A Model-based Approach to Assessing the Potential Response of Chinook Salmon to Habitat Improvements

A Model-based Approach to Assessing the Potential Response of Chinook Salmon to Habitat Improvements PDF Author: Peter McHugh
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Chinook salmon
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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A Model-based Approach to Assessing the Potential Response of Chinook Salmon to Habitat Improvements

A Model-based Approach to Assessing the Potential Response of Chinook Salmon to Habitat Improvements PDF Author: Peter McHugh
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Chinook salmon
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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General Technical Report PNW-GTR

General Technical Report PNW-GTR PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Forests and forestry
Languages : en
Pages : 700

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Methods for Integrated Modeling of Landscape Change

Methods for Integrated Modeling of Landscape Change PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Forest landscape management
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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The Interior Northwest Landscape Analysis System (INLAS) links a number of resource, disturbance, and landscape simulations models to examine the interactions of vegetative succession, management, and disturbance with policy goals. The effects of natural disturbance like wildfire, herbivory, forest insects and diseases, as well as specific management actions are included. The outputs from simulations illustrate potential changes in aquatic conditions and terrestrial habitat, potential for wood utilization, and socioeconomic opportunities. The 14 chapters of this document outline the current state of knowledge in each of the areas covered by the INLAS project and describe the objectives and organization of the project. The project explores ways to integrate the effects of natural disturbances and management into planning and policy analyses; illustrate potential conflicts among current policies, natural distrubances, and management activities; and explore the policy, economics, and ecological constraints associated with the application of effective fuel treatments on midscale landscapes in the interior Northwest.

A Remote Sensing-GIS Based Approach for Assessment of Chinook Salmon Rearing Habitat in the Unuk River Floodplain

A Remote Sensing-GIS Based Approach for Assessment of Chinook Salmon Rearing Habitat in the Unuk River Floodplain PDF Author: Kathy M. Smikrud
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Chinook salmon
Languages : en
Pages : 340

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"Remote sensing offers an alternative method to managers in mapping and monitoring the habitat within large rivers. Large rivers are not accommodating for traditional (foot) fish habitat surveys due to their size and typically complex habitat. This study investigates the use of digital aerial photos and thermal infrared images acquired in spring 2003-2005 to map and quantify juvenile chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) habitat in a 12-river km section of the Unuk River floodplain in Southeast Alaska. Images were processed and analyzed to produce a fluvial landscape classification (7 landcover classes with an overall classification accuracy of ~84%) using a combination of aerial and thermal images. Change detection of large woody debris (LWD) was also examined and revealed both quantitative and distributional changes during the 3 years. A GIS-based habitat suitability analysis was used to identify potential chinook salmon rearing habitats including: river channel edges, sloughs, braids, pools associated with LWD and primary river channels. Overall 77.82 hectares of potentially medium/high chinook rearing habitats were identified. Results from this study provide a promising foundation towards mapping and monitoring salmon habitat in large river systems for purposes of protection, conservation and monitoring to ensure sustainable stocks of salmon"--Leaf iii.

A Rapid Assessment Method to Estimate the Distribution of Juvenile Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus Tshawytscha) in an Interior Alaska River Basin

A Rapid Assessment Method to Estimate the Distribution of Juvenile Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus Tshawytscha) in an Interior Alaska River Basin PDF Author: Allison N. Matter
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Chinook salmon
Languages : en
Pages : 132

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Identification and protection of water bodies used by anadromous species in Alaska are critical in light of increasing threats to fish populations, yet challenging given budgetary and logistical limitations. Non-invasive, rapid assessment sampling techniques may reduce costs and effort while increasing species detection efficiencies. I used an intrinsic potential (IP) habitat model to identify high quality Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha rearing habitats and select sites to sample throughout the Chena River basin for juvenile occupancy using environmental DNA (eDNA) and distribution within tributaries using snorkel surveys. Water samples were collected from 75 tributary sites in 2014 and 2015. The presence of Chinook Salmon DNA in water samples was assessed using a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay targeting that species. Snorkel surveys were conducted and physical habitat was measured for a subset of tributaries examined with the eDNA approach. Juvenile salmon were counted within 50 m reaches starting at the tributary confluence and continuing upstream until no juvenile salmon were observed. The IP model predicted over 900 stream km in the basin to support high quality (IP ≥ 0.75) rearing habitat. Occupancy estimation based on eDNA samples indicated that 80.2% (± 4.3 SE) of previously unsampled sites classified as high IP and 56.4% of previously unsampled sites classified as low IP were occupied. The probability of detection of Chinook Salmon DNA from three replicate water samples was high (0.76 ± 1.9 SE) but varied with drainage area. A power analysis indicated power to detect proportional changes in occupancy based on parameter values estimated from eDNA occupancy models. Results of snorkel surveys showed that the upper extent of juvenile Chinook Salmon within tributaries was from 200 to 1,350 m upstream of tributary confluences. Occurrence estimates based on eDNA and snorkel surveys generally agreed, but care should be taken to ensure that little temporal gap exists between samples as juvenile salmon use of tributary habitats is likely often intermittent. Overall, the combination of IP habitat modeling, occupancy estimation based on eDNA, and snorkel surveys provided a useful, rapid-assessment method to predict and subsequently quantify the distribution of juvenile salmon in previously unsampled tributary habitats. These methods will provide tools for managers to rapidly and efficiently map critical rearing habitats and prioritize sampling efforts to expand the known distribution of juvenile salmon in interior Alaska streams.

Analytical Approaches to Assessing Recovery Options for Snake River Chinook Salmon

Analytical Approaches to Assessing Recovery Options for Snake River Chinook Salmon PDF Author: Phaedra Budy
Publisher: Createspace Independent Pub
ISBN: 9781479184439
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 92

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The depressed status of Snake River stocks of chinook and steelhead and the recent listings of many salmon stocks in the Columbia Basin have led to several analytical evaluations and management advice aimed at recovery of these stocks. These different analytical reviews address the effectiveness of different hydrosystem options as well as the potential for recovery through improvements that increase survival at other life stages (e.g., habitat, harvest). Hydrosystem options evaluated included status quo, maximizing transportation, and the option of breaching the lower four dams on the Snake River (also called drawdown and natural river options), the main topic of the Lower Snake River Juvenile Salmon Migration Feasibility Report / Environmental Impact Statement (USACE). The first review was completed by PATH (Plan for Testing and Analyzing Hypotheses), an open forum composed of modelers, fishery biologists and statisticians from all three states (Oregon, Washington, and Idaho), the federal government (Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), National Marine Fishery Service (NMFS), Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), the treaty tribes of the Columbia Basin (represented by the Columbia River Inter-tribal Fish Commission -CRITFC), and the Northwest Power Planning Council (NPPC). The PATH approach was based on a decision analysis that showed which management actions are the most robust to remaining uncertainties (i.e. the least risky) and allows a decision to be made with full consideration of uncertainty and risk. PATH analyses were followed by the NMFS effort called CRI- the Cumulative Risk Initiative. CRI analyses explore the demographic effects of hypothetical reductions in mortality at different life stages based on current conditions. PATH and CRI analyses were followed by an analytical comparison of their approaches and results completed by a sub group of PATH composed of scientists from the states of Oregon, Idaho, Washington, CRITFC, and the USFWS. In addition, specific analyses have considered the potential for improvement at certain life stages (e.g., freshwater spawning and rearing; Petrosky et al., in press) and key uncertainties that affect the likely effectiveness of dam breach (e.g., delayed hydrosystem mortality; Budy et al., in review). This annex synthesizes analyses and results PATH, NMFS CRI, and comparative and follow-up analyses which have been completed since and are summarized here and described in greater detail elsewhere. Although the results vary somewhat among approaches, all available science appears to suggest that dam breach has the greatest biological potential for recovering Snake River salmon and steelhead.

Habitat Rehabilitation for Inland Fisheries

Habitat Rehabilitation for Inland Fisheries PDF Author: Philip Roni
Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.
ISBN: 9789251053546
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 140

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This technical paper reviews current information on the effectiveness of habitat rehabilitation techniques for inland fisheries, based on published evaluations of projects including studies on roads improvements and sediment reduction, riparian and floodplain rehabilitation, placement of habitat structures in lakes and streams, and the addition of nutrients to increase aquatic production. It also sets out information on planning, prioritising and monitoring rehabilitation projects.

Dynamic Habitat Models for Estuary-dependent Chinook Salmon

Dynamic Habitat Models for Estuary-dependent Chinook Salmon PDF Author: Melanie Jeanne Davis
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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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.

ISAB Review of Spring Chinook Salmon and Steelhead Models for Assessing Responses to EIS Alternatives for the Willamette Valley System

ISAB Review of Spring Chinook Salmon and Steelhead Models for Assessing Responses to EIS Alternatives for the Willamette Valley System PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Chinook salmon
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) is preparing a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) to assess the effects of the continued operations and maintenance of the Willamette Valley System (WVS). The WVS consists of ten high-head dams and three run-of-the-river dams, and their associated reservoirs, operated and maintained by the Corps in the Willamette River basin. In April 2021, the Corps requested that the Independent Scientific Advisory Board (ISAB) review a set of models for their scientific strengths and weaknesses in assessing potential responses of ESA-listed spring Chinook salmon and winter steelhead to alternative management actions. The ISAB focused on the fish response models used for the Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (DPEIS or Draft EIS) for the Willamette Valley System, and did not evaluate the merits of the management alternatives or the Corps' decisions on these alternatives.

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Aquatic sciences
Languages : en
Pages : 674

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