Oregon - Northern California Area Report

Authors: Paul Scheerer, Stewart B. Reid, Douglas Markle, Kendra Hoekzema, Michael Meeuwig, David Banks, Shannon Hurn, Patrick DeHaan

Year: 2012 (xliv)

Abstract

The northwestern extreme of the desert region includes several endorheic drainage subbasins in Oregon, northeastern California, and northwestern Nevada (Fort Rock, Chewaucan, Goose, Warner, Catlow, Alvord, Malheur Lakes, Coyote Lakes, and Quinn). This region supports remnant fish faunas that once inhabited extensive pluvial Pleistocene lakes. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife: 1) estimated Warner sucker, Catostomus warnerensis, abundance and tracked seasonal movements in the Warner Lakes, 2) obtained a population estimate for Borax Lake chub, Gila boraxobius, in the Alvord subbasin, 3) obtained a population estimate and evaluated habitat conditions for Foskett Spring speckled dace, Rhinichthys osculus ssp., in Foskett and Dace Springs, 4) completed a 6 yr study assessing the distribution and obtaining population estimates for Interior redband trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, in six subbasins in SE Oregon, 5) treated Sage and Line Canyon Creeks (McDermitt drainage) with rotenone to remove rainbow trout and hybrids from Lahontan cutthroat, and 6) toured the aftermath of lightning fire on Lahontan cutthroat habitat in the McDermitt subbasin (Corral, Sage, Line Creeks) and Willow-Whitehorse subbasin (Little Whitehorse, Cottonwood, Fifteen, Doolittle, and Whitehorse Creeks). Pat DeHaan, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in collaboration with ODFW, completed a genetic analysis of Warner suckers in four Warner basin tributaries and found that none of the tributary populations showed reduced levels of genetic variation, that each tributary contains a genetically independent spawning population, and found levels of genetic variation in a refuge population were similar to those in the natural populations. Drs. Doug Markle, Oregon State University (OSU), and Stewart Reid synthesized available taxonomic data and photo-documented listed or list-able Oregon desert fishes for a book-in-progress ‘Freshwater fishes of Oregon’. Dr. Markle (OSU) assessed the effects of parasites on juvenile recruitment in Klamath suckers. Kendra Hoekzema (OSU), in collaboration with BLM and ODFW, conducted a study of species limits and population structure in speckled daces across the arid drainages of Oregon using phylogenetics, microsatellite analysis, and morphometrics. The work included a systematic assessment of the taxonomic status of the threatened Foskett speckled dace, revealed patterns of genetic connectivity across the landscape, and tested for the presence of cryptic species or subspecies. Dave Banks and Anna Kerr (ODFW) worked with landowners in the Honey Creek subbasin to initiate fish passage and screening projects for Warner suckers, and conducted surveys for Pit sculpins in the Goose Lake subbasin. The Marci Schreder, Lake County Watershed Council, and Troy Brandt, River Design Group, completed several watershed enhancement projects in the Goose Lake and Chewaucan subbasins focusing on fish passage and stream bank stabilization for native fishes.