USING ECOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO STUDY THE EFFECTS OF DAMS ON AQUATIC SPECIES

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: ACTIVE
• Funding Source: HATCH
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1025143
• Project Start Date: Nov 2, 2020
• Project End Date: Oct 31, 2025
• Program Code: [(N/A)]- (N/A)

Recipient Organization
AUBURN UNIVERSITY
108 M. WHITE SMITH HALL
AUBURN,AL 36849

Performing Department
Fisheries & Allied Aquaculture

Non Technical Summary
Dams can have profound effects on fishes that live both above and below them. In this project, we will look at how dams affect fishes, including by blocking their migration pathways along a river, and by changing the water flow and temperature patterns in the downstream river reaches. We will use a unique combination of sampling of fishes in the field, tagging and tracking fish locations and movement patterns, innovative micro-chemical analyses of fish ear stones (otoliths), and analyzing their genetics. Results from this work will be used to better predict the overall effects of these dams, and will provide valuable data for use as resource managers begin to look at ways to reduce any negative effects of dams.

Animal Health Component

60%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

40%

Applied

60%

Developmental

0%

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
135	0810	1070	75%
135	0812	1070	25%

Knowledge Area
135 - Aquatic and Terrestrial Wildlife;

Subject Of Investigation
0810 - Finfish; 0812 - Fish habitats;

Field Of Science
1070 - Ecology;

Keywords

dams

riverine fishes

otoliths

fish movement

tagging and tracking

Goals / Objectives
Our overall goal is to quantify the effects of dams on downstream riverine fishes, including both effects due to variation in flow and temperature and the potential for fish to pass the dams. Our work will include approaches at three different levels or scales at which dams might exert a biological or ecological effect on a river system. These scales range from the individual organism level to the population level, and our broad research questions related to these scales/levels include:(1) How do individual fish respond to the barrier provided by a lock and dam structure?(2) How are fish populations impacted by the presence a lock and dam structure?(3) How might we be able to mitigate some of these impacts?

Project Methods
Alabama River workThis work will be focused in the broad areas impounded by three lock-and-dam structures: Robert F. Henry (aka Jones Bluff) Lock & Dam (L&D), Millers Ferry L&D, and Claiborne L&D, extending downstream to the upper areas of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta.**Individual responses.Field Tagging/Tracking. We will quantify potential movement past the lowermost dams on the lower Alabama River (Claiborne, Miller's Ferry L&D) by inserting internal sonic/radio transmitters into fishes with migratory life-histories during late winter/early spring just below both dams. We plan to tag 20-30 of each of the following species each year: Paddlefish Polyodon spatula, Blacktail Redhorse Moxostoma poecilurum, and Smallmouth Buffalo Ictobius bubalus; our previous work demonstrates our ability to tag/track these species (Simcox et al. 2015; Hershey 2019; Kratina 2019; McKee 2019). Fish will be tagged with internal anchor tags and standard acoustic tags to track fish and collect movement/location data. We will establish an array of submersible receivers from the head of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta upstream to sites in the lower Cahaba River. To gain more precise locations of tagged fish during the peak migration period in the spring, manual tracking will also be conducted. This tracking will document conditions that permit or limit passage and the potential success of individuals that do move beyond the dams.Fish Sampling and Surgery. Fish will be collected using pulsed-DC electrofishing (Smith-Root 7.5 GPP) (Lein and DeVries 1997) and floating large-mesh gill nets (Simcox et al. 2015). Surgeries to implant tags will be done on MS-222 anesthetized fish using standard tagging protocol (Summerfelt and Smith 1990; Simcox et al. 2015). Fish will be allowed to recover in a holding tank prior to release and will be released in the approximate area of capture.Fine-scale movement/tracking below a dam structure. To collect relevant and required data for quantifying fish movement around a dam (e.g., Katopodis and Gervais 2012), we will initially focus on the lowermost dam. Claiborne Dam has a crested spillway where fish have been documented to pass upstream during high water events (Simcox et al. 2015). Additional work may also be conducted at Millers Ferry, the second lowermost dam on the Alabama River. We propose to carefully measure the responses of tagged fish as they move through the complex flow field of the tailrace of these dams. Fishes tagged with acoustic tags will have their position determined by a triangulation in an array of receivers (Lotek Wireless, Inc.) in the Claiborne tailrace. Multiple (15-20) receivers will be arranged to maximize the precision of estimates of fish locations (as has been done previously; Cooke et al. 2012; Biesinger et al. 2013). A second array will triangulate fish locations upstream of the dam.**Population impacts. We propose to quantify population genetics, microchemistry of fish hard parts, and movement and fate of fish transported past the structure to explore potential population effects of dams.Genetic comparison. We predict that there would be some degree of genetic differentiation below versus above the structure. This difference might be lessened in the case of the lowermost structure on the Alabama River, Claiborne L&D, given the crested spillway over which fish may be able to pass. And this variation in connectedness may play a role in the long-term viability of some of these species' populations (Brook et al. 2002; Reed 2004; Thomas 2014). Our explicit predictions relative to genetic differentiation are that there are four presumed populations: fish above Jones Bluff L&D (in Jones Bluff reservoir), fish between Jones Bluff and Millers Ferry L&D (in Millers Ferry reservoir), fish between Millers Ferry and Claiborne L&D (in Claiborne Reservoir), and fish below Claiborne. Fish below vs above Claiborne Lock and Dam may be genetically more similar to one another than versus in Millers Ferry or Jones Bluff reservoirs, which will differ from one another as well. We will collaborate with Dr. Eric Peatman (AU) to select species (based on general activity patterns, habitat use, longevity), determine what SNP markers exist, develop SNP markers that are required, and then analyze individuals to determine whether any meaningful population differences have been established. This will provide a long-term (i.e., multi-generational) approach to determining how distinct these populations are, as well as how different the Claiborne structure is due to the presence of a crested spillway that allows for some fish movement.Hart part microchemistry. Because fishes incorporate some elements from the ambient water into the matrix of their otolith as they grow, they provide a temporal record of the elemental composition of their ambient water, and watershed variation may allow populations to be distinguished. If these L&D structures represent meaningful barriers to movement throughout the river, we predict that there will be differences in the fish hard part microchemistry. We also predict that juveniles produced in these regions will retain these signatures in the hard part core. Outcomes of this sampling could indicate little or no mixing among populations, reproduction in all reaches but contributions of juveniles drifting downstream, or virtually all recruitment resulting from drift from upstream production. For species that can successfully migrate pass the barriers, seasonal signals from upstream areas may be found in the elements in the structure. We have substantial experience in working with the microchemistry of fish hard parts (e.g., Lowe et al. 2009, 2011, 2012; Farmer et al. 2013; Nelson et al. 2015), and will apply the same approach here.Fate of transported fish. If fish move past the dam, we need to determine whether they will continue their upstream migration in the reservoir (vs the downstream riverine habitat). Fallback is a behavior that translocated fish sometimes exhibit (Frank et al. 2009), and we will determine whether that occurs here for several species. We will move a subset of fish tagged with acoustic/radio tags from capture sites below the dam upstream into the reservoir, with fish tagged/released in the downstream tailrace area as a control. We plan to move 25 tagged individual paddlefish and 25 tagged blacktail redhorse. These fish will be moved across both Claiborne and Millers Ferry dams.Tallapoosa River work We will focus on 3 sites that are impacted by Harris Dam and an unimpacted or control/reference site. Target study species will be a black bass (likely Tallapoosa bass, Micropterus tallapoosae), a catfish (likely channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus), and a species of sunfish (likely redbreast sunfish, Lepomis auritus). We will conduct quarterly sampling of the fish community in the four study sites using standardized boat electrofishing. Captured fish will be identified, weighed, and measured. For a subsample of the target species, diets will be quantified and otoliths removed for age-and-growth analysis. Otoliths will be removed and read and backcalculated lengths at age estimated using standard techniques. Age-and-growth data will be compared among the four study sites, as well as to any available information that we can find in other non-impacted sites. Movement of target species will be quantified by implanting fish with a combined acoustic/radio transmitter and placing stationary acoustic receivers at various locations along the river, combined with weekly manual tracking events throughout the study reach.

Progress 11/02/20 to 09/30/21

Outputs
Target Audience:Resource managers/fisheries managers, water managers, Federal agency biologists and engineers, policymakers, researchers (both fisheries management andecological). Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?--mentoring of graduate students --addition of a postdoctoral fellow to our research project team --inclusion of research technicians in all aspects of the research project --inclusion of undergraduate students in the research project How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?--We have made numerous presentations of our findings to resource agencies in Alabama, to personnel with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (who are funding the bulk of this work concerning the influence of dams on fish in riverine systems), and the Alabama Power Company. --We and our graduate students have made a number of presentations at international, national, regional, state, and local professional scientific meetings. --We have conducted meetings with other potential funding sources. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?--We continue to broaden our work to include effects of dams on fishes, and are increasing the focus from being on large migratory riverine fishes to include smaller forms, as well as starting to consider some non-native species. --We have already scheduled numerous additional presentations to resource agencies and professional scientific societies at the state, regional, and national/international levels, all ofwhich depend on Covid-19 protocols. --We will continue to prepare and submit additional manuscripts for publication in peer-reviewed scientific journals. --We continue to explore additional potential funding sources for this and related work, including potential work with The Nature Conservancy and the US Army Corps of Engineers relative to potential fish passage structures being considered for the lowermost two lock-and-dam structures on the Alabama River (which is in the heart of our current field study area).

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Relative to our work with the effects of dams on fishes, we have continued to study how these structures affect fish at both the individual and population levels, as well as how we might be able to mitigate their effects. We have maintained our array of receivers that are spaced approximately 10-20 km apart from the confluence of the Alabama and Tombigbee rivers (RKM0) upstream to Millers Ferry Lock and Dam (RKM218), allowing us to passively track and locate individual tagged fish at a broad spatial scale. Maintenance of these receivers (again, scattered across >200 river km) takes a substantial amount of time, and involves regular relocating and retrieval of the receivers, downloading of the collected data, replacement of the receiver batteries, and placement back in the water at the site. This work has yielded literally millions of data points/locations, which has also taken a substantial amount of time, effort, and computer resources to analyze. We completed our work quantifying the genetics and hard part microchemistry of individuals from two species (paddlefish, smallmouth buffalo) in an effort to determine potential short term (microchemistry) and longer-term (genetics) effects of the dams on fish population ecology, and have begun a follow-up project to use this same approach with smaller and shorter-lived species. A study quantifying the effects of translocation of fish from below Claiborne Lock and Dam to above the dam has been completed and a similar project involving Millers Ferry Lock and Dam (i.e., the next upstream structure) is being initiated. With these two studies, conclusions can be drawn as to whether passage around these structures could lead to fish movement back to the Cahaba River, which is a primary goal for the state relative to fish passagework. We have published one paper (which appeared online) during the reporting period and have 4 others that are currently in manuscript form and in various stages of revision. Finally, in the Tallapoosa River, we continue to quantify the effects of a hypolimnetic hydropower discharge from Harris Dam on the downstream fish community. This discharge leads to a dramatically increased flow combined with hypolimnetic water temperatures (i.e., cold water in the summer), making it unclear what the ultimate population effects will be. The fieldwork for this effort has been completed and a final report was submitted to the Alabama Power Company during the reporting period. Additional laboratory work with fish swimming performance and metabolic measures continue. Our results from this work will ultimately be used to help with decision-making relative to the future operation of this hydropower structure.

Publications

• Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Horne, L.M. 2021. The effects of temperature and dissolved oxygen on fish respiration determined by enzymatic and organismal techniques. Dissertation, Auburn University, AL. 117+xiii pages.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Bart, R.J., D.R. DeVries, and R.A. Wright. 2021. Change in piscivore growth potential after the introduction of a nonnative prey fish: a bioenergetics analysis. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 150:175-188 (doi:10.1002/tafs.10276).
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2021 Citation: Hershey, H.J., D.R. DeVries, R.A. Wright, and D. McKee. in press. Evaluating fish passage and tailrace space use at a low-use low-head lock-and-dam. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (28 text pages, 4 tables, 10 figures).
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2022 Citation: Carlson, A.K., W.W. Taylor, D.R. DeVries, C.P. Ferreri, M.J. Fogarty, K.J. Hartman, D.M. Infante, M.T. Kinnison, S.A. Levin, R.T. Melstrom, R.M. Newman, M.L. Pinsky, D.I. Rubenstein, S. Ma~eika, P. Sullivan, P.A. Venturelli, M.J. Weber, M.R. Wuellner, and G,B. Zydlewski. in press. Stepping up: a U.S. perspective on the ten steps to responsible inland fisheries. Fisheries (33 text pages, 6 tables, 3 figures).
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2020 Citation: Bickley, S., L. Kalin, D.R. DeVries, and C. Anderson. 2020. Effects of coastal urbanization on tidal creeks and fringing salt marsh ecosystems along the northern Gulf of Mexico. Bays and Bayous Symposium.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2021 Citation: Hershey, H., D.R. DeVries, R.A. Wright, D. McKee, D. Thomas, and C. Laubach. 2021. Multispecies fish passage and movements in the Alabama River. Annual Meeting of the Alabama Chapter of the American Fisheries Society, Ramer, Alabama.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2021 Citation: Horne, L.M., D.R. DeVries, and J.A. Stoeckel. 2021. Effects of ecologically relevant levels of glochidia infestation on metabolic rate and hypoxia tolerance of Bluegill Lepomis macrochirus and Largemouth Bass Micropterus salmoides. Annual Meeting of the Alabama Chapter of the American Fisheries Society, Ramer, Alabama.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2021 Citation: Lamb, E., D.R. DeVries, and R.A. Wright. 2021. Can otolith microchemistry be used to quantify fish movement downstream of a hydropeaking dam? Annual Meeting of the Alabama Chapter of the American Fisheries Society, Ramer, Alabama.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2021 Citation: Rotar, C., D.R. DeVries, and R.A. Wright. 2021. Evaluating the effects of three Alabama River dams on fish movements using otolith microchemistry. Annual Meeting of the Alabama Chapter of the American Fisheries Society, Ramer, Alabama.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2021 Citation: Stell, E., D.R. DeVries, and R.A. Wright. 2021. Swimming performance and metabolism of four fish species under the flow and temperature regimes of a regulated river. Annual Meeting of the Alabama Chapter of the American Fisheries Society, Ramer, Alabama.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: DeVries, D.R., R.A. Wright, E. Stell, and E. Lamb. 2021. Using bioenergetics to address the effects of temperature and flow on fishes in the Harris Dam tailrace. Final Report to the Alabama Power Company, Birmingham, Alabama. 302 pages.