Genetic Identification of Cutthroat Trout, Salmo clarki, in Glacier National Park, Montana

1987 ◽  
Vol 44 (11) ◽  
pp. 1830-1839 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leo F. Marnell ◽  
Robert J., Behnke ◽  
Fred W. Allendorf
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Introgressive Hybridization ◽  
Cutthroat Trout ◽  
Genetic Identification ◽  
Glacier National Park ◽  
The North ◽  
Continental Divide ◽  
Headwater Lakes ◽  
Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout ◽  
Salmo Clarki

Trout populations in 29 lakes in Glacier National Park were identified by meristic and electrophoretic analyses to assess the extent of introgressive hybridization between introduced nonnative trout and the indigenous cutthroat trout, Salmo clarki lewisi. Native cutthroat trout remain in 16 lakes draining to the North and Middle forks of the Flathead River; no native trout were found east of the Continental Divide. Introduced Yellowstone cutthroat trout, Salmo clarki bouvieri, occur in six headwater lakes. Hybrid populations, including both S. c. lewisi × bouvieri and S. clarki × S. gairdneri, inhabit six lakes. Hybridization between native and introduced trouts has been minimal, apparently due to strong selective pressures favoring the indigenous genotype. Close agreement was observed between the meristic and electrophoretic results.

scholarly journals Two Ocean Pass: An Alternative Hypothesis for the Invasion of Yellowstone Lake by Lake Trout, and Implications for Future Invasions

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 1629 ◽  
Author(s):  
Todd M. Koel ◽  
Colleen R. Detjens ◽  
Alexander V. Zale
Keyword(s):  
Brook Trout ◽  
National Park ◽  
Lake Trout ◽  
Cutthroat Trout ◽  
Snake River ◽  
Yellowstone Lake ◽  
Yellowstone River ◽  
Continental Divide ◽  
Nonnative Fish ◽  
Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout

Preventing the interbasin transfer of aquatic invasive species is a high priority for natural resource managers. Such transfers can be made by humans or can occur by dispersal through connected waterways. A natural surface water connection between the Atlantic and Pacific drainages in North America exists at Two Ocean Pass south of Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarkii bouvieri used this route to cross the Continental Divide and colonize the Yellowstone River from ancestral sources in the Snake River following glacial recession 14,000 bp. Nonnative lake trout Salvelinus namaycush were stocked into lakes in the Snake River headwaters in 1890 and quickly dispersed downstream. Lake trout were discovered in Yellowstone Lake in 1994 and were assumed to have been illegally introduced. Recently, lake trout have demonstrated their ability to move widely through river systems and invade headwater lakes in Glacier National Park. Our objective was to determine if lake trout and other nonnative fish were present in the connected waters near Two Ocean Pass and could thereby colonize the Yellowstone River basin in the past or future. We used environmental DNA (eDNA), electrofishing, and angling to survey for lake trout and other fishes. Yellowstone cutthroat trout were detected at nearly all sites on both sides of the Continental Divide. Lake trout and invasive brook trout S. fontinalis were detected in Pacific Creek near its confluence with the Snake River. We conclude that invasive movements by lake trout from the Snake River over Two Ocean Pass may have resulted in their colonization of Yellowstone Lake. Moreover, Yellowstone Lake may be vulnerable to additional invasions because several other nonnative fish inhabit the upper Snake River. In the future, eDNA collected across smaller spatial intervals in Pacific Creek during flow conditions more conducive to lake trout movement may provide further insight into the extent of non-native fish invasions in this stream.

Grasslands of the North Fork Valley, Glacier National Park, Montana

1971 ◽  
Vol 49 (9) ◽  
pp. 1627-1636 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wayne D. Koterba ◽  
James R. Habeck
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Rocky Mountain ◽  
The United States ◽  
Grass Species ◽  
Glacier National Park ◽  
The North ◽  
Continental Divide ◽  
North Fork ◽  
Mountain Grasslands ◽  
Agropyron Spicatum

A series of 40 grassland communities occurring in the North Fork Valley in Glacier National Park was subjected to detailed phytosociological investigation. These grasslands are somewhat phytogeographically isolated from other northern Rocky Mountain grasslands in Washington, Idaho, and Montana in the United States, and from the Alberta fescue grasslands in Canada. Compositionally, the North Fork grasslands display features characteristic of grassland vegetation on both the west and east sides of the Continental Divide. The four major grass species achieving dominance in the North Fork Valley are Agropyron spicatum, Festuca idahoensis, Festuca scabrella, and Danthonia intermedia. Environmental factors possibly important in the distribution, composition, and maintenance of these grasslands are discussed.

scholarly journals Hybridization of Snake River Cutthroat in the Lower Gros Ventre River

2006 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 110-113
Author(s):  
Ryan Kovach ◽  
Lisa Eby
Keyword(s):  
Exotic Species ◽  
National Park ◽  
Cutthroat Trout ◽  
Snake River ◽  
Oncorhynchus Clarki ◽  
Oncorhynchus Clarkii ◽  
Grand Teton National Park ◽  
Water Diversions ◽  
Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout ◽  
Special Concern

The cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarki is Wyoming's only native trout. The Yellowstone cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii bouvieri) is designated as a "species of special concern" by a number of agencies and conservation groups. Although the Yellowstone cutthroat trout has recently avoided federal listing because of robust headwater populations (USFWS 2006), they face continued threats across their range. The fine-spotted Snake River native trout is a morphologically divergent ecotype of the Yellowstone subspecies, although it is not genetically distinguishable (Allendorf and Leary 1988, Novak et al. 2005). The Gros Ventre, an important tributary of the Snake River located partially in Grand Teton National Park, historically supported robust populations of fine­ spotted Snake River cutthroat trout. Principal threats to Gros Ventre native trout, especially in the lower end of the drainage within the park boundaries, include both water diversions (loss of water and fish into irrigation ditches) and presence of exotic species.

Greater predation by Double-crested Cormorants on cutthroat versus rainbow trout fingerlings stocked in a Wyoming river

1999 ◽  
Vol 77 (12) ◽  
pp. 1984-1990 ◽  
Author(s):  
James R Lovvorn ◽  
Daniel Yule ◽  
Clayton E Derby
Keyword(s):  
Rainbow Trout ◽  
Cutthroat Trout ◽  
Phalacrocorax Auritus ◽  
Limited Data ◽  
Platte River ◽  
The North ◽  
Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus Mykiss ◽  
Oncorhynchus Clarki Bouvieri ◽  
Pelecanus Erythrorhynchos ◽  
Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout

We studied the relative vulnerability of Yellowstone cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki bouvieri) versus rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) stocked as fingerlings in the North Platte River, Wyoming, to Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) predation. Cutthroat fingerlings decreased as a fraction of the population from stocking in late June to electrofishing surveys in the following October and March. In contrast, the fraction of cutthroat fingerlings among tagged fingerlings eaten by cormorants collected on the river was significantly greater than that in the population when originally stocked. More limited data from pellets regurgitated by adult cormorants at a nearby colony and in American White Pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) collected on the river showed the same trend toward greater percentages of cutthroat trout being consumed than were present among trout stocked. There were no differences in cormorant predation rates on the Eagle Lake strain of rainbow trout reared under shaded versus partially shaded conditions, or between Auburn and Bar BC strains of Snake River (Yellowstone) cutthroat trout. On the North Platte River, cutthroat trout fingerlings were more susceptible to cormorant predation than rainbow trout of similar size that were stocked simultaneously.

Holocene tephrostratigraphy and glacial fluctuations in Waterton Lakes and Glacier national parks, Alberta and Montana

1985 ◽  
Vol 22 (7) ◽  
pp. 1093-1101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald Osborn
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
National Parks ◽  
Rocky Mountains ◽  
National Park ◽  
Glacier National Park ◽  
Glacial Deposits ◽  
Canadian Rockies ◽  
Continental Divide ◽  
Minimum Age ◽  
Waterton Lakes National Park

Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta and Glacier National Park in Montana lie along adjacent sections of the continental divide in the Rocky Mountains. In cirques or near divides there is evidence for two ages of glacial deposits. Younger deposits are generally well preserved, poorly vegetated, and bear no tephra and no or very small lichens. Older deposits are more poorly preserved, better vegetated, bear Rhizocarpon sp. lichens at least up to 92 mm in diameter, and bear tephra. The tephra often occurs in two different coloured horizons, but both are compositionally equivalent to Mazama tephra.The older advance has a minimum age of about 6800 14C years BP and a probable maximum age of about 12 000 14C years BP. It is correlated with the pre-Mazama Crowfoot Advance of the Canadian Rockies. Deposits of the younger advance are probably not too much older than mid-19th century, because some glaciers began retreating from the deposits about then. The younger advance is correlated to the Cavell Advance of the Canadian Rockies and the Gannett Peak Advance of the American Rockies.Both advances were minor. The older advance left moraines about 1.5 km or less beyond present glacier margins and depressed ELA's an average of 40 m below modern values.

scholarly journals A Cytogentic Analysis of Cutthroat Trout in the Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks

1978 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 107-111
Author(s):  
Robert Kitchin
Keyword(s):  
National Parks ◽  
Rocky Mountains ◽  
Genetic Basis ◽  
Cutthroat Trout ◽  
Widespread Distribution ◽  
Behavioral Diversity ◽  
Continental Divide ◽  
Salmo Clarki

The cutthroat trout, Salmo clarki, is the trout species native to the Rocky Mountains on both sides of the Continental Divide. The widespread distribution of cutthroat trout in several independent drainages has resulted in the formation of considerable morphological and behavioral diversity both within and between cutthroat trout populations. Behnke has described several different subspecies of Salmo clarki on the basis of their meristic serological characteristics. However, because the genetic basis of these characteristics is unknown, the results of these studies have been inconclusive for the taxonomic designations of cutthroat trout subspecies in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks.

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