FEASIBILITY STUDY: RE-ESTABLISHING NATIVE FISH FAUNA TO MCKITTRICK CREEK,
GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK, TEXAS
TX T-81-R-1 (F13AF00767) Interim Report
October 2015
New Mexico State University
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
Narrative
During the reporting year (1 October 2014 – 30 September 2015), aquatic macroinvertebrates
were identified to the lowest taxa. A total of 27 taxa was collected throughout both Fall 2013 and Spring
2014 sample collections across the four study reaches. Of this total, 85% were insects and included
mayflies (Ephemeroptera - three taxa), caddisflies (Trichoptera - eight taxa), true flies (Diptera - six taxa),
damselflies and dragonflies (Odonata - two taxa), true bugs (Hemiptera - one taxon), beetles (Coleoptera two taxa) and moths (Lepidoptera – one taxon). The remaining organisms (15%) were non-insect
invertebrates and included snails (Mollusca - 1 taxon), segmented worms (Annelida - 1 taxon), water mite
(Hydrachnida - one taxon), and scuds or side-swimmer (Amphipoda - one taxon). Average total standing
crop (includes insect and non-insect taxa) decreased between Fall 2013 (20.8 organisms/m2 ± standard
error 11.79) and Spring 2014 (14.6 organisms/m2 ± 5.14). Total standing crop was dominated in the Fall
samples by the Dipteran Simulim sp. in contrast to the spring samples which were dominated by
Chironomidae (midges). Taxa richness increased between Fall 2014 (5.9 ± 1.07) and Spring 2015 (9.0 ±
1.21) as a result of Leptophlebiids (Ephemeroptera) and Polycentropids (Trichoptera). Four taxa within
the Diptera and Trichoptera groups were submitted for verification to lowest taxa and will be incorporated
into an Appendix in the final report. Seasonal differences in standing crop and taxa richness will be
analyzed and compared to earlier reports of benthic fauna in McKittrick Creek.
Temperature dataloggers were deployed 5 November 2013 and temperature data downloaded 11
June 2014 during the Spring collection. A largescale flooding event occurred 22 September 2014
resulting in the loss of all air and temperature dataloggers. New ProV2 temperature loggers were
deployed 21-23 November 2014 throughout all study reaches. Upon return to McKittrick Canyon to
retrieve the temperature dataloggers (3 September 2015), all but one datalogger (Reach 3) were lost.
However, no largescale flooding event was reported by Park personnel (J. Hearst, GUMO, personal
communication). Throughout the 247 days logged in Reach 3, the maximum hourly water temperature
was 29.5oC in late July 2015 (Table 1). The logger also recorded a maximum 24 h average temperature
of 25.1oC and a maximum weekly average of 24.2oC in late July (Table 1). Note the red line across
Figures 1-3 indicating the upper lethal limits for fry (24.7oC) and juvenile (23.4oC) Rio Grande cutthroat
trout (Zeigler et al. 2013).
Of the 144 rainbow trout captured Spring of 2014, 34% were represented by young-of-the-year
(60-80 mm) and 41% were represented by year 1 (80-100 mm) age class indicating good reproduction and
recruitment into the rainbow trout population (Figure 3). A largescale storm flow event occurred between
Spring 2014 and Fall 2014 and presumably resulted in the decrease in rainbow trout abundance
throughout all reaches (Table 2).
Figure1. South McKittrick (Reach 3) hourly water temperature. Note missing data due to flooding event
Fall 2014. The bold red line approximately reflects upper lethal limits for fry (24.7oC) and juvenile
(23.4oC) Rio Grande cutthroat trout (Zeigler et al. 2013).
Figure 2. South McKittrick (Reach 3) daily water temperature. Maximum daily, average daily, and
minimum daily are presented in the top panel and the daily range is represented in the bottom panel. Daily
temperatures were obtained by averaging the 24 individual temperatures. Note missing data due to
flooding event Fall 2014. The bold red line approximately reflects upper lethal limits for fry (24.7oC) and
juvenile (23.4oC) Rio Grande cutthroat trout (Zeigler et al. 2013).
Figure 3. South McKittrick (Reach 3) weekly average water temperature (7d WAT). Note missing data
due to flooding event Fall 2014. The bold red line approximately reflects upper lethal limits for fry
(24.7oC) and juvenile (23.4oC) Rio Grande cutthroat trout (Zeigler et al. 2013).
Table 1. Water temperature (oC) summary for South McKittrick (Reach 3).
Year
Total
number
of days
logged
2015
247
Maximum Minimum
hourly
hourly
29.5
0.0
Maximum
Average
24 h
Minimum
Average
24 h
7d WAT
Maximum
7d WAT
Minimum
25.1
1.5
24.2
2.4
Table 2. Population estimate (fish/100 m2) for rainbow trout conducted in the main stem (Reach 1) and
South McKittrick Creek (Reach 2-4). 95% confidence intervals presented in parenthesis. * indicates that
fish were not captured after the first fish collection pass and thus population estimates were not estimated
within these upper reaches.
Site
Fall 2013
Spring 2014
Fall 2014
Reach 1
5.5 (5.2-5.7)
28.1 (27.0-29.2)
11.3 (11.2-11.5)
Reach 2
7.7 (7.6-7.8)
17.4 (15.4-19.3)
8.8 (8.6-9.0)
Reach 3
0.6*
0.2*
3.6*
Reach 4
0.9*
0.4*
4.8 (4.3-5.2)
100
Fall 2013 (n = 42)
Spring 2014 (n = 144)
Fall 2014 (n = 99)
Frequency (%)
80
60
40
20
0
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
22
24
26
28
30
Total length (cm)
Figure 4. Length frequency (%) of rainbow trout captured and combined across the four study reaches.