Step 2 - Desired Future Condition of Native Trout Populations and Associated Stream-Riparian Habitats
Authored By: K. Overton, A. D. Carlson, C. Tait
Desired future conditions for fish populations and watershed conditions were generated by Forest biologists familiar with the subbasin. They used the Conservation Rules of Thumb summarized in earlier broad-scale aquatic assessments (
FEMAT 1993,
INFISH 1995,
Lee and others 1997,
PACFISH 1995):
- the greater the population size, the greater the chance of persistence;
- population recovery potential is greater the closer you are to a source or strong population;
- preserving genetic and phenotypic diversity requires maintaining populations throughout a wide geographic range in a variety of habitats;
- project assessments and planning will have to address habitat disruption and population responses at both the local and regional scales.
In addition, the biologists considered key aquatic habitat characteristics, such water quality/quantity, channel integrity, and riparian vegetation, and visualized those future states which would allow persistence and sustainability of aquatic populations. They recognized that ecologically healthy watersheds are maintained by natural disturbances, (e.g., fire, landslides, and debris torrents, channel migration) that create spatial heterogeneity and temporal variability to the physical components of the system (Naiman 1992) and that management consistent with natural variation should lead to more diverse, resilient, and productive biological systems (Rieman and others 2005).
Step 2 (B-D) (figure at right) displays desired future conditions over a period of time for cutthroat trout in the subbasin, showing fish population status and distribution at short-, mid- and long-term intervals. The long-term desired condition (Step 2(D)) would be expected to represent a healthy, self-sustaining metapopulation occupying ≥ 50 percent of its historical range along with strong population characteristics and high-quality habitats (FEMAT 1993, Lee and others 1997).
Outputs from Step 2 would be consistent with the desired condition component of the plan in the forest plan revision process, which is to describe how management activities will cause desired natural resource conditions to be obtained
- Femat (Forest Ecosystem Management Assessment Team). 1993. Forest ecosystem management: An ecological, economic, and social assessment. Portland, OR and Washington DC: USDA Forest Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, and Environmental Protection Agency. Page nos. unknown p.
- INFISH. 1995. Inland native fish strategy: Interim strategies for managing fish-producing watersheds in eastern Oregon and Washington, Idaho, western Montana and portions of Nevada. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: Intermountain, Northern, and Pacific Northwest Regions. Page nos. unknown p.
- Lee, D.C.; Sedell, J.R.; Rieman, B.E. [and others]. 1997. Broadscale assessment of aquatic species and habitats. In: Quigley, T.M.; Arbelbide, S.J. An assessment of ecosystem components in the interior Columbia basin and portions of the Klamath and Great Basins: volume III. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-405. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Pacific Northwest Research Station: 1057-1496. Chapter 4.
- Naiman, R.J. 1992. Watershed management: Balancing sustainability and environmental change. New York: Springer-Verlag.
- PACFISH. 1995. Interim strategies for managing anadromous fish-producing watersheds in eastern Oregon and Washington, Idaho, and portions of California. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service and U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 122 p.
- Rieman, B.E.; Dunham, J.B.; Clayton, J. 2005. Emerging concepts for management of river ecosystems and challenges to applied integration of physical and biological sciences in the Pacific Northwest, USA. Ecology of Freshwater Fish.
