Summit Lake, Nevada (USA) is the last high-desert terminal lake to have a native self-sustaining population of threatened Lahontan cutthroat trout …

Lahontan Cutthroat Trout thrive at Paiute's Summit Lake in far northern Nevada 1 day ago | By . The tribe took measures to protect much of the stream habitat, erecting grazing enclosures in the 70s that prevented cattle from trampling the stream and allowed the stream to recover into the healthy habitat it is now. Research to understand the reasons why this population continues to thrive, where others have not, will be used to protect the fish and its habitat – as well as to apply the knowledge to help restore other Nevada lakes that once had bountiful numbers of the iconic fish that historically reached 60 pounds.A team of researchers from the University of Nevada, Reno and the Summit Lake Paiute Tribe has been studying the watershed ecosystem and recently authored two papers published in scientific journals describing their findings about the relatively small desert terminal lake.This project is part of a 9-year collaboration to conserve habitats and promote a healthy ecosystem for the lake.

As an important traditional food source, Lahontan Cutthroat Trout composed a large part of Tribal member’s diets and were the focus of many gatherings held to honor the fish and to learn oral history, traditional practices, and cultural resources from elders of the tribe.“The tribe has exercised their sovereignty to protect, manage and enhance tribal homelands, including the lake ecosystem and associated resources by working with federal agencies and other organizations that enable the tribe to holistically manage and protect the land, water and resources that fish, wildlife and tribal members depend on for survival,” Cowan said.The lake is about one square mile of surface area, has a mean depth of 20 feet with the southern end generally deeper with about 50 feet of depth at the deepest.

Please help us continue by becoming a subscriber so that our reporting will continue.Summit Lake in remote northwest Nevada is home to the only self-sustaining, robust, lake population of Lahontan Cutthroat Trout, North America’s largest freshwater native trout species. “The partnership with the Global Water Center, as well as many other researchers, agencies, and organizations has complemented this objective by implementing science-based research and technological advances to investigate the viability of trout in the Summit Lake watershed.”Monitoring data, including climate, hydrology, fish and wildlife population trends and habitat integrity, is used to develop, revise or validate the tribe’s management plans and regulations. “Our goals are to assist them in developing their science-based program to protect Nevada’s only strong, self sustaining lake population of Lahontan Cutthroat Trout. The prediction of increased frequency, severity and duration of drought and an increased percentage of rain may decrease abundance, reduce the effective population size and skew the sex ratio at Summit Lake.”The research team found that connections between the upper watershed and the lake are essential for maintaining a healthy population during a drought. “Lahontan Cutthroat Trout can live in streams and lakes,” Chandra said. We are reporting daily on how the coronavirus is impacting the Reno area. “Like cutthroat populations across the western U.S., this population faces unknown impacts from climate change.“Declining abundance and diverging male and female abundance under changing drought cycles and conditions may have negative long term consequences. SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - For the first time ever, the Lahontan National Fish Hatchery will release 5,000 large Pilot Peak Lahontan cutthroat trout into their home waters of Lake Tahoe. During the drought of 2012-2016, Summit Lake had a strong, stable population of naturally reproducing Lahontan Cutthroat Trout. RENO, NV — Researchers from the University of Nevada, Reno and the Summit Lake Paiute Tribe are studying Summit Lake, in remote northwest Nevada, home to the only self-sustaining, robust, lake population of Lahontan Cutthroat Trout, North America’s largest freshwater native trout species. University researchers Sudeep Chandra and Zeb Hogan – as well as students from their aquatics ecosystems lab and Global Water Center – work with the tribe’s Natural Resources Department, formerly led by fish biologist William Cowan before he retired from the U.S.

The lake elevation decreased about 13 feet during the severe drought in the western United States that lasted from 2012 to 2016.“One thing we learned is that the climatically induced drought can change the hydrology, or flow of water and connections of stream to lake, but even with these changes, the trout populations remain relatively stable in the lake,” Chandra said. Since 2011, FISHBIO has provided technical assistance for the Summit Lake Paiute Tribe’s fisheries monitoring program for Lahontan cutthroat trout. We believe that investigations in this robust ecosystem like Summit, where there is little human impact, could improve recovery efforts in other lake systems that are less fortunate and that have lost their trout like the Walker and Tahoe. Nevada’s Summit Lake is home to one of the last self-sustaining populations of Lahontan cutthroat trout. #thisisreno© 2020 - All Right Reserved Conrad Communications LLC / This Is Reno.Teresa Compbell, studies Lahontan Cutthroat Trout at Summit Lake* This Is Reno only publishes comments by those who include real first and last names. “They look for the opportunity to spawn every year and likely wait for better conditions with higher flows for better access to upstream spawning grounds. Surprisingly there are still few comparative investigations of these lake ecosystems and how they could support trout during a time for increasing global changes.”The Lahontan Cutthroat Trout, with its crimson red-orange slash marks on the throat under the jaw and black spots scattered over steel gray to olive green scales, is Nevada’s state fish and holds a cultural significance to the Summit Lake Paiute Tribe while providing the tribe with bountiful food and fish resources.