Aquatic Species Restoration Plan Research and Studies

The purpose of egg-mass surveys was to detect and determine the distribution of still water breeding amphibians and other ASRP non-salmonid target species in floodplain off-channel habitats of the mainstem Chehalis River.

• Principal Investigators: Marc Hayes, Julie Tyson, and Keith Douville
• Third progress report, 2016

The purpose of instream amphibian surveys was to determine the distribution of western toad breeding and their associated aquatic fauna in the Chehalis River mainstem and its tributaries.

• Principal Investigators: Marc Hayes, Julie Tyson, and Keith Douville
• Instream Surveys Presentation, 2015
• 2016 Instream Amphibian Surveys Report
• 2018 Instream Amphibian Surveys Report
• Final Instream/Western Toad Report, 2021

As Oregon spotted frog habitat is protected and restored in and around the Black River Ecological Region, WDFW will monitor egg masses, hydrology, frog movement, and the presence and removal of bullfrogs, an invasive predator.

• Principal Investigators: Julie Tyson and Max Lambert
• Final Oregon Spotted Frog Report, 2021

Unlike in-channel amphibians, stream-associated amphibians live on the land immediately adjacent to streams. This four-year project focused on Dunn’s and Van Dyke’s salamanders.

• Principal Investigators: Marc Hayes, Julie Tyson, and Keith Douville
• Stream-Associated Amphibian Presentation, 2015
• Second progress Report, 2015
• Third Progress Report, 2016
• Fourth Progress Report, 2017
• Final Report, 2017
• Progress Report, 2020

This study surveyed amphibians in terrestrial, rather than aquatic or semi-aquatic, habitats in the upper Chehalis basin.

• Principal Investigators: Marc Hayes & Julie Tyson
• Chehalis ASEP Terrestrial Amphibian Survey Summary, 3^rd Progress Report, 2014

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) developed a suite of analyses and life-cycle models to assess the impact of historical habitat changes, and model future ASRP restoration scenarios.

• Principal Investigators: Timothy Beechie, Colin Nicol, Caleb Fogel, Jeff Jorgensen, and Britta Timpane-Padgham
• Chum Salmon Life-Cycle Model Description and Results for the Chehalis River Basin (published paper)

Salmon possess otoliths, or ear bones, that are constantly growing. Otoliths provide a continuous record regarding whether a fish was in fresh or salt water at every point in their life cycle. This study used these data to investigate the life histories and spawning run timings of spring and fall chinook salmon.

• Principal Investigators: Lance Campbell, Andrew Claiborne, Sara Ashcraft, Mara Zimmerman, and Curt Holt
• Investigating Juvenile Life History and Maternal Run Timing of Chehalis River Spring and Fall Chinook Salmon using Otolith Chemistry, 2017

The goal of this work is to assess the abundance, timing, spatial distribution, and diversity of spring and fall chinook, coho and steelhead. The Newaukum River has concurrent measurements of smolt and adult abundance, which will allow for an estimate of smolt-to-spawner ratio.

• Principal Investigator: Marie Winkowski

ASRP uses computer models to predict the outcome of restorations on fish. One of those models is a salmon life cycle model built by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). 

• Principal Investigator: Tim Beechie
• Identifying the potential of anadromous salmonid habitat restoration with life cycle models 
• A process-based assessment of landscape change and salmon habitat losses in the Chehalis River basin, USA 
• Model source code

The primary objective of this study is to describe the freshwater production of salmon and steelhead in the Chehalis River.

• Principal Investigators: Devin West, John Winkowski, Marisa Litz, and Mara Zimmerman
• Chehalis River Smolt Production, 2019 (WDFW publication)
• Chehalis River Smolt Production, 2018 (WDFW publication)

The method used for estimating chum salmon abundance in Grays Harbor and its tributaries since the 1970s was suspected to be underestimating populations, so a new method was developed and evaluated using carcass tagging, live and dead fish counts, and peak spawning surveys.

• Principal Investigators: Lea Ronne, Amy Edwards, and Mara Zimmerman
• Grays Harbor Fall Chum Abundance and Distribution, 2018 (WDFW publication)

This study was undertaken to understand the numbers and species of salmonids that would be affected above, within, and below the area backwatered (referred throughout the document as the inundation footprint) by the proposed Chehalis River flood retention dam and associated temporary reservoir.

• Principal Investigators: Lea Ronne, Nick VanBuskirk, and Marisa Litz
• Spawner Abundance and Distribution of Salmon and Steelhead in the Upper Chehalis River, 2019 and Synthesis of 2013-2019 (WDFW publication)

Defining the upper limit where salmon occur in a stream clarifies how much habitat is available for eating, breeding, and other important activities.

• Principal Investigators: Eric Walther, Mara Zimmerman, Peter Westley
• Landscape attributes explain salmonid ecological neighbourhoods across a complex river network (published paper)
• Data and R code

The goal of this study is to describe the seasonal patterns of invasive smallmouth bass distribution in the Chehalis River in relation to water temperatures and other physical factors. The study will attempt to find the upstream limit of smallmouth bass using environmental DNA.

• Principal Investigator: John Winkowski

This ongoing study increases our understanding of native freshwater fish species distribution, and occupancy and density.

• Principal Investigators: Marie Winkowski and Neala Kendall
• Habitat Preference Study

This ongoing study increases our understanding of native freshwater fish movement patterns.

• Principal Investigators: Marie Winkowski, Neala Kendall, and Ellis Cropper
• Movement and Home Range Study of Select Native Fishes in the Chehalis River, Washington State – Interim Report, 2018

This work will develop the Chehalis Basinwide Beaver Management Plan, a document that provides direction on beaver issues in the Chehalis Basin. The plan can inform basin-level beaver monitoring with the ASRP’s Monitoring and Adaptive Management Plan.

• Principal Investigator: Keith Douville and Max Lambert

This study examined the abundance and use of the Chehalis Basin by water-loving birds such as ducks, geese, and swans.

• Principal Investigators: Matthew Hamer, Andrew Annanie, Joseph Evenson, Ilai Keren, and Marc Hayes
• Final Waterfowl Report, 2017

This effort will include working with Xerces Society and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to expand the knowledge of mussel species in the Chehalis Basin. The main focus will be on the western ridged mussel.

• Principal Investigators: Julie Tyson and Max Lambert
• Final Mussel Survey Report, 2021

The investigators analyzed the Chehalis Basin floodplain using aerial photograph change-detection methods to describe habitat and habitat change trajectories, especially for classes of major aquatic and non-aquatic habitat.

• Principal Investigators: Kenneth B. Pierce Jr., Marc P. Hayes, Jeanne A. Miller, Kevin R. Samson, Arleta C. Agun and Julie A. Tyson
• Changes in the Chehalis Floodplain – 1938-2013 (large file, 32 MB)

Using a modified version of the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service’s Stream Visual Rapid Assessment Protocols, WDFW and Chehalis Tribe staff will evaluate high-priority stream and river reaches for restoration potential.

• Principal Investigator: Cade Roler

In the Chehalis Basin approximately 2,400 culverts impede the movement of aquatic species, and the changing stream flow patterns resulting from climate change will affect the impacts of those culverts in various ways. This project combines modeling and field data collection to inform the construction of climate-adapted culvert replacements.

• Principal Investigator: Jane Atha

• Principal Investigator: Cade Roler

The regional NorWeST model predicts stream temperatures in the Northwest. This project improved the accuracy of stream temperature predictions in the Basin by taking local measurements and using the NorWeST methods.

• Principal Investigators: John Winkowski and Mara Zimmerman
• ASRP Symposium 2020 presentation

Beaver dam analogs mimic the functions that beaver dams formerly played in creating ponds and wetlands, and sometimes attract beavers to maintain them over the long term. This project explores how beaver dam analogs can improve habitat complexity and temperature.

• Principal Investigators: Tristan Weiss, Reed Ojala-Barbour, Aimee McIntyre, and Jamie Glasgow

The goal of the Lower Satsop River Habitat Restoration Project is to improve riverine connectivity and habitat in the floodplain and reduce agricultural soil bank erosion. Three ponds were excavated approximately one mile upstream of the confluence of the Satsop and Chehalis rivers. To support this effort, as part of its contribution to a basin-wide ASRP, the Aquatic Research Section of the WDFW Habitat Science Division engaged in monitoring this site beginning in March 2015.

• Principal Investigators: Julie Tyson, Wes Bowens, Keith Douville, Lameace Hussain, Kelly Perry, and Max Lambert
• Lower Satsop Final Report, 2021

The Off-Channel Experimental Reconnection Project will inform the ASRP by helping answer the question: “Will increasing the level of connection between the mainstem river and an off-channel area improve temperature and oxygen?” A secondary objective is to answer the question: “How does the increased level of off-channel connection affect native and exotic species?”

• Principal Investigators: Julie Tyson, Marc Hayes, Keith Douville, Aimee McIntyre, and Reed Ojala-Barbour
• Final Off-Channel Experimental Reconnection Report, 2021

Sediment wedges are accumulations of sand and gravel behind and upstream of channel-spanning log jams. This project will examine changes in stream flow and temperature that occur after artificial sediment wedges structures have been installed.

• Principal Investigators: Tristan Weiss, Reed Ojala-Barbour, and Aimee McIntyre