Tuesday, June 5, 2007
539

Fish Response to Habitat Restoration on Sickle Creek, a First Order Tributary of the Big Manistee River

Jason A. DeBoer1, Kris N. Nault1, Eric B. Snyder1, J. Marty Holtgren2, and Stephanie Ogren2. (1) Biology, Grand Valley State University, 1 Campus Drive, Allendale, MI 49456, (2) Conservation, Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, Manistee, MI 49660

Loss and alteration of habitat are principal factors in declining native fish abundance and overall loss of biodiversity.  We evaluated Sickle Creek, a 1st order tributary to the Big Manistee River.  Two perched road culverts were replaced by an open bottom bridge (Summer 2005).  Evaluation was done pre- (2 years) and post-restoration (1 year, on-going), including sampling sediment, organic matter, macroinvertebrates, and fish.  Five 100m electrofishing transects were sampled (three downstream, two upstream) using multi-pass technique with blocker nets.  Initial evaluation indicated minimal salmonid recruitment upstream (4 individuals/Spring ’04, 2 individuals/Fall ’04, 0 individuals/Spring-Fall ’05).  Following replacement, parr abundance upstream increased (24 individuals/Spring ’06, 14 individuals/Fall ’06).  Fish distribution also changed dramatically; more fish inhabited the upstream section following culvert replacement.  The bridge allows for high flows to flush fine sediment out of the stream, revealing coarse sand.  We believe the coarse sand will eventually be flushed out, revealing gravel underneath.  From a management perspective, our results indicate removing undersized, perched culverts can have multiple positive impacts, including: (1) decreases in fine sediment classes due to more natural flow regime, (2) more equal distribution of fish up and downstream, (3) increased upstream abundance of salmon parr.