Considering intervention intensity in habitat restoration planning: An application to Pacific salmon

2021 ◽  
Vol 299 ◽  
pp. 113536
Author(s):  
Robert Fonner ◽  
Jon Honea ◽  
Jeffrey C. Jorgensen ◽  
Mark Plummer ◽  
Michelle McClure
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Restoration ◽  
Pacific Salmon ◽  
Restoration Planning ◽  
Intervention Intensity

scholarly journals Habitat affinity and density-dependent movement as indicators of fish habitat restoration efficacy

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos M. Polivka
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Ecology ◽  
Habitat Restoration ◽  
Pacific Salmon ◽  
Fish Habitat ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Habitat Characteristics ◽  
Density Data ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Effectiveness Studies ◽  
Habitat Affinity

AbstractConceptual and methodological tools from behavioral ecology can inform studies of habitat quality and their potential for evaluating habitat restoration in conservation efforts is explored here. Such approaches provide mechanistic detail in understanding the relationship between organisms and their habitats and are thus more informative than correlations between density and habitat characteristics. Several Pacific salmon species have been the target of habitat restoration efforts for the past 2-3 decades, but most post-restoration effectiveness studies have been limited to correlative data described above. In mark-recapture assays from four different study years, the affinity of sub-yearling Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tschawytscha) and steelhead (O. mykiss) for stream pools restored with or created by engineered log structures was greater than that for pools without restoration, though with high interannual variability. From corresponding distribution and density data, it was clear that habitat affinity data are not always concordant with single observations of density. The same was true of the correlation between either affinity or density and physical characteristics of pools, although depth and current velocity had some explanatory power for both responses in Chinook. Movement into pools by Chinook during the assays indicated that restored pools can support more immigrants at a given density than can unrestored pools; however no such pattern emerged for steelhead. Variation among individuals in body condition has implications for population-wide fitness, and such low variation was correlated with stronger affinity for pools in Chinook regardless of restoration status. This suggests that pools may mediate habitat-related trade-offs and that restoring them might have a positive effect on fitness. Thus affinity, immigration, and condition data give much-needed mechanistic indication of habitat selection for restored habitat via an apparent capacity increase and those potential fitness benefits. This is stronger support for restoration effectiveness than density differences alone because density data 1) may simply indicate redistribution of fish from poor to good habitats and 2) are not adequate to show correlations between restoration and positive change in traits correlated with fitness.

Pacific Salmon Environmental and Life History Models: Advancing Science for Sustainable Salmon in the Future

2009 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Iterative Process ◽  
Human Population ◽  
Habitat Restoration ◽  
Oncorhynchus Tshawytscha ◽  
Habitat Degradation ◽  
Pacific Salmon ◽  
Puget Sound ◽  
Habitat Conditions ◽  
Restoration And Protection

<em>Abstract.</em>—The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and Tribal co-managers are using the Ecosystem Diagnosis and Treatment (EDT) model to identify the spatial and temporal habitat limits of salmon populations and predict the effects of proposed habitat restoration projects for ESA-listed Chinook salmon <em>Oncorhynchus tshawytscha </em>in two Puget Sound watersheds. The collaborative, iterative process focused on habitat-based population models for the Dungeness and Dosewallips watersheds. Workshops were held to develop quantitative characteristics of current, historic, hypothetical properly functioning, and future habitat conditions. The model predicted salmon populations in the watersheds for each set of habitat conditions. Recovery targets were based on the predicted populations for historic and hypothetical properly functioning conditions. Future populations were modeled using projected habitat conditions with individual habitat restoration and protection actions already proposed and combinations of these actions. Populations resulting from further habitat degradation were estimated using the effects of projected human population growth on habitat.

scholarly journals Contrasting Responses among Aquatic Organism Groups to Changes in Geomorphic Complexity Along a Gradient of Stream Habitat Restoration: Implications for Restoration Planning and Assessment

Water ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 1465 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eliza Hasselquist ◽  
Lina Polvi ◽  
Maria Kahlert ◽  
Christer Nilsson ◽  
Lisa Sandberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stream Restoration ◽  
Habitat Restoration ◽  
Aquatic Organism ◽  
Restoration Planning ◽  
Sediment Size ◽  
Restoration Measure ◽  
Size Heterogeneity ◽  
Value Of Learning ◽  
Restoration Measures ◽  
Organism Group

Many stream restoration projects aim to increase geomorphic complexity, assuming that this increases habitat heterogeneity and, thus, biodiversity. However, empirical data supporting these linkages remain scant. Previous assessments of stream restoration suffer from incomplete quantification of habitat complexity, or a narrow focus on only one organism group and/or one restoration measure, limiting learning. Based on a comprehensive quantification of geomorphic complexity in 20 stream reaches in northern Sweden, ranging from streams channelized for timber floating to restored and reference reaches, we investigated responses of macroinvertebrates, diatoms, and macrophytes to multiple geomorphic metrics. Sediment size heterogeneity, which was generally improved in restored sites, favored macroinvertebrate and diatom diversity and macroinvertebrate abundance. In contrast, macrophyte diversity responded to increased variation along the longitudinal stream profile (e.g., step-pools), which was not consistently improved by the restoration. Our analyses highlight the value of learning across multiple restoration projects, both in identifying which aspects of restoration have succeeded, and pinpointing other measures that might be targeted during adaptive management or future restoration. Given our results, a combination of restoration measures targeting not only sediment size heterogeneity, but also features such as step-pools and instream wood, is most likely to benefit benthic biota in streams.

Pacific Salmon Environmental and Life History Models: Advancing Science for Sustainable Salmon in the Future

2009 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Habitat Restoration ◽  
Pacific Salmon ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
Time Step ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Restoration Strategies ◽  
Restoration And Protection ◽  
Population Performance

<em>Abstract.</em>—The Ecosystem Diagnosis and Treatment (EDT) model is being used to build working hypotheses to direct habitat restoration and protection activities in most Pacific Northwest salmon watersheds. The EDT model is used to provide a basis for moving forward with restoration and protection activities, evaluating progress, and refining restoration strategies. The model consists of four components: 1) characterization of the aquatic environment, 2) species-habitat rating rules, 3) life history trajectories, and 4) population performance computations. The environmental characterization is a reach-scale, monthly time step, species-neutral depiction of the stream that focuses on environmental features relevant to salmonids. The species-habitat rating rules are explicit assumptions about the relationship between the stream reach characterization and species-life stage survival. Life history trajectories are multiple computer-generated pathways through the environment. Finally, life history and population performance, defined by Beverton–Holt productivity and capacity parameters, is calculated for each life history trajectory and these trajectories are combined across spatial and biological scales to compute population performance. The model is a freely accessible, web-based tool (http://edt.jonesandstokes.com).

scholarly journals Is habitat restoration targeting relevant ecological needs for endangered species? Using Pacific Salmon as a case study

Ecosphere ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (7) ◽  
pp. art110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katie A. Barnas ◽  
Stephen L. Katz ◽  
David E. Hamm ◽  
Monica C. Diaz ◽  
Chris E. Jordan
Keyword(s):  
Endangered Species ◽  
Habitat Restoration ◽  
Pacific Salmon

Managing the decline of Pacific salmon: metapopulation theory and artificial recolonization as ecological mitigation

1999 ◽  
Vol 56 (9) ◽  
pp. 1700-1706 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle A Young
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Fisheries Management ◽  
Habitat Restoration ◽  
Pacific Salmon ◽  
Habitat Destruction ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Face ◽  
Local Extinctions ◽  
Open Discussion ◽  
Metapopulation Theory

Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) in the Pacific Northwest of North America have suffered regional declines and local extinctions primarily because of freshwater habitat destruction and overexploitation by fisheries. Management efforts to reverse this trend have correctly focused on habitat restoration and enhancement and stricter regulation of fisheries. Metapopulation theory and the ecology of the genus suggest that the addition of management efforts that artificially increase the rate of colonization of presently unoccupied habitats may promote the recovery and persistence of Pacific salmon in an ecologically realistic way. Such programs are conceptually and operationally different from traditional stock transfer and enhancement programs, which aimed to maintain a harvestable surplus of salmon in the face of habitat destruction and overfishing. I argue that artificial recolonization programs should be viewed as ecological mitigation, aimed at hastening the return of natural demographic and evolutionary processes, and hope here to promote an open discussion of their merits and risks as such.

Pacific Salmon Environmental and Life History Models: Advancing Science for Sustainable Salmon in the Future

2009 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Quality ◽  
Habitat Management ◽  
Habitat Restoration ◽  
Pacific Salmon ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Habitat Features ◽  
Model Predictions ◽  
Pool Area ◽  
Unit Characteristic

<em>Abstract.</em>—We describe and demonstrate the Unit Characteristic Method (UCM) as a means by which measurements of habitat from typical stream surveys can be used to estimate the capacity of a stream to rear juvenile steelhead <em>Oncorhynchus mykiss</em>. Channel unit features of importance include surface area by unit type, depth, substrate, and cover. The influence of a stream’s primary productivity is represented in the method through measures of alkalinity and turbidity. We tested the fit of model predictions to juvenile steelhead production observed in seven watersheds ranging in size from 26 to 1,420 km<sup>2</sup>. Model predictions of capacity were significantly correlated to observed maximum production of juvenile steelhead (<EM>P </EM>< 0.005, <EM>R</EM><sup>2</sup> = 0.88), as was watershed area (<EM>P </EM>< 0.005, <EM>R</EM><sup>2</sup> = 0.88). The UCM predictions revealed that parr capacity was unevenly distributed in the watersheds, and that habitat quality (smolt capacity/m<sup>2</sup>) differed between reaches among all watersheds by up to 15-fold across seven basins surveyed, and ranged more than 10-fold between reaches within four of seven test watersheds. Thus, the UCM can be used to discriminate stream reaches and features that either warrant habitat restoration or conservation. Key factors driving high or low habitat quality differed between reaches, and included pool area, riffle depth, boulder substrate, alkalinity, fine sediment, and turbidity. The UCM provides a framework for understanding the habitat features that determine the production potential of a basin, for identifying factors that limit production, and for predicting potential fish benefits from differing habitat management strategies.

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