Elsa Goerig

Harvard University | Harvard · Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology

Under specific hydraulic conditions, culverts may constitute velocity barriers impeding fish upstream movements. Motivation to stage attempts is the first step towards successful passage. However, once a fish entered a culvert, what is driving its success? Here, we present data from wild brook trout volitionally entering 13 culverts (length 9 to 45...

Swimming ability and performance are central to the ecology of aquatic species and to the design of structures intended to promote access to habitat. This is particularly important for migratory species traveling over significant distances. Here, we present results of a study of swimming behaviors of adult shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum...

Locomotion is the act and process of moving from place to place, which is fundamental to the life history of all mobile organisms. While the field of biomechanics encompasses the study of the physical constraints of what animals are capable of, ecological contexts require an integrated view that includes ecology and behavior. This chapter provides...

Many aquatic animals swim by undulatory body movements and understanding the diversity of these movements could unlock the potential for designing better underwater robots. Here, we analyzed the steady swimming kinematics of a diverse group of fish species to investigate whether their undulatory movements can be represented using a series of interc...

Turbulence is a complex hydraulic phenomenon which commonly occurs in natural streams and fishways. Riverine fish are subjected to heterogeneous flow velocities and turbulence, which may affect their movements and ability to pass the fishways. However, studies focusing on fish response to turbulent flows are lacking for many species. Here we invest...

Significance Swimming ability has contributed to the evolutionary success of fishes, and its mechanics have been studied extensively. Most fishes swim primarily through undulation of their body and caudal fin (BCF) and have been historically divided into four major kinematic modes based on their morphology. Here, we compare kinematics of BCF locomo...

Alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) and blueback herring (Alosa aestivalis) are iteroparous anadromous fish found throughout the East Coast of North America. The phenology of anadromous fish migrations is important for fitness, and the duration of spawning migrations has been compressed in recent years in response to climate change. Anthropogenic barrie...

Attracting fish to fishway entrances is vital for ensuring successful and timely passage at dams and other in-stream barriers. This requires knowledge of both the target species' swimming ability and the hydrodynamics near the entrance. However, such knowledge is not always available during the initial design phase. The objective of this study is t...

River herring (Alosa spp.) are anadromous fish that enter North American Atlantic coastal rivers and lakes each spring to spawn. Anthropogenic structures such as dams and tide gates serve as physical obstacles that limit river herring access to spawning habitat. This study examined the physical and ecological components affecting herring passage th...

This presentation shows the results of a study on Short-nose sturgeon locomotion. swimming behavior, performance, and kinematics are discussed in the context of fish passage designs.

The ability to move between habitats has important implications for fitness in many species. In‐stream barriers such as culverts can impede movements of riverine fishes and thus reduce connectivity between habitats. The ability of fish to overcome barriers is related to the features of the environment and the barrier itself, but also to physiologic...

Transport of salmonids allows upstream migrating adults to bypass barriers to migration, for example hydroelectric dams or adverse habitats. Downstream movement (“fallback”) after transport is common and removes individuals from spawning populations, with possible detrimental consequences for population productivity. Time‐to‐event analysis was used...

In recent years, the relationship between hydraulics associated with the substrate and fish swimming behaviour has become increasingly important to the design of microhabitat around substrates for river restoration. To better understand the hydraulics associated with substrate on fish swimming, we studied the effects of a vertical half cylinder (he...

Culverts may restrict fish movements under some hydraulic conditions such as shallow flow depths or high velocities. Although swimming capacity imposes limits to passage performance, behaviour also plays an important role in the ability of fish to overcome velocity barriers. Corrugated metal culverts are characterized by unsteady flow and existence...

Culverts can restrict movement of stream-dwelling fish. Motivation to enter and ascend these structures is an essential precursor for successful passage. However, motivation is challenging to quantify. Here, we use attempt rate to assess motivation of 447 brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) entering three culverts under a range of hydraulic, enviro...

Passage of fish through hydropower dams is associated with mortality, delay, increased energy expenditure and migratory failure for migrating fish and the need for remedial measures for both upstream and downstream migration is widely recognised. A functional fish passage must ensure safe and timely passage routes that a substantial portion of migr...

Under specific environmental and hydraulic conditions, culverts become barriers to upstream movements of fish. Motivation to stage an attempt is the first step towards successful passage. However, motivation is challenging to quantify. Here, we use attempt rate to assess motivation of 450 wild brook trout (85-230 mm) volitionally entering 3 culvert...

Rapport de recherche sur la capacité de l'omble de fontaine à franchir les ponceaux.

Culverts can restrict access to habitat for stream-dwelling fishes. We used passive integrated transponder telemetry to quantify passage performance of >1000 wild brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) attempting to pass 13 culverts in Quebec under a range of hydraulic and environmental conditions. Several variables influenced passage success, includi...

Under specific hydraulic conditions, culverts may constitute velocity barriers impeding fish upstream movements. The prediction of fish passage success is strongly linked to the knowledge of species swimming performance. Here, we present data from wild brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) volitionally entering culverts and swimming against moderate...