Preferences of Juvenile Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and Cutthroat Trout (Salmo clarki) Relative to Simulated Alteration of Winter Habitat

1975 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 681-687 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. Bustard ◽  
David W. Narver

Winter habitat preferences of juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and cutthroat trout (Salmo clarki) were tested by simulating conditions before and after stream disturbance such as might result from logging: (1) sidepools with or without an overhanging bank and roots, and (2) sidepools with clean or silted rubble substrate. Both coho and cutthroat demonstrated a strong preference for sidepools offering overhanging bank cover as opposed to those without bank cover. Similarly they preferred sidepools with clean rubble substrate as opposed to silted rubble. In both the bank and rubble tests, when given the option of either remaining in the sidepools or of moving into the stream, a greater percentage of the total number of coho and cutthroat originally in the sidepools remained in the pools with cover as opposed to those without cover. Coho utilized bank cover more readily than rubble cover whereas cutthroat used both bank and rubble cover.


1983 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 452-461 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. J. Tschaplinski ◽  
G. F. Hartman

Numbers of juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in streams are reduced substantially in winter compared to those that occur in summer. Most of this reduction occurs early in autumn with the onset of the first seasonal freshets. Stream sections containing adequate winter habitat in the form of deep pools, log jams, and undercut banks with tree roots and debris lost fewer fish during freshets and maintained higher numbers of coho in winter than sections without these habitat characteristics. These features provide shelter and reduce stream velocities. Microhabitats occupied by coho juveniles in winter after logging were unchanged from those described before logging — all microhabitats were characterized by low water velocities (≤ 0.3 m/s). Up to 48% of the coho population inhabiting stream sections with adequate shelter remained there by midwinter (Jan. 3). This percentage was typical of stream sections where at least some trees remained after logging. Streamside trees stabilized the banks and prevented their collapse. In contrast, two of three study sections that had been clear-cut logged had unstable banks which collapsed during winter freshets. Almost no coho remained in these sections in winter. Many coho emigrate from the main stream to seek the shelter of low-velocity tributaries and valley sloughs concurrent with the decline of coho populations in Carnation Creek during autumn and early winter. This seasonal shift in distribution reverses in the spring when large numbers of coho reenter the main stream. Fish overwintering in these sites have a high apparent survival rate. Before logging a 4-yr mean of 169 ± 44 coho entered one tributary (a slough called 750-m site) in autumn. Of these numbers entering, 72.2% came out in spring. During and after logging, an annual mean of 288 coho entered the same site. The apparent survival rate during and after logging was 67.4%, essentially unchanged from the prelogging value. Logging has neither reduced the numbers of coho juveniles that enter such sites in autumn to overwinter, nor reduced the numbers leaving these sites to reenter Carnation Creek in spring.



2000 ◽  
Vol 57 (5) ◽  
pp. 906-914 ◽  
Author(s):  
M F Solazzi ◽  
T E Nickelson ◽  
S L Johnson ◽  
J D Rodgers

We used a BACI (before-after-control-impact) experimental design to examine the effects of increasing winter habitat on the abundance of downstream migrant salmonids. Two reference streams and two treatment streams were selected in the Alsea and Nestucca basins of Oregon. Population parameters for juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), age-0 trout (Oncorhynchus spp.), steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss), and coastal cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki) were estimated each year for 8 years in each stream. Stream habitat was modified to increase the quality and quantity of winter habitat during the summers of 1990 (Nestucca Basin) and 1991 (Alsea Basin). Complex habitat was constructed by adding large woody debris to newly created alcoves and dammed pools. Numbers of coho salmon summer juveniles and smolts increased in the treatment streams relative to the control streams during the posttreatment period. Overwinter survival of juvenile coho salmon also increased significantly in both treatment streams posttreatment. Summer trout populations in the treatment streams did not change, but downstream migrant numbers the following spring did increase. These increases suggest that winter habitat was limiting abundance of all three species.



1989 ◽  
Vol 46 (9) ◽  
pp. 1551-1557 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas E. McMahon ◽  
Gordon F. Hartman

Winter habitat use by juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) varied with cover type and flow level in outdoor stream channels. Cover utilization and the number of fish remaining in stream channels increased significantly as cover complexity increased. Most fish emigrated during a simulated freshet unless the most complex cover (low velocity, shade, and wood debris combined) was available. At both high and low flows, emigration occurred primarily during the rapid decline in light levels at twilight. Most coho formed aggregations beneath cover, exhibiting feeding and aggression at temperatures as low as 2.5 °C. We conclude that (1) social interactions, in concert with habitat features, influence the abundance of coho salmon within specific stream habitats in winter, and (2) structural complexity of wood debris is an important consideration for management practices designed to protect or enhance winter habitat for this species.



1992 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 790-794 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas E. Nickelson ◽  
Mario F. Solazzi ◽  
Steven L. Johnson ◽  
Jeffrey D. Rodgers

We examined the use of constructed pools by juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) during summer and winter. Log, gabion, and rock structures placed across the full stream width provided good summer habitat but poor winter habitat for juvenile coho salmon. Rearing densities in constructed habitats during summer and winter were generally similar to those in natural habitats of the same type, except that constructed dammed pools supported lower densities during winter than natural dammed pools. The addition of brush bundles to pools created by full-stream-width structures increased the density of juvenile coho salmon in dammed pools during winter, but not in plunge pools. We concluded that the development of off-channel habitat has the greatest potential to increase production of wild coho salmon smolts in Oregon coastal streams.



1992 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 783-789 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas E. Nickelson ◽  
Jeffrey D. Rodgers ◽  
Steven L. Johnson ◽  
Mario F. Solazzi

Habitat use by juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) during spring, summer, and winter was examined in Oregon coastal streams. Coho salmon fry were most abundant in backwater pools during spring. During summer, juvenile coho salmon were more abundant in pools of all types than they were in glides or riffles. During winter, juvenile coho salmon were most abundant in alcoves and beaver ponds. Because of the apparent strong preference for alcove and beaver pond habitat during winter and the rarity of that habitat in coastal streams, we concluded that if spawning escapement is adequate, the production of wild coho salmon smolts in most coho salmon spawning streams on the Oregon Coast is probably limited by the availability of adequate winter habitat.



1988 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 254-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Swales ◽  
F. Caron ◽  
J. R. Irvine ◽  
C. D. Levings

Catches of overwintering juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in the Keogh River system, Vancouver Island, were higher in two small (8 and 25 ha), shallow (mean depth 2 – 3 m) lakes and their outlet and inlet streams than in the main river, where steelhead trout (Salmo gairdneri) were predominant. Dolly Varden char (Salvelinus malma), cutthroat trout (Salmo clarki), and threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) were also present in the lakes. The distribution of coho salmon in the lakes was restricted largely to areas close to the bank, with few fish being captured in offshore areas or in mid-water. Apparent differences in the abundance of coho salmon between the two lakes may have been related to differences in fish community composition, with sticklebacks being particularly numerous in Misty Lake, where catches of coho salmon were lower than in Long Lake. The population density and biomass of coho salmon overwintering in Long Lake were estimated to be 176 fish/ha and 1.14 kg ha−1, respectively. The mean length of coho salmon in the lakes was greater than that of coho salmon in the tributary streams and main river, and the mean length of the salmon in the lakes generally increased with distance away from shore.



1987 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 262-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. F. Hartman ◽  
T. G. Brown

Seasonal movement of trout (Salmo clarki and S. gairdneri) into and out of three tributaries which drain areas ranging from 15 to 100 ha within the lower Carnation Creek catchment basin were monitored periodically from 1972 to 1985. The number of trout entering the three tributaries relative to total trout was as high as the number of coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) entering these tributaries relative to total coho. The percentage of the salmonid population represented by trout was highest in the two largest tributaries and lowest in the smallest. Trout were most clearly associated with nonvegetated sand and gravel bottom portions of the three tributaries. Coho were associated with this habitat too, but they also frequented portions of the tributaries that were vegetated and had a mud substrate. In the two largest tributaries, trout were represented by more age classes than were coho salmon. The paper considers some of the implications of use of small drainages by trout to habitat managers.



2008 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 681-690 ◽  
Author(s):  
William L Reichert ◽  
Correigh M Greene ◽  
Robert E Bilby

Salmon carcasses provide a marine derived nutrient (MDN) subsidy to river systems, but the extent to which it affects juvenile salmon growth is unclear. To evaluate temporal and spatial nutrient contributions from watershed sources and MDNs using stable isotopes, Skagit River (Washington, USA) juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) were collected. Muscle samples were taken from fry through smolts to measure temporal changes in δ15N and δ13C. δ15N and δ13C levels declined from emergence until fall, when they approached values for resident cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii) collected above anadromous barriers. Muscle δ13C was highly variable and did not increase subsequently. However, coho salmon δ15N increased during the winter. March coho salmon parr δ15N levels suggested high variability in carcass availability for consumption. During the next spring, δ15N levels again declined. In Griffin Creek, a Snoqualmie River tributary, a significant relationship between carcass density and δ15N and δ13C levels was found in March coho salmon parr. At high spawner densities, some parr δ15N exceeded carcass values; however, parr δ13C increased moderately. These findings show that stable isotope data provide insights on seasonal sources of nutrients. In addition, results indicate that March coho salmon parr δ15N levels would be a useful index of carcass availability for overwintering juvenile consumption.



Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document