1 HABITAT USE AND DISTRIBUTION OF LITHOPHILIC SPAWNING AND 2 RIFFLE FISHES IN THE EAST FORK BLACK RIVER 3 ____________________________________ 4 A Thesis 5 presented to 6 the Faculty of the Graduate School 7 at the University of Missouri-Columbia 8 _______________________________________________________ 9 In Fulfillment 10 of the Requirements for the Degree 11 Master of Science 12 _____________________________________________________ 13 by 14 JOHN BRANT 15 Dr. Craig Paukert, Thesis Supervisor 16 AUGUST 2020 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 The undersigned, appointed by the dean of the Graduate School, have examined the 31 thesis entitled 32 33 34 HABITAT USE AND DISTRIBUTION OF LITHOPHILIC SPAWNING AND 35 RIFFLE FISHES IN THE EAST FORK BLACK RIVER 36 37 38 39 Presented by John Brant, 40 a candidate for the degree of master of science, 41 and hereby certify that, in their opinion, it is worthy of acceptance. 42 43 44 _______________________________________ 45 Dr. Craig Paukert (Advisor) 46 47 _______________________________________ 48 Dr. Thomas Bonnot 49 50 _______________________________________ 51 Dr. Alba Argerich 52 53 _______________________________________ 54 Dr. Robert Jacobson 55 56 57 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 58 There are many people that I would like to thank for their help in the completion 59 of this project. First and foremost, I would like to thank Dr. Craig Paukert for providing 60 guidance from the beginning of project design through the final revisions to my thesis. In 61 addition, I would like to thank Dr. Thomas Bonnot, Dr. Robert Jacobson, and Dr. 62 Argerich for serving on my committee, sharing their knowledge, and providing 63 constructive criticism for the design of the project and interpretation of the results. 64 I would also like to thank the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) as a 65 whole for funding this project, and creating a foundation for scientific questions to be 66 pursed. Several individuals within MDC that have provided incredible collaboration 67 include Del Lobb, Brett Landwer, Paul Blanchard, Dr. Doug Novinger, and Nicole 68 Farless. Others that provided resources, housing, access to the river through their land, 69 and transportation include Ameren Missouri, The Missouri Department of Natural 70 Resources, Franklin Floats, and Kenneth Lee. Without them, we would not have been 71 able to collect data, sleep in comfort, or gather the history of the river, which have all led 72 to the completion of this project. 73 In addition, this project could not have been completed without my team members 74 that put in many hours of hard work, provided a positive attitude, and friendship. These 75 team members included Jim Baker, Eric Cox, Blake Branch, Leann Drury, Pablo Oleiro, 76 Leann Drury, Sarah Barnes, and Karol Moore. Thank you to my fellow graduate students, 77 post-docs, and the faculty within the School of Natural Resources for always being 78 around to share ideas, work through courses together, and provide direction when I 79 strayed too far. ii 80 TABLE OF CONTENTS 81 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......................................................................................... ii 82 LIST OF TABLES...................................................................................................... iv 83 LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................... ix 84 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... xviii 85 GENERAL INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 1 86 References ....................................................................................................................... 7 87 CHAPTER ONE ................................................................................................................. 1 88 Abstract ........................................................................................................................... 1 89 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 2 90 Methods ........................................................................................................................... 6 91 Results ........................................................................................................................... 14 92 Discussion ..................................................................................................................... 18 93 Conclusions and Management Recommendations ........................................................ 22 94 References ..................................................................................................................... 24 95 Tables & Figures ........................................................................................................... 27 96 CHAPTER TWO .............................................................................................................. 44 97 Abstract ......................................................................................................................... 44 98 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 45 99 Methods ......................................................................................................................... 48 100 Results ........................................................................................................................... 56 101 Discussion ..................................................................................................................... 59 102 Conclusions and Management Recommendations ........................................................ 63 103 References ..................................................................................................................... 64 104 Tables & Figures ........................................................................................................... 67 105 CHAPTER THREE .......................................................................................................... 79 106 General Conclusions and Management Recommendations .............................................. 79 107 References ..................................................................................................................... 85 108 Tables ............................................................................................................................ 86 109 APPENDICES .................................................................................................................. 87 110 111 iii 112 LIST OF TABLES 113 Chapter One: Hornyhead Chub Spawning Habitat in the 114 East Fork Black River, Missouri 115 Page 116 Table 1-1. .………………………………………………………………………………26 117 Habitat characteristics measured (acronym and units) at the mesohabitat and 118 microhabitat scales to determine Hornyhead Chub spawning site selection. A 119 dash indicates the specific parameter was not measured at that scale. 120 Table 1-2. .………………………………………………………………………………27 121 Habitat characteristics were measured in riffle-run mesohabitats on the Lower 122 East Fork Black River (LEFBR), East Fork Black River (EFBR) upstream of 123 Taum Sauk Reservoir, Big Creek (BGCK), and the West Fork Black River 124 (WFBR) in 2017 and 2018. The number of random points was based on the size 125 of the habitats with a minimum of 20 points and a maximum of 120 points. 126 Mesohabitats 10.5 and 11.5 were labeled differently because they were side 127 channels that run adjacent to the main channel of the East Fork Black River. 128 Table 1-3. .………………………………………………………………………………28 129 Searches revealed 29 Hornyhead Chub Spawning mounds in the Lower East Fork 130 Black River in 2017. In 2018, the Upper East Fork Black River, West Fork Black 131 River, and Big Creek, Missouri were added to the study, and an additional 42 132 Hornyhead Chub spawning mounds were located. Microhabitat measurements 133 were recorded at 15 randomly selected spawning mounds in 2017 and seven 134 spawning mounds in 2018. iv 135 Chapter Two: Fish Communities of Riffle-Run Habitat in the 136 East Fork Black River, Missouri 137 138 Table 2-1. .………………………………………………………………………………66 139 Habitat characteristics summary for reaches sampled downstream from Taum 140 Sauk Dam in the East Fork Black River, Missouri during 2017 and 2018. 141 Reaches were defined by riffle-run habitat separated by large pools greater than 142 one meter deep, therefore areas ranged in size. Number of habitat points and 143 electrofishing grids sampled were dependent on reach area. NA represents that 144 prepositioned electrofishing grids were not used as a sampling method because 145 appropriate habitat was not available for effective sampling. Median substrate 146 size, mean (± 1 SD) depth, wetted width, and canopy cover are reported. 147 Table 2-2. .………………………………………………………………………………67 148 Habitat characteristics, abbreviations, and descriptions for variables included in 149 generalized linear models describing habitat preferences for fish diversity in riffle 150 run habitat reaches of the East Fork Black River, Missouri. 151 Table 2-3. .………………………………………………………………………………68 152 Generalized Linear Models used to predict how species richness focused on rare 0 1 153 species ( D or Drare weighted) or weighted equally among species