Species Status Assessments

CERC fish biologists study migrations, reproductive cues, and spawning behaviors of reproductive wild and hatchery-origin pallid sturgeon (HOPS) in the Missouri River Basin.

Many species are studied at the Western Fisheries Research Center. These species include bacteria, birds, fish, invertebrates, parasites, plants, and viruses. The list contains both common and scientific names, and where each are being studied on the WFRC landscape.

Species Studied - Cutthroat trout ( Oncorhynchus clarkii)

Most states use outdated hardness-based criteria to regulate metals in surface waters. The slow adoption of new criteria based on biotic ligand models (BLMs) reflects uncertainty about whether these models can reliably predict toxic effects of metals on aquatic biota across the wide range of water quality conditions affecting bioavailability.

The WFRC has partnered separately with both the Skagit River System Tribal Cooperative and the Nisqually Tribe to research the use of otoliths (calcium carbonate deposits beneath the brain used in hearing and balance that grow in proportion to the overall growth of the fish) as a tool in examination of Puget Sound Fall Chinook salmon life history.

Species Studied - Chinook Salmon ( Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)

Species Studied - Bull Trout ( Salvelinus confluentus)

Wolves on Ellesmere Island, just south of the North Pole, survive in extreme cold during 24 hours of darkness per day from November through January, and survive in much higher temperatures during 24 hours of light per day from April through September. Partnering with other agencies, we use GPS radio collars applied to wolves during summer to examine wolf-pack movements on Ellesmere Island...

The presence or absence of an endangered species on the landscape can have significant policy implications for public land managers and private landowners. The Dakota Skipper, a grassland dependent butterfly, was recently listed as a threatened species under The Endangered Species Act in 2014. This listing has created controversy in the states of North and South Dakota because of the potential...

Least terns and piping plovers are the subject of numerous population monitoring efforts. Population monitoring requires periodic visits to nesting areas to count and assess breeding status of the birds. At higher visit frequencies, detection of nests and chicks improves as does ability to determine outcomes of nesting attempts, resulting in more complete and accurate productivity information. But...

The Platte River Recovery Implementation Program (PRRIP) partnered with Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center (NPWRC) to study demographics of least terns and piping plovers at the Central Platte River in Nebraska. Due to water management and other alterations, riverine habitat for least terns and piping plovers has become degraded. Least terns and piping plovers, however, have begun breeding...

NPWRC is leading a multi-agency study to understand metapopulation dynamics of piping plovers in the Northern Great Plains. Piping plovers are a federally listed species that nests on riverine sandbars and shorelines of wetlands and reservoirs. These habitats are dynamic in response to climate and water-management regimes of the Missouri River. The US Army Corps of Engineers manages the Missouri...