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A lateral-displacement flume for fish behavior and stranding studies during simulated pulsed flows

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Abstract

In regulated rivers, fluctuating water depths associated with pulsed discharges may strand small fish in side channels and pools. Quantitative assessments of stranded fish are difficult in field studies (e.g., due to unknown effects of avian and terrestrial vertebrate predators). To assess such lateral displacement and stranding on juvenile stream fishes, we designed, constructed, and tested (with three species) a 2 × 1-m, lateral-displacement flume. The flume featured a main channel that never drained and a raised, wide “floodplain” channel that alternately flooded, with a simulated pulse, and became dewatered. The floodplain contained four pools, with different shapes and draining capacities, in which fish could become stranded as the water level subsided. Fish-stranding rates (8%) in this relatively compact laboratory flume, after exposure to simulated pulsed stream flows, were comparable to those observed in past investigations using larger, artificial streams.

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Acknowledgements

We thank D. Kratville, M. Fish, R. Isquith, J. Miranda, A. Kawabata, G. Jones, T. MacColl, L. Mirise (Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology, UC Davis) for technical assistance; P. Moyle and P. Crain for fish collection guidance; P. Lutes and E. Hallen (UC Davis Center for Aquatic Biology and Aquaculture [CABA]); M. Watnick for statistical help; D. Redfern and W. Cox (American River Trout Hatchery) for trout; T. Salamunovich (Thomas Payne and Associates) for assistance with bank measurements; four anonymous reviewers for helpful manuscript improvements; and D. Conklin, C. Young, and J. O’Hagan of the Pulsed Flow Program Management Team, and the Public Interest Energy Research Program (PIER) of the California Energy Commission for financial support.

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Author notes

  1. Stephanie N. Chun

    Present address: Department of Water Resources, 3310 El Camino Avenue, Suite 110, Sacramento, CA, 95821, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wildlife, Fish, & Conservation Biology Department, University of California Davis, 1 Shields Avenue, Davis, CA, 95616-8751, USA

    Sarah A. Cocherell, Stephanie N. Chun, Dennis E. Cocherell, Lisa C. Thompson, A. Peter Klimley & Joseph J. Cech Jr.

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  1. Sarah A. Cocherell
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  2. Stephanie N. Chun
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  3. Dennis E. Cocherell
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  4. Lisa C. Thompson
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  5. A. Peter Klimley
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  6. Joseph J. Cech Jr.
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Correspondence to Lisa C. Thompson.

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Cocherell, S.A., Chun, S.N., Cocherell, D.E. et al. A lateral-displacement flume for fish behavior and stranding studies during simulated pulsed flows. Environ Biol Fish 93, 143–150 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-011-9894-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-011-9894-z

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