharine Lieder, Cody Henderson, Amanda S. Milde, Marybeth K. Brey, James T. Lamer, Dominque Turney, Zachary Witzel, Emily Szott, Grace Loppnow, Joel Stiras, Kayla Zankle, Devon Oliver, John Hoxmeier, and Andrea K. Fritts

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-70076-4

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Abstract

Dams commonly restrict fish movements in large rivers but can also help curtail the spread of invasive species, such as invasive bigheaded carps (Hypophthalmichthys spp). To determine how dams in the upper Mississippi River (UMR) affect large-scale invasive and native fish migrations, we tracked American paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) and bigheaded carp across > 600 river km (rkm) and 16 navigation locks and dams (LD) of the UMR during 2 years with contrasting water levels. In 2022, a low-water year, both native paddlefish and invasive bigheaded carp had low passage rates (4% and 0.6% respectively) through LD15, a movement bottleneck being studied for invasive carp control. In contrast, flooding in 2023 led to open-river conditions across multiple dams simultaneously, allowing 53% of paddlefish and 46% of bigheaded carp detected in Pool 16 to move upstream through LD15. Bigheaded carp passed upstream through LD15 rapidly (μ = 32 rkm per day) a maximum of 381 rkm, whereas paddlefish moved an average of 9 upstream rkm per day (maximum of 337 rkm). Our results can inform managers examining trade-offs between actions that enhance native fish passage or deter movements of invasive species. This understanding is critical because current climate change models project increases in flooding events like that observed during 2023.

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Additional publication details
Publication type	Article
Publication Subtype	Journal Article
Title	Flooding and dam operations facilitate rapid upstream migrations of native and invasive fish species on a regulated large river
Series title	Scientific Reports
DOI	10.1038/s41598-024-70076-4
Volume	14
Year Published	2024
Language	English
Publisher	Nature
Contributing office(s)	Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
Description	20609, 13 p.
Country	United States
State	Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin
Other Geospatial	Upper Mississippi River
Google Analytic Metrics	Metrics page