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MetaData for Status, Distribution, and Life History Investigations of Warner Suckers, 2006-2010 Information Reports number 2011-02
Status, Distribution, and Life History Investigations of Warner Suckers, 2006-2010 Information Reports number 2011-02
Identification Information
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Citation
- Originator: Scheerer, P., S. Jacobs, M. Terwilliger, S. Miller, S. Gunckel, S. Richardson and M. Heck
- Publish Date: 2011
- Online Link:
None
- BPA Project #:
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Contact Information
- Agency: Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
- Name: Cedric Cooney
- Job Position: Natural Resources Data and Systems Manager
- Telephone: 503-947-6094
- E-Mail Address: cedric.x.cooney@odfw.oregon.gov
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Description
- Abstract: The Warner sucker Catostomus warnerensis is endemic to the Warner Valley, a subbasin
of the Great Basin in southeastern Oregon and northwestern Nevada. This species was
historically abundant (Snyder 1908) and its historical range includes three permanent lakes (Hart,
Crump, and Pelican), several ephemeral lakes, a network of sloughs and diversion canals, and
three major tributary drainages (Honey, Deep, and Twentymile creeks). Warner sucker abundance
and distribution has declined over the past century and it was federally listed as threatened in
1985 due to habitat fragmentation and threats posed by the proliferation of piscivorous non-native
game fishes (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1985).
The Warner Valley is a northeast-southwest trending endorheic basin that extends
approximately 90 km (Figure 1). The elevation of the valley floor is approximately 1,370 m and the
basin is bound by fault block escarpments, the Warner Rim on the west and Hart Mountain and
Poker Jim Ridge on the east. The Warner basin was formed during the middle Tertiary and late
Quaternary geologic periods as a result of volcanic and tectonic activity (Baldwin 1974). Abundant
precipitation during the Pleistocene Epoch resulted in the formation of Pluvial Lake Warner (Hubbs
and Miller 1948). At its maximum extent approximately 11,000 years ago, the lake reached
approximately 100 m in depth and 1,300 km2 in area (Snyder et al. 1964; Weide 1975).
The Warner sucker inhabits the lakes and low gradient stream reaches of the Warner
Valley. The metapopulation of Warner suckers is comprised of two life history forms: lake and
stream morphs. The lake suckers display a lacustrine-adfluvial pattern in which they spend most
of the year in the lake and spawn in the streams. However, when upstream migration is hindered
by low stream flows during drought years or by irrigation diversion dams, lake suckers may spawn
in nearshore areas of the lakes (White et al. 1990). Large lake-dwelling populations of introduced
fishes in the lakes likely reduce sucker recruitment by predation on young suckers (U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service 1998). Periodic lake desiccation also threatens the lake suckers. The stream
suckers display a fluvial life-history pattern and spawn in the three major tributary drainages
(Honey, Deep, and Twentymile Creeks). Threats specific to the stream form include water
withdrawals for irrigation and impacts from grazing. Stream suckers recolonized the lakes after
past drying events (mid-1930’s and early-1990’s).
The Recovery Plan for the Threatened and Rare Native Fishes of the Warner Basin and
Alkali Subbasin (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1998) sets three recovery criteria for delisting the
species. These criteria require that: (1) a self-sustaining metapopulation is distributed throughout
the drainages of Twentymile Creek, Honey Creek, and below the falls on Deep Creek, and in
Pelican, Crump, and Hart Lakes; (2) passage is restored within and among these drainages so
that individual populations of Warner suckers can function as a metapopulation; and (3) no threats
exist that would likely threaten the survival of the species over a significant portion of its range.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (ODFW’s) Native Fish Investigations Project
conducted investigations from 2006 through 2010 to describe the conservation (recovery) status of
Warner suckers. The objectives of our investigations were to: 1) describe the current distribution
of suckers in the Warner subbasin, 2) estimate their abundance in the lakes and streams, 3)
collect life history information, and 4) describe the primary factors that currently limit the sucker’s
ability to maintain a functioning metapopulation, including connectivity/fragmentation of habitats
and factors affecting successful recruitment in the lake and stream environments. Previous similar
studies were conducted in 1990, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, and 2001 (White et al. 1990;
White et al. 1991; Allen et al. 1994; Allen et al. 1995; Allen et al. 1996; Bosse et al. 1997; Hartzell
et al. 2001).
We addressed these objectives by implementing the following tasks: 1) conducting surveys
in Hart and Crump Lakes to describe the distribution and quantify the abundance of Warner
suckers, search for evidence of recent recruitment, estimate sucker abundance relative to
nonnative fish abundance, and describe certain life history characteristics, 2) tagging suckers with
Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tags in the lakes and tributaries to estimate growth rates
and describe seasonal movements, 3) radio tracking suckers in the lakes and tributaries to
describe seasonal movements, 4) fishing screw traps in Warner basin tributaries to monitor
downstream movements, 5) operating a trap at a fish ladder on a Warner tributary to assess
upstream passage success, 6) conducting surveys in Warner basin tributaries to describe the
current distribution of stream resident populations of Warner suckers and to quantify their
abundance, 7) describing associations between the distribution of suckers and habitat variables in
Twentymile Creek, 8) trapping larval suckers in the tributaries to describe the relative abundance
and timing of larval movements, 9) describing life history parameters including growth rates, length
frequency distributions, length at maturity, and weight-length relationships, 10) evaluating a nonlethal
ageing technique, 11) describing the distribution and abundance of the Warner suckers at
Summer Lake Wildlife Management area, where a self-sustaining population became established
after fish salvage from Hart Lake during the 1992 drought, and 12) collecting tissue samples for
future genetic analyses. This report compiles the results of this work, synthesizes and interprets
findings relative to the conservation status of the species, and recommends future studies.
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- Purpose:
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- Time Period of Content:
- Geographic Extent: Snyder, Honey, Deep Twentymile and Twelvemile Creeks, Hart, Pelican Lakes and Greaser reservoir
- Status: Final
- Use Constraints:
- Format: PDF File
Data Quality Information
- Lineage-Source:
Data Information
- No data information was supplied.
Entity and Attribute Information
- Attributes Description: Field attribute information is available in the attached file(s).
Is a physical copy maintained for reference at Headquarters?
No
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