Frederick Feyrer
Frederick Feyrer - California Water Science Center
I'm a Research Fish Biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey's California Water Science Center in Sacramento, California. My research program is broadly focused on applied aquatic ecology with an emphasis on fishes. In general, my work aims to fill critical data gaps needed by fisheries and water resource managers to implement effective restoration and conservation measures for imperiled species and ecosystems. In particular, my work has focused on how aquatic ecosystems function at varying spatio-temporal scales and how this influences species-habitat relationships. Recent and active study topics span the range of life history studies of threatened and endangered species to the role of climate variability and climate change on species and communities.
To learn more about my work visit my USGS Program Website or my Google Scholar Profile.
Science and Products
Strontium isotopes reveal ephemeral streams used for spawning and rearing by an imperiled potamodromous cyprinid--Clear Lake hitch Lavinia exilicauda chi
Fish-habitat relationships along the estuarine gradient of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California: Implications for habitat restoration
Sampling uncharted waters: Examining rearing habitat of larval Longfin Smelt (Spirinchus thaleichthys) in the upper San Francisco Estuary
Piscivore diet response to a collapse in pelagic prey populations
Pelagic nekton abundance and distribution in the northern Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, California
Inter-population differences in salinity tolerance and osmoregulation of juvenile wild and hatchery-born Sacramento splittail
Delta smelt habitat in the San Francisco Estuary: A reply to Manly, Fullerton, Hendrix, and Burnham’s “Comments on Feyrer et al. Modeling the effects of future outflow on the abiotic habitat of an imperiled estuarine fish"
Linking hydrodynamic complexity to delta smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus) distribution in the San Francisco Estuary, USA
Estuarine fish communities respond to climate variability over both river and ocean basins
An updated conceptual model of Delta Smelt biology: Our evolving understanding of an estuarine fish
Synthesis of studies in the fall low-salinity zone of the San Francisco Estuary, September-December 2011
Implications for future survival of delta smelt from four climate change scenarios for the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, California
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Strontium isotopes reveal ephemeral streams used for spawning and rearing by an imperiled potamodromous cyprinid--Clear Lake hitch Lavinia exilicauda chi
Identification of habitats responsible for the successful production and recruitment of rare migratory species is a challenge in conservation biology. Here, a tool was developed to assess life stage linkages for the threatened potamodromous cyprinid Clear Lake hitch Lavinia exilicauda chi. Clear Lake hitch undertake migrations from Clear Lake (Lake County, CA, USA) into ephemeral tributary streamsAuthorsFrederick V. Feyrer, George Whitman, Matthew J. Young, Rachel C. JohnsonFish-habitat relationships along the estuarine gradient of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California: Implications for habitat restoration
Estuaries are highly variable environments where fish are subjected to a diverse suite of habitat features (e.g., water quality gradients, physical structure) that filter local assemblages from a broader, regional species pool. Tidal, climatological, and oceanographic phenomena drive water quality gradients and, ultimately, expose individuals to other habitat features (e.g., stationary physical orAuthorsMatthew J. Young, Frederick V. Feyrer, Denise D. Colombano, J. Louise Conrad, Andrew SihSampling uncharted waters: Examining rearing habitat of larval Longfin Smelt (Spirinchus thaleichthys) in the upper San Francisco Estuary
The southern-most reproducing Longfin Smelt population occurs in the San Francisco Estuary, California, USA. Long-term monitoring of estuarine habitat for this species has generally only considered deep channels, with little known of the role shallow waters play in supporting their early life stage. To address the need for focused research on shallow-water habitat, a targeted study of Longfin SmelAuthorsLenny Grimaldo, Frederick V. Feyrer, Jillian Burns, Donna ManiscalcoPiscivore diet response to a collapse in pelagic prey populations
Pelagic fish populations in the upper San Francisco Estuary have experienced significant declines since the turn of the century; a pattern known as the pelagic organism decline (POD). This study investigated food habits of piscivorous fishes over two consecutive fall seasons following the decline of pelagic fish prey. Specifically, this study addressed the contribution of pelagic versus benthic prAuthorsSteven Zeug, Frederick V. Feyrer, Annie Brodsky, Jenny MelgoPelagic nekton abundance and distribution in the northern Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, California
Knowledge of the habitats occupied by species is fundamental for the development of effective conservation and management actions. The collapse of pelagic fish species in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, California, has triggered a need to better understand factors that drive their distribution and abundance. A study was conducted in summer–fall 2014 in an attempt to identify physical and biologiAuthorsFrederick V. Feyrer, Steven B. Slater, Donald E. Portz, Darren Odom, Tara L. Morgan-King, Larry R. BrownInter-population differences in salinity tolerance and osmoregulation of juvenile wild and hatchery-born Sacramento splittail
The Sacramento splittail (Pogonichthys macrolepidotus) is a minnow endemic to the highly modified San Francisco Estuary of California, USA and its associated rivers and tributaries. This species is composed of two genetically distinct populations, which, according to field observations and otolith strontium signatures, show largely allopatric distribution patterns as recently hatched juveniles. JuAuthorsChristine E. Verhille, Theresa F. Dabruzzi, Dennis E. Cocherell, Brian Mahardja, Frederick V. Feyrer, Theodore C. Foin, Melinda R. Baerwald, Nann A. FangueDelta smelt habitat in the San Francisco Estuary: A reply to Manly, Fullerton, Hendrix, and Burnham’s “Comments on Feyrer et al. Modeling the effects of future outflow on the abiotic habitat of an imperiled estuarine fish"
Manly et al. (2015) commented on the approach we (Feyrer et al. 2011) used to calculate an index of the abiotic habitat of delta smelt Hypomesus transpacificus. The delta smelt is an annual fish species endemic to the San Francisco Estuary (SFE) in California, USA. Conserving the delta smelt population while providing reliability to California’s water supply with water diverted from the SFE ecosysAuthorsFrederick V. Feyrer, Ken B. Newman, Matthew Nobriga, Ted SommerLinking hydrodynamic complexity to delta smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus) distribution in the San Francisco Estuary, USA
Long-term fish sampling data from the San Francisco Estuary were combined with detailed three dimensional hydrodynamic modeling to investigate the relationship between historical fish catch and hydrodynamic complexity. Delta Smelt catch data at 45 stations from the Fall Midwater Trawl (FMWT) survey in the vicinity of Suisun Bay were used to develop a quantitative catch-based station index. This inAuthorsAaron J. Bever, Michael L. MacWilliams, Bruce Herbold, Larry R. Brown, Frederick V. FeyrerEstuarine fish communities respond to climate variability over both river and ocean basins
Estuaries are dynamic environments at the land–sea interface that are strongly affected by interannual climate variability. Ocean–atmosphere processes propagate into estuaries from the sea, and atmospheric processes over land propagate into estuaries from watersheds. We examined the effects of these two separate climate-driven processes on pelagic and demersal fish community structure along the saAuthorsFrederick V. Feyrer, James E. Cloern, Larry R. Brown, Maxfield Fish, Kathryn Hieb, Randall BaxterAn updated conceptual model of Delta Smelt biology: Our evolving understanding of an estuarine fish
The main purpose of this report is to provide an up-to-date assessment and conceptual model of factors affecting Delta Smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus) throughout its primarily annual life cycle and to demonstrate how this conceptual model can be used for scientific and management purposes. The Delta Smelt is a small estuarine fish that only occurs in the San Francisco Estuary. Once abundant, it iAuthorsRandy Baxter, Larry R. Brown, Gonzalo Castillo, Louise Conrad, Steven D. Culberson, Matthew P. Dekar, Melissa Dekar, Frederick Feyrer, Thaddeus Hunt, Kristopher Jones, Joseph Kirsch, Anke Mueller-Solger, Matthew Nobriga, Steven B. Slater, Ted Sommer, Kelly Souza, Gregg Erickson, Stephanie Fong, Karen Gehrts, Lenny Grimaldo, Bruce HerboldSynthesis of studies in the fall low-salinity zone of the San Francisco Estuary, September-December 2011
In fall 2011, a large-scale investigation (fall low-salinity habitat investigation) was implemented by the Bureau of Reclamation in cooperation with the Interagency Ecological Program to explore hypotheses about the ecological role of low-salinity habitat in the San Francisco Estuary—specifically, hypotheses about the importance of fall low-salinity habitat to the biology of delta smelt HypomesusAuthorsLarry R. Brown, Randall Baxter, Gonzalo Castillo, Louise Conrad, Steven Culberson, Gregg Erickson, Frederick Feyrer, Stephanie Fong, Karen Gehrts, Lenny Grimaldo, Bruce Herbold, Joseph Kirsch, Anke Mueller-Solger, Steven B. Slater, Ted Sommer, Kelly Souza, Erwin Van NieuwenhuyseImplications for future survival of delta smelt from four climate change scenarios for the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, California
Changes in the position of the low salinity zone, a habitat suitability index, turbidity, and water temperature modeled from four 100-year scenarios of climate change were evaluated for possible effects on delta smelt Hypomesus transpacificus, which is endemic to the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta. The persistence of delta smelt in much of its current habitat into the next century appears uncertain.AuthorsLarry R. Brown, William A. Bennett, R. Wayne Wagner, Tara Morgan-King, Noah Knowles, Frederick Feyrer, David H. Schoellhamer, Mark T. Stacey, Mike Dettinger - News