USU Watershed Scientist Gets NSF Grant to Study 'State of State Fish'

Utah State University scientist Ryan Lokteff will use a high-tech “bird’s eye view” to study the state of Utah’s state fish, the imperiled Bonneville cutthroat trout. The College of Natural Resources graduate student is the recipient of a 2011 National Science Foundation-funded seed grant from the National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping.

“This is a highly competitive national grant and Ryan is the first student at USU to receive this award,” says Joe Wheaton, assistant professor in USU’s Department of Watershed Sciences and Lokteff’s mentor. “He’ll use airborne LiDaR — laser detection and ranging technology — to examine local ‘hot spots’ of trout spawning, holding and rearing.”

Lokteff, a master’s student in watershed science, is studying trout habitat at sites along Logan Canyon’s Spawn Creek and Temple Fork, tributaries of the Logan River.

“Using data collected by USU and U.S. Forest Service scientists over the past three to four years, we’ve identified 12 locations where trout persistently gather,” he says. “One of the questions we’re exploring is, ‘Why do the fish find these particular locations so desirable?’”

Lokteff will use ground-based LiDaR, a high-definition laser scanning tool, to map the area’s geologic surfaces and, with assistance from USU engineering professor Bob Pack, will also survey the study area from the air.

LiDaR produces millions of xyz coordinates, Lokteff says, that the team will distill into a digital elevation model or “DEM.”

“Ground-based LiDaR is very accurate but takes a lot of time,” he says. “Airborne LiDaR allows us to survey the same area in a fraction of the time. By comparing data collected from both techniques, we should be able to create an accurate digital model of the landscape.”

The collected spatial data will help Lokteff determine such parameters as the slope, gravel and boulder distribution, vegetation density and water velocity of the areas preferred by trout.

“Using these findings, we can advise wildlife and land managers of river restoration efforts to improve habitat for the fish,” Lokteff says.

Key threats to the trout include loss of habitat from human land uses and competition from invasive species, such as Brown trout, he says.