Warner Valley Fish Investigations- Warner Suckers Progress Reports 2008

Identification Information

Citation

Originator: Scheerer, P., S. Jacobs, K. Bratcher, G. Swearingen and S. Kramer

Publish Date: 2009

Online Link: None

BPA Project #:

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

Description

Abstract: The Warner sucker (Catostomus warnerensis) is endemic to the Warner Valley, an endorheic subbasin of the Great Basin in southeastern Oregon and northwestern Nevada. This species was historically abundant 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 which 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 1976). 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). In 2008, precipitation and snow pack were near average and Hart and Crump Lakes never filled completely. In 2007, Crump Lake water levels were very low with less than a quarter of the surface area wetted during the winter. Both lakes have been watered continuously since 1993. The Warner sucker inhabits the lakes and low gradient stream reaches of the Warner Valley. Two life history forms are present that comprise the metapopulation of Warner suckers: lake and stream morphs. The lake suckers are lacustrine adfluvial or potamodromous fish which normally spawn in the streams. However, upstream migration may be blocked by low stream flows during dry water years or by irrigation diversion dams and spawning may occur in nearshore areas of the lakes (White et al. 1990). The stream suckers inhabit and spawn in the three major tributary drainages (Honey, Deep, and Twentymile Creeks). 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). 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 recovery criteria for delisting the species. These criteria require that (1) a self-sustaining metapopulation is distributed throughout the Twentymile, Honey, and Deep Creek (below the falls) drainages, and in Pelican, Crump, and Hart Lakes, (2) passage is restored within and among the Twentymile, Honey, and Deep Creek (below the falls) drainages so that the 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. In 2008, we conducted investigations in Hart and Crump Lakes to quantify the abundance and distribution of Warner suckers, to search for evidence of recent recruitment, and to estimate sucker abundance relative to nonnative fish abundance. In addition we investigated growth and movement patterns. We used Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tagged suckers to determine growth rates and movements, tracked radio-tagged suckers to document seasonal spawning migrations, fished a screw trap in Twelvemile Creek to monitor downstream movements, and operated a trap at the Dyke diversion dam on Twentymile Creek to monitor upstream movements.

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Geographic Extent: Warner Valley

Status: Final

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Format: PDF File

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Is a physical copy maintained for reference at Headquarters? No