Effects of fine sediment on salmonid redds in Prairie Creek, a tributary of Redwood Creek, Humboldt County, California
Meyer CB, Madej MA, Klein RD. 1993. Effects of fine sediment on salmonid redds in Prairie Creek, a tributary of Redwood Creek, Humboldt County, California. Pages 47-55. In Veirs SD, Stohlgren TJ, Schonewald-Cox C: Proceedings of the fourth conference on research in California's National Parks. University of California, Davis. September 10-12, 1991. National Park Service. Denver
This project measured effects of sediment on survival of salmonid eggs in Prairie Creek and two tributaries: one control branch and one containing extra silt from road construction. The large amount of silt from an unprotected highway alignment filled in spaces in the gravel streambed, potentially reducing availability of dissolved oxygen to the eggs; however, in this year of low streamflow, the relatively small amount of silt carried to the redds did not appreciably affect egg survival. With more normal flows, more silt would be transported, and further studies are planned to study effects during higher flows. An infestation by oligochaete worms caused high mortality in two of the experimental redds, and further experiments are expected to show if such an infestation is related to the presence of fine sediment. A table provides mean inflow rates and dissolved oxygen concentrations; figures show distribution of fine particle sizes and egg survival statistics.
- Type
- Conference Proceeding Paper
- Authors
- Meyer, Carolyn; Madej, Mary; Klein, Randy
- Units
- REDW
- Keywords
- aquatic worms, clay, construction site, Dissolved Oxygen, egg survival, fine sediment, Fish Studies, Gravel, highway, Mortality, Oligochaeta, Oncorhynchus mykiss, permeability, Prairie Creek, Prairie Creek Bibliography, Redds, Redwood Creek, Rivers, Salmonid, sedimentation, silt, Steelhead Trout, Streams, Survival Rate