2025 Midwest Fish & Wildlife Conference

AUTHORS: *Seth Callahan, School of Natural Resources, University of Missouri, 302 Anheuser-Busch Natural Resources Building, Columbia, MO 65211, bscnh9@missouri.edu
*Presenting author

Jacob Westhoff, U.S. Geological Survey, Missouri Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, School of Natural Resources, 302 Anheuser-Busch Natural Resources Building, The University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, westhoffj@missouri.edu

Brett Perkins, The Nature Conservancy, Dunn Ranch Prairie, 16970 W 150th St, Hatfield, MO 64458, brett.perkins@tnc.org


ABSTRACT: Human-made structures such as box culverts and similar road crossings can cause habitat fragmentation within stream networks and require remediation for effective aquatic organism passage. There is increasing interest in restoring habitat connectivity and aquatic organism passage for conservation purposes, along with assessing project effectiveness. Two, low- gradient rock ramps were installed in the forks of Little Creek in Harrison County, Missouri in 2022 to protect existing infrastructure and restore natural aquatic organism passage to over eight kilometers of headwater stream. These first order prairie streams had been eroded by head cutting to the base of each of the box culverts resulting in greater than one meter of drop on the downstream side of each culvert. Installation of the rock ramps at a natural grade sought to restore stream connectivity and allow for aquatic organism passage. We tagged multiple fish species downstream of each rock ramp using passive integrated responder (PIT) and visual implanted elastomer (VIE) tags in the spring of 2024 and used submersible PIT antennas and seining to detect fish movement. We determined that both rock ramps have allowed for fish passage of multiple fish species, including an experimental population of Topeka Shiners. We detected 14.5% of all PIT tagged fish successfully using the rock ramps to move upstream in the first two months of data collection. Three VIE tagged fish were recaptured upstream of the box culverts with seine nets. Our preliminary results highlight effective methods for monitoring aquatic organism passage in prairie streams and the ecological benefits of restored stream connectivity in fragmented habitats.