Worked at the Columbia River Research Laboratory for over 20 years on a variety of topics, but heavy emphasis on juvenile salmon passage and survival at hydroelectric dams in the Columbia River Basin.
Education:
M.S. Zoology/Marine Biology, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI
B.S. Biology, Illinois State University, Normal, IL
Research Interests:
Historically my research has been focused on efforts to improve juvenile salmon passage and survival at hydroelectric dams in the Columbia River Basin. More recently I have used telemetry to monitor the behavior and movements of adult salmonids in tributaries of the Columbia River using sensored transmitters (temperature, motion). I am interested in the performance of fish equipped with telemetry transmitters and have conducted a variety of experiments comparing the stress response, swimming performance, buoyancy compensation, and predator avoidance ability of tagged fish to untagged fish. Most recently I have develop a marine research program, focusing on forage fishes in Puget Sound, Washington. My team has evaluated spawning site selection, responses to climate change, food habits, and rearing habitats. We are currently evaluating the exposure of these fish to contaminants such as PCBs. Additionally, we are working with Pacific lamprey in laboratory settings, evaluating rearing techniques, screening materials, and responses to dewatering.
Experience:
1994 to Present - Research Fish Biologist, U.S. Geological Survey, Western Fisheries Research Center, Columbia River Research Laboratory, Cook, WA
Toxic chemical pollutants have been released into Puget Sound for decades by human activities. There’s a wide range of contaminants, from persistent compounds like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and flame retardants to contaminants of emerging concern. Aquatic species can be exposed to and accumulate contaminants, causing disease or disruption of biological processes like growth or...
Telemetry has been an invaluable tool to improve our understanding of adult Pacific Lamprey (Entosphenus tridentatus) movements and to guide management approaches to protect and restore this species of concern. Juvenile and larval lamprey, however, are much smaller than adults, and have not been monitored with telemetry because available...
Liedtke, Theresa L.; Lampman, Ralph T. ; Deng, Z. Daniel; Beals, Tyler E.; Hansen, Amy C.; Kock, Tobias J.; Tomka, Ryan G.; Monk, Patrick
Thousands of screened water diversions throughout the Columbia River Basin of the Pacific Northwest are sources of entrainment (unintended diversion into an unsafe passage route), injury, and mortality for a range of fish species and screening criteria have been developed to reduce and mitigate these effects. Large knowledge gaps exist concerning...
Liedtke, Theresa L.; Didricksen, Daniel J.; Weiland, Lisa K.; Ragala, Joshua A.; Lampman, Ralph
The objective of this study was to assess the impact of different tagging methods and transmitter types on juvenile salmonid behavior, mortality, physiology, and swimming performance over a range of water temperatures and fish sizes.In Chapter 1, two laboratory experiments were conducted to assess maximum burst-swimming speeds, the probability of...
Perry, Russell W.; Liedtke, Theresa L.
The Bureau of Reclamation supports the Shasta Dam Fish Passage Evaluation (SDFPE; Yip, 2015) program, and in 2016 set out to determine the feasibility of reintroducing winter-run and spring-run Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and steelhead (O. mykiss) to tributaries upstream of Shasta Dam. Ideally, reintroduction strategy includes...
Adams, Noah S.; Liedtke, Theresa L.; Plumb, John M.; Weiland, Lisa K.; Hansen, Amy C.; Evans, Scott D.
The construction of impassable dams severely affected many Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp. populations, resulting in reintroduction efforts that are now focused on returning anadromous fish to areas located upstream of these dams. A primary strategy for moving adult salmon and steelhead O. mykiss around a dam or multiple dams...
Kock, Tobias J.; Perry, Russell W.; Pope, Adam C.; Serl, John D.; Kohn, Mike; Liedtke, Theresa L.
A multi-year evaluation was conducted during 2010–16 to evaluate passage survival of juvenile steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss), Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha), and coho salmon (O. kisutch) in Lake Scanewa, and at Cowlitz Falls Dam in the upper Cowlitz River Basin, Washington. Reservoir passage survival was evaluated in 2010, 2011, and 2016, and...
Liedtke, Theresa L.; Kock, Tobias J.; Hurst, William
In previous tests of the effectiveness of four common fish screen materials for excluding lamprey ammocoetes, we determined that woven wire (WW) allowed substantially more entrainment than perforated plate (PP), profile bar (PB), or Intralox (IL) material. These tests were simplistic because they used small vertically-oriented screens positioned...
Mesa, Matthew G.; Liedtke, Theresa L.; Weiland, Lisa K.; Christiansen, Helena E.
Recent interest in flood control and restoration strategies in the Chehalis River Basin has increased the need to understand the current status and ecology of spring Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). Spring Chinook salmon have the longest exposure of all adult Chinook salmon life histories to the low-flow and high water temperature...
Liedtke, Theresa L.; Hurst, William R.; Tomka, Ryan G.; Kock, Tobias J.; Zimmerman, Mara S.
Recent interest in flood control and restoration strategies in the Chehalis River Basin has increased the need to understand the current status and ecology of spring Chinook salmon. Based on the extended period between freshwater entry and spawn timing, spring Chinook salmon have the longest exposure of all adult Chinook salmon life histories to...
Liedtke, Theresa L.; Zimmerman, Mara S.; Tomka, Ryan G.; Holt, Curt; Jennings, Lyle
A multiyear radiotelemetry evaluation was conducted to monitor adult steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss), Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha), and coho salmon (O. kisutch) behavior and movement patterns in the upper Cowlitz River Basin. Volitional passage to this area was eliminated by dam construction in the mid-1960s, and a reintroduction program began...
Kock, Tobias J.; Ekstrom, Brian K.; Liedtke, Theresa L.; Serl, John D.; Kohn, Mike Survival of out-migrating juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River delta, California, USA, varies by migration route. Survival of salmonids that enter the interior and southern Delta can be as low as half that of salmonids that remain in the main-stem Sacramento River. Reducing entrainment into...
Romine, Jason G.; Perry, Russell W.; Pope, Adam C.; Stumpner, Paul; Liedtke, Theresa L.; Kumagai, Kevin K.; Reeves, Ryan L. Hatchery ‘recycling’ programs have been used to increase angling opportunities by re-releasing fish into a river after they returned to a hatchery or fish trap. Recycling is intended to increase opportunities for fishermen, but this strategy could affect wild fish populations if some recycled fish remain in the river and interact with...
Kock, Tobias J.; Perry, Russell W.; Gleizes, Chris; Dammers, Wolf; Liedtke, Theresa L.
New USGS and NOAA Collaboration in Alaska Will Help Gain Insight into Juvenile Chinook Salmon Distributions and Migrations