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Effects of a test flood on fishes of the Colorado River in Grand Canyon, Arizona

January 1, 2001

A beach/habitat-building flow (i.e., test flood) of 1274 m3/s, released from Glen Canyon Dam down the Colorado River through Grand Canyon, had little effect on distribution, abundance, or movement of native fishes, and only short-term effects on densities of some nonnative species. Shoreline and backwater catch rates of native fishes, including juvenile humpback chub (Gila cypha), flannelmouth suckers (Catostomus latipinnis), and bluehead suckers (C. discobolus), and all ages of speckled dace (Rhinichthys osculus), were not significantly different before and after the flood. Annual spring spawning migrations of flannelmouth suckers into the Paria River and endangered humpback chub into the Little Colorado River (LCR) took place during and after the flood, indicating no impediment to fish migrations. Pre-spawning adults staged in large slack water pools formed at the mouths of these tributaries during the flood. Net movement and habitat used by nine radio-tagged adult humpback chub during the flood were not significantly different from prior observations. Diet composition of adult humpback chub varied, but total biomass did not differ significantly before, during, and after the flood, indicating opportunistic feeding for a larger array of available food items displaced by the flood. Numbers of nonnative rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Publication Year 2001
Title Effects of a test flood on fishes of the Colorado River in Grand Canyon, Arizona
DOI 10.1890/1051-0761(2001)011[0686:EOATFO]2.0.CO;2
Authors R.A. Valdez, T.L. Hoffnagle, C.C. McIvor, T. McKinney, W.C. Leibfried
Publication Type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Series Title Ecological Applications
Index ID 70023239
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
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