Pacific Lamprey Conservation Initiative- Focus on Willamette Subregion

Transcription

1 Pacific Lamprey Conservation Initiative- Focus on Willamette Subregion Christina Luzier and Howard Schaller Columbia River Fisheries Program Office US Fish & Wildlife Service

2 Global Distribution Historically lampreys were widely distributed from Mexico north along the Pacific Rim to Japan

3 Population Structure Hypothetical Possibilities? One (few) Current studies point to few versus many May need to be managed on regional scales Many

4 Need for Conservation Initiative Apparent widespread decline throughout the range Ecologically important to aquatic habitats Significant to Native American cultures Concern of status from many partners

5 Initiative Goals Conserve lamprey throughout range Coordinate management activities & integrate plans Promote conservation partnerships and on-the-ground efforts Increase opportunities for funding, technical support and coordination Guide RM&E to reduce uncertainties

6 Regional Meetings Collected information on abundance, distribution, and short-term trend by watershed Classified threats by scope and severity within watersheds Identified actions to address threats Identified research, monitoring and evaluation needs

7 Application of NatureServe Developed for data poor species by employing: Knowledge of general ecology, life stages, and population structure Framework for consistently categorizing demographics and threats across geographic regions

8 NatureServe Relative Risk Assessment Rarity: population size (abundance), range extent (historic dist.), area of occupancy (current dist.), and ratio of current to historic distribution Trends: short-term trend in population size (27 years)

9 NatureServe Relative Risk Assessment Threats: threat impact (calculated considering the scope and severity of the threats) Passage Dewatering and flow management Stream and floodplain degradation Water quality Predation Climate Change

10 NatureServe Risk Assessment

11 High risk for interior Columbia and southern range Low chance of rescue from healthy areas Coastal Areas relatively lower risk

12 Watershed Historic km 2 Current km 2 Middle Fork Willamette Coast Fork Willamette Upper Willamette ,000 Mckenzie North Santiam South Santiam Middle Willamette Yamhill Molalla-Pudding ,000 Tualatin Clackamas Lower Willamette Population size unknown Short term trend decline of 50-70%

13 Passage Dewatering and Flow Management Stream and Floodplain Degradation Watershed Scope Severity Scope Severity Scope Severity Middle Fork Willamette Coast Fork Willamette Upper Willamette Mckenzie North Santiam South Santiam Middle Willamette Yamhill Molalla-Pudding Tualatin Clackamas Lower Willamette Mean Rank M M M M H H

14 Passage Dewatering/Flow Mgmt. Stream Degradation Water Quality Harvest Predation Translocation Disease Small Population Size Lack of Awareness Climate Change Moderate Moderate High Moderate Unknown Moderate NA / Insig Unknown Unknown Moderate High / Unk.

15 S1 S1 S2 S2 S2 S2 S2 S2 S2 S2 S1 S1 Middle Fork Willamette Coast Fork Willamette Upper Willamette Mckenzie North Santiam South Santiam Middle Willamette Yamhill Molalla-Pudding Tualatin Clackamas Lower Willamette Low chance of rescue from healthy areas

16 1. Identify passage problems 2. Provide passage criteria for culvert repl. 3. Develop guidance for dredging 4. Screening criteria for water diversions/pumps 5. Improve side channel and floodplain connectivity 6. Water quantity 7. Disease 8. Distribution surveys 9. Tag development 10. Temperature tolerance

17 Next Steps Conservation Agreement Regional Implementation Plans

18 Climate Change Vulnerability in Pacific Lamprey Howard Schaller and Christina Luzier Columbia River Fisheries Program Office US Fish & Wildlife Service

19 Application of NatureServe Climate Change Vulnerability Need for systematic climate change assessment by region Employed NS vulnerability index: Direct environmental exposure from projections of temperature and moisture by region Species sensitivity to environmental change

20 Climate Change Risk Assessment Indirect exposure: Sea level rise, distribution relative to barriers Species specific sensitivity: Historical temperature and precipitation, dispersal, dietary versatility, species interactions Exposure to climate change: Magnitude of predicted temperature and moisture change from downscaled model runs

21 Climate Vulnerability Index

22 Pacific Lamprey NatureServe Results Climate Vulnerability Index Region Rank A1B -Mid A2-End Columbia River Lower Col./Willamette S2 PS EV Mid-Columbia S1 MV HV Snake SH,S1 MV HV Upper Columbia S1 PS MV California Northern California S2 MV HV Southern California S1 MV HV Oregon Coast North Oregon Coast S2 PS HV South Oregon Coast S2 PS EV Washington PugetSound NA MV EV Washington Coast NA PS HV

23 Application of Risk and Climate Change Assessments Lower Col./Willamette S2 PS EV S2 Threats: Stream & flood plain degradation Dewatering & flow management CC Vulnerability is PS mid century Sensitivity to End Century Vulnerability Stabilize stream temperature Remove barriers

24 What We Learned from NS Rapid Assessment Mid Century: Most coastal areas Presumed Stable Interior and southern range already Moderately Vulnerable End Century: Most Highly Vulnerable to Extremely Vulnerable Contrast NS Vulnerability with more direct aquatic climate change evaluation

25 Expressed as an average water depth over that watershed area. This variable is a primary component of the simulated water balance, and quantifies total precipitation of rain and snow.

26 Long term average of monthly routed streamflow (October through September) at the point of measurement.

27 Acknowledgements Western Lampreys Conservation Team - USFWS David Hines - USFWS Bruce Young - NatureServe Chris Zganjar - The Nature Conservancy Evan Girvetz - The Nature Conservancy