Comprehensive Sturgeon Research Project

Pallid sturgeon biologists have long hypothesized that the areas where tributaries come together and flow into the Missouri River may hold significant value to species (see previous post “Where Are You When I’m Not Looking”).  The USGS Comprehensive Sturgeon Research Project biologists spent several months summarizing their data on pallid sturgeon habitat use collected between 2008 and 2011 to try and assess whether the confluence of the Osage River may be a significant habitat area.  The area they focused on was defined as 0.2 miles upstream and 0.6 miles downstream of the Osage River confluence on the main stem of the Missouri River (river miles 130.3 to 129.5).

Multibeam imagery and pallid sturgeon telemetry locations in and around the Osage River confluence area between May 2008 and November 2011.

Between May 2008 and November 2011, twelve telemetry-tagged pallid sturgeon were located 93 times in the Osage River or at its confluence with the Missouri River.  Telemetered pallid sturgeon have moved up the Osage River as far as Lock and Dam 1 (Osage river mile 12), and have remained in the tributary from spring through early fall. Pallid sturgeon were located in the Missouri River near the confluence in all seasons with individual sturgeon residing near the mouth of the Osage River for periods ranging from months to more than a year.

Locations of telemetered pallid sturgeon in the Missouri River between river miles 143 and 125 and in the Osage River from Lock and Dam 1 (Osage river mile 12) to the Missouri River confluence, 2008 - 2011.

Half of the twelve telemetry-tagged pallid sturgeon located in the Osage River confluence area are females with two or more locations in the vicinity.  One of these females was originally tagged in 2007, one in 2008, and four in 2010.  The female tagged in 2007, PLS07-011, was recaptured in March of 2008 at Missouri river mile 680.4 before taking up residence hundreds of miles downstream at the mouth of the Osage River. In contrast, a female originally tagged during 2008 in the Osage River confluence area, PLS08-058, spent nearly three years in the area before moving downstream in spring/summer 2011 (see previous post “River Sweep February 22 – March 4, 2011”).  Clearly pallid sturgeon are using the confluence area near the Osage River, and will travel some distance up the Osage River during spring and summer.  The Missouri Department of Conservation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service routinely sample the area when searching for possible broodstock for the hatchery propagation program.  Unfortunately, none of the telemetry-tagged females located in or near the Osage River were in reproductive condition and present during the spawning period.  CSRP biologists have been unable to determine if spawning is occurring in the Osage River.  However, the willingness of pallid sturgeon to use the Osage River, to remain in the confluence area for extended periods of time, and to return to the area after travelling many miles upstream or downstream in the Missouri River suggests that the area may be significant and have value to the species.  Observations of pallid sturgeon near the Platte River in Nebraska suggest that sturgeon behave similarly there.  Why and under what conditions pallid sturgeon use Missouri River tributaries may provide important insight into the recovery needs of the species.

Biologists shared their results with other agencies and universities at the Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference in Dec. 2011 in Des Moines, IA.

See previous posts to watch DIDSON footage of sturgeon at Lock and Dam 1 on the Osage River (“Trotlines and DIDSON find Pallid Sturgeon in the Osage River at Lock and Dam 1”) and for more information on the multibeam mapping conducted at the confluence of the Osage and Missouri rivers (“Drift and Retention of Sturgeon Larvae“).

By Emily Pherigo and Aaron DeLonay

The Lower Missouri River is a large river.  With over 800 miles of river to track, our boats cannot be everywhere, watching every tagged sturgeon at the same time.  A handful of reproductive females with black eggs were tagged with transmitters late in the spring and released near the Platte River, Nebraska.  While USGS and Nebraska Game and Parks Commission crews were busy tracking other females, the spring spawning ritual for these few fish took place while biologists weren’t looking.  However, just because the Comprehensive Sturgeon Research Project (CSRP) biologists were not present at spawning does not mean that we weren’t collecting data.

Each sturgeon tagged with a telemetry transmitter is also implanted with a data storage tag (DST) that records temperature and depth at 15-30 minute intervals everywhere the fish travels during migration and spawning.  Biologists recapture each sturgeon after the spawning season and download the data from the implanted tags.  From the condition of the female sturgeon’s ovaries and the data downloaded from the DST tags, biologists can reconstruct some of what might have happened and gain valuable insight.

Two pallid sturgeon females, PLS11-014 and PLS11-015, were tagged and released in the Missouri River below the mouth of the Platte River on April 28, 2011.  Based upon the condition of their eggs at the time of tagging, spawning should have occurred soon after release.  Both females were recaptured months later in the fall of 2011.  At recapture, biologists determined that they had released their eggs and spawned.  Since neither fish was tracked during her spawning migration, biologists were left to wonder where or when spawning may have occurred.  Closer examination of the temperature data downloaded from their DST tags is revealing.

Comparison of temperatures recorded by the DST inside PLS11-014 with temperatures in the Missouri River and in the nearby Platte River shows that the temperature experienced by the fish very closely matches the temperature in the mainstem Missouri River (Figure 1).  This indicates that PLS11-014 remained in the Missouri River continuously during the reproductive season and likely spawned somewhere in the mainstem river.

Figure 1. Temperature recorded by a data storage tag (DST) inside female pallid sturgeon PLS11-014 indicates that she spawned in the mainstem Missouri River.

The data recorded by the DST inside PLS11-015 is strikingly different (Figure 2). On May 3, five days after she was released below the mouth of the Platte River the temperature data recorded by the DST tag changes.  The temperature inside PLS11-015 no longer matches the Missouri River, but now matches the temperature of the nearby large tributary, the Platte River.  Data indicates that PLS11-015 stayed in the Platte River through the entire month of May.  Based upon laboratory evaluation of her readiness to spawn, it is likely that she spawned somewhere in the Platte River.

Figure 2. Temperature recorded by a data storage tag (DST) inside female pallid sturgeon PLS11-015 indicates that she likely spawned in the Platte River.

By Aaron DeLonay

Last week more than 100 maturing pallid sturgeon made the trip from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Gavins Point National Fish Hatchery (http://www.fws.gov/gavinspoint/) in Yankton, South Dakota to Columbia, Missouri.  Nearly nine years ago, in the spring of 2002, these fish began their lives in the hatchery as embryos artificially spawned by biologists.  Some of the embryos were raised and released as juveniles, and then released into the river to increase imperiled populations.  Others were housed in very large tanks to be watchfully cultured in the hatchery for possible use as adult broodstock – a kind of insurance policy – in the event that wild, spawning pallid sturgeon could no longer be caught from the Missouri River. The work of hatchery professionals (in both the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and participating State agencies) have been so successful at artificially propagating the species that there are more fish produced in hatcheries than are needed to support populations in the wild. This creates unique and valuable opportunities for researchers working to understand a rare and endangered species like the pallid sturgeon.

Nine-year-old pallid sturgeon wait in holding tanks for their turn to be evaluated by biologists at CERC. More than 100 pallid sturgeon made the trip from Gavins Point National Fish Hatchery to Columbia on a snowy December day.

 The 100 pallid sturgeon that made the trip to Columbia are excess to the needs of the conservation propagation program and have found a new role supporting the recovery of the species.  Pallid sturgeon take many years to reach reproductive maturity and spawn.  At 9 years old, the reproductive organs of these sturgeon are maturing and preparing for reproduction.  This is a particularly important time in their life cycle.  Soon after arrival at the USGS Columbia Environmental Research Center (CERC), biologists examined the reproductive status of each individual sturgeon using an ultrasound and extracted blood samples to analyze hormones. The sturgeon were then released into specially constructed ponds where they will be exposed for up to 3 years to a compound called ethinyl estradiol, which is the active ingredient found in many commonly used birth control pills.  Previous studies with the closely related shovelnose sturgeon in the Missouri River have documented an unusually high incidence of reproductive anomalies, including an intersex condition in 15 to 25% of male sturgeon.  Sturgeon that show this intersex condition have reproductive organs that are both male and female.  The high frequency of intersex in Missouri River sturgeon may be linked to compounds like ethinyl estradiol that enter the river from wastewater treatment facilities, and is an emerging concern for the reproductive health of pallid sturgeon in the river.  This long-term study will follow sturgeon through an entire reproductive cycle and will help researchers understand what causes intersex in sturgeon. 

Passersby at CERC probably wondered what was going on under the tent that appeared suddenly one December morning. Outside it was frigid, but inside it was warm as CERC biologists took blood samples and evaluated each of the new resident pallid sturgeon with an ultrasound.

Long-term studies with adult sturgeon are not easy.  Pallid sturgeon are large and live near the bottom of rivers in the current.  It takes a lot of moving water and space to grow and keep big sturgeon healthy.  In 2010, the CERC began the process of reconstructing the extensive network of experimental ponds at the Center.  The USGS, with the assistance of funds provided through the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act, completed a 1.6 million dollar redesign and reconstruction in the fall of 2011.  Part of that construction project provided for a series of small ponds with sand and gravel bottoms that can be fitted with a partial central divider and circulators to create a continuous current.  This produces conditions that are much like the habitats where pallid sturgeon are found.  These new ponds were completed just in time for their residents from Yankton, South Dakota to move in and make themselves at home.   This study represents a twelve-year investment that would not have been possible without the dedication of the hatchery staff to successfully raise these fish and the re-investment in infrastructure to adequately provide suitable conditions for these large fish.

Beau Griffith, a biological technician at CERC, stands at the bottom of one of the newly reconstructed ponds designed to conduct long-term studies with sturgeon and other riverine species. A divider and circulators can be installed in the sandy-bottomed ponds to create the continuous water current that sturgeon prefer.

Scientists from the Institute for Biology of Inland Waters (IBIW), Russian Academy of Sciences, in Borok, Russia visited the USGS Columbia Environmental Research Center (CERC) from October 16-30, 2011.  The visit was part of an ongoing exchange of scientists between the two institutes that spans nearly four decades.

Learn more about the ongoing exchange program by reading this Columbia Environmental Research Center and the Institute for Biology of Inland Waters information sheet.

The CERC Rivers Studies Branch hosted Mikhail Malin, from the IBIW Laboratory of Fish Ecology, to continue collaborative research on the use of multiple sonar technologies for the assessment of fish distribution and fish stock assessment in large rivers and reservoirs.  Researchers from the IBIW and CERC are investigating the application of single-beam, split-beam, sidescan and DIDSON sonar technologies in large, complex systems.  These technologies use underwater sound visualizations allowing scientists to determine where fish are, how abundant they are, and even how fish are behaving and interacting with one another. 

Mikhail Malin, visiting IBIW scientist, prepares to lower a hydroacoustic transducer into the water from a CERC research vessel below Bagnell Dam on the Osage River, Missouri. The CERC and IBIW collaborated with the Missouri Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at the University of Missouri to assess the distribution of paddlefish below the dam using telemetry, sidescan sonar, and DIDSON.

Successful application of these hydroacoustic technologies on the Missouri River can provide insight into where species, such as the endangered pallid sturgeon or invasive Asian carps, aggregate and spawn.  These tools can also be used to assess the importance of tributaries for spawning or as refuge for fish during flooding, or the extreme heat of summer and cold of winter.  Combining hydroacoustic technologies with telemetry and standard fish sampling techniques may also be useful in evaluating the success of habitat construction projects for rare or endangered species.  Scientists from both countries are also working together to use hydroacoustic technology to aid develop measures to control Asian carps that may compete with native Missouri River fishes for habitat or food.  International collaboration among scientists builds on the expertise in both countries to advance scientific understanding and develop new approaches to address shared environmental concerns.

Data from a single-beam hydroacoustic survey conducted by CERC and IBIW Scientists in the Osage River, a Missouri River tributary in Missouri. This data shows aggregations of fish in 3 meters of water along the edge of an underwater bar.

By Aaron DeLonay

During the first week of November, four adult pallid sturgeon with telemetry tags were recaptured by field crews using drifted trammel nets.  It was a very good week.  Field crews sent the data from each recapture back to the USGS Columbia Environmental Research Center (CERC) and the Sturgeon Information Management System was updated. This added more information to the continuing story of each sturgeon.  Each sturgeon is an individual, but from the collection of many individual stories patterns begin to emerge.  Sometimes the patterns are predictable.  Sometimes we are surprised.

Female pallid sturgeon PLS11-014 was implanted and released into the Missouri River at river mile 591.5, near the Platte River in Nebraska on April 28, 2011.  She was assessed as being in reproductive condition at that time with tightly packed grey eggs.  On October 31, six months after implantation, PLS11-014 was successfully recaptured by CERC crews with drifted trammel nets at river mile 542.2.  Reproductive assessments conducted at recapture indicate that she spawned this year.  Unfortunately, we were tracking other females elsewhere, and were not there to document spawning when it occurred.

Female pallid sturgeon PLS11-015 was also implanted and released on April 28, and at the same location as PLS11-014.  She, too was in reproductive condition and ready to spawn.  By late October, PLS11-015 had also moved downstream over 40 miles.  On November 1, she was recaptured and determined to also have completely spawned.  Our crews were again tracking other females at the time and we did not locate her spawning site.

Although research crews could not track either PLS11-014 or PLS11-015 during the spring spawning period, they could determine from the condition of their ovaries that they had spawned.  In addition, research crews recovered the data storage tags that each female carried.  From this data we can determine the depths and temperatures the female sturgeon used during the spawning season, and during the flood that followed.  Even when researchers cannot follow the fish, we can still collect data, and gain valuable insight.

Typically an adult female pallid sturgeon will lose about 10-20 percent (or more) of her body weight during spawning when she releases the thousands of eggs she carries.  Even though PLS11-014 and PLS11-015 both spawned and released their eggs, each had regained the weight lost during spawning in less than six months.  Similarly, female pallid sturgeon PLS11-012 was implanted and released in the Missouri River on April 6, 2011.  She was non-reproductive at the time and weighted 3,120 g.  She spent her summer near the mouth of the Platte River.  After six months, she was recaptured on November 3.  Although she was still not reproductive she weighed in at 4,330 grams.  That is an increase in weight of 39 percent in only six months.  Such rapid weight gain was unexpected.  We hope to recapture more of our tagged adults to determine if this rate of weight gain was typical of pallid sturgeon in the Missouri River during 2011.

Finally female pallid sturgeon PLS09-011 was recaptured on November 1, 2011 at river mile 563.9.  She was first implanted and released in September 2009 after being spawned in the hatchery that spring.  Since then she has moved little, spending most of her time within five miles of river.  When she was recaptured this November our record show that her weight had increased by 52% and she was once again gravid.  She will spawn again in 2012, three years after spawning at Gavins Point National Fish Hatchery.  Female sturgeon do not spawn every year.  How frequently they spawn can provide insight into the quality of habitat in the river, and the potential for the population to increase with time.

It was a very good week.

Five Rivers Services, LLC biologists performing work on the Missouri River for the CERC, Sabrina Davenport and Caleb Troutt, hold pallid sturgeon PLS09-012 recaptured on November 1, 2011 near Nebraska City, Nebraska. Female pallid sturgeon PLS09-012 is in reproductive condition and will spawn in the spring of 2012.

By Aaron DeLonay

Female pallid sturgeon, PLS11-007, is released back into the Missouri River after an ultrasound evaluation determined that she will be in reproductive condition in the spring of 2012.

Perhaps PLS11-007 was listening when the results of the ultrasound scan were announced because she began moving upstream almost immediately.  Since the time of her recapture and ultrasound evaluation until October 7, the female pallid sturgeon has moved upstream more than 16 miles and into the Lisbon chute, near Arrowrock, Missouri.  By October 14, only a week later, she had navigated an additional 5 miles upstream of the Lisbon chute.  Ten days later tracking crews found she had swum 30 miles farther upstream and had passed the Grand River.  After another week, crews found her upstream an additional 24 miles.  From mid-September to Halloween, PLS11-007 had moved steadily upstream 75 miles.  Biologists tracking her are left wondering if she has decided to get a head start on her spring spawning migration and how far might she go before the cold and ice of winter settles in.  What makes some adult sturgeon start their spawning migrations in fall, while others wait until spring?  Do they have a specific destination in mind?  Do they know how far they need to go?  Only time will tell.

Map of telemetry locations for female pallid sturgeon PLS11-007 from April 5 to October 31, 2011.

Completed with contributions by Aaron DeLonay

USGS scientists have been working this summer and fall with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Columbia Fisheries Resource Office to map river habitat at sites where they are sampling for young sturgeon.  The crew is targeting age-0 sturgeon. These include fish that hatched this year and generally range in size from 10-110 millimeters, or fish that are a little less than half an inch long to about 4.5 inches long.  One of these river habitat sites is just upstream from Hartsburg, Missouri near river mile 161 on the right descending bank. At this site, a wing dike has been removed and there is large sandbar.  The USFWS has trawled 500-meter-long transects at this site for multiple years.  Several times this summer and early fall our habitat crew has coordinated to map depth, velocity, and substrate in conjunction with those sampling efforts.  

We have mapped the site about once a month since June. Our maps at the USGS gage upstream at Boonville, Missouri range in discharge from 131,000 to 246,000 cubic feet per second.  We mapped the entire bend in August using our multibeam echosounder to get an idea of how the bar fit into the larger hydraulic context of the bend in Missouri River.

Bathymetry of the Missouri River just upstream of Hartsburg, Missouri. Mapped using a multibeam echosounder on August, 18, 2011 when the discharge was 195,000 cubic feet per second at the USGS gage at Boonville, Missouri.

Our detailed maps focus on the region where the USFWS crews sample for young sturgeon.  We mapped the trawl locations in detail using GPS for navigation and positioning, a single-beam echosounder to measure depth and an acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) to measure velocity on transects with 5-meter spacing.  We will combine this high-resolution depth and velocity data with the locations where young sturgeon were sampled in trawls. This will help us learn more about the places in the river where young sturgeon are found and how these habitats change with changes in discharge.

Detailed map showing depth-averaged velocity magnitude point data on transects with a 5-meter spacing and trawl beginning and ending locations upstream from Hartsburg, Missouri. Discharge was 246,000 cubic feet per second at the USGS gage at Boonville, Missouri.

By Carrie Ellliott

With the end of summer, project scientists have turned some of their attention to analyzing data and presenting results at scientific meetings.  Scientific meetings add to the depth and rigor of our science.  One of the most important functions of a scientific meeting is their contribution to peer-review.  Presentations allow us to talk about preliminary results and solicit feedback on approaches and interpretation; this feedback strengthens our final reports or articles.   Scientific meetings also allow us learn about the innovations and ideas of other research groups, so we can adopt and adapt their approaches to understanding the ecology of the Missouri River.  In return, innovations and ideas that we’ve developed are disseminated to the scientific community.   Finally, presentations at scientific meetings help build the stature of the science program on the Missouri River by informing the world about the quality and quantity of Missouri River science.

Janice Albers presents study results at the 6th International Symposium on Sturgeon in Wuhan, China in 2009. USGS scientists and their collaborators in the Comprehensive Sturgeon Research Project provided six presentations at the symposium on topics ranging from reproductive readiness, migration, spawning, and population assessment of Missouri River sturgeons.

Scientific meetings are highly variable in subject matter, scope, and attendance.  With the interdisciplinary orientation of our sturgeon project it can be a challenge to select the meetings that are most effective for communication.  Our attendance has varied recently from management-oriented meetings (National Conference of Ecosystem Restoration), to discipline-specific meetings (American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting), and to specialized multi-disciplinary conferences (Coherent Flow Structures in Geophysical Flows at the Earth’s Surface).  Unquestionably, the scientific meeting that is most relevant for our project is the annual Missouri River Natural Resources Conference, to be held this year March 13-16 in Pierre, South Dakota (http://www.mrnrc2011.com/CallForPapers.htm).  More than any other venue, the MRNRC meeting promotes discussion of science among scientists, managers, and stakeholders.  Some recent and upcoming presentations from our project are:

• Sturgeon Use of the Lower Missouri River Floodplain: Presentation at 72nd Midwest Fish & Wildlife Conference, Des Moines, Iowa, December 4-7, 2011; Michael W. Archer, Ryan L. Ruskamp, J. David Adams, Justin D. Haas, Gerald E. Mestl, and Aaron J. DeLonay
• Leveraging Large Volumes of Data to Support Research of Pallid Sturgeon in the Lower Missouri River: Presentation at World Sturgeon Conservation Society Meeting, Nanaimo, British Columbia, July 11-14, 2011; Kimberly A. Chojnacki, Chad J. Vishy, Emily K. Pherigo, and Aaron J. DeLonay
• Mobile Mapping of the Endangered Pallid Sturgeon: Presentation at American Fisheries Society 141st Annual Meeting, Seattle, Washington, September 4-8, 2011; Kimberly A. Chojnacki  and Aaron J. DeLonay
• Use of the Osage River by telemetry-tagged pallid sturgeon: Presentation at American Fisheries Society 141st Annual Meeting, Seattle, Washington, September 4-8, 2011; Sabrina A. Davenport,  Emily K. Pherigo, Chad J. Vishy, Kimberly A. Chojnacki, Diana M. Papoulias and Aaron J. DeLonay
• Shovelnose Sturgeon: Presentation at 4th Annual Sturgeon and Paddlefishes Conference, Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada, 11-14 July 2011; Aaron J. DeLonay
• Use of Telemetry to Intensively Monitor Reproductive Status, Habitat Use and Behavior of Pallid Sturgeon in the Lower Missouri River: Presentation at World Sturgeon Conservation Society Meeting, Nanaimo, British Columbia, July 11-14, 2011; Aaron J. DeLonay, Diana M. Papoulias, Mark L. Wildhaber, Kimberly A. Chojnacki, Brandon McElroy, Robert B. Jacobson, Gerald E. Mestl
• Deployment of DIDSON in the Lower Missouri River to Examine Sturgeon Behavior: Presentation at American Fisheries Society 141st Annual Meeting, Seattle, Washington, September 4-8, 2011; Aaron J. DeLonay, Chad J. Vishy, Brandon McElroy, and Kimberly A. Chojnacki
• Modeling Effects of Climate Change on Pallid Sturgeon in the Missouri River: Presentation at Joint Statistical Meeting, Miami Beach, Florida, July 30 – August 4, 2011; Rima Dey, Christopher K. Wilke, Mark L. Wildhaber,  Edward H. Moran,  Christopher J. Anderson, and Kristie J. Franz
• Larval Paddlefish and Shovelnose Sturgeon in the Upper Missouri River Basin including the Flow–Regulated Missouri River below Fort Peck Dam, Milk River, and Yellowstone River: Presentation at Montana AFS Meeting, Great Falls, Montana, February 7-10, 2011; David B. Fuller, Ryan D. Lott, and Patrick J. Braaten
• Riverscape Genetics of the Endangered Pallid Sturgeon: Presentation at American Fisheries Society 141st Annual Meeting, Seattle, Washington, September 4-8, 2011; Edward J. Heist, Kimberly A. Chojnacki, and George R. Jordan
• Simplification of habitat complexity metrics to guide restoration of large rivers: Presentation at American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, December 5-9, 2011; Robert B. Jacobson, Brandon McElroy, Caroline Elliott, and Aaron J. DeLonay
• Conceptualizing and Communicating Ecological River Restoration: Presentation at National Conference on Ecosystem Restoration, Baltimore, Maryland, August 1-5, 2011; Robert B. Jacobson and Jim Berkley
• Influence of bifurcation geometry on fluvial fish migration patterns: Presentation at American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, December 5-9, 2011; Brandon McElroy, Pat Braaten, Robb Jacobson
• Understanding Habitat Needs for Rare Fish with Long Term Telemetric Studies: Pallid Sturgeon in the Lower Missouri River: Presentation at American Fisheries Society 141st Annual Meeting, Seattle, Washington, September 4-8, 2011; Brandon McElroy, Robert Jacobson, and Aaron DeLonay
• Distinguishing Bed-load and Bed-material-load Fluxes with Repeat Bathymetric Data: Presentation at Coherent Flow Structures in Geophysical Flows at Earth’s Surface Conference, Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, August 3 – 5, 2011; Brandon McElroy and David Abraham
• Effects Of Early Life-Stage Exposure To Selenium By Egg Injection On Pallid Sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus) And Shovelnose Sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus platorynchus): Presentation at SETAC North America 32nd Annual Meeting, Boston, Massachusetts November 13-17 2011; Diana M. Papoulias, Donald E. Tillitt, Mandy L. Annis, Diane K. Nicks, and Matthew Schwarz
• Multi-Scale Modeling of Riverine Ecosystems and Responses of Fish Populations in the Context of Global Climate Change and Predictive Uncertainty:  Presentation at Model Fusion Conference, London, England 28-29 November 2011; Mark L. Wildhaber, Christopher K. Wikle, Christopher J. Anderson, Kristie J. Franz, Edward H. Moran, and Rima Dey
• Modeling Large River Fish Population Responses to Global Climate Change: Missouri River Sturgeon Example: Presentation at 2nd Biennial Symposium of the International Society for River Science, Berlin, Germany, August 8-12, 2011; Mark L. Wildhaber, Christopher K. Wikle, Christopher J. Anderson, Kristie J. Franz, Edward H. Moran, and Rima Dey