Standard Operating Procedure EAP124, Version 1.4: Vertebrate
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Standard Operating Procedure EAP124, Version 1.4 Watershed Health Monitoring: Standard Operating Procedures for Vertebrate Assemblage Sampling November 2018 Publication 18-03-228 Purpose of this document The Washington State Department of Ecology develops Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to document agency practices related to sampling, field and laboratory analysis, and other aspects of the agency’s technical operations. Publication information This SOP is available on the Department of Ecology’s website at https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/publications/SummaryPages/1803228.html. Ecology’s Activity Tracker Code for this SOP is 18-052. Contact information For more information contact: Communications Consultant Environmental Assessment Program P.O. Box 47600, Olympia, WA 98504-7600 Phone: 360-407-6764 Washington State Department of Ecology – ecology.wa.gov. Location of Ecology Offices Phone Headquarters, Lacey 360-407-6000 Northwest Regional Office, Bellevue 425-649-7000 Southwest Regional Office, Lacey 360-407-6300 Central Regional Office, Union Gap 509-575-2490 Eastern Regional Office, Spokane 509-329-3400 Any use of product or firm names in this publication is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the author or the Department of Ecology. To request ADA accommodation for disabilities, or printed materials in a format for the visually impaired, call Ecology at 360-407-6764 or visit https://ecology.wa.gov/accessibility. People with impaired hearing may call Washington Relay Service at 711. People with speech disability may call TTY at 877-833-6341. Washington State Department of Ecology Environmental Assessment Program Watershed Health Monitoring: Standard Operating Procedures for Vertebrate Assemblage Sampling Version 1.4 Author -Glenn Merritt Date – Reviewer – Shannon Hubler (Oregon DEQ), George Onwumere, and Meghan Rosewood-Thurman Date – QA Approval – Tom Gries, Acting Ecology Quality Assurance Officer Date – September 6, 2018 EAP124 EAP 124 – Vertebrate Assemblage Sampling – V1.4 – 9/6/18 – Page 1 of 32 Uncontrolled copy when printed Please note that the Washington State Department of Ecology’s Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are adapted from published methods, or developed by in-house technical and administrative experts. Their primary purpose is for internal Ecology use, although sampling and administrative SOPs may have a wider utility. Our SOPs do not supplant official published methods. Distribution of these SOPs does not constitute an endorsement of a particular procedure or method. Any reference to specific equipment, manufacturer, or supplies is for descriptive purposes only and does not constitute an endorsement of a particular product or service by the author or by the Department of Ecology. Although Ecology follows the SOP in most instances, there may be instances in which Ecology uses an alternative methodology, procedure, or process. EAP 124 – Vertebrate Assemblage Sampling – V1.4 – 9/6/18 – Page 2 of 32 Uncontrolled copy when printed SOP Revision History Revision Date Version Summary of changes Sections Reviser(s) number 3/10/17 1.1 Updated title, removed draft dates, All Meghan added footers, general formatting, Rosewood- updated glossary terms and references Thurman 3/23/17 1.2 For DCEs with vertebrate data 2.1 Glenn Merritt Last sentence edited 2.2 Reynolds, 1983 3.9 Whiteman, 1994 3.15 Reynolds, 2008 3.16 Refined life stage definition 3.22 Reynolds, 2008 3.27 vertebrate assemblage data 4.1 know the protocol to be used 4.3 wide protocol (if fishing is performe) 6.0 renumbered for raft-based fishing 7.0 added note that method is optional 2017 11.9,11.10 Added link 11.31 Reynolds, 1983 11.34 Reynolds, 2008 11.36 3/27/17 1.3 General formatting All Meghan Rosewood- Thurman 12/11/17 1.4 Clarified wording, added temperature 6.1.4.1 Meghan Added “process salmonids first” and 6.2.2.3 Rosewood- “well aerated” Thurman 9/6/18 1.4 Minor changes (e.g. updated references) Various Gries 11/16/18 1.4 Updated formatting for accessibility, All Ponzetti added cover page EAP 124 – Vertebrate Assemblage Sampling – V1.4 – 9/6/18 – Page 3 of 32 Uncontrolled copy when printed Environmental Assessment Program Watershed Health Monitoring: Standard Operating Procedures for Vertebrate Assemblage Sampling 1.0 Purpose and Scope 1.1 This document is the Environmental Assessment Program’s (EAP) Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for vertebrate assemblage sampling for the Watershed Health Monitoring (WHM) program. It includes methods for both WHM protocols: the Narrow Protocol and the Wide Protocol. Note: This document is derived in large part from methods of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program, Western Pilot (EMAP-W; see the two Peck et al. manuals (2005a, 2005b) cited in Stoddard et.al., 2005). EAP 124 – Vertebrate Assemblage Sampling – V1.4 – 9/6/18 – Page 4 of 32 Uncontrolled copy when printed 2.0 Applicability 2.1 This SOP should be followed when performing data collection events (DCEs) involving vertebrate community data to be submitted to the WHM Database (see Janisch, 2017). 2.2 This SOP explains how to sample fishes and amphibians to estimate the relative abundance of vertebrate taxa inhabiting a sampling site during a DCE. It is applicable only to projects that also collect a complete set of WHM habitat data, including 11 major transects and 100 thalweg stations. Precede this SOP by defining the site dimensions (Merritt, 2017 or Hartman, 2017a). 3.0 Definitions 3.1 Ambient conductivity: Conductivity (μS/cm) of the water for the ambient water temperature. Electrofishing success depends on ambient conductivity (Ca) rather than specific conductivity (Cs). It can be estimated from specific conductivity with this ( ) formula from Reynolds (1996): = /[1.02 ] where Ts = 25°C and Ta= the ambient water temperature in °C. Ambient conductivity− is the most important habitat factor affecting electrofishing efficiency. 3.2 DCE: The Data Collection Event is the sampling event for the given protocol. Data for a DCE are indexed using a code which includes the site ID followed by the year, month, day, and the time (military) for the start time of the sampling event. For example: WAM06600-000222-DCE-YYYY-MMDD-HH:MM. One DCE should be completed within one working day, lasting 4-6 hours, on average. 3.3 Duty cycle: Duty cycle is the percentage of time that the output pulse is “on” during the time period between pulse cycles. On the Smith-Root LR-20 electrofisher, the duty cycle switch is located on the upper left center of the control panel (Figure 1). Increasing duty cycle might increase stress to fish. Duty cycle is not a feature that can be adjusted on the raft-based electrofisher (Smith-Root GPP, 2007). EAP 124 – Vertebrate Assemblage Sampling – V1.4 – 9/6/18 – Page 5 of 32 Uncontrolled copy when printed Figure 1. The control panel of the Smith-Root LR-20. EAP 124 – Vertebrate Assemblage Sampling – V1.4 – 9/6/18 – Page 6 of 32 Uncontrolled copy when printed 3.4 EAP: Environmental Assessment Program 3.5 Ecology: Washington State Department of Ecology 3.6 e-forms: Electronic data forms. Term for an application saved into a web browser cache on a device such as a tablet computer. E-forms allow collection and storage of data at remote locations when disconnected from the internet. 3.7 EIM: The Environmental Information Management System (EIM) is the Department of Ecology's main database for environmental monitoring data. EIM contains records on physical, chemical, and biological analyses and measurements. Supplementary information about the data (metadata) is also stored, including information about environmental studies, monitoring locations, and data quality. The “Search by map” feature enables plotting coordinates over orthophotographic imagery. 3.8 Frequency: This describes the pulse rate per second or Hertz (Hz). On the Smith-Root LR-20 electrofisher, the frequency switch is located on upper left of the control panel (Figure 1). Most pulsed DC backpack electrofishing is done at 30-60 Hz. 3.9 Galvanotaxis: This is electrically-induced movement (toward the anode or cathode). When pulsed DC current is supplied to water, fish are electrically induced to swim toward the electrode. This is called galvanotaxis (Reynolds, 1983). 3.10 Habitat units: As assessed for WHM, all habitat units are part of the main channel. They are based on the Hawkins et al. (1993) classification system. Habitat units are “quasi-discrete areas of relatively homogeneous depth and flow that are bounded by sharp physical gradients… Different types of units are usually in close enough proximity to one another that mobile stream organisms can select the type of unit that provides the most suitable habitat” (Hawkins et al. 1993). For WHM, any unit (with two exceptions) must be at least as long as half their wetted width and they must include the thalweg. Plunge pools and dry channels are the exceptions. Plunge pools can be shorter than half their width. Dry channels have no wetted width and only need to occupy a single thalweg station to be counted. Note: When deciding if a feature is long enough to constitute a habitat unit, the length is compared to the wetted width of the full main-channel (exclude side-channels and exclude edge pools). 3.11 HUC: Hydrologic Unit Code assigned by the United States Geological Survey (USGS, 2016b). Scale depends on number of digits. In Washington State, 4-digit HUCS (also known as subregions) reside within the Pacific Northwest Region (2-digit = HUC 17). Four-digit HUCs that overlap Washington are listed below. • 1701 Kootenai-Pend Oreille-Spokane • 1702 Upper Columbia • 1703 Yakima • 1706 Lower Snake • 1707 Middle Columbia • 1708 Lower Columbia • 1710 Coastal EAP 124 – Vertebrate Assemblage Sampling – V1.4 – 9/6/18 – Page 7 of 32 Uncontrolled copy when printed • 1711 Puget Sound These 4-digit HUCs are NOT a basis for how WHM allocates monitoring; we use Status and Trends Regions (STRs).