CFP Conservation & Sustainability 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which federal act provides the primary framework for protecting and restoring riparian habitat critical to anadromous fish species in the United States?
- Clean Water Act (Correct answer)
- Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act
- National Environmental Policy Act
- Lacey Act
Correct answer: Clean Water Act
The Clean Water Act regulates water quality and protects wetlands and riparian zones that anadromous fish depend on for spawning and rearing.
Question 2: In watershed management, what is the primary purpose of maintaining a vegetated riparian buffer strip?
- Increase surface runoff velocity
- Filter sediment and nutrients before they enter the stream (Correct answer)
- Reduce canopy cover to increase water temperature
- Prevent beaver activity in the channel
Correct answer: Filter sediment and nutrients before they enter the stream
Vegetated riparian buffers intercept surface runoff, trapping sediment and excess nutrients that would otherwise degrade aquatic habitat.
Question 3: Large woody debris (LWD) placed in a stream during habitat restoration primarily benefits fish by:
- Eliminating fine sediment entirely
- Creating hydraulic complexity and pool habitat (Correct answer)
- Raising stream pH to optimal levels
- Blocking predator access to spawning redds
Correct answer: Creating hydraulic complexity and pool habitat
LWD slows flow, creates scour pools, and forms cover, increasing habitat complexity and diversity for fish.
Question 4: A fisheries manager identifies excessive fine sediment smothering salmonid spawning gravels. The MOST direct upstream cause to investigate is:
- Inadequate instream flows
- Riparian vegetation removal and soil disturbance (Correct answer)
- Excessive macroinvertebrate grazing
- Low dissolved oxygen from algal decomposition
Correct answer: Riparian vegetation removal and soil disturbance
Removal of riparian vegetation destabilizes stream banks and allows eroded soil to deliver fine sediment that clogs spawning gravel interstitial spaces.
Question 5: Which spawning habitat characteristic is measured using an Embeddedness Index?
- Depth of the water column above the redd
- Degree to which gravels are surrounded by fine sediment (Correct answer)
- Water velocity over the spawning substrate
- Canopy cover shading the redd site
Correct answer: Degree to which gravels are surrounded by fine sediment
Embeddedness describes how deeply gravels are buried in fine sediment, which directly affects egg-to-fry survival by limiting hyporheic water flow.
Question 6: The concept of a 'reference reach' in stream restoration is used to:
- Establish the legal minimum instream flow
- Provide a baseline of natural channel form and function as a restoration target (Correct answer)
- Identify the reach with highest fish biomass in the watershed
- Define the upstream extent of tidal influence
Correct answer: Provide a baseline of natural channel form and function as a restoration target
A reference reach is an unimpaired or minimally disturbed section of stream that represents restoration potential for degraded reaches in the same hydro-geomorphic class.
Question 7: Dam removal projects are most frequently justified from a fisheries conservation standpoint because they:
- Increase downstream nutrient loading
- Reconnect fragmented fish populations and restore migratory access (Correct answer)
- Reduce instream water temperatures year-round
- Lower stream gradient to reduce erosional energy
Correct answer: Reconnect fragmented fish populations and restore migratory access
Removing dams eliminates passage barriers, allowing migratory fish like salmon and shad to access historical spawning habitat and reconnecting isolated populations.
CFP Conservation & Sustainability 2
Which federal act provides the primary framework for protecting and restoring riparian habitat critical to anadromous fish species in the United States?