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Willmes M, Sturrock AM, Cordoleani F, Hugentobler S, Meek MH, Whitman G, Evans K, Palkovacs EP, Stauffer-Olsen NJ, Johnson RC. Integrating otolith and genetic tools to reveal intraspecific biodiversity in a highly impacted salmon population. JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY 2024. [PMID: 38982714 DOI: 10.1111/jfb.15847] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2024] [Revised: 05/15/2024] [Accepted: 06/03/2024] [Indexed: 07/11/2024]
Abstract
Intraspecific biodiversity is vital for species persistence in an increasingly volatile world. By embracing methods that integrate information at different spatiotemporal scales, we can directly monitor and reconstruct changes in intraspecific biodiversity. Here we combined genetics and otolith biochronologies to describe the genotypic and phenotypic diversity of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the Yuba River, California, comparing cohorts that experienced a range of hydroclimatic conditions. Yuba River salmon have been heavily impacted by habitat loss and degradation, and large influxes of unmarked hatchery fish each year have led to concern about introgression and uncertainty around the viability of its wild populations, particularly the rarer spring-run salmon. Otolith strontium isotopes showed that Yuba River origin fish represented, on average, 42% (range 7%-73%) of spawners across six return years (2009-2011, 2018-2020), with large interannual variability. The remainder of adult Chinook salmon in the river were primarily strays from the nearby Feather River hatchery, and since 2018 from the Mokelumne River hatchery. Among the Yuba-origin spawners, on average, 30% (range 14%-50%) exhibited the spring-run genotype. The Yuba-origin fish also displayed a variety of outmigration phenotypes that differed in the timing and size at which they left the Yuba river. Early-migrating fry dominated the returns (mean 59%, range 33%-89%), and their contribution rates were negatively correlated with freshwater flows. It is unlikely that fry survival rates are elevated during droughts, suggesting that this trend reflects disproportionately low survival of larger later migrating parr, smolts, and yearlings along the migratory corridor in drier years. Otolith daily increments indicated generally faster growth rates in non-natal habitats, emphasizing the importance of continuing upstream restoration efforts to improve in-river growing conditions. Together, these findings show that, despite a long history of habitat degradation and hatchery introgression, the Yuba River maintains intraspecific biodiversity that should be taken into account in future management, restoration, and reintroduction plans. The finding that genotypic spring-run are reproducing, surviving, and returning to the Yuba River every year suggests that re-establishment of an independent population is possible, although hatchery-wild interactions would need to be carefully considered. Integrating methods is critical to monitor changes in key genetic, physiological, and behavioral traits to assess population viability and resilience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Malte Willmes
- Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Trondheim, Norway
- Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California, USA
| | - Anna M Sturrock
- Center for Watershed Sciences, University of California Davis, Davis, California, USA
- School of Life Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester, UK
| | - Flora Cordoleani
- Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California, USA
- National Marine Fisheries Service, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Santa Cruz, California, USA
| | - Sara Hugentobler
- Department of Integrative Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
| | - Mariah H Meek
- Department of Integrative Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
- The Wilderness Society, Bozeman, Montana, USA
| | - George Whitman
- Center for Watershed Sciences, University of California Davis, Davis, California, USA
| | - Kimberly Evans
- Center for Watershed Sciences, University of California Davis, Davis, California, USA
| | - Eric P Palkovacs
- Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California, USA
| | | | - Rachel C Johnson
- Center for Watershed Sciences, University of California Davis, Davis, California, USA
- National Marine Fisheries Service, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Santa Cruz, California, USA
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Null SE, Zeff H, Mount J, Gray B, Sturrock AM, Sencan G, Dybala K, Thompson B. Storing and managing water for the environment is more efficient than mimicking natural flows. Nat Commun 2024; 15:5462. [PMID: 38937466 PMCID: PMC11211385 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-49770-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2023] [Accepted: 06/12/2024] [Indexed: 06/29/2024] Open
Abstract
Dams and reservoirs are often needed to provide environmental water and maintain suitable water temperatures for downstream ecosystems. Here, we evaluate if water allocated to the environment, with storage to manage it, might allow environmental water to more reliably meet ecosystem objectives than a proportion of natural flow. We use a priority-based water balance operations model and a reservoir temperature model to evaluate 1) pass-through of a portion of reservoir inflow versus 2) allocating a portion of storage capacity and inflow for downstream flow and stream temperature objectives. We compare trade-offs to other senior and junior priority water demands. In many months, pass-through flows exceed the volumes needed to meet environmental demands. Storage provides the ability to manage release timing to use water efficiently for environmental benefit, with a co-benefit of increasing reservoir storage to protect cold-water at depth in the reservoir.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah E Null
- Department of Watershed Sciences, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA.
- Water Policy Center, Public Policy Institute of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
| | - Harrison Zeff
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Jeffrey Mount
- Water Policy Center, Public Policy Institute of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Brian Gray
- Water Policy Center, Public Policy Institute of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Anna M Sturrock
- School of Life Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester, Essex, UK
| | - Gokce Sencan
- Water Policy Center, Public Policy Institute of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | | | - Barton Thompson
- Stanford Law School & Doerr School of Sustainability, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, USA
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McInturf AG, Zillig KW, Cook K, Fukumoto J, Jones A, Patterson E, Cocherell DE, Michel CJ, Caillaud D, Fangue NA. In hot water? Assessing the link between fundamental thermal physiology and predation of juvenile Chinook salmon. Ecosphere 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.4264] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra G. McInturf
- Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology University of California Davis California USA
- Animal Behavior Graduate Group University of California Davis California USA
- Coastal Oregon Marine Experiment Station Oregon State University Newport Oregon USA
| | - Ken W. Zillig
- Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology University of California Davis California USA
- Graduate Group in Ecology University of California Davis California USA
| | - Katherine Cook
- Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology University of California Davis California USA
| | - Jacqueline Fukumoto
- Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology University of California Davis California USA
| | - Anna Jones
- Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology University of California Davis California USA
| | - Emily Patterson
- Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology University of California Davis California USA
| | - Dennis E. Cocherell
- Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology University of California Davis California USA
| | - Cyril J. Michel
- NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Fisheries Ecology Division Santa Cruz California USA
| | - Damien Caillaud
- Department of Anthropology University of California Davis California USA
| | - Nann A. Fangue
- Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology University of California Davis California USA
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Nelson TR, Michel CJ, Gary MP, Lehman BM, Demetras NJ, Dudley PN, Hammen JJ, Horn MJ. Riverine fish density, predator–prey interactions, and their relationships with artificial light at night. Ecosphere 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.4261] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- T. Reid Nelson
- Institute of Marine Sciences University of California Santa Cruz Santa Cruz California USA
- Southwest Fisheries Science Center—Fisheries Ecology Division National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Santa Cruz California USA
- Department of Environmental Science and Policy George Mason University Fairfax Virginia USA
| | - Cyril J. Michel
- Institute of Marine Sciences University of California Santa Cruz Santa Cruz California USA
- Southwest Fisheries Science Center—Fisheries Ecology Division National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Santa Cruz California USA
| | - Meagan P. Gary
- Institute of Marine Sciences University of California Santa Cruz Santa Cruz California USA
- Southwest Fisheries Science Center—Fisheries Ecology Division National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Santa Cruz California USA
| | - Brendan M. Lehman
- Institute of Marine Sciences University of California Santa Cruz Santa Cruz California USA
- Southwest Fisheries Science Center—Fisheries Ecology Division National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Santa Cruz California USA
| | - Nicholas J. Demetras
- Institute of Marine Sciences University of California Santa Cruz Santa Cruz California USA
- Southwest Fisheries Science Center—Fisheries Ecology Division National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Santa Cruz California USA
| | - Peter N. Dudley
- Institute of Marine Sciences University of California Santa Cruz Santa Cruz California USA
- Southwest Fisheries Science Center—Fisheries Ecology Division National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Santa Cruz California USA
| | - Jeremy J. Hammen
- Fisheries and Wildlife Resources Group United States Bureau of Reclamation Denver Colorado USA
| | - Michael J. Horn
- Fisheries and Wildlife Resources Group United States Bureau of Reclamation Denver Colorado USA
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Wohner PJ, Duarte A, Wikert J, Cavallo B, Zeug SC, Peterson JT. Integrating monitoring and optimization modeling to inform flow decisions for Chinook salmon smolts. Ecol Modell 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2022.110058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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FitzGerald AM, Martin BT. Quantification of thermal impacts across freshwater life stages to improve temperature management for anadromous salmonids. CONSERVATION PHYSIOLOGY 2022; 10:coac013. [PMID: 35492417 PMCID: PMC9041423 DOI: 10.1093/conphys/coac013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2021] [Revised: 02/21/2022] [Accepted: 03/11/2022] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
Water temperature is the major controlling factor that shapes the physiology, behaviour and, ultimately, survival of aquatic ectotherms. Here we examine temperature effects on the survival of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), a species of high economic and conservation importance. We implement a framework to assess how incremental changes in temperature impact survival across populations that is based on thermal performance models for three freshwater life stages of Chinook salmon. These temperature-dependent models were combined with local spatial distribution and phenology data to translate spatial-temporal stream temperature data into maps of life stage-specific physiological performance in space and time. Specifically, we converted temperature-dependent performance (i.e. energy used by pre-spawned adults, mortality of incubating embryos and juvenile growth rate) into a common currency that measures survival in order to compare thermal effects across life stages. Based on temperature data from two abnormally warm and dry years for three managed rivers in the Central Valley, California, temperature-dependent mortality during pre-spawning holding was higher than embryonic mortality or juvenile mortality prior to smolting. However, we found that local phenology and spatial distribution helped to mitigate negative thermal impacts. In a theoretical application, we showed that high temperatures may inhibit successful reintroduction of threatened Central Valley spring-run Chinook salmon to two rivers where they have been extirpated. To increase Chinook salmon population sizes, especially for the threatened and declining spring-run, our results indicate that adults may need more cold-water holding habitat than currently available in order to reduce pre-spawning mortality stemming from high temperatures. To conclude, our framework is an effective way to calculate thermal impacts on multiple salmonid populations and life stages within a river over time, providing local managers the information to minimize negative thermal impacts on salmonid populations, particularly important during years when cold-water resources are scarce.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Benjamin T Martin
- Department of Theoretical and Computational Ecology, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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