The influences of large wood on Pacific salmon are well‐studied, but such studies on nonsalmonid species such as lampreys are uncommon. To address this need, we evaluated the potential effects of large wood on larval lampreys (Pacific Lamprey Entosphenus tridentatus and potentially Western Brook Lamprey Lampetra richardsoni) as well as on juvenile Coho Salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch in a small, coastal, Oregon stream. Our objectives were to (1) identify instream habitat characteristics associated with the presence of larval lampreys and abundance of juvenile Coho Salmon and (2) evaluate how these characteristics were associated with instream wood. To address habitat use, we quantified presence of larval lampreys in 92 pools and abundance of juvenile Coho Salmon in 44 pools during summer low flows. We focused on a study reach where large wood was introduced into the stream between 2008 and 2009. Results indicated that presence of larval lampreys was significantly associated with the availability of fine sediment and deeper substrate. The abundance of juvenile Coho Salmon (fish per pool) was strongly associated with pool surface area and to a weaker extent with the proportion of cobble and boulder substrates in pools. Pools with wood, regardless of whether they were formed by wood, had significantly greater coverage of fine sediment, deeper substrate, and greater pool surface area. Taken together, these results suggest that instream wood can provide habitat associated with the presence of larval lampreys and greater abundance of juvenile Coho Salmon. Received September 11, 2016; accepted March 25, 2017 Published online May 31, 2017
The fitness of female Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) with respect to breeding behavior can be partitioned into at least four fitness components: survival to reproduction, competition for breeding sites, success of egg incubation, and suitability of the local environment near breeding sites for early rearing of juveniles. We evaluated the relative influences of habitat features linked to these fitness components with respect to selection of breeding sites by coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch). We also evaluated associations between breeding site selection and additions of large wood, as the latter were introduced into the study system as a means of restoring habitat conditions to benefit coho salmon. We used a model selection approach to organize specific habitat features into groupings reflecting fitness components and influences of large wood. Results of this work suggest that female coho salmon likely select breeding sites based on a wide range of habitat features linked to all four hypothesized fitness components. More specifically, model parameter estimates indicated that breeding site selection was most strongly influenced by proximity to pool-tail crests and deeper water (mean and maximum depths). Linkages between large wood and breeding site selection were less clear. Overall, our findings suggest that breeding site selection by coho salmon is influenced by a suite of fitness components in addition to the egg incubation environment, which has been the emphasis of much work in the past.
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