Physical rearing habitat for anadromous salmonids in Redwood Creek basin, Humboldt County, California
Brown RA. 1988. Physical rearing habitat for anadromous salmonids in Redwood Creek basin, Humboldt County, California. Humboldt State University
This thesis evaluates streams in the Redwood Creek system for use as salmonid spawning and rearing habitat. The larger tributaries are mostly available, despite some blockage by debris; nearly 80 percent of the rearing habitat found in tributaries exists in just over 20 percent of these accessible streams. Distribution of young salmonids is not uniform, with cutthroat trout and coho salmon mainly in the Prairie Creek system, and young steelhead scarcer there but most common and widespread in the Redwood Creek basin as a whole. During summer low streamflows, poorer rearing habitat was additionally degraded by excess sedimentation. In discussing abundance, the author's Abstract notes, "Total salmonid density was found to be significantly correlated with stream surface area but not to stream volume." Management recommendations note the importance of winter habitat, and the value of stabilization (by park rehabilitation work) in reducing sediment. Contains 32 text figures and 6 tables (data analyses, stream order and accessible habitat, fish numbers and biomass). Appendices: tributary data, physical characteristics at 12 sites, and juvenile salmonid length/weight data for the same 12 streams.
- Type
- Academic
- Authors
- Brown, Randy
- Date of Issue
- 1988-12
- Publisher
- Humboldt State University
- Units
- REDW
- Keywords
- Animal Studies, Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarki), Debris, Distribution, Distribution (Biodiversity), Habitats, Presence (Biodiversity), Redwood Creek Basin, Rivers, Salmonids (Salmonidae), Size, Spawning, Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss), Streams, Taxa Links To References, Thesis