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Movements and Behavior of Radio-Tagged Adult Lost River and Shortnose Suckers in Response to Water Quality in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon

Completed
By Oregon Water Science Center January 10, 2022

Severe water quality problems in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, have led to critical fishery concerns for the region, including the listing of Lost River and shortnose suckers as endangered in 1988. In April 2001, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) released a Biological Opinion in which several reasonable and prudent alternatives to allow for the continued operation of the Klamath Project were presented. One of these alternatives was for the Bureau of Reclamation to develop a study plan to better determine the role of "water quality refuge" areas for adult sucker survival in Upper Klamath Lake. This study was  designed to determine the behavioral response of suckers to the distribution of poor and better water quality in the northern part of the lake.

Below is a publication that presents the findings from this study.

Distribution and habitat associations of radio-tagged adult Lost River suckers and shortnose suckers in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon

Radiotelemetry was used to investigate the summer distribution and diel habitat associations of endangered adult Lost River suckers Deltistes luxatus and shortnose suckers Chasmistes brevirostris in northern Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon. From 2002 to 2004, Lost River and shortnose suckers were tracked by boat, and water depth and water quality were measured at each fish location. A series of water q
Authors
Nolan P. Banish, Barbara J. Adams, Rip S. Shively, Michael M. Mazur, David A. Beauchamp, Tamara M. Wood
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Columbia Environmental Research Center, Oregon Water Science Center, Western Fisheries Research Center

Severe water quality problems in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, have led to critical fishery concerns for the region, including the listing of Lost River and shortnose suckers as endangered in 1988. In April 2001, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) released a Biological Opinion in which several reasonable and prudent alternatives to allow for the continued operation of the Klamath Project were presented. One of these alternatives was for the Bureau of Reclamation to develop a study plan to better determine the role of "water quality refuge" areas for adult sucker survival in Upper Klamath Lake. This study was  designed to determine the behavioral response of suckers to the distribution of poor and better water quality in the northern part of the lake.

Below is a publication that presents the findings from this study.

Distribution and habitat associations of radio-tagged adult Lost River suckers and shortnose suckers in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon

Radiotelemetry was used to investigate the summer distribution and diel habitat associations of endangered adult Lost River suckers Deltistes luxatus and shortnose suckers Chasmistes brevirostris in northern Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon. From 2002 to 2004, Lost River and shortnose suckers were tracked by boat, and water depth and water quality were measured at each fish location. A series of water q
Authors
Nolan P. Banish, Barbara J. Adams, Rip S. Shively, Michael M. Mazur, David A. Beauchamp, Tamara M. Wood
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Columbia Environmental Research Center, Oregon Water Science Center, Western Fisheries Research Center