Environmental correlates of fine-scale juvenile steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) habitat use and movement patterns in an intermittent estuary during drought

We used acoustic telemetry and environmental monitoring to elucidate preferred microhabitats of juvenile steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in a Central California intermittent estuary (IE) during historic drought. We collected over half a million fish locations in the Pescadero IE (San Mateo County, CA) across 15 weeks during an extended sandbar-closed period which permitted quantification of fine scale habitat use and movement patterns. Tagged juvenile steelhead expressed strong site fidelity, especially at night when core habitat area - defined as the 50% probability of being present in an area - contracted by over one order of magnitude. The rate of movement was slow overall (~0.4 to 0.6 lengths·s−1) and remained at baseline levels at night (~40 mm∙s−1). The daytime rate of movement generally tracked solar radiation levels and appeared to be moderated by water temperatures. Spikes in the rate of movement occurred during crepuscular periods and the maximum hourly rate of movement ..., Telemetry data – Data sets 1-4 
Here we use acoustic telemetry to elucidate preferred microhabitats of juvenile steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in a Central California intermittent estuary (IE) during historic drought. We collected over half a million fish locations in the Pescadero IE (San Mateo County, CA) across 15 weeks during an extended sandbar-closed period which permitted quantification of fine scale habitat use and movement patterns, including via a VEMCO Positioning System array (VPS positions, data set 1), mobile tracking surveys (active acoustic telemetry, data set 2), and two stationary receivers deployed at the upper extent of the estuary (passive acoustic telemetry, data set 3). Data set 4 includes the geographic locations of all the moored VPS equipment (receivers and synchronization transmitters) used in this study.
1_ALL VPS POSITIONS_DATA.csv
The VEMCO Positioning System (VPS) was comprised of 12 strategically-placed omnidirectional acoustic receivers (VEMCO VR2..., We include usage notes within \"readme\" files for each data set.