A remnant population of native Bull Trout Salvelinus confluentus was threatened with extirpation by competition and hybridization with introduced Brook Trout S. fontinalis in Sun Creek, a second‐order headwater stream in Crater Lake National Park, Oregon. Between 1992 and 2005, artificial barriers were installed to exclude nonnative fish, and multiple applications of electrofishing and the piscicide antimycin‐A were used to remove Brook Trout from 14.6 km of stream. Several novel methods were employed, including diver‐directed and trap‐net electrofishing and the use of a portable raceway to hold Bull Trout during piscicide treatments. Electrofishing likely eradicated Brook Trout from a small headwater section of the stream but required more effort (54 person‐days/km) than antimycin treatments (17 person‐days/km) in the same reach to ensure eradication. For eradication of Brook Trout from larger downstream reaches, antimycin treatments applied in consecutive years were more successful than multiple treatments applied within a single year. Brook Trout have not been detected by annual surveys in the project area since 2005. The total effort expended to eradicate Brook Trout from 14.6 km of stream was approximately 138 person‐days/km. Between 1989 and 2010, Bull Trout abundance increased approximately tenfold, and distribution increased from approximately 1.9 km to 11.2 km. These results exemplify the response of an imperiled Bull Trout population after removal of Brook Trout. The large investment of time and resources required to restore small populations like this one may be warranted only for critical population segments with special status or local management importance.Received November 10, 2011; accepted October 31, 2012
Crater Lake, Oregon, is a mid-latitude caldera lake famous for its depth (594 m) and blue color. Recent underwater spectral measurements of solar radiation (300-800 nm) support earlier observations of unusual transparency and extend these to UV-B wavelengths. New data suggest that penetration of solar UVR into Crater Lake has a significant ecological impact. Evidence includes a correlation between water column chlorophyll-a and stratospheric ozone since 1984, the scarcity of organisms in the upper water column, and apparent UV screening pigments in phytoplankton that vary with depth. The lowest UV-B diffuse attenuation coefficients (K d,320 ) were similar to those reported for the clearest natural waters elsewhere, and were lower than estimates for pure water published in 1981. Optical proxies for UVR attenuation were correlated with chlorophyll-a concentration (0-30 m) during typical dry summer months from 1984 to 2002. Using all proxies and measurements of UV transparency, decadal and longer cycles were apparent but no long-term trend since the first optical measurement in 1896.
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