Aquatic Ecology
Dudek has designed and conducted a wide variety of aquatic studies and assessments throughout California in marine and estuarine environments, and in freshwater lentic and lotic habitats.
Services Include:
- freshwater, estuarine, and intertidal marine habitat assessments
- fisheries studies, including stream habitat characterizations, fisheries surveys and population assessments, effects of altered streamflows, entrainment studies, passage assessments, water project operations impact assessments, mitigation planning and design, exotic species removal, and fish salvage and relocation
- stream and lake bioassessments pursuant to CSBP, SWAMP or EPA protocols and Natural Resource Damage Assessments (NRDAs). Services include benthic macroinvertebrate (BMI), freshwater algae, and water quality evaluations; sample processing and identification, data analysis, and condition assessments; impact assessments related to altered streamflows, sediment deposition, or contaminant releases; and rapid bioassessment monitoring associated with pre- and post-construction activities
- amphibian and aquatic reptile studies, s habitat assessments and visual encounter surveys, hydro-geomorphic assessments and flow/habitat studies, constraints analyses, impact assessments, and conservation, mitigation, and monitoring plans
- threatened and endangered species habitat assessments and surveys for both fish and amphibian species and preparation of Biological Assessments (for Section 7 consultations) for the NMFS and USFWS
- initial aquatic toxicology evaluations.
California’s regulations place increasingly stringent requirements for evaluating and monitoring the health of streams, lakes and other wetland features. Aquatic bioassessments have become the primary tool used by regulators for evaluating overall stream health. Within the next few years, aquatic bioassessments will likely be required for agricultural and wastewater discharges and for timber harvest plans, which already require special-status amphibian habitat assessments and surveys.
Since nearly all of California’s watersheds and streams have been degraded to some extent by past and ongoing human activities, stream restoration activities focused primarily on a watershed basis will become more important and will involve restoring habitat for native fish, amphibians and benthic communities, including removal of non-native species.