Landscape Characteristics Influence Climate Change Effects on Juvenile Chinook and Coho Salmon Rearing Habitat in the Kenai River Watershed PDF Download
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Author: Benjamin Everett Meyer Publisher: ISBN: Category : Chinook salmon Languages : en Pages : 240
Book Description
Changes in temperature and precipitation as a result of ongoing climate warming in south-central Alaska are affecting juvenile salmon rearing habitat differently across watersheds. Work presented here simulates summer growth rates of juvenile Chinook and coho salmon in streams under future climate and feeding scenarios in the Kenai River (Alaska) watershed across a spectrum of landscape settings from lowland to glacially-influenced. I used field-derived data on water temperature, diet, and body size as inputs to bioenergetics models to simulate growth for the 2030-2039 and 2060-2069 time periods, comparing back to 2010-2019. My results suggest decreasing growth rates under most future scenarios; predicted changes were of lower magnitude in the cooler glacial watershed and main stem and more in montane and lowland watersheds. The results demonstrate how stream and landscape types differentially filter a climate signal to juvenile rearing salmon habitat and contribute to a broader portfolio of habitats in early life stages. Additionally, I examined two years of summer water temperature data from sites throughout our study tributaries to assess the degree to which lower-reach sites are representative of upstream thermal regimes. I found that the lower reaches in the lowland and glacial study watersheds were reasonably representative of daily and seasonal main stem thermal conditions upstream, while in the montane study watershed (elevation and gradient mid-way between the lowland watershed) upstream conditions were less consistent and thus less suitable for thermal characterization by a lower-reach site alone. Together, this work highlights examples of the importance of accounting for habitat diversity when assessing climate change impacts to salmon-bearing streams.
Author: Benjamin Everett Meyer Publisher: ISBN: Category : Chinook salmon Languages : en Pages : 240
Book Description
Changes in temperature and precipitation as a result of ongoing climate warming in south-central Alaska are affecting juvenile salmon rearing habitat differently across watersheds. Work presented here simulates summer growth rates of juvenile Chinook and coho salmon in streams under future climate and feeding scenarios in the Kenai River (Alaska) watershed across a spectrum of landscape settings from lowland to glacially-influenced. I used field-derived data on water temperature, diet, and body size as inputs to bioenergetics models to simulate growth for the 2030-2039 and 2060-2069 time periods, comparing back to 2010-2019. My results suggest decreasing growth rates under most future scenarios; predicted changes were of lower magnitude in the cooler glacial watershed and main stem and more in montane and lowland watersheds. The results demonstrate how stream and landscape types differentially filter a climate signal to juvenile rearing salmon habitat and contribute to a broader portfolio of habitats in early life stages. Additionally, I examined two years of summer water temperature data from sites throughout our study tributaries to assess the degree to which lower-reach sites are representative of upstream thermal regimes. I found that the lower reaches in the lowland and glacial study watersheds were reasonably representative of daily and seasonal main stem thermal conditions upstream, while in the montane study watershed (elevation and gradient mid-way between the lowland watershed) upstream conditions were less consistent and thus less suitable for thermal characterization by a lower-reach site alone. Together, this work highlights examples of the importance of accounting for habitat diversity when assessing climate change impacts to salmon-bearing streams.
Author: Melanie Jeanne Davis Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages : 228
Book Description
A complex mosaic of estuarine habitats is postulated to bolster the growth and survival of juvenile Chinook salmon by diversifying the availability and configuration of prey and refugia. Consequently, efforts are underway along the North American Pacific Coast to return modified coastal ecosystems to historical or near-historical conditions, but restoring habitats are often more sensitive to anthropogenic or climate-mediated disturbance than relict (unaltered) habitats. Estuaries are expected to experience longer inundation durations as sea-levels rise, leading to reductions in intertidal emergent marshes, mudflats, and eelgrass beds. Furthermore, rising ocean temperatures may have metabolic consequences for fall-run populations of Chinook salmon, which tend to out-migrate during the spring and summer. Extensive monitoring programs have allowed managers to assess the initial benefits of management efforts (including restoration) for juvenile salmon at local and regional scales, but at present they have limited options for predicting and responding to the concurrent effects of climate change in restoring and relict coastal ecosystems. For my dissertation I addressed this gap in knowledge using a comprehensive monitoring dataset from the restoring Nisqually River Delta in southern Puget Sound, Washington. I focused on the following questions: 1) How do juvenile Chinook salmon prey consumption and dietary energy density vary throughout a mosaic of estuarine habitats, and is this variation related to differences in physiological condition? 2) How do among-habitat differences in thermal regime and prey consumption affect the bioenergetic growth potential of juvenile Chinook salmon? 3) How will shifts in the estuarine habitat mosaic vary under different sea-level rise and management scenarios? and 4) How will these climate- and management-mediated shifts in the estuarine habitat mosaic impact habitat quality for juvenile Chinook salmon? To address the first question, I used stomach content and stable isotope analyses to analyze the diets of wild and hatchery Chinook salmon captured in different estuarine habitats during the out-migration season (March-July of 2014 and 2015). I also linked measures of stomach fullness and dietary energy density to body condition. To address the second question, I used a bioenergetics model to determine how among-habitat differences in water temperature and diet might affect juvenile Chinook salmon growth. To address the third question, I designed and calibrated a marsh accretion model and decision support tool using post-restoration monitoring data sets and spatial coverages. Finally, to address the fourth question, I combined output from the marsh accretion model, a hydrological model, and measurements of prey availability into a spatially explicit version of the bioenergetics model to assess the habitat quality and growth rate potential of the entire estuarine habitat mosaic under different sea-level rise and management scenarios. When considered in tandem, these chapters represent a novel approach to habitat management. Assessments of juvenile salmon diet and physiology, marsh accretion models, and bioenergetics models have been independently implemented along the Pacific Coast, but the amalgamation of all three approaches into a single, spatially explicit analysis represents a novel and significant contribution to the scientific literature. In conducting these analyses for the Nisqually River Delta, some major themes emerged regarding the importance and vulnerability of specific habitats. An integrative diet analysis using stomach contents and stable isotopes found distinct dietary niches between wild and hatchery Chinook salmon. Wild fish were more likely to utilize the freshwater tidal forested and transitional brackish marsh habitats along the main stem river, where energy-rich insect drift made up most of their dietary biomass. The availability and consumption of insect prey resulted in distinct benefits to body condition and growth, as determined by direct physiological measurements and output from the habitat-specific bioenergetics model. These findings highlight the importance of freshwater and brackish emergent marsh habitats with overhanging vegetation, which can regulate water temperatures and supply insect drift. Unfortunately, freshwater tidal forests, brackish marshes, and low and high elevation emergent salt marshes are highly vulnerable to sea-level rise, especially when geological and anthropogenic features limit sediment accretion or lateral expansion. When spatial layers from the marsh accretion model were incorporated into the spatially explicit version of the bioenergetics model, output indicated that loss of low and high salt marsh reduced the amount of prey available for juvenile salmon, thus decreasing modeled growth rate potential. In all, these findings highlight the importance of preserving the estuarine habitat mosaic for out-migrating juvenile salmon, especially as tidal regimes and ocean temperatures continue to shift through time.
Author: Olivia N. Edwards Publisher: ISBN: Category : Chinook salmon Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha have experienced population declines across their range in recent decades, including Alaska where they are a critical subsistence, commercial, and sport fish species. The Alaska Board of Fisheries has listed Yukon River Chinook salmon as a “stock of yield concern” since 2000 prompting the implementation of escapement goals for key spawning tributaries in 2001. Additionally, research efforts across the basin have increased to better understand potential mechanisms behind these declines and provide information to facilitate management decisions. To help fill a critical data gap in the overall understanding of the fishery, this research investigated various freshwater juvenile life history factors including patterns in post-emergence summer body size, movement, and fish size during spring outmigration in the Chena River, Alaska. This research also identified links between these biological factors and freshwater processes that are affected by climate change, including stream temperature and discharge, with the intention of documenting benchmark information as conditions continue to change. Juvenile Chinook Salmon movement among four key rearing areas was observed during summer and fall 2019 and early spring 2020. Despite differences in early summer size patterns, by the end of September mean fork lengths were not statistically different among all rearing areas (ANOVA; all P > 0.05). Additionally, mean September weight varied among six years of empirical data and ranged from 3.19 g in 2018 (0.03 SE) to a maximum of 5.10 g in 2009 (0.05 SE). September weight was simulated across years with variable stream temperatures and discharge (2003 to 2020) using a bioenergetics model, and compared to observed data. Weight simulations were within
Author: Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages : 49
Book Description
Many anadromous salmonid stocks in the Pacific Northwest are at their lowest recorded levels, which has raised questions regarding their long-term persistence under current conditions. There are a number of factors, such as freshwater spawning and rearing habitat, that could potentially influence their numbers. Therefore, we used the latest advances in information-theoretic methods in a two-stage modeling process to investigate relationships between landscape-level habitat attributes and maximum recruitment of 25 index stocks of chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the Columbia River basin. Our first-stage model selection results indicated that the Ricker-type, stock recruitment model with a constant Ricker a (i.e., recruits-per-spawner at low numbers of fish) across stocks was the only plausible one given these data, which contrasted with previous unpublished findings. Our second-stage results revealed that maximum recruitment of chinook salmon had a strongly negative relationship with percentage of surrounding subwatersheds categorized as predominantly containing U.S. Forest Service and private moderate-high impact managed forest. That is, our model predicted that average maximum recruitment of chinook salmon would decrease by at least 247 fish for every increase of 33% in surrounding subwatersheds categorized as predominantly containing U.S. Forest Service and privately managed forest. Conversely, mean annual air temperature had a positive relationship with salmon maximum recruitment, with an average increase of at least 179 fish for every increase in 2 C mean annual air temperature.
Author: Susan F. Loshbaugh Publisher: ISBN: Category : Human ecology Languages : en Pages : 1026
Book Description
The Kenai River Watershed (KRW), in south-central Alaska, is famous for its salmon. Urbanization along the lower river damages habitat and stresses these valuable fish. Are the river's salmon runs sustainable if recent land-use trends continue? I used interdisciplinary approaches from environmental history and landscape science plus technologies such as geographic information systems (GIS) to describe the watershed's land-use history from 1947 to 2010 and to link land use and watershed management to the sustainability of salmon runs. Although the area appears wild compared to many salmon-producing watersheds in other states, it has a long history of intense use and habitat degradation. Over the past 60 years the central Kenai Peninsula showed patterns of intensive riverfront recreational use, coupled with rural exurban sprawl in the uplands. Historic damage to salmon habitat included trampled riverbanks, bank hardening, dredged canals, diverted creeks, toxic spills, poorly built roads with impassable culverts, and the Cooper Lake Dam. More recent threats include cumulative effects, fishing pressure, climate change, invasive species, off-road vehicles, and potential septic leaks. Comparing the Kenai River case with land-use histories in 60 other salmon-producing watersheds suggested that the salmon runs are at risk due to delayed, cumulative effects of development and potential climate change. However, since the late 1980s people have taken unprecedented and progressive steps to protect healthy watershed habitat and reverse past damage. The high level of community commitment and reserves of undamaged habitat provide hope that Alaskans may learn from the grim fate of wild salmon around the world, and take better care of their salmon habitat. I concluded that the sustainability of the salmon runs hangs in the balance and offer a list of recommendations to maintain or enhance the resilience of the system.
Author: Jesse Mae Coleman Publisher: ISBN: Category : Pacific salmon Languages : en Pages : 256
Book Description
Monitoring of freshwater habitat and its influence on stream-rearing fish is essential for recognizing and mitigating the impacts of human- and climate-induced changes. For the purposes of developing a monitoring program in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Togiak National Wildlife Refuge, densities and habitat relationships of juvenile coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch and sockeye salmon O. nerka were estimated in two tributaries of the Kulukak River, Alaska, in July 2010. Multiple-pass depletion electrofishing was used to estimate density in a random sample of habitat units belonging to one of four categorical habitat classes. Regression methods were also used to quantify the physical habitat associations of juvenile coho and sockeye salmon density in the study areas. Densities of juvenile coho and sockeye salmon ranged from 0.22 fish-m−2 in West Fork riffles and 0.05 fish·m−2 East Fork riffles to 2.22 fish M−2 and 1.32 fish-m−2 in East Fork eddy drop zones (EDZ), respectively. The largest proportions of freshwater habitat were comprised of run (71 %) and EDZ habitats (44%) in the East Fork and West Fork, respectively. Regression coefficients for coho and sockeye salmon densities were positive with respect to proportional areas of in-stream overhanging vegetation (0.78 and 0.74, respectively), large wood (0.99 and 0.97, respectively), and undercut banks (0.99 and 0.02, respectively). Conversely, coho and sockeye salmon density was negatively related to depth (-1.45 and -0.52, respectively) and velocity (-2.45 and -1.67, respectively). Although substrate size was negatively related to sockeye salmon density (-0.40), this variable had a weak positive relationship with coho salmon density (0.08). These findings suggest that EDZ habitats are important for juvenile coho and sockeye salmon during summer rearing and in-stream cover is an essential component of these rearing habitats.
Author: Kevin Michael Foley Publisher: ISBN: Category : Coho salmon Languages : en Pages : 286
Book Description
Understanding how headwater streams function as rearing habitats for juvenile coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch is essential for effective population management and conservation. To inform habitat restoration activities within the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, Alaska, I determined upstream distribution limits, validated abundance estimates, and established fish habitat relationships in two headwater stream tributaries of the Little Susitna River in 2010-11. Using a low-effort, spatially continuous sampling approach and linear mixed-effects models, I related local- and landscape-scale habitat associations to abundance estimates. All-aged coho salmon composed approximately 98% of all fish sampled and inhabited the entire stream length to their upstream limits. Age-1+ fish resided in 64% and 44% of the stream length for the two sampled streams. The mean upstream elevation limit for all-aged fish in these streams was 278m and 267m. For age- 1+ fish, the upstream elevation limit in the two streams was 275m and 238m. Percent slope at the distribution limit of all-aged fish was consistent across streams at 5%, whereas percent slope for age-1+ fish correspond to 4% and 6%. Elevation and percent slope consistently described upstream distribution limits among age classes. Therefore, we must consider these landscape features when prioritizing restoration projects in headwater streams.
Author: Benjamin Everett Meyer
Author: Benjamin Everett Meyer
Author: William L. Thompson
Author: Melanie Jeanne Davis
Author: Keith Richard Marine
Author: Olivia N. Edwards
Author: Richard James Beamish
Author: 
Author: Susan F. Loshbaugh
Author: Jesse Mae Coleman
Author: Kevin Michael Foley