Establishing Habitat requirements of Cutthroat trout on Gold Creek, Alberta, in relation to the proposed Grassy Mountain Coal Mine

确定艾伯塔省 Gold Creek 与拟议的草山煤矿相关的切喉鳟鱼的栖息地要求

• 批准号: 500548-2016
• 负责人: Rasmussen, Joseph
• 金额: $ 3.03万
• 依托单位: University of Lethbridge
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Collaborative Research and Development Grants
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2017-01-01 至 2018-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=619016
• 关键词: Establishing; Habitat; requirements; Cutthroat; trout

The Westslope Cutthroat Trout (WCT) is one of the most important native aquatic species in the Western North America; however, its range has been severely reduced by habitat destruction resulting from agricultural, industrial and urban development, and the introduction of non-native sportfish, which have impacted WCT through competition and hybridization. COSEWIC lists WCT as 'threatened' in Alberta, and of 'special concern' in British Columbia. The remaining refugia of WCT are located in hard to access, high elevation headwater streams of the Rocky Mountains. With increasing development, research must be directed at a deeper understanding of the habitat needs of remaining populations, with particular emphasis on winter habitat, which all recovery plans for WCT cite as the major habitat knowledge gap.The research objectives will fill these knowledge gaps on WCT overwintering ecology. The projects will study selected WCT populations and their habitat to understand winter habitat selection of WCT and model habitat type and use by WCT populations. Project I will focus on the quantity of available winter habitat and the limitations and challenges to the WCT populations in the watershed due to species competition and watershed development, while Poject II will address specific physical and chemical characteristics of the winter habitat. Both projects will combine meta-analysis of existing data, field studies and predictive modeling. As our industry partner, Riversdale Resources is instrumental in supporting the research financially and logistically. Their proposed mining operation is in the center of WCT habitat in the south west Alberta Rocky Mountains. The proposed development of a mine on Grassy Mountain near Blairmore, AB, is situated on the top of two watersheds with pure WCT populations, Blairmore Creek and Gold Creek. These two streams will be integral to the proposed research. Riversdale Resources agreed to make their surveys and data available, provide easy access to the streams through their property and support accommodation during fieldwork efforts, and to utilize the research results to minimize environmental impacts of their operation.

西坡切喉鳟鱼（WCT）是北美西部最重要的本地水生物种之一;然而，由于农业，工业和城市发展造成的栖息地破坏，以及引入非本地运动鱼，通过竞争和杂交影响了WCT，其范围已严重减少。COSEWIC将阿尔伯塔的WCT列为“受威胁”，并将不列颠哥伦比亚省列为“特别关注”。WCT的其余避难所位于落基山脉难以进入的高海拔源头溪流。随着研究的不断发展，必须更深入地了解剩余种群的栖息地需求，特别是冬季栖息地，所有WCT恢复计划都将其列为主要的栖息地知识空白，研究目标将填补WCT越冬生态学的知识空白。这些项目将研究选定的WCT种群及其栖息地，以了解WCT的冬季栖息地选择和WCT种群的模型栖息地类型和使用。项目I将重点关注可用冬季栖息地的数量以及物种竞争和流域开发对流域内WCT种群的限制和挑战，而项目II将解决冬季栖息地的特定物理和化学特征。这两个项目都将结合联合收割机对现有数据的元分析、实地研究和预测建模。作为我们的行业合作伙伴，里弗斯代尔资源公司在财务和后勤方面为研究提供支持。他们提议的采矿作业位于阿尔伯塔落基山脉西南部的WCT栖息地中心。在AB省布莱尔莫尔附近的Grassy Mountain上拟定的矿山开发项目位于两个具有纯WCT种群的流域（布莱尔莫尔溪和黄金溪）的顶部。这两个方面将是拟议研究的组成部分。里弗斯代尔资源公司同意提供他们的调查和数据，通过他们的财产提供方便的河流，并在实地工作期间支持住宿，并利用研究结果，以尽量减少其运作对环境的影响。