Barriers to upstream passage by two migratory sculpins, prickly sculpin (Cottus asper) and coastrange sculpin (Cottus aleuticus), in northern Puget Sound lowland streams

2014 ◽  
Vol 71 (11) ◽  
pp. 1758-1765 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Thomas LeMoine ◽  
Leo Richard Bodensteiner

We identified and characterized barriers to the upstream distribution by prickly sculpin (Cottus asper) and coastrange sculpin (Cottus aleuticus), based on their longitudinal distribution in 11 streams in the Puget Sound lowlands of Washington State. Eight streams had upstream limits associated with particular instream structures, and these were compared to distinguish features of barriers and non-barriers. In seven streams perch height greater than 15 cm resulted in a complete barrier. In one stream water velocity >4 m·s−1 created a partial barrier. Five of the eight barriers were one- or two-step fish ladders installed to facilitate upstream passage of Pacific salmon and trout. Water quality, physical habitat, and the presence of other fishes were not related to the presence or absence of sculpin species. Fish passage criteria in western North American streams are based on the swimming abilities of Pacific salmon and trout, without consideration for other, less motile native fishes. Structures installed to surmount previously identified impediments to upstream migration continue to inhibit sculpin movement, resulting in loss of upstream habitats for adults, with potential consequences to population size and trophic dynamics.

2006 ◽  
Vol 63 (7) ◽  
pp. 1596-1607 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark D Scheuerell ◽  
Ray Hilborn ◽  
Mary H Ruckelshaus ◽  
Krista K Bartz ◽  
Kerry M Lagueux ◽  
...  

Current efforts to conserve Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) rely on a variety of information sources, including empirical observations, expert opinion, and models. Here we outline a framework for incorporating detailed information on density-dependent population growth, habitat attributes, hatchery operations, and harvest management into conservation planning in a time-varying, spatially explicit manner. We rely on a multistage Beverton–Holt model to describe the production of salmon from one life stage to the next. We use information from the literature to construct relationships between the physical environment and the necessary productivity and capacity parameters for the model. As an example of how policy makers can use the model in recovery planning, we applied the model to a threatened population of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the Snohomish River basin in Puget Sound, Washington, USA. By incorporating additional data on hatchery operations and harvest management for Snohomish River basin stocks, we show how proposed actions to improve physical habitat throughout the basin translate into projected improvements in four important population attributes: abundance, productivity, spatial structure, and life-history diversity. We also describe how to adapt the model to a variety of other management applications.


2006 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 120-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamao Kasahara ◽  
Alan R Hill

Stream restoration projects that aim to rehabilitate ecosystem health have not considered surface–subsurface linkages, although stream water and groundwater interaction has an important role in sustaining stream ecosystem functions. The present study examined the effect of constructed riffles and a step on hyporheic exchange flow and chemistry in restored reaches of several N-rich agricultural and urban streams in southern Ontario. Hydrometric data collected from a network of piezometers and conservative tracer releases indicated that the constructed riffles and steps were effective in inducing hyporheic exchange. However, despite the use of cobbles and boulders in the riffle construction, high stream dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations were depleted rapidly with depth into the hyporheic zones. Differences between observed and predicted nitrate concentrations based on conservative ion concentration patterns indicated that these hyporheic zones were also nitrate sinks. Zones of low hydraulic conductivity and the occurrence of interstitial fines in the restored cobble-boulder layers suggest that siltation and clogging of the streambed may reduce the downwelling of oxygen- and nitrate-rich stream water. Increases in streambed DO levels and enhancement of habitat for hyporheic fauna that result from riffle–step construction projects may only be temporary in streams that receive increased sediment and nutrient inputs from urban areas and croplands.


2017 ◽  
Vol 74 (8) ◽  
pp. 1173-1194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brandon Chasco ◽  
Isaac C. Kaplan ◽  
Austen Thomas ◽  
Alejandro Acevedo-Gutiérrez ◽  
Dawn Noren ◽  
...  

Conflicts can arise when the recovery of one protected species limits the recovery of another through competition or predation. The recovery of many marine mammal populations on the west coast of the United States has been viewed as a success; however, within Puget Sound in Washington State, the increased abundance of three protected pinniped species may be adversely affecting the recovery of threatened Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and endangered killer whales (Orcinus orca) within the region. Between 1970 and 2015, we estimate that the annual biomass of Chinook salmon consumed by pinnipeds has increased from 68 to 625 metric tons. Converting juvenile Chinook salmon into adult equivalents, we found that by 2015, pinnipeds consumed double that of resident killer whales and six times greater than the combined commercial and recreational catches. We demonstrate the importance of interspecific interactions when evaluating species recovery. As more protected species respond positively to recovery efforts, managers should attempt to evaluate tradeoffs between these recovery efforts and the unintended ecosystem consequences of predation and competition on other protected species.


2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 763-770 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergio Makrakis ◽  
Theodore Castro-Santos ◽  
Maristela Cavicchioli Makrakis ◽  
Ricardo Luiz Wagner ◽  
Maurício Spagnolo Adames

Improperly installed or poorly maintained culverts can pose a serious threat to fish by disrupting their habitat and endangering spawning success. Road culverts that are not designed for fish passage frequently can become obstacles. This can be especially problematic for migratory species, but can lead to fragmentation of resident populations as well. This study evaluated 40 culverts of 29 sites within a 25-km radius from Toledo city, Paraná State, southern Brazil, with respect to their likely effects on movement of the local ichthyofauna. We collected data on the shape and length of culverts, culvert material, waterfall height, water column depth, slope, and estimated flow velocity. Culverts were categorized by level of barrier risk for upstream migration: high, medium, low, and impassable, as well as the type of barrier posed (fall height, depth, length and velocity). Most of culverts analyzed were considered potential barriers to fish movement, with 45% classified as impassible, 45% as high risk, 10% as medium risk, and no culverts as low risk. Brazilian culverts as fishways will require additional monitoring and studies to corroborate the premises proposed in the present study. Road culvert projects that are properly built and maintained will be able to simultaneously improve function of roadways and protect fish populations.


<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.


<em>Abstract.</em>—Ecologists recognize that surrounding land use can influence the structure and function of aquatic ecosystems, but few studies have explicitly examined the relative effects of different types of land use on stream ecosystems. We quantified the relationships between different land uses (forested, urban, agricultural with or without riparian buffers) and stream physicochemical variables and resident fish assemblages in 21 southwestern Michigan streams. These streams were located within a single basin (Kalamazoo River) and ecoregion to minimize differences in natural landscape conditions. Streams responded to a gradient of land use, with forested streams having the least degraded water quality, physical habitat, and fish assemblages, and agricultural streams lacking buffers being the most degraded. Urban and agricultural streams with buffers displayed characteristics intermediate to forested and agricultural streams lacking buffers. In general, habitat complexity and water quality declined across this land-use gradient from forested to agricultural streams, whereas fish density, richness, and dominance by tolerant species increased along the land-use gradient. Although urban streams had lower percentages of altered land use (i.e., <40% urban) in their catchments compared to agricultural streams (i.e., >50% agriculture), both land uses appeared to have similar detrimental effects on streams suggesting higher per unit area impacts of urbanization on streams. The presence of forested riparian buffers along agricultural streams increased the complexity of instream habitat, but resulted in few benefits to fish assemblages, suggesting that stream water quality in altered landscapes may be constraining fish assemblages more than physical habitat.


Author(s):  
Chris Friday

Agricultural cultivation was an integral cultural and economic feature of Indian peoples' lives in the greater Puget Sound. Exactly when potatoes became deeply embedded in these cultivation practices is unclear, but by the late 1820s they were common fare throughout the region. With the onset of the inland fur trade in the 1820s and the establishment of a European American settler society (circa 1850s), potato production expanded. This chapter shows that Lummi women in northwest Washington state were the primary cultivators of potato agriculture and yet their roles in such production was effectively eclipsed as the heteronormative determinations of Indian agents characterized potato cultivation as exclusively masculine.


2003 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 38
Author(s):  
Dean A. Glawe

Chive (Allium schoenoprasum L.) is one of the specialty crops grown by farmers in the Puget Sound region of Washington State. In September, 2002, downy mildew symptoms were observed in a 0.2 hectare field planting of chive near Fall City, King County, WA. Downy mildew had not been reported previously on chive in the Pacific Northwest. Accepted for publication 15 April 2003. Published 12 May 2003.


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