Monitoring Eastern Spadefoot (Scaphiopus holbrookii) Response to Weather with the Use of a Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) System

With the aim of building more compact fishways and adapting them to field conditions to improve their location by fish, it is common to use turning pools, reducing the longitudinal development of the construction. However, depending on their design, turning pools may affect the hydraulic performance of the fishway and consequently the fish passage. To study these phenomena, turning pools in a vertical slot and in different configurations of submerged notches with bottom orifice fishway types were assessed. Both types of fishways were studied using numerical 3D models via OpenFOAM, a computational fluid dynamics software, in combination with fish responses, assessed with PIT (Passive Integrated Transponder) tag telemetry for three different species of potamodromous cyprinids in several fishways. Results show differences between the hydrodynamics of straight and turning pools, with lower values in the hydrodynamic variables in turning pools. Regarding fish behavior, the ascent was slower in turning pools but with no effect on passage success and without being a problem for fish migration. This information validates the use of turning pools as a key design component for fishways for studied species.

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Brook trout passage performance through culverts

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences ◽

10.1139/cjfas-2015-0089 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 73 (1) ◽

pp. 94-104 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Elsa Goerig ◽

Theodore Castro-Santos ◽

Normand Émile Bergeron

Keyword(s):

Brook Trout ◽

Salvelinus Fontinalis ◽

Structural Characteristics ◽

Passive Integrated Transponder ◽

Complex Interactions ◽

Factors Influencing ◽

Several Variables ◽

And Behavior ◽

Steep Slopes ◽

Corrugated Metal

Culverts can restrict access to habitat for stream-dwelling fishes. We used passive integrated transponder telemetry to quantify passage performance of >1000 wild brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) attempting to pass 13 culverts in Quebec under a range of hydraulic and environmental conditions. Several variables influenced passage success, including complex interactions between physiology and behavior, hydraulics, and structural characteristics. The probability of successful passage was greater through corrugated metal culverts than through smooth ones, particularly among smaller fish. Trout were also more likely to pass at warmer temperatures, but this effect diminished above 15 °C. Passage was impeded at higher flows, through culverts with steep slopes, and those with deep downstream pools. This study provides insight on factors influencing brook trout capacity to pass culverts as well as a model to estimate passage success under various conditions, with an improved resolution and accuracy over existing approaches. It also presents methods that could be used to investigate passage success of other species, with implications for connectivity of the riverscape.

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