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Author: Jens C. Lovtang Publisher: ISBN: Category : Chinook salmon Languages : en Pages : 210
Book Description
Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) have been absent from their historic spawning and rearing grounds in the Metolius River Basin in central Oregon since 1968, when fish passage was terminated at the Pelton Round Butte Hydroelectric Project on the Deschutes River. Plans have been developed to reestablish passage of anadromous fish through the Project. However, only anecdotal evidence exists on the historic distribution of spring Chinook juveniles in the Basin. A recent approach to characterizing habitat quality for anadromous fishes in the Basin was the development of HabRate (Burke et al. In Press), which presented a relative quality rating of habitat based upon published fish-habitat relationships at the stream reach spatial scale. The present study was initiated to test the predictions of HabRate for summer rearing juvenile Chinook salmon in the Metolius Basin. Chinook salmon fry were released in the winters of 2002 and 2003, and their densities and sizes were quantified via snorkeling and fish collection in six unique study reaches in the upper Metolius River Basin. Each of these stream reaches varied in terms of temperature, habitat availability, invertebrate drift availability, and fish community composition. My observations were not consistent with the qualitative predictions of HabRate. Moreover, habitat utilization was not consistent among study reaches. Similar to other qualitative habitat rating models (e.g. Habitat Suitability Indices (Raleigh et al. 1986) and Instream Flow Incremental Methodology (Bovee 1982)), HabRate's predictions rely solely on physical habitat characteristics, with the assumption that habitat will be used consistently among stream reaches (i.e. a pool in one reach is of equal importance as a pool in another reach). My results suggest that the unique ecological setting of each study reach provides the context for understanding the patterns of growth, habitat use, and diurnal activity of juvenile Chinook salmon. The inclusion of ecological components, such as food availability, the bioenergetic constraints of temperature, and the risk of predation can make these models more biologically realistic. Growth of juvenile Chinook salmon among study reaches had a curvilinear relationship to water temperature, and was also positively related to the drift density of invertebrate biomass. In three collection seasons (fall 2002, spring 2003 and fall 2003) 41 to 69% of the variations in fork lengths were explained by a multiple regression model including temperature and invertebrate drift. Based on these findings, I present a conceptual growth capacity model based on the tenets of bioenergetics as a basis for understanding the relative quality of the habitat among stream reaches for juvenile Chinook salmon. Fish community composition can help to explain observed patterns in habitat utilization and diel activity patterns. In the study reaches that had a greater presence of adult trout (potential predators), observations of juvenile Chinook salmon in mid-channel habitat were infrequent to non-existent during the day and abundances were higher in all habitat types at night. In the study reaches with colder water temperatures, observed juvenile Chinook salmon densities were higher at night. I suggest that habitat selection and diurnal activity patterns in some study reaches are reflective of strategies taken by the fish to minimize risks of predation.
Author: Jens C. Lovtang Publisher: ISBN: Category : Chinook salmon Languages : en Pages : 210
Book Description
Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) have been absent from their historic spawning and rearing grounds in the Metolius River Basin in central Oregon since 1968, when fish passage was terminated at the Pelton Round Butte Hydroelectric Project on the Deschutes River. Plans have been developed to reestablish passage of anadromous fish through the Project. However, only anecdotal evidence exists on the historic distribution of spring Chinook juveniles in the Basin. A recent approach to characterizing habitat quality for anadromous fishes in the Basin was the development of HabRate (Burke et al. In Press), which presented a relative quality rating of habitat based upon published fish-habitat relationships at the stream reach spatial scale. The present study was initiated to test the predictions of HabRate for summer rearing juvenile Chinook salmon in the Metolius Basin. Chinook salmon fry were released in the winters of 2002 and 2003, and their densities and sizes were quantified via snorkeling and fish collection in six unique study reaches in the upper Metolius River Basin. Each of these stream reaches varied in terms of temperature, habitat availability, invertebrate drift availability, and fish community composition. My observations were not consistent with the qualitative predictions of HabRate. Moreover, habitat utilization was not consistent among study reaches. Similar to other qualitative habitat rating models (e.g. Habitat Suitability Indices (Raleigh et al. 1986) and Instream Flow Incremental Methodology (Bovee 1982)), HabRate's predictions rely solely on physical habitat characteristics, with the assumption that habitat will be used consistently among stream reaches (i.e. a pool in one reach is of equal importance as a pool in another reach). My results suggest that the unique ecological setting of each study reach provides the context for understanding the patterns of growth, habitat use, and diurnal activity of juvenile Chinook salmon. The inclusion of ecological components, such as food availability, the bioenergetic constraints of temperature, and the risk of predation can make these models more biologically realistic. Growth of juvenile Chinook salmon among study reaches had a curvilinear relationship to water temperature, and was also positively related to the drift density of invertebrate biomass. In three collection seasons (fall 2002, spring 2003 and fall 2003) 41 to 69% of the variations in fork lengths were explained by a multiple regression model including temperature and invertebrate drift. Based on these findings, I present a conceptual growth capacity model based on the tenets of bioenergetics as a basis for understanding the relative quality of the habitat among stream reaches for juvenile Chinook salmon. Fish community composition can help to explain observed patterns in habitat utilization and diel activity patterns. In the study reaches that had a greater presence of adult trout (potential predators), observations of juvenile Chinook salmon in mid-channel habitat were infrequent to non-existent during the day and abundances were higher in all habitat types at night. In the study reaches with colder water temperatures, observed juvenile Chinook salmon densities were higher at night. I suggest that habitat selection and diurnal activity patterns in some study reaches are reflective of strategies taken by the fish to minimize risks of predation.
Author: Alaska. Division of Fisheries Rehabilitation, Enhancement, and Development Publisher: ISBN: Category : Chinook salmon Languages : en Pages : 14
Author: Pascale A. L. Goertler Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages : 91
Book Description
For many fish and wildlife species, a mosaic of available habitats is required to complete their life cycle, and is considered necessary to ensure population stability and persistence. Particularly for young animals, nursery habitats provide opportunities for rapid growth and high survival during this vulnerable life stage. My thesis focuses on juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and their use of estuarine wetlands as nursery habitat. Estuaries are highly productive systems representing a mosaic of habitats connecting rivers to the sea, and freshwater tidal estuaries provide abundant prey communities, shade, refuge from predation and transitional habitat for the osmoregulatory changes experienced by anadromous fishes. I will be discussing the freshwater tidal wetland habitat use of juvenile Chinook salmon in the Columbia River estuary, which are listed under the Endangered Species Act. I used otolith microstructural growth estimates and prey consumption to measure rearing habitat quality. This sampling effort was designed to target as much genetic diversity as possible, and individual assignment to regional stocks of origin was used to describe the diversity of juvenile Chinook salmon groups inhabiting the estuary. Diversity is important for resilience, and in salmon biocomplexity within fish stocks has been shown to ensure collective productivity despite environmental change. However much of the research which links diversity to resilience in salmon has focused on the adult portion of the life cycle and many resource management policies oversimplify juvenile life history diversity. When this oversimplification of juvenile life history diversity is applied to salmon conservation it may be ignoring critical indicators for stability. Therefore in addition to genetic diversity I also explore methods for better defining juvenile life history diversity and its application in salmon management, such as permitting requirements, habitat restoration, hydropower practices and hatchery management. This study addresses how juvenile salmon growth changes among a range of wetland habitats in the freshwater tidal portion of the Columbia River estuary and how growth variation describes and contributes to life history diversity. To do this, I incorporated otolith microstructure, individual assignment to regional stock of origin, GIS habitat mapping and diet composition, in three habitats (mainstem river, tributary confluence and backwater channel) along ~130 km of the upper estuary. For my first chapter I employed a generalized linear model (GLM) to test three hypotheses: juvenile Chinook growth was best explained by (1) temporal factors, (2) habitat use, or (3) demographic characteristics, such as stock of origin or the timing of seaward migration. I found that variation in growth was best explained by habitat type and an interaction between fork length and month of capture. Juvenile Chinook salmon grew faster in backwater channel habitat and later in the summer. I also found that mid-summer and late summer/fall subyearlings had the highest estuarine growth rates. When compared to other studies in the basin these juvenile Chinook grew on average 0.23, 0.11-0.43 mm/d in the freshwater tidal estuary, similar to estimates in the brackish estuary, but ~4 times slower than those in the plume and upstream reservoirs. However, survival studies from the system elucidated a possible tradeoff between growth and survival in the Columbia River basin. These findings present a unique example of the complexity in understanding the influences of the many processes that generate variation in growth rate for juvenile anadromous fish inhabiting estuaries. In my second chapter, I used otolith microstructure and growth trends produced in a dynamic factor analysis (DFA, a multivariate time series method only recently being used in fisheries) to identify the life history variation in juvenile Chinook salmon caught in the Columbia River estuary over a two-year period (2010-2012). I used genetic assignment to stock of origin and capture location and date with growth trajectories, as a proxy for habitat transitions, to reconstruct life history types. DFA estimated four to five growth trends were present in juvenile Chinook salmon caught in the Columbia River estuary, diversity currently being simplified in many management practices. Regional stocks and habitats did not display divergent growth histories, but the marked hatchery fish did ordinate very similarly in the trend loadings from the DFA analysis, suggesting that hatchery fish may not experience the same breadth of growth variability as wild fish. I was not able to quantify juvenile life history diversity, and juvenile Chinook life history diversity remains difficult to catalog and integrate into species conservation and habitat restoration for resource management. However, by expanding our understanding of how juvenile Chinook salmon experience their freshwater rearing environment we improve our capacity to conserve and manage salmon populations. The findings from my thesis provide the necessary information for a restoration framework to link habitat features with salmon management goals, such as juvenile growth, wild and genetic origin and life history diversity.
Author: Crystal R. Hackmann Publisher: ISBN: Category : Chinook salmon Languages : en Pages : 184
Book Description
Estuaries provide juvenile salmonids with highly productive feeding grounds, refugia from tidal fluctuations and predators, and acclimation areas for smoltification. However, these dynamic, fluctuating salinity environments may also be physiologically stressful to growing juvenile fish. In order to evaluate the costs and benefits of estuarine marshes to juvenile Chinook salmon, I observed habitat use, diet, and growth of fish in the Nehalem Estuary on the Oregon coast. I also examined physiological costs associated with salmon living in fluctuating salinities and growth rates in laboratory experiments. I collected growth, diet and osmoregulation information from juvenile Chinook salmon in three tidal marsh sites in the Nehalem Bay and from juveniles in the Nehalem River. Stomach contents indicated that a high proportion of the diet is derived from terrestrial prey. These allochthonous prey resources likely become available during the flood stages of tidal cycles when drift, emergent and terrestrial insects would become available from the grasses surrounding the water. This field study confirmed that juvenile Chinook salmon utilized fluctuating salinity habitats to feed on a wide range of items including terrestrial-derived resources. Although field studies indicate that fish in estuarine habitats grow well and have access to quality prey resources, experimental manipulations of salinities were used to quantify the physiological costs of residing in the freshwater-saltwater transitional zone. In the laboratory, I designed an experiment to investigate the physiological responses to fluctuating salinities. Experimental treatments consisted of freshwater (FW), saltwater (SW) (22-25%o); and a fluctuating salinity (SW/FW) (2 - 25%o). These treatments were based on typical salinity fluctuations found in estuarine habitats. I measured length, weight, plasma electrolytes and cortisol concentrations for indications of growth and osmoregulatory function. The fluctuating salinity treatment had a negative effect on growth rate and initial osmoregulatory ability when compared with constant freshwater and saltwater treatments. The results indicated that fluctuating salinities had a small but marginally significant reduction in growth rate, possibly due to the additional energetic requirements of switching between hyper- and hypo-osmoregulation. However, 24-hour saltwater challenge results indicated that all fish were capable of osmoregulating in full-strength seawater. In a second experiment, I manipulated feed consumption rates of juvenile spring Chinook salmon to investigate the effects of variable growth rates on osmoregulatory ability and to test the validity of RNA:DNA ratios as indication of recent growth. The treatments consisted of three different feeding rates: three tanks of fish fed 0.7 5% (LOW) body weight; three tanks fed 3% (HIGH) body weight; and three tanks were fasted (NONE) during the experiment. These laboratory results showed a significant difference in the osmoregulatory ability of the NONE treatment compared to the LOW and HIGH treatments which indicates that a reduction in caloric intake significantly effected osmoregulatory capabilities during a 24 hour saltwater challenge. Furthermore, this suggests that there is a minimum energetic requirement in order to maintain proper ion- and osmoregulation in marine conditions. Estuarine marshes have the potential to provide productive feeding grounds with sufficient prey input from terrestrial systems. However, utilization of these marshes in sub-optimal conditions could alter behavior or impair physiological condition of juvenile Chinook salmon prior to their seaward migration by providing insufficient prey resources in a potentially stressful, fluctuating environment. Therefore, the physiological costs associated with estuarine habitat use should be well understood in order to aid future restoration planning.
Author: Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages : 36
Book Description
Historically, the Grande Ronde River produced an abundance of salmonids including stocks of spring, summer and fall chinook salmon, sockeye salmon, coho salmon, and summer steelhead. During the past century, numerous factors have caused the reduction of salmon stocks such that only sustainable stocks of spring chinook salmon and summer steelhead remain. The sizes of spring chinook salmon populations in the Grande Ronde River basin also have been declining steadily and are substantially depressed from estimates of historic levels. In addition to a decline in population abundance, a reduction of spring chinook salmon spawning distribution is evident in the Grande Ronde River basin. Numerous factors are thought to contribute to the decline of spring chinook salmon in the Snake River and its tributaries. These factors include passage problems and increased mortality of juvenile and adult migrants at mainstem Columbia and Snake river dams, overharvest, and habitat degradation associated with timber, agricultural, and land development practices. This study was designed to describe aspects of the life history strategies exhibited by spring chinook salmon in the Grande Ronde River basin. During the past year the focus was on rearing and migration patterns of juveniles in the upper Grande Ronde River and Catherine Creek. The study design included three objectives: (1) document the annual in-basin migration patterns for spring chinook salmon juveniles in the upper Grande Ronde River and Catherine Creek, including the abundance of migrants, migration timing and duration; (2) estimate and compare smolt survival indices to mainstem Columbia and Snake river dams for fall and spring migrating spring chinook salmon; and (3) determine summer and winter habitat utilization and preference of juvenile spring chinook salmon in the upper Grande Ronde River and Catherine Creek.
Author: Christing Mei Ling Roddam Publisher: ISBN: Category : Chinook salmon Languages : en Pages : 178
Book Description
Strontium isotope ratios (87Sr/86Sr) in stream water collected in March 2012 and 2013 were measured to be 0.704 (precision of 0.000031) and 0.706 (precision of 0.000019) for the upper basin and the lower basin respectively. Juvenile Chinook salmon that reared in the lower or upper basin are identifiable by the distinct differences in 87Sr/86Sr incorporated into the juvenile region of the otoliths. This creates a unique opportunity to determine the relative contribution of the two rearing areas to juvenile Chinook salmon production and, potentially, adult returns via analysis of juvenile and adult otoliths. Overall, I found consistent difference in the duration of residence, growth, and outmigration size between juvenile Chinook salmon that reared in the upper or lower Shasta River basin, irrespective of the location from which fish were initially sampled. Life history differences reflected differences in habitat conditions between the upper and lower basin. Additionally, this project demonstrated the potential use of otolith isotope analysis to identify the rearing location of juvenile Chinook salmon, which may affect marine survival and adult returns.
Author: Jens C. Lovtang
Author: Jens C. Lovtang
Author: Gabriel S. Hansen
Author: Robbin L. Hunka
Author: Alaska. Division of Fisheries Rehabilitation, Enhancement, and Development
Author: Pascale A. L. Goertler
Author: Crystal R. Hackmann
Author: 
Author: Matthew L. Keefer
Author: Michael E. McCain
Author: Christing Mei Ling Roddam