Science Advancements Key to Increasing Management Value of Life Stage Monitoring Networks for Endangered Sacramento River Winter-Run Chinook Salmon in California

Johnson, Rachel C.; Windell, Sean; Brandes, Patricia L.; Conrad, J. Louise; Ferguson, John W.; Goertler, Pascale; Harvey, Brett N.; Heublein, Joseph C.; Israel, Joshua A.; Kratville, Daniel W.; Kirsch, Joseph E.; Perry, Russell W.; Pisciotto, Joseph; Poytress, William R.; Reece, Kevin; Swart, Brycen G.

doi:10.15447/sfews.2017v15iss3art1

Cited by 31 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 85 publications

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“…), occasionally in “real‐time” (Johnson et al. ). If behavioral tagging effects are present, the validity of telemetry data in representing the broader population might be called into question.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, data pointing to behavioral impacts on juvenile salmon fitted with JSATS tags may represent an emerging fisheries management challenge. Indeed, analyses of telemetry data are increasingly being used to inform fisheries management decisions (e.g., the operation of infrastructure related to the California State Water Project and the Central Valley Project; Heublein et al 2009), occasionally in "real-time" (Johnson et al 2017). If behavioral tagging effects are present, the validity of telemetry data in representing the broader population might be called into question.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Survival rates and route transition probabilities of tagged juvenile salmon are often used as management standards (Johnson et al. ; Klimley et al. ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, changes in tagged-animal behavior may augment survival relative to that of nontagged conspecifics (Brown et al 2007;Archard and Braithwaite 2011). Survival rates and route transition probabilities of tagged juvenile salmon are often used as management standards (Johnson et al 2017;Klimley et al 2017a). If tagging significantly alters behaviors or survival of released fish, then management benchmarks developed from these data could be flawed-or worse, wrong.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Continual technological advances facilitating the miniaturization of acoustic transmitters have allowed for the tracking of smaller and smaller species and earlier life history stages (McMichael et al 2010). These advances have led to a proliferation of research investigating freshwater and early marine survival of many species of juvenile salmonids (Michel et al 2013;Gibson et al 2015;Deng et al 2017;Johnson et al 2017;Klimley et al 2017b;Notch 2017;Cordoleani et al 2018). As the size of the transmitters continues to be reduced, guidelines on suitable transmitter : body weight ratios continue to be challenged (Brown et al 1999).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Behavioral Response of Juvenile Chinook Salmon to Surgical Implantation of Micro‐acoustic Transmitters

Singer

Hansen

et al. 2019

Trans Am Fish Soc

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Acoustic telemetry, a commonly used tool for examining movements and survival of aquatic species, is often applied without a comprehensive understanding of transmitter implantation effects. This can be problematic when the goal of the study is to use telemetry results to make inferences regarding broader populations. Here, we examined juvenile Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha at varying time intervals after transmitter implantation to assess the behavioral implications of tagging. The following behavioral metrics in response to a novel environment were compared across treatment and control groups: time to emergence from shelter into the open portion of the test arena, rheotactic response, total activity, and rates of exploration. Tagged fish (114–132 mm FL) were tested at 0, 1, or 4 d postsurgery (day‐0, day‐1, and day‐4 groups, respectively), and their behavior was compared to that of similarly handled control fish. Emergence from refuge was the only metric that differed significantly between treatment and control groups. Fish tested on the same day as the surgery were less likely to emerge from the refuge, with only 46% of the day‐0 tagged fish emerging compared to 88, 93, and 80% of the day‐1, day‐4, and control groups, respectively. However, day‐0 fish that did emerge from the refuge had rheotactic responses, total activity, and exploration rates similar to those of fish from the other treatment and control groups. This study may have fisheries research and management implications, especially for telemetry studies and monitoring efforts. We encourage researchers using this technology to consider (1) observing a post‐transmitter‐implantation recovery period of at least 24 h prior to release, adjusting study plans and logistics accordingly; (2) applying sufficient scientific rigor to emerging tagging technology prior to wide‐scale adoption; and (3) when possible, conducting concurrent battery life and tag effects studies with any field release of tagged fishes, as differing relationships between fish size, tag size, and tagging techniques may yield variable results.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Survival rates and route transition probabilities of tagged juvenile salmon are often used as management standards (Johnson et al. ; Klimley et al. ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Behavioral Response of Juvenile Chinook Salmon to Surgical Implantation of Micro‐acoustic Transmitters

Singer

Hansen

et al. 2019

Trans Am Fish Soc

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In hot water? Assessing the link between fundamental thermal physiology and predation of juvenile Chinook salmon

et al. 2022

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In light of ongoing environmental change, understanding the complex impact of interacting stressors on species, communities, and ecosystems is an important challenge. Many studies to date examine the effects of potential stressors on a single species of concern. Yet these effects often resonate throughout a community and may produce changes in ecosystem dynamics that are equally critical to species resilience. The aim of this study was to develop a mechanistic understanding of how a rapidly changing stressor, water temperature, will alter trophic interactions among ectothermic fish species. In our region, California's Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta system, it has been speculated that the decreased survivorship of juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in warming waters may be caused partly by increased predation. Temperature influences metabolic rate functions and the amount of energy available for fitness‐relevant parameters (i.e., swim performance and escape response). Consequently, we hypothesized that these patterns of predation emerge due to a physiological advantage of predators over prey at warmer temperatures. To explore this, our first objective was to determine the fundamental thermal physiology of juvenile Chinook salmon and their potential predators in the Delta. Three physiological performance traits were measured for each species across a spectrum of temperatures: aerobic scope, burst speed, and the ability to burst repeatedly. For our second objective, we assessed whether the effect of temperature on these performance traits predicted the outcome of predation trials conducted across the same temperature spectrum. We found that temperature effects were species or population specific. Additionally, absolute burst swimming ability and the relative burst performance between predator and prey were stronger indicators of trophic dynamics than aerobic scope. Our analyses also confirmed that a major predator in the Delta, specifically largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides), is more thermally adapted to higher temperatures and will likely consume salmon with an increasing frequency as waters warm. Thus, we show that an improved understanding of how fundamental thermal physiology impacts predation can provide ecosystem managers with better tools to predictively model predation upon juvenile salmon based on prevailing and future water temperatures.

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Factors Affecting Spatiotemporal Variation in Survival of Endangered Winter‐Run Chinook Salmon Out‐migrating from the Sacramento River

Hassrick

Ammann

Perry

et al. 2022

N American J Fish Manag

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Among four extant and declining runs of Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha in California's Central Valley, none has declined as precipitously as the Sacramento River winter run. Migratory winter-run Chinook Salmon employ a life history strategy to reside and feed in stopover habitats on their way from freshwaters to the ocean. Migratory winter run, on their way from freshwaters to the ocean, employ a life history strategy to reside and feed in stopover habitats that have been affected by anthropogenic disturbance. Using acoustic telemetry, we examined conditions that influenced reach-specific movement and survival of out-migrating juveniles during a prolonged, multi-year drought from 2013 to 2016, followed by one of the wettest years on record (2017). We modeled how time-varying individual riverine covariates and reach-specific habitat features influenced smolt survival. Model selection favored a model with mean annual flow, intra-annual deviations from the mean flow at the reach scale, reach-specific channel characteristics, and travel time. Mean annual flow had the strongest positive effect on survival. A negative interaction between mean annual flow and intra-annual reach flow indicated that within-year deviations at the reach scale from annual mean flow had larger effects on survival in low-flow years. These factors resulted in higher survival during years with pulse flows or high flows. Changes in movement behavior in response to small-scale changes in velocity were negatively associated with survival. Covariates of revetment and wooded bank habitat were positively associated with survival, but the effect of these fixed habitat features changed depending on whether they were situated in the upper or lower part of the river. Fish exhibited density-dependent stopover behavior, with slowed downstream migration in the upper river in the wet years and extending to the lower river in the most critically dry year. This paper contributes two key findings for natural resource managers interested in flow management and targeted habitat

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Science Advancements Key to Increasing Management Value of Life Stage Monitoring Networks for Endangered Sacramento River Winter-Run Chinook Salmon in California

Cited by 31 publications

References 85 publications

Behavioral Response of Juvenile Chinook Salmon to Surgical Implantation of Micro‐acoustic Transmitters

Behavioral Response of Juvenile Chinook Salmon to Surgical Implantation of Micro‐acoustic Transmitters

In hot water? Assessing the link between fundamental thermal physiology and predation of juvenile Chinook salmon

Factors Affecting Spatiotemporal Variation in Survival of Endangered Winter‐Run Chinook Salmon Out‐migrating from the Sacramento River

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