Professor Glotfelty's Class

Flora, Fauna, Fowl, and Fish of the Truckee River Water Shed

by Robert Fisch

 

The Truckee river water shed has a long and complicated natural history, that like a jigsaw puzzle is composed of many interconnected pieces. In it, the interplay of humans and their environment through the passage of time plays a major role. Since prehistoric times, the native Paiutes and, more recently, American settlers, have used and over-used natural resources and indigenous species of flora, fauna, foul, and fish, more often than not resulting in ruin.

 

Wild Rye

 

Wild rye, also known as wildrye, is a type of plant which has been lucky enough be spared ruin at the hands of careless humans, though it has been used by natives, such as the Paiutes, for millennia. Its name is a term which refers not to a single species, but to the entire Leymus genus.

 

Wild rye is a perennial grass, meaning that it has a life span of greater than two years. It grows one half to one meter tall and has a stem thickness of one to one point two centimeters. This grass grows in bunches that range in diameter from a few stalks to two meters. The root systems of this genus range from fibrous with small rhizomes, or underground stems, to entirely composed of extended rhizomes. The inflorescence, or cluster of flowers, is a single, unbranched spike. The green to bluish grey leaves branch off directly from the stem and can grow up to a meter long with a width of about two centimeters (Kew).

 

Wild rye is a very versatile plant and readily adapts to a wide range of conditions. This genus is native to the entirety of the United States and Canada aside from the Southeastern United States (Prairiemoon).  These grasses are often drought and heat tolerant, and many varieties are able to withstand cold temperatures, as well. Members of the wild rye genus can be found in habitats as diverse as sandy savannahs and the edges of woodland forests (Illinois Wildflowers).

 

Wild rye is very useful for stabilizing soil to prevent erosion. In varieties with mostly fibrous root systems, the fibers “attach firmly to soil particles, making them especially effective in preventing” (United States Department of Agriculture) the ground being worn away by the elements. These grasses are further important in ecosystems across their range in that they provide food for many animals. The leafhoppers Commellus comma, Dorycephalus platyrhynchus, and Laevicephalus orientalis all use this plant as an important food source. The  larvae of the leaf beetle Diabrotica barberi consume its roots, the cottontail rabbit and several types of hoofed mammals ingest its young leaves, and ground dwelling sparrows eat the seeds. Spiders also frequently use the leaves and stems as posts on which to build their webs (Illinois Wildflowers) (United States Department of Agriculture).

 

Native American tribes have used plants from the wild rye genus since prehistory for a variety of uses. Medicinally, it was taken by several tribes in the form of a decoction of the roots as a treatment for internal hemorrhaging, as an infusion of mashed roots to treat gonorrhea, or as an infusion of leaves as a wash for sore eyes. The seeds were gathered and used as a food source. The coarse roots were dried and used as brushes while the inedible stems and leaves were used during winter as bedding for humans and livestock and as fodder for grazing animals. The stems and leaves was also used as wicker for basketry, woven into a coarse fabric for mats, tied into bundles and burned and mixed with blood to make a permanent black dye for clothing, straightened and fitted with wooden tips for use as the shafts of arrows, and poked through fish to hold it flat as it dried over a fire (Maquah). Many Native American tribes relied heavily on the inedible stems, leaves, and roots of the various species of wild rye as a source of medicine and household goods, while the seeds were used as a valuable supplement to the diet.

 

Since wild rye is so wide spread and is able to successfully adapt to so many different environments, there is no threat to its existence in the future. In areas where soil being washed away is a concern, it is planted as a safeguard against soil erosion (United States Department of Agriculture). No legal measures are in place to protect this species as it does not need them.

 

Beaver

 

The North American beaver (Castor canadensis) is a prime example of a useful species which was over-hunted, resulting in its extirpation. The beaver is the largest rodent native to North America, with a body length ranging from forty to fifty-two inches, a tail length ranging from ten to thirteen point four inches, and a weight from twenty-two to seventy-five pounds.

 

The beaver’s diet consists of “a small number of preferred species” (Jenkins and Busher). Consequently, most of its nutritional intake comes from the barks of the trees of the willow family, Salix. Usually these manifest as aspens and willows, whose barks are “easily digestible and high in protein” (Wessels). During the summer months, they often supplement their diets with many types of “herbaceous and aquatic plants such as” grasses, sedges, water lily, cattail, pondweed, duckweed, duck potato, and horsetail (Boyle). Throughout the year, beavers fell trees and drag branches and logs underwater to form a cache of woody vegetation (Novak 1987). During the winter, this food store is kept separate from predators by the thick layer of ice that forms over the surfaces of ponds and streams as the weather becomes cooler, allowing the beaver safe access to its supplies.

 

Beavers live near sources of water, usually slow flowing rivers or small ponds. Along the banks or the shoreline of the water, they fell trees, using the bark for food and the sticks as a building material, which, they use along with mud to construct their dams and lodges. These dams can significantly alter the layout of the landscape by allowing water to pool. In the bodies of still water created by their dams, beavers construct lodges. These hollow mounds of sticks and mud usually have at least two entrances and an above water platform on which they rest, feed, and raise their young (Idaho Museum of Natural History). They also spend the entirety of winter within them, aside from when they dive to the bottom of their ponds to retrieve vegetation stored there.

 

Beavers strongly affect their environment. Through their damming, they change the type of water source in the area, causing flowing streams to widen and deepen into ponds with slow water movement. They also deplete the resources of their habitat by felling trees and consuming the woody vegetation near them, eventually forcing themselves to colonize a new area (Boyle). The effects brought about by beaver colonies, from damming rivers to cutting down trees, can cause problems for nearby human infrastructure, resulting in anything from flooding to property damage by falling trees. In spite of this, they are very important players in their local habitats. The bodies of water they create serve as a wonderful “[habitats] for waterfowl, numerous songbirds, and many small mammals who favor” (Idaho Museum of Natural History) a moist environment. Beaver damming also allows for the preservation of riparian conditions, or the type of ecosystem which occurs near rivers and streams.

 

North American native tribes have hunted beavers since time immemorial. They are “prized for their meat” (McKenzie) which is nutritious and supposedly tastes the best of any wild meat. Their fur and testicles are also valued for use as clothing and folk medicine. The waterproof coat of the beaver, which ranges in color from reddish brown to almost black (Idaho Museum of Natural History), is valued for its softness and for the amount of warmth it provides. Its dried testicles have been used as a cure for pain and as an anti-inflamatory in many cultures (Stewart). Willow bark, which comprises a large portion of the beaver’s diet, contains salicin. In the body, this substance is metabolized into salicylic acid, which is chemically similar to aspirin and is thought to be responsible for willow bark’s pain relieving properties (University of Maryland Medical Center). This compound is concentrated in the testicles of male beavers, allowing them to act as a cure for pain and inflammation (Stewart).

 

 Historically, the beaver had a native habitat that ranged throughout the majority of North America, including the Sierra Nevada but excluding Mexico, Florida and Southern Nevada (Lanman). Due to overhunting by trappers seeking to collect their fur, the beaver went extinct in almost the entirety of Nevada and California. This excessive trapping occurred as a result the high demand for its pelt, which was made into clothing, such as hats and coats, and for its castoreum, which is used by the perfume industry. Castor glands, located near the beaver’s anus, produce a secretion, that when mixed with urine, forms castoreum, which gives these animals their unique scent. Beavers use this substance to mark their territory and advertise their mating status while humans use it as an additive in perfumes (Boyle).

 

            Beavers have a population status of “least concern” (University of Michigan Museum of Zoology) and are “demonstrably widespread, abundant, and secure” (Idaho Museum of Natural History). They are classified as game animals in most states, allowing for the possibility of hunting them. As there is no foreseeable danger of extinction of the beaver population, no laws which protect this species are necessary other than those covering all game.

Pinyon Jay

 

The pinyon jay (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus), another species historically native to the Truckee river water shed, has also been affected strongly by humans. The pinyon jay is a large highly social song bird with a length that ranges from ten point two to eleven point four inches. Its weight ranges from three point two to four point two ounces and its wing span is approximately a foot and a half, though it has a fairly short tail. The entire plumage of this bird is a dull blue except for a whitish area under its black beak (Cornell Lab of Ornithology).

 

The pinyon jay travels in large, permanent flocks “that may include more than 500 individuals” (Cornell Lab of Ornithology) and which follow a complex social hierarchy that involves mating for life. Though these jays travel in large flocks, individuals prefer to construct their nests in a fairly spread out manner, often as far apart as one per tree, though it is not unheard of to find a tree “fairly full of their nests, some nearly touching each other” (Johnson). Mated pairs of these birds build cup shaped nests with an outer layer of sticks, a middle layer of grass, “and an inner layer of fine, powdery materials, such as plant parts, feathers, horsehair, [or] shredded bark” (Cornell Lab of Ornithology) in which they lay two to five pale blue eggs with dark brown speckles.

 

“Pinyon jays are distributed primarily through the Great Basin” (Audubon Society) of the American West. They live primarily in pinyon-juniper forests on mountainsides, though they have been known to move to other habitats when food is scarce (Audubon Society). The diet of the pinyon jay consists mostly of pinyon pine nuts, though it is supplemented by berries, small grains, seeds, insects, and occasionally the eggs and hatchlings of other bird species (Utah Division of Wildlife Resources).

 

As rated by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the pinyon jay has a status of vulnerable. This conservation status owes itself to the fact that the population of this bird has been falling consistently from the 1960’s to the present by about four percent annually (Audubon Society). This trend is in turn due to three main factors, all of which have contributed to dramatic loss of the pinyon-juniper forest habitat inhabited by this species.

 

The primary two causes are the result of human action. The first is that, due to the fact that the United States Forest Service classified the pinyon-juniper forest habitat as non-commercial and placed it in a no value category, it has become the mission of land managers to eradicate this type of woodland in favor of a more profitable ecosystem, such as pasture land where livestock can graze. All throughout the 1940’s, 50’s, and 60’s major projects were carried out to clear this habitat away, causing possibly millions of pinyon jay deaths due to lack of food. This type of major woodland destruction continues today, with humans making use of herbicides, mechanical plowing, and fire to quickly remove pinyon-juniper forests (IUCN).

 

The second is that poor fire suppression policies exist in the South Western United States. “Energy and resources are spent mostly on fire suppression” (Chu), an instinctive and poorly thought out reaction. While putting out wild fires in the short term may stop one fire from consuming the part of the forest, it causes successive fires to grow larger and larger. This phenomenon can be traced back to the fact that wild fires occur naturally and accomplish the important task of clearing out dry, dead vegetation and providing the forest soil with rich nutrients. When these smaller fires, which do not damage many trees, are constantly put out, flammable plant matter is allowed to increase. This in turn dramatically increases the chances of a wild fire starting which cannot be controlled, and which burns hotter and is significantly more damaging than an average one (Chu). An increase in fires of this type in recent years has led to a dramatic loss of the pinyon-juniper forest type and a corresponding drop in the food supply of the pinyon jay.

           

The third, and final major cause of habitat loss for the pinyon jay is an intense drought which has been going on for the past fourteen years. Studies show that dry conditions lessen the ability of trees, in this case pinyon pines, to cope with the high heat of summer. Dry conditions also tend to cripple pinyon pines’ defense systems against parasites, making them especially vulnerable to pests such as the bark beetle, which attacks trees by living and reproducing in their inner bark.

           

Despite the vulnerable status of the pinyon jay and its seriously falling numbers, little is being done to conserve it or its habitat. There are currently no laws in place to protect the songbird or to stop the destruction of the pinyon-juniper woodlands continue. The only real efforts to increase the population of this bird come from grass roots movements such as the National Audubon Society and Partners in Flight, both of which are conservation organizations focused on birds.

 

Cui-ui

 

The cui-ui (Chasmistes Cujus) is yet another native of the Truckee river watershed which has experienced the misfortune of gaining the humans’ favor. The cui-ui is a medium sized fish with weight ranging from three point five to seven point seven pounds and a length up to twenty-seven point five inches, with the females of the species growing larger than the males. Both the males and the females have a life span of more than forty years, though they are not sexually mature until six to twelve years old. Members of this species have coarse blackish brown with a bluish grey cast scales on their dorsal side, which fades to creamy white as the belly is approached (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service).

 

As a sucker fish, the cui-ui has a mouth on the underside of its head, which is surrounded by thick, fleshy lips. This species, like other suckers, feeds mostly from the bottom of the lake where it resides, though it makes occasional forays to the surface to catch insects. The diet of the cui-ui consists mostly of zooplankton, filamentous algae, and aquatic insects living in Pyramid Lake (Lahontan National Fish Hatchery Complex).

 

This fish can currently be found only in Pyramid Lake in western Nevada. Historically, the cui-ui also inhabited Lake Winnemucca, adjacent to Pyramid Lake. When Lake Winnemucca dried up in the 1930’s as a result of the construction of Derby Dam, which diverts a significant portion of the Truckee away from Pyramid Lake for agricultural use, the cui-ui’s habitat was dramatically reduced. Due to the fact that there is only one place in the world where this species can be found, the cui-ui has a conservation status of critically endangered (Lahontan National Fish Hatchery Complex).

 

The cui-ui also inhabit “the lower Truckee River during the spawning season” (Lahontan National Fish Hatchery Complex). During this time, breeding members of the species travel up the lower part of the Truckee to mate. Though individuals travelled much further upstream in the past, their migration is now restricted by Numana Dam, because even though this dam has a fish ladder, it “is not conducive to [the] passage of cui-ui” (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services). In March and April, once breeding adults reach the spawning grounds, they release their sperm and eggs, which adhere to the gravelly river bottom. Fertilized eggs mature for approximately one to two weeks before hatching, releasing the larval cui-ui to drift downstream back to Pyramid Lake (Lahontan National Fish Hatchery Complex).

 

Each stage of life for the cui-ui has its own predator. First, the eggs and larvae are searched out and consumed by the Lahontan redside shiner. Then, young cui-ui are hunted by the tui chub and the Lahontan cutthroat trout. Finally, adults are prey for the American white pelican and the double crested cormorant while spawning in the Truckee, though they seem not to have any predators while in Pyramid Lake (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services).

 

“Historically, the Pyramid Lake band of Northern Paiute Indians relied heavily upon annual spawning runs of the cui-ui for food” (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services). This band and others from nearby regions would gather at this species’ spawning grounds and hunt large amounts of the breeding fish. The cui-ui were such an important component of traditional life for the Northern Paiute that their name for themselves was “Cuiyui Ticutta,” meaning “Cui-ui Eaters” (Roughfish). Once white settlers arrived from the Eastern United States with the Westward expansion, Paiutes sold them cui-ui, “though whites generally preferred” (Nevadatrivia) the taste of the Lahontan cutthroat trout.

           

The cui-ui’s population was decimated not only by the large diversions of the Truckee river’s waters that caused Lake Winnemucca to dry out, in effect destroying half of their habitat, but also by artificial obstructions to the river. Though “adult cui-ui seem to have the potential to spawn every year…most only spawn several times a decade because of passage barriers” (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service).

           

In 1969, the Paiute Tribe passed laws banning cui-ui fishing by individuals who were not tribal members. In 1972 the first cui-ui hatchery was opened at Hardscrabble Creek. Its purpose was to increase the species’ population until it was self-sustaining. The first plan to conserve the cui-ui by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service was devised in 1978. Its goal was to “restore the species to a non-endangered status and reclassify [it] from endangered to threatened” (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). Luckily, the recovery efforts seem to be working and the cui-ui population, “estimated at 100,000 in 1983, increased to over 1 million by 1992” (Center for Biological Diverstiy).

           

As can be seen here, the majority of human attempts to interact with the environment have a similar result to a toddler trying to piece together a 1000-piece puzzle, resulting in damage that is only occasionally reparable to many of the intricate interlocking pieces.

 

Works Cited

 

"American Beaver." American Beaver. Idaho Museum of Natural History, Idaho State University, n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.

 

Physical description of beaver, habitat, diet, etc.

 

Beedy, Edward C., Edward R. Pandolfino, and Keith Hansen. Birds of the Sierra Nevada Their Natural History, Status, and Distribution.

 

Berkerley: U of California, 2013. Print.

 

Foster, Stephen S., Barry L. Perryman, and University of Nevada Cooperative Extension. Nutritional Properties of Windrowed and

 

Standing Basin Wildrye Over Time. 12-16. Vol. , 2012.

 

Jenkins, S.H. and P.E. Busher. 1979. Castor canadensis. American Society of Mammalogists Mammalian Species 120:1-8.

 

Johnson, H. C. "The Pinyon Jay." The Condor 4.1 (1902): 14. Web.

 

Lamb, Frank W. Indian Baskets of North America. Riverside. CA: Riverside Museum, 1972. Print.

 

Lanman, RB, et al. "The Historical Range of Beaver in the Sierra Nevada: A Review of the Evidence." California Fish and Game 98.2

 

(2012): 65-80.

 

http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/pinyonjay.htm

 

Orr, Robert T. 1908-1994, George Mattson, and Patricia Mattson. Mammals of Lake Tahoe. San Francisco: California Academy of

 

Sciences, 1949.

 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 1. Cui-ui (Chasmistes Cujus) Recovery Plan. Portland, Or.: Service, 1992. Print.

 

http://www.wild-life-rehab.com/Education-Beaver.htm

 

Wessels, T. 2001. Abandonment: on beaver ecology and recovery. Wild Earth 11:62-67.

 

Williams, Ted. “Taking Back the Range.” 95 Vol. New York: National Audubon Society, 1993.

 

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pinyon_jay/id

 

http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/projects/scp/assessments/northamericanbeaver.pdf

 

Stewart, William Brenton (1974). Medicine in New Brunswick : a history of the practice of medicine...from prior to the arrival of the

 

white man in America to the early part of the twentieth century. Moncton: The New Brunswick Medical Society. p. 1.

 

http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/herb/willow-bark