Eric D. Wolf
Conservation Management Institute- Military Lands Division

The Roanoke logperch (Percina rex) can reach up to 150 mm (about 6 inches) in total length, making it one of the larger members of the darter family – Percidae. Logperch exhibit a very specialized foraging behavior, flipping over stones on the stream bottom with their pig-like snouts to expose potential prey items beneath (aquatic insects, roundworms, young crayfish, etc.). This lifestyle makes the logperch especially vulnerable to accumulation of fine sediments that can embed the substrate, filling in interstitial spaces used by benthic prey species. As a result of this vulnerability, low population densities, and very limited distribution (endemic only to Virginia, found primarily in the upper Roanoke River and Nottoway River drainage) the Roanoke logperch has been listed as a federally endangered species since 1989.

The Nottoway River is the primary surface water drainage system for Fort Pickett Maneuver Training Center (MTC) near Blackstone , VA , dissecting the southern portion of the facility. The Nottoway is responsible for draining 3,680 square kilometers of southside Virginia , making the waterway an important part of the cultural and ecological resources of the region. Fort Pickett MTC has a long incorporated proactive natural resource management in the fulfillment their military mission, ensuring that activities on mission lands are integrated and consistent with federal land stewardship objectives. In support of these ongoing efforts, CMI is currently engaged in a stream habitat assessment survey of the Nottoway on Fort Pickett, based on relevant features of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Rapid Bioassessment Protocols (RBPs) (Barbour et al. 1999).

RBPs represent a synthesis of existing biological water resource survey methods designed to provide standards for basic, cost-effective biological assessment of lotic systems. It is a visual-based approach whereby observers move along the course of the waterway, evaluating and ranking conditions regarding flow status and structure, substrate characteristics, sediment deposition, bank stability and vegetative protection, anthropogenic alteration, and other relevant features on a numerical scale. Ratings can then be totaled and compared to a reference condition for an overall habitat ranking of optimal, suboptimal, marginal, or poor.

The goals of this survey effort are two-fold: we will visit every reach of the Nottoway River on Fort Pickett to gather topographic, hydrological, descriptive, and specific locational data along the length the watercourse, yielding an overall representation of stream structure, habitat characteristics, and establish a baseline for reference in future habitat assessments. Within the habitat parameters surveyed, we will additionally target specific areas of potential use by Roanoke logperch for more detailed evaluation, based on criteria observed in areas of use documented elsewhere on the Nottoway by Rosenberger (2002).

Through application and interpretation of these standardized, replicable survey techniques, we can generate data that can be used as the basis of aquatic habitat monitoring, serving to document general baseline stream/riparian conditions, identify potentially critical habitat, provide a mechanism for tracking changes in the quality and quantity of the resource, and facilitate compliance with legal mandates, including the National Environmental Protection Act, and the Endangered Species Act requirements.

LITERATURE CITED

Barbour, M.T., J. Gerritsen, B.D. Snyder, and J.B. Stribling. 1999. Rapid Bioassessment Protocols for Use in Streams and Wadeable Rivers: Periphyton, Benthic Macroinvertebrates and Fish, Second Edition. EPA 841-B-99-002. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Office of Water; Washington, D.C.

Rosenberger, A. 2002. Multi-scale patterns of habitat use by Roanoke logperch (Percina rex) in Virginia rivers: a comparison among populations and life stages. Ph.D. dissertation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University . Blacksburg , V A. 131 pp.