Airborne Lidar Mapping of Invasive Lake Trout in Yellowstone Lake
Shaw JA, Churnside JH, Wilson JJ, Lerner NE, Tiensvold RR, Bigelow PE, Koel TM. 2008. Airborne Lidar Mapping of Invasive Lake Trout in Yellowstone Lake. In International Laser Radar Conference
In 1994 Invasive lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) were discovered in Yellowstone Lake near the center of Yellowstone National Park. The large lake trout feeding on smaller cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki bouvieri) seriously threatens the existence of this native species and seriously alters the ecological balance in Yellowstone National Park. During the September 2004 spawning season, an airborne lidar was flown over Yellowstone Lake to locate pockets of spawning lake trout to aid in the effort of identifying and eradicating this invasive species from the lake. The lidar data were used to generate a map of lidar-located fish. This map led to the confirmed discovery of a previously unknown pocket of invasive lake trout in the remote Southeast Arm of the lake.
- Type
- Conference Proceeding Paper
- Authors
- Shaw, Joseph; Churnside, James; Wilson, James; Lerner, Nicole; Tiensvold, Riannon; Bigelow, Patricia; Koel, Todd
- Units
- YELL
- Keywords
- eradication, invasive species, management, native species, predation, spawn
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Invasive Species | Invasive/Exotic animals