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Currect Actions: Research
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Research, Monitoring, and Assessment Program for Piping Plover and Least Tern Productivity
and Habitats on the Missouri River
The Research, Monitoring, and Assessment Program for Least Tern and
Piping Plover Habitat and Productivity on the Missouri River was conceived to address key scientific information needs
relative to the Missouri River Recovery Program and implementation of the 2003 Biological Opinion (BiOp).
U.S. Geological Survey - Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center has developed six studies to evaluate one or more components of
the Missouri River ecosystem. Collectively, these studies provide a synergistic research effort to assess status of the
interior least tern and piping plover populations, their habitats and associated monitoring efforts throughout the
Missouri River system.
Goals of the Project
- Evaluate quantity and change over time of emergent sandbar habitat acreage for the monitoring dates and segments of the Missouri River specified in the BiOp.
- Develop and implement biologically and statistically sound protocols for long-term monitoring of habitat quantity, quality and productivity of least terns and piping plovers on the Missouri River.
Study Plans and Objectives
Study plans for each task were developed and address several key elements relating to Missouri River habitats and productivity of the birds that use them. Study plans for each task formalize specific objectives and describe methods that are being used to meet these objectives. Specific research efforts include:
Task 1: Least Tern Productivity and Foraging Ecology on the Gavins Point Reach of the Missouri River.
Task 2: Evaluation of Procedures for Monitoring Numbers and Productivity of Piping Plovers and Least Terns on the Missouri River.
Task 3: Inventory, Mapping, Estimation and Monitoring of Least Tern and Piping Plover Habitats on the Upper Missouri
River Using Quickbird Imagery.
Task 4: Monitoring and Evaluation of Emergent Sandbar Habitat Construction and Management Projects on the Upper
Missouri River System.
Task 5: Habitat Selection, Productivity and Estimation of Available Nesting Habitat for Piping Plovers on
Lake Sakakawea.
Task 6. A Muddy Question: Assessing Human Recreation and Research Disturbance on Missouri River
Sandbars Managed for Endangered Birds.
Project Area and Status Update
These study plans are being implemented on the Gavins Point River, Lewis and Clark Lake, the Garrison River and
Lake Sakakawea. Task 6 was completed in 2007, as was field work for Task 2 on the Garrison River.
Anticipated efforts in 2008 include the final year of field work for Task 1, the final year of field work on Lake
Sakakawea and the first year on Gavins Point River for Task 2, a final imagery collection and analysis for Task 3,
analysis of the 2007 field data for Task 4 and the third year of field work for Task 5.
Links
http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/lps15791/www.npwrc.usgs.gov/index.htm
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Population Dynamics of Piping Plovers on the Missouri River, South Dakota
The factors that regulate plover densities on natural sandbars in the Missouri River are unknown, as are the factors
that would determine the density on human-created bars. Thus, it is impossible to predict how many birds might be served
by any sandbar creation design. Virginia Polytechnical Institute developed a study to evaluate the effectiveness of
artificial sandbars by comparing demographic parameters and population dynamics on artificial bars with those on
natural bars and in addition, to assess the practices currently used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to monitor these rates.
Goal of the Project
To determine the factors that affect population dynamics of piping plovers on the Missouri River and to compare
natural and artificial nesting habitat.
Project Area and Status Update
This research effort was implemented on the Gavins Point River as well as a constructed sandbar on Lewis and Clark
Lake. Field work for this effort was completed in 2007, and a final thesis is anticipated in December 2008.
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Piping Plover Population Dynamics and Behavior on the Missouri River in Relation to Engineered
Habitat
The increase in emergent sandbar habitat following floods in the late 1990s provided ample habitat for a
population increase, but changes in survival and immigration are undocumented. Thus the increase could have been
driven by 1) reproduction and survival on the river, 2) immigration from other habitats, or 3) a combination of immigration
and local reproduction and survival. If reproduction and survival on the river were the primary drivers of the increase,
then the river clearly was aiding regional recovery. In contrast, if new habitat simply attracted immigrants from
adjacent to suitable sites, the river may have hindered or had no effect on recovery. Understanding the true effects of
the habitat management efforts conducted under the 2003 Biological Opinion will require a detailed understanding
of the demographic changes driving population fluctuations and how those changes are related to management activities,
including sandbar creation.
Objectives of the Project
1. Evaluate the efficacy of management actions in improving plover numbers.
2. Determine the most important causes of positive and negative demographic changes.
3. In support of items 1 and 2, study the settlement patterns and behavior of settling birds on newly
constructed sandbars.
4. Develop strategies to expand to regional monitoring of piping plovers in the Great Plains.
5. Make this information accessible to the Corps to assist in adaptive management.
Project Area and Status Update
The focus area for this research effort will be the Gavins Point River as well
as constructed sandbars on Lewis and Clark Lake. This is a new effort to begin in 2008.
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Comprehensive Sturgeon Research Project (CSRP)
To address the paucity of information available on pallid sturgeon life history and habitat use, this
project was begun to determine the critical ecological factors that contribute to successful pallid and
shovelnose sturgeon reproduction and survival in the Missouri River. CSRP includes biological and physical modeling,
measurement of responses under varying flow scenarios and rigorous analysis of individual and systemwide responses.
The CSRP approach recognizes that any life stage of sturgeon could be a bottleneck in their reproduction and survival.
However, technical experts in the Missouri River basin have consistently identified spawning and early life stages as
priorities because of the vulnerability of populations to disturbances during early life stages (Middle Basin Pallid
Sturgeon Recovery Work Group, 2005; Quist and others, 2004). Accordingly, the priorities of this project and coordinated
CSRP studies focus first on understanding the factors affecting spawning, followed by factors affecting larval and
juvenile fish habitats. CSRP is a multi-year research framework developed to support pallid sturgeon recovery and
to evaluate and guide proposed management actions undertaken on the Missouri River to benefit the species. Conservation
and restoration of native species, such as sturgeon, require knowledge both of the biology of the species and the
factors limiting recovery. The goal of this proposed research is to improve understanding of the factors affecting
reproduction and survival of sturgeon in the Missouri River.
Goals of the Project
1. Determine where, when and under what conditions sturgeon spawn.
2. Evaluate how successfully sturgeon are spawning.
3. Identify factors affecting the recruitment of age-0 sturgeon.
Specific Tasks Proposed for FY 2007:
Project Area and Status Update
Work within this project has occurred in 2005, 2006 and 2007 in the reach of the Missouri River below Gavins
Point Dam extending down to the mouth of the Missouri at the confluence with the Mississippi River. Specifically to
address sturgeon response to flow as it relates to spawning, there are two distinct reaches of study: The river segments
represent two hydrologically distinct units based on river hydrology and morphology. The first segment will be located
on the Lower Missouri River between the Osage River and Grand River (River Miles 130-250). The second segment will be
located between the Platte River in Nebraska and the Big Sioux River (River Miles 595-670).
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Two-Dimensional Hydraulic Model of the Missouri River, Characterizing Pallid Sturgeon
Habitat Below Gavins Point Dam
This project was undertaken because of the lack of understanding regarding the connection between habitat and flow. Emergent sandbar
islands were constructed in the Missouri River below Gavins Point Dam in 2005. A flow event called the spring rise
was planned for spring of 2006. To determine the impacts of the flow event on the created habitat and in channel habitat,
a study to develop a two-dimensional model was developed.
Goals of the Project
The objective of this study was to model a reach of the Missouri River, below Gavins Point Dam, to determine
the extent of usable habitat for the pallid sturgeon.
Specific Tasks for Project
- Perform site investigation to determine suitable study area.
- Compile applicable data from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Geological Survey and other sources to better understand
the study area.
- Construct and calibrate a two-dimensional hydraulic model of the reach.
- Evaluate extent of usable larval and adult pallid sturgeon habitat over a range of flow conditions based
on depth and velocity values generated during two-dimensional hydraulic analysis.
Project Area and Status Update
The study area for this project was in Clay County, S.D., approximately 43.5 kilometers east-southeast of Yankton.
It is between River Mile (RM) 772.3 and RM 768.7 (Figure 1.2). The work was completed and the report is available.
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Quantification of Pallid Sturgeon and Shovelnose Sturgeon Trophic Position in the Upper Missouri River
This proposal directly addresses two major priority recovery actions listed by the Upper Basin Pallid Sturgeon Recovery Workgroup for 2007:
1) Life History and Ecology and 2) Stocking and Population Monitoring. Specifically, ontogenetic diet shifts, a key early life history event,
are hypothesized to increase mortality yet the size or age when this change occurs is essentially unknown while feeding ecology is a
fundamental aspect of any fish's life history.
Goals of the Project
1. Determine size and age of pallid sturgeon when the ontogenetic diet shift to piscivory occurs.
2. Quantify and compare the trophic position of pallid and shovelnose sturgeons in the Missouri River Recovery
and Priority Management Area (RPMA) in Montana/North Dakota (RPMA #2) and South Dakota/Nebraska (RPMA #3).
Project Area and Status Update
The historic range of the pallid and shovelnose sturgeons was wide and encompassed the entire length of the Missouri River. This study
will principally compare stable isotope composition of pallid sturgeon and shovelnose sturgeon in two RPMAs in the upper basin of the Missouri River. The most upstream site, RPMA #2, extends from below Fort Peck Reservoir, Mont., to the
headwaters of Lake Sakakawea, N.D., and includes the Yellowstone River confluence. In South Dakota, RPMA #3 extends from Fort Randall Dam to
Lewis and Clark Lake, and throughout most of its length forms the boundary between South Dakota and Nebraska. Longitudinal comparisons
across multiple RPMAs may elucidate differences in productivity and energy flow which subsequently influences pallid sturgeon growth and
survival. Project is underway.
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Vulnerability of Age-0 Pallid Sturgeon to Fish Predation
Stocking age-0 pallid sturgeon (i.e., larvae or fingerlings) has been proposed as a way to alleviate high fish densities at
hatcheries and potentially enhance stocking success in the wild. However, vulnerability of age-0 pallid sturgeon to
fish predation is not known, thus hindering management decisions about when, where and at what size age-0 pallid sturgeon
should be stocked. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the vulnerability of age-0 pallid sturgeon to fish predation
as influenced by body size (larvae vs fingerlings) and water turbidity
Goals of the Project
The objective of this study is to evaluate effects of body size and water turbidity on vulnerability of age-0 pallid sturgeon
to fish predation.
Specific Tasks for project
Laboratory experiments will be designed to assess vulnerability of larval (30-50 mm) and fingerling (75-100 mm) sturgeon to two
common Missouri River predators: smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu and walleye Sander vitreus. Related experiments in
2006 indicated that predation rates by channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus on age-0 pallid sturgeon (mean length = 83 mm) were
low compared to smallmouth bass (0.13 versus 0.95 pallids/h, respectively; Chipps et al., in prep).
Project Area and Status Update
All experiments will be conducted in experimental raceways (4 x 1.5 x 1 m) at the South Dakota State University wet laboratory. Project is underway.
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Development of Management Tools for the Pallid Sturgeon Iridovirus (PSIV)
In this project we develop the necessary tools (methods and knowledge) for the PSIV to guide management decisions on the potential impacts of the virus on pallid
sturgeon in the propagation program and wild fish.
Goals of the Project
1. Develop a sensitive and quantitative test to detect PSIV infection among fish in both the propagation program and among wild fish.
2. To establish a reproducible laboratory challenge system to examine transmission and the pathogenesis of PSIV. More
specifically, the challenge system will allow studies on the potential transmission of virus between pallid and shovelnose sturgeon,
effects of PSIV on fish growth and loss and then potential recovery of sensory cells in the epidermis and, finally, whether
PSIV establishes long-term infection that may be reactivated and then transmitted to cohabited and previously uninfected pallid sturgeon.
Specific Tasks for Project
Development of the Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Test for PSIV
Test development/parameters
Evaluation of the PCR
Experimental challenge system transmission and pathogenesis of PSIV
PSIV effects on fish growth and impacts on sensory cells in the epidermis
Carrier status and stress reactivation of PSIV
Project Area and Status Update
All experimentation to be conducted at the Fish Health Laboratory at the School of Veterinary
Medicine, University of California, Davis, Calif. Tissues for histologic analyses will be fixed,
transferred to 70 percent ethanol and then shipped to B. MacConnell Bozeman Fish Health Center for
scoring/evaluation. Project is underway.
Development of Management Tools for PSIV - Final Report
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Fishing for Cytokines and Immune Molecules to Better Understand Pallid Sturgeon Health
Essential information about immune function in non-stressed, stressed, and iridovirus negative and positive young of the year
pallid sturgeon will be collected. Tools to conduct research on immune function and hematological parameters will be developed
to allow for health status comparisons between wild, captive raised stocks and other sturgeon species.
Goals of the Project
Our overall goal of this project is to evaluate hematological, innate and adaptive immunological parameters that provide a
better understanding of iridovirus infection in pallid sturgeon.
Specific Tasks for Project
To accomplish this goal, we propose to 1) identify cytokines and iridovirus induced immune related molecules in pallid
sturgeon and optimize quantitative methods to evaluate their expression; 2) determine the association of stress, the
immune response (including immune-associated gene expression) and iridovirus pathogenicity in pallid sturgeon; and 3)
compile data obtained from objectives 1 and 2 and perform statistical analysis to determine potential correlations between
investigated blood parameters, pathohistology, neutrophil functional assays and immune gene expression assays.
Project Area and Status Update
Specific parts of this study will be conducted at Bozeman Fish Technology Center, Leetown Science Center and Iowa State University to utilize the
expertise and equipment of the given facility.
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The Lewis and Clark Lake Sediment Management Study (LCLSMS)
The LCLSMS is supported by the Missouri River Recovery Program, and designed to investigate functional processes to move sediment past Gavins Point Dam.
The study will build two functional models. The upstream model will use a newly developed version of the GSTARS (Generalized Stream Tube model for Alluvial River Simulation), created for unsteady flow in reservoirs called GSTARS-HTC, and encompass the reach from Ft. Randall Dam to Gavins Point Dam. The downstream model will be built as a 1-D hydraulic/sediment transport model using the HEC-RAS w/Sediment model. It will cover the reach from Gavins Point Dam to Sioux City, IA.
The HTC model will evaluate the engineering viability of using river hydraulics to transport deposited delta sediments through the reservoir reach and estimate the extent and distance of their transport.
The HEC-RAS model will use the output of the HTC model as input and estimate any additional transport of sediments to/through the Missouri Recreational River reach and possibly past Sioux City, IA on the navigation reach of the river.
The study was initiated in late 2005 and is planned to be completed by summer 2010.
Current Status (Aug 2009):
- Input from the Jun 2007 public meeting has resulted in the development of alternatives to be tested by the flow models
- The survey data for the GSTARS-HTC model has been delivered to the reservoir model contractor
- Velocity and sediment data was being collected in the reservoir for the HTC model and delivered to the contractor in late Winter 2008.
- HTC model was calibrated with flushing data from the Xialongdi Reservoir in China during spring 2009.
- HTC model currently being run with the defined flow alternatives
- Hydro survey data for the downstream model being processed by USACE-Omaha
- HEC-RAS w/Sediment model under construction.
- Webpage created as part of the MRRP website.
The project team expects to have initial results to discuss in a public form during the spring of 2010, with an estimated date for the project completion and release of the report by summer 2010.
Documents
The Fact Sheet and Frequently Asked Questions documents were created for the June 2007 agency/public meetings held at
Yankton, S.D.. The fact sheet covers the general concepts of the study, and the FAQ addresses the most common questions
received by the project team. The June 2007 Meeting Comments document compiles all the comments collected at the meeting.
These comments have been provided without edits, and are neither endorsed or condemned by the US Army Corps of Engineers.
The 2008 Progress Report document details the in progress work on developing the reservoir model and provides additional
project details.
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