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Alta Harris

Alta is an Ecologist working for the USGS, Klamath Falls Field Station.

Education and Certifications

  • B.S. 2003. Environmental Science, Oregon Institute of Technology, Klamath Falls, OR

Science and Products

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Adult steelhead

Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) - KFFS

Species StudiedSteelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
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Ecosystems, Fisheries Program (unpublished), Western Fisheries Research Center, Klamath Falls Field Station (KFFS)
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Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) - KFFS

Species StudiedSteelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
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Adult Chinook salmon

Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) - KFFS

Species Studied - Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)
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Ecosystems, Fisheries Program (unpublished), Western Fisheries Research Center, Klamath Falls Field Station (KFFS)
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Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) - KFFS

Species Studied - Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)
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Juvenile coho salmon

Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) - KFFS

Species Studied - Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch)
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Ecosystems, Fisheries Program (unpublished), Western Fisheries Research Center, Klamath Falls Field Station (KFFS)
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Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) - KFFS

Species Studied - Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch)
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Data from 2022 Mark-Recapture Analysis on Water and Endangered Fish in the Klamath River Basin: Do Upper Klamath Surface Elevation and Water Quality Affect Adult Lost River and Shortnose Sucker survival?

The data provided were used in a mark-recapture analysis conducted in 2022. Environmental covariates included water quality and Upper Klamath Lake surface elevation. Raw data were downloaded from the USGS Oregon Water Science Center for multiple sampling sites (422622122004000_MDNL_2021-1-14.csv, 422622122004003_MDNU_2021-1-14.csv, 422042121513100_RPT_2021-1-14.csv, 422719121571400_WMR_2021-1-14.c
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Western Fisheries Research Center
Filter Total Items: 16

Water and endangered fish in the Klamath River Basin: Do Upper Klamath Lake surface elevation and water quality affect adult Lost River and Shortnose Sucker survival?

In the western United States, water allocation decisions often incorporate the needs of endangered fish. In the Klamath River basin, an understanding of temporal variation in annual survival rates of Shortnose Suckers Chasmistes brevirostris and Lost River Suckers Deltistes luxatus and their relation to environmental drivers is critical to water management and sucker recovery. Extinction risk is h
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Ecosystems, Fisheries Program (unpublished), Western Fisheries Research Center

Distribution of bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) in conjunction with habitat and trout assemblages in creeks within the Klamath Basin, Oregon 2010–16

Bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) in the Klamath Basin are on the southernmost border of the range of the species, where threats are most severe and where bull trout are most imperiled. In their recovery plan the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (2015, https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/report/species-with-recovery-plans) suggested that Klamath Basin bull trout are at increased risk of extirpation due to ha
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Ecosystems, Fisheries Program (unpublished), Species Management Research Program, Western Fisheries Research Center

Spatial and temporal distribution of radio-tagged Lost River (Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose (Chasmistes brevirostris) suckers in Clear Lake Reservoir and associated spawning tributaries, Northern California, 2015–17

Executive SummaryData from a multi-year radio telemetry study were used to assess seasonal distribution patterns for two long-lived, federally endangered catostomids across substantially different water conditions in Clear Lake Reservoir, northern California. Lost River (Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose (Chasmistes brevirostris) suckers, two species endemic to the Klamath Basin, were implanted wit
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Ecosystems, Fisheries Program (unpublished), Western Fisheries Research Center, Klamath Falls Field Station (KFFS)

Dynamics of endangered sucker populations in Clear Lake Reservoir, California

Executive SummaryIn collaboration with the Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Geological Survey began a consistent monitoring program for endangered Lost River suckers (Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose suckers (Chasmistes brevirostris) in Clear Lake Reservoir, California, in fall 2004. The program was intended to improve understanding of the Clear Lake Reservoir populations because they are important
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Ecosystems, Fisheries Program (unpublished), Species Management Research Program, Western Fisheries Research Center, Columbia River Research Laboratory (CRRL), Klamath Falls Field Station (KFFS)

Examination of movements and survival of Pahranagat roundtail chub (Gila robusta jordani) in the Pahranagat River and adjacent waters, Nevada, 2014–18

Executive SummaryThe Pahranagat roundtail chub (Gila robusta jordani; hereinafter “chub”) was federally listed as endangered in 1970 (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1970). In the decades following the listing, the chub has declined to extremely low numbers (Tuttle and others, 1990; Guadalupe, 2014). Loss of available habitat appears to be one of the main reasons for the decline of this species. H
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Ecosystems, Fisheries Program (unpublished), Species Management Research Program, Western Fisheries Research Center, Klamath Falls Field Station (KFFS)

Assessing causes of mortality for endangered juvenile Lost River suckers (Deltistes luxatus) in mesocosms in Upper Klamath Lake, south-central Oregon, 2016

Executive SummaryThe recovery of endangered Lost River suckers (Deltistes luxatus) in Upper Klamath Lake, south-central Oregon, has been impeded because juveniles are not recruiting into adult spawning populations. Adult sucker populations spawn each spring but mortality of age-0 suckers during their first summer is excessively high, and recruitment of juveniles into adult populations does not occ
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Ecosystems, Fisheries Program (unpublished), Species Management Research Program, Western Fisheries Research Center, Fish Health Program (FHP), Klamath Falls Field Station (KFFS)

Status and trends of adult Lost River (Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose (Chasmistes brevirostris) sucker populations in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, 2017

Executive SummaryData from a long-term capture-recapture program were used to assess the status and dynamics of populations of two long-lived, federally endangered catostomids in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon. Lost River suckers (LRS; Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose suckers (SNS; Chasmistes brevirostris) have been captured and tagged with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags during their spawni
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Ecosystems, Fisheries Program (unpublished), Species Management Research Program, Western Fisheries Research Center, Klamath Falls Field Station (KFFS)

Status and trends of adult Lost River (Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose (Chasmistes brevirostris) sucker populations in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, 2015

Executive SummaryData from a long-term capture-recapture program were used to assess the status and dynamics of populations of two long-lived, federally endangered catostomids in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon. Lost River suckers (LRS; Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose suckers (SNS; Chasmistes brevirostris) have been captured and tagged with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags during their spawni
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Ecosystems, Fisheries Program (unpublished), Species Management Research Program, Western Fisheries Research Center, Klamath Falls Field Station (KFFS)

Brackish groundwater in the United States

For some parts of the Nation, large-scale development of groundwater has caused decreases in the amount of groundwater that is present in aquifer storage and that discharges to surface-water bodies. Water supply in some areas, particularly in arid and semiarid regions, is not adequate to meet demand, and severe drought is affecting large parts of the United States. Future water demand is projected
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Water Resources, Arizona Water Science Center, New England Water Science Center, Western Fisheries Research Center, Klamath Falls Field Station (KFFS)

Survival, movement, and health of hatchery-raised juvenile Lost River suckers within a mesocosm in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon

The recovery of endangered Lost River suckers (Deltistes luxatus) in Upper Klamath Lake is limited by poor juvenile survival and failure to recruit into the adult population. Poor water quality, degradation of rearing habitat, and toxic levels of microcystin are hypothesized to contribute to low juvenile survival. Studies of wild juvenile suckers are limited in that capture rates are low and compr
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Ecosystems, Fisheries Program (unpublished), Species Management Research Program, Western Fisheries Research Center, Fish Health Program (FHP), Klamath Falls Field Station (KFFS)

Status and trends of adult Lost River (Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose (Chasmistes brevirostris) sucker populations in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, 2014

Executive Summary Data from a long-term capture-recapture program were used to assess the status and dynamics of populations of two long-lived, federally endangered catostomids in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon. Lost River suckers (Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose suckers (Chasmistes brevirostris) have been captured and tagged with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags during their spawning migrat
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Ecosystems, Fisheries Program (unpublished), Western Fisheries Research Center, Klamath Falls Field Station (KFFS)

Effects of lake surface elevation on shoreline-spawning Lost River Suckers

We analyzed remote detection data from PIT-tagged Lost River Suckers Deltistes luxatus at four shoreline spawning areas in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, to determine whether spawning of this endangered species was affected by low water levels. Our investigation was motivated by the observation that the surface elevation of the lake during the 2010 spawning season was the lowest in 38 years. Irrigati
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Ecosystems, Fisheries Program (unpublished), Western Fisheries Research Center, Klamath Falls Field Station (KFFS)

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