Abstract
Spatial Modeling of Nearshore Habitats, Grand Canyon
Track: Forestry, Wildlife, and Fisheries Management
Author(s): Michael Breedlove
Closure of Glen Canyon Dam in 1963 significantly altered the physical processes and environments of the Colorado River in Grand Canyon. This has affected the aquatic food web and the native and non-native fish communities. As the designative science provider to the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program, the Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center (GCMRC) is actively investigating habitat requirements of native fishes and the relationships of these habitats to dam operations. Here, we present the utilization of remotely sensed data within the GIS environment to identify specific physical and thermal habitat assemblages considered to be of importance to native fish populations. This includes the development of automated techniques for providing shoreline habitat data across stage-discharge ranges for the entire river corridor, spatio-temporal analyses of nearshore habitat availability, and the incorporation of thermal model outputs into a physical GIS data base for fish habitat research and assessment.
Michael Breedlove
U.S. Geological Survey
2255 N. Gemini Dr.
Bldg. 4 - Rm 418
Flagstaff , Arizona 86001
United States
Phone: 928-556-7344
E-mail: mbreedlove@usgs.gov