Technical Report

Fish Community Monitoring and Sampling Methodology Evaluation: Task 3 Report - Study Design for Comparison of Methods to Sample Silvery Minnow Abundance and Length Structure in the Main Channel and in Floodplains

URL: https://webapps.usgs.gov/mrgescp/documents/SWCA%20Environmental%20Consultants_2010_Fish%20Community%20Monitoring%20and%20Sampling%20Methodology%20Evaluation%20Task%203%20Report%20-%20Study%20Design%20for%20Comparison%20of%20Methods.pdf

Date: 2010/05/01

Author(s): Widmer A.M., Gonzales E., Burckhardt L.L., Hatch M.D., Kehmeier J.W.

Publication: Report prepared for U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, 26 p.

Abstract:

The purpose of this study design is to identify and evaluate sampling methodologies that may be used to estimate abundance and to characterize the length frequency of the Rio Grande silvery minnow (Hybognathus amarus; silvery minnow) in the early spring (broodstock) and autumn in the Middle Rio Grande (MRG), New Mexico (Figure 1.1).

This study design incorporates findings from an assessment report (Task 1; Widmer et al. 2010) completed for fisheries data of the MRG and a gear comparison report (Task 2; Burckhardt et al. 2010) completed for sampling gears used in other river systems. The assessment report describes data collection protocols used in the MRG, the precision of those data, and data attributes that can be used to provide insight into sampling design and methodologies. The gear comparison report describes how different gears were used, the habitats they were used in, the species detected, and the results of paired gear comparisons.