03-10-2008, 07:29 PM
[reply] And I really don't by the whole humpback chub thing. In the previous two test floods, they proved to do more damage to the population than they did good.
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Just to set the record straight....the results regarding the effect the previous two floods had on the endangered species are still not known. But, "Good news is often hard to find when it comes to endangered species. Perhaps that is why U.S. Geological Survey scientists with the Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center are excited about recently collected data for the endangered humpback chub (Gila cypha) population in Grand Canyon. After more than a decade of decline, the findings suggest that the number of adult (age 4-plus) humpback chub in Grand Canyon appear to have stabilized at an estimated 5,000 fish between 2001 and 2005. In 2005, scientists also detected more juvenile fish (age 1 to 4) and young-of-year fish, or fish hatched in 2005, than previous years.
“The possible stabilization of adult fish numbers is exciting news for the recovery effort because it means that conditions exist in Grand Canyon that allow young fish to reach reproductive age,” said Matthew Andersen, USGS supervisory biologist. “Until recently, the Grand Canyon population was steadily declining because adult fish were dying at a rate of 15 percent to 20 percent annually, and young fish were not surviving in sufficient numbers to replace adult mortality.”
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.[/reply]
Just to set the record straight....the results regarding the effect the previous two floods had on the endangered species are still not known. But, "Good news is often hard to find when it comes to endangered species. Perhaps that is why U.S. Geological Survey scientists with the Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center are excited about recently collected data for the endangered humpback chub (Gila cypha) population in Grand Canyon. After more than a decade of decline, the findings suggest that the number of adult (age 4-plus) humpback chub in Grand Canyon appear to have stabilized at an estimated 5,000 fish between 2001 and 2005. In 2005, scientists also detected more juvenile fish (age 1 to 4) and young-of-year fish, or fish hatched in 2005, than previous years.
“The possible stabilization of adult fish numbers is exciting news for the recovery effort because it means that conditions exist in Grand Canyon that allow young fish to reach reproductive age,” said Matthew Andersen, USGS supervisory biologist. “Until recently, the Grand Canyon population was steadily declining because adult fish were dying at a rate of 15 percent to 20 percent annually, and young fish were not surviving in sufficient numbers to replace adult mortality.”
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