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A procedure designed to test the transferability of habitat suitability criteria was evaluated in the Cache la Poudre River, Colorado. Habitat suitability criteria were developed for active adult and juvenile rainbow trout in the South Platte River, Colorado. These criteria were tested by comparing microhabitat use predicted from the criteria with observed microhabitat use by adult rainbow trout in the Cache la Poudre River. A one-sided x2 test, using counts of occupied and unoccupied cells in each suitability classification, was used to test for non-random selection for optimum habitat use over usable habitat and for suitable over unsuitable habitat. Criteria for adult rainbow trout were judged to be transferable to the Cache la Poudre River, but juvenile criteria (applied to adults) were not transferable. Random subsampling of occupied and unoccupied cells was conducted to determine the effect of sample size on the reliability of the test procedure. The incidence of type I and type I1 errors increased rapidly as the sample size was reduced below 55 occupied and 200 unoccupied cells. Recommended modifications to the procedure included the adoption of a systematic or randomized sampling design and direct measurement of microhabitat variables. With these modifications, the procedure is economical, simple and reliable. Use of the procedure as a quality assurance device in routine applications of the instream flow incremental methodology was encouraged. KEY WORDS Instream flow incremental methodology PHABSIM Habitat suitability criteria Transferability

Conserving biological resources native to large river systems increasingly depends on how flow‐regulated segments of these rivers are managed. Improving management will require a better understanding of linkages between river biota and temporal variability of flow and instream habitat. However, few studies have quantified responses of native fish populations to multiyear (>2 yr) patterns of hydrologic or habitat variability in flow‐regulated systems. To provide these data, we quantified young‐of‐year (YOY) fish abundance during four years in relation to hydrologic and habitat variability in two segments of the Tallapoosa River in the southeastern United States. One segment had an unregulated flow regime, whereas the other was flow‐regulated by a peak‐load generating hydropower dam. We sampled fishes annually and explored how continuously recorded flow data and physical habitat simulation models (PHABSIM) for spring (April–June) and summer (July–August) preceding each sample explained fish abundances. Patterns of YOY abundance in relation to habitat availability (median area) and habitat persistence (longest period with habitat area continuously above the long‐term median area) differed between unregulated and flow‐regulated sites. At the unregulated site, YOY abundances were most frequently correlated with availability of shallow‐slow habitat in summer (10 species) and persistence of shallow‐slow and shallow‐fast habitat in spring (nine species). Additionally, abundances were negatively correlated with 1‐h maximum flow in summer (five species). At the flow‐regulated site, YOY abundances were more frequently correlated with persistence of shallow‐water habitats (four species in spring; six species in summer) than with habitat availability or magnitude of flow extremes. The associations of YOY with habitat persistence at the flow‐regulated site corresponded to the effects of flow regulation on habitat patterns. Flow regulation reduced median flows during spring and summer, which resulted in median availability of shallow‐water habitats comparable to the unregulated site. However, habitat persistence was severely reduced by flow fluctuations resulting from pulsed water releases for peak‐load power generation. Habitat persistence, comparable to levels in the unregulated site, only occurred during summer when low rainfall or other factors occasionally curtailed power generation. As a consequence, summer‐spawning species numerically dominated the fish assemblage at the flow‐regulated site; five of six spring‐spawning species occurring at both study sites were significantly less abundant at the flow‐regulated site. Persistence of native fishes in flow‐regulated systems depends, in part, on the seasonal occurrence of stable habitat conditions that facilitate reproduction and YOY survival.

Our study examined the effects of flow regulation on the spatiotemporal availability of shallow habitat patches with slow current velocity (SSCV patches) and floodplain inundation in the unregulated Yellowstone River and the regulated Missouri River in Montana and North Dakota. We mapped representative sites and used hydraulic models and hydrograph data to describe the frequency and extent of floodplain inundation and the availability of SSCV habitat over time during different water years. In the Yellowstone River the distribution, location, and size of SSCV patches varied but followed an annual pattern that was tied to the snowmelt runoff hydrograph. There was less variation in patch distribution in the Missouri River, and the pattern of habitat availability was influenced by flow regulation. Regulated flows and their effects on channel morphology and patterns of vegetation establishment resulted in 3.0–3.5 times less area of inundated woody vegetation during normal and dry years in the Missouri River compared with the Yellowstone River. The differences we observed in SSCV patch dynamics between rivers may have implications for fish populations and community structure through affecting the survival of early life stages. At a larger scale, the smaller area of vegetation inundated in the Missouri River suggests that nutrient cycling and the ecological benefits associated with a moving littoral zone are reduced by the altered flow and sediment regime in that river. Accurate assessments of the effects of flow alteration and successful efforts to restore riverine ecosystems will require consideration of physical and biotic processes that operate at multiple spatial and temporal scales.