Geology topics

Caylen M. Kelsey

Publications and source records attributed to Caylen M. Kelsey.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2022

Growth, survival, and cohort formation of juvenile Lost River (Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose suckers (Chasmistes brevirostris) in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, and Clear Lake Reservoir, California—2020 monitoring report

Executive Summary Populations of federally endangered Lost River ( Deltistes luxatus ) and shortnose suckers ( Chasmistes brevirostris ) in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, and Clear Lake Reservoir (hereinafter, Clear Lake), California, are experiencing long-term decreases in abundance. Upper Klamath Lake populations are decreasing not only because of adult mortality, which is relatively low, but also because they are not being balanced by recruitment of young adult suckers into known adult spawning aggregations. Long-term monitoring of juvenile sucker populations is conducted to (1) determine if there are annual and species-specific differences in production, survival, and growth, (2) better understand when juvenile sucker mortality is greatest, and (3) help identify potential causes of high juvenile sucker mortality particularly in Upper Klamath Lake. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) monitoring program, begun in 2015, tracks cohorts through summer months and among years in Upper Klamath and Clear Lakes. Data on juvenile suckers captured in trap nets are used to provide information on annual variability in age-0 sucker apparent production, juvenile sucker apparent survival, apparent growth, species composition, and health. Upper Klamath Lake indices of year-class strength suggest that the 2020 age-0 cohort is one of the lowest since standardized monitoring began. Despite apparently low over-winter survival, the relatively large 2019 cohort persisted in our 2020 samples and continues to contribute to the populations. Although the 2019 cohort age-0 suckers were composed mainly of Lost River suckers, the age-1 suckers from the 2019 cohort were mainly shortnose suckers. Lost River suckers comprised the largest proportion of the 2020 year-class and were only captured in July and August. Shortnose suckers were mainly captured in August and September and comprised a smaller proportion of the 2020 year-class. Age distribution of suckers captured in Clear Lake indicates greater juvenile survival than in Upper Klamath Lake. Most juvenile suckers captured were age-3 and age-4 suckers classified as the combination of Klamath largescale suckers ( Catostomus snyderi ) and shortnose suckers from the Lost River Basin, from the 2016 and 2017 cohorts. A lack of age-0 suckers captured in Clear Lake during years with the low inflow or lake levels initially lead us to believe that low water prevented spawning and year class formation. However, recent data indicate that some cohorts that were not captured as age-0 suckers were detected in later years at age-1 or age-2. This finding indicates that juvenile suckers in Clear Lake may spend one or more years in the tributaries or that sampling efficacy for age-0 suckers varies among years because of water depth. The first 5 years of this monitoring program indicated different patterns in recruitment and survival of juvenile suckers between Upper Klamath and Clear Lakes. Since the monitoring program began in 2015, age-0 sucker catch rates, interpreted as indices of year-class strength, were greatest in Upper Klamath Lake in 2016 and 2019. In those years Lost River suckers made up the majority of age-0 sucker catches; however, in 2017 and 2020 the age-1 sucker catches from these cohorts were mainly composed of shortnose suckers or suckers with genetic markers of both Klamath largescale and shortnose suckers, indicating a low overwinter survival for Lost River suckers even when the age-0 catches were high. Age-0 suckers do not fully recruit to our sampling gear in Upper Klamath Lake until August, experience high mortality by September, and are almost undetectable by the following July or August in most years. In Clear Lake, suckers frequently are not captured until age-1 or age-2 and annual survival appears much greater.

California, Oregon↗

USGS2021

Growth, survival, and cohort formation of juvenile Lost River (Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose suckers (Chasmistes brevirostris) in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, and Clear Lake Reservoir, California—2019 Monitoring Report

Populations of federally endangered Lost River ( Deltistes luxatus ) and shortnose suckers ( Chasmistes brevirostris ) in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, and Clear Lake Reservoir (hereinafter, Clear Lake), California, are experiencing long-term decreases in abundance. Upper Klamath Lake populations are decreasing not only due to adult mortality, which is relatively low, but also because they are not being balanced by recruitment of young adult suckers into known adult spawning aggregations. Long-term monitoring of juvenile sucker populations is conducted to (1) determine if there are annual and species-specific differences in production, survival, and growth, (2) better understand when juvenile sucker mortality is greatest, and (3) help identify potential causes of high juvenile sucker mortality particularly in Upper Klamath Lake. The U.S. Geological Survey monitoring program, that began in 2015, tracks cohorts through summer months and among years in Upper Klamath and Clear Lakes. Data on juvenile suckers captured in trap nets are used to provide information on annual variability in age-0 sucker apparent production, juvenile sucker apparent survival, apparent growth, species composition, and health. Upper Klamath Lake indices of year-class strength indicated that the 2019 year-class was the strongest in the past 5 years of monitoring. Low detections of age-1 and older suckers indicate that the 2018 cohort experienced poor survival within the first year of life. Shortnose suckers constituted the smallest proportion and suckers with uncertain species identification constituted the largest proportion of the 2019 year-class. Small numbers of Lost River sucker were captured consistently throughout the sampling season. The relative abundance of age-0 suckers is not a good indicator of year-class strength in Clear Lake. There were no age-0 suckers captured in Clear Lake during the 2015 and 2019 sampling seasons. Most suckers captured were age-1 Klamath largescale/shortnose suckers, which indicated a relatively strong 2018 cohort. Four-year old juveniles from the 2015 cohort were present in 2019 in Clear Lake. Cohorts that do not recruit to our sampling gear until a year or more of age seem to indicate that (1) a stream resident life history is contributing to the lake population and (2) juvenile suckers occupy the Willow Creek drainage for a full year or more. Although these suckers could be either the non-endangered Klamath largescale or the endangered shortnose suckers, a stream resident life history is consistent with these fish being Klamath largescale suckers. Survival of all distinguishable taxa of juvenile suckers is much higher in Clear Lake than in Upper Klamath Lake, with non-trivial numbers of suckers surviving to join spawning aggregations in most years.

California, Oregon↗

USGS2021

Water quality, instream habitat, and the distribution of suckers in the upper Lost River watershed of Oregon and California, summer 2018

Executive Summary Endangered Lost River ( Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose ( Chasmistes brevirostris ) suckers primarily use lotic habitats during the spring spawning season in the Upper Klamath Lake watershed. However, summer-time surveys of the upper Lost River watershed in 1972, 1975 and 1989–90 indicated that adults of both endangered species use tributaries of Clear Lake Reservoir (hereafter: Clear Lake) year-round. Adult shortnose suckers have also been documented to use tributaries of Gerber Reservoir year-round. We surveyed the tributaries of Clear Lake and Gerber Reservoir to provide up-to-date information on the timing, distribution, and habitat use within the upper Lost River drainage by these two endangered sucker species. Contrary to previous studies, this study did not capture any Lost River suckers in the Clear Lake tributaries. Genetics samples from suckers collected during this study were used to verify that no Lost River suckers were captured. At the time of this study, genetics could not identify the differences between shortnose and the non-endangered Klamath largescale suckers ( Catostomus snyderi ), therefore, morphology was used to separate these two species. Furthermore, the shortnose suckers and the Klamath largescale suckers documented in the upper Lost River drainage are more similar to Klamath largescale suckers than shortnose suckers that exist in the Upper Klamath Lake recovery unit. Therefore, the suckers we documented during our surveys were most likely Klamath largescale suckers. We captured suckers, age-0 to age-9, in the Clear Lake tributaries within stream pools and flooded meadows behind water retention structures. However, no suckers were collected in small reservoirs sampled upstream of Clear Lake. Suckers were found in habitats with mud and fine substrate at depths of 0.5–3.0 meters, with most captured at 1.0 meter or less. Suckers co-occurred with nonnative species, which were more abundant in our survey than in previous surveys in the tributaries to Clear Lake. Gerber Reservoir tributaries yielded more suckers per unit effort than Clear Lake tributaries. All suckers captured in the tributaries of Gerber Reservoir were identified as Klamath Largescale suckers. The suckers in tributaries to Gerber Reservoir were collected in similar habitat as those in Clear Lake tributaries and were age-0 to age-6.

California, Oregon↗

USGS2021

Dynamics of endangered sucker populations in Clear Lake Reservoir, California

Executive Summary In collaboration with the Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Geological Survey began a consistent monitoring program for endangered Lost River suckers ( Deltistes luxatus ) and shortnose suckers ( Chasmistes brevirostris ) in Clear Lake Reservoir, California, in fall 2004. The program was intended to improve understanding of the Clear Lake Reservoir populations because they are important to recovery efforts for these species. We report results from the ongoing program and include sampling efforts through fall 2019. We summarize catches and passive integrated transponder (PIT) tagging efforts from trammel net sampling in the fall seasons (September–October each year) and detections of PIT-tagged suckers on remote antennas in the spring in each year from 2006 to 2019. We also combine the data from physical captures and remote detections in capture-recapture models to provide estimates of annual survival for suckers in the reservoir. A lack of genetic distinctiveness between shortnose suckers and Klamath largescale suckers ( Catostomus snyderi ) in the Lost River subbasin, including Clear Lake Reservoir, is a likely cause of past difficulty in identification of these species. Field identification can be subjective for many captured individuals, and very few individuals were identified as Klamath largescale suckers in the most recent years of our monitoring program. For this report, we combine individuals that were identified as either shortnose sucker (SNS) or Klamath largescale sucker (KLS) into a single “SNS-KLS” group for most analyses. Identification of Lost River suckers (LRS) is based on external morphological characteristics.

California↗