The Green Sturgeon Acipenser medirostris is an anadromous, long-lived species that is distributed along the Pacific coast of North America. Green Sturgeon is vulnerable to global change due to its sensitive life history and few spawning locations. The persistence of Green Sturgeon is threatened by habitat modification, altered flows, and rising river temperatures. The southern Distinct Population Segment was listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in 2001 due to persistent stressors. Despite increased research efforts after the species was listed, substantial gaps in basic population information for Green Sturgeon remain. We present the only known information on age structure and growth of a threatened population of Green Sturgeon. By analyzing archived fin rays that were collected from 1984–2016, we revealed highly variable growth among individuals. We detected several age classes from 0–26 years and found similar growth rates of Sacramento River Green Sturgeon compared to northern populations. Though limited, this analysis is an important first step to understanding Green Sturgeon population dynamics and highlights critical research needs.
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Research Article|
March 16 2021
Filling knowledge gaps for a threatened species: age and growth of Green Sturgeon of the southern Distinct Population Segment
Marta Elizabeth Ulaski
;
Marta Elizabeth Ulaski
University of Idaho
Research Scientist
Fish and Wildlife Sciences
875 Perimeter Drive MS 1136
UNITED STATES
Moscow
ID
83844
19076872699
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Michael C Quist
Michael C Quist
U.S. Geological Survey, Idaho Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Fish and Wildlife Sciences, University of Idaho
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Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management (2021)
Article history
Received:
October 14 2020
Revision Received:
February 26 2021
Accepted:
March 05 2021
Citation
Marta Elizabeth Ulaski, Michael C Quist; Filling knowledge gaps for a threatened species: age and growth of Green Sturgeon of the southern Distinct Population Segment. Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management 2021; doi: https://doi.org/10.3996/JFWM-20-073
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