Using Grizzly Bears to Assess Harvest-Ecosystem Tradeoffs in Salmon Fisheries

Levi, Taal; Darimont, Chris T.; MacDuffee, Misty; Mangel, Marc; Paquet, Paul C.; Wilmers, Christopher C.

doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001303

Cited by 66 publications

(88 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…When salmon availability is low, both physiological, i.e., nutritional, (Boulanger et al 2004a, Belant et al 2006, Bryan et al 2013) and social, i.e., dominancy hierarchies, (Gende and Quinn 2004) factors have been implicated http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol19/iss2/art70/ in lower reproductive output. This coupling between salmon and grizzly abundance is consistent with observations ) and modeling (Levi et al 2012) across larger, cross-population spatial scales.…”

Section: Source Geography For Autumn Aggregations Of Bears In Koeyesupporting

confidence: 86%

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Grizzly bear monitoring by the Heiltsuk people as a crucible for First Nation conservation practice

Housty¹,

Noson²,

Scoville³

et al. 2014

E&S

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101

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ABSTRACT. Guided by deeply held cultural values, First Nations in Canada are rapidly regaining legal authority to manage natural resources. We present a research collaboration among academics, tribal government, provincial and federal government, resource managers, conservation practitioners, and community leaders supporting First Nation resource authority and stewardship. First, we present results from a molecular genetics study of grizzly bears inhabiting an important conservation area within the territory of the Heiltsuk First Nation in coastal British Columbia. Noninvasive hair sampling occurred between 2006 and 2009 in the Koeye watershed, a stronghold for grizzly bears, salmon, and Heiltsuk people. Molecular demographic analyses revealed a regionally significant population of bears, which congregate at the Koeye each salmon-spawning season. There was a minimum of 57 individual bears detected during the study period. Results also pointed to a larger than expected source geography for salmon-feeding bears in the study area (> 1000 km²), as well as early evidence of a declining trend in the bear population potentially explained by declining salmon numbers. Second, we demonstrate and discuss the power of integrating scientific research with a culturally appropriate research agenda developed by indigenous people. Guided explicitly by principles from Gvi'ilas or customary law, this research methodology is coupled with Heiltsuk culture, enabling results of applied conservation science to involve and resonate with tribal leadership in ways that have eluded previous scientific endeavors. In this context, we discuss the effectiveness of research partnerships that, from the outset, create both scientific programs and integrated communities of action that can implement change. We argue that indigenous resource management requires collaborative approaches like ours, in which science-based management is embedded within a socially and culturally appropriate context. We emerge not only with a set of guiding principles for resource management by the Heiltsuk, but a broadly applicable strategy that fosters intimacy with traditional lands and resources and provides a powerful engine for conservation.

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Section: Source Geography For Autumn Aggregations Of Bears In Koeyesupporting

confidence: 86%

“…Along the Pacific coast, salmon are posited to have spawned societies of great social and ecological resilience (Trosper 2003). In a similar way, coastal grizzly bear diet and demography are largely driven by salmon abundance , Gende and Quinn 2004, Levi et al 2012). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grizzly bear monitoring by the Heiltsuk people as a crucible for First Nation conservation practice

Housty¹,

Noson²,

Scoville³

et al. 2014

E&S

Self Cite

101

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Since growth and production of stream-rearing salmonids can be limited by food availability (Chapman 1966) these findings imply that cross-boundary nutrient inputs may be important for fisheries. Understanding these cross-species interactions can also help inform ecosystem-based management (Bilby et al 2001, Wipfli and Baxter 2010, Levi et al 2012). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of subsidies from spawning chum and pink salmon on juvenile coho salmon body size and migration timing

Nelson

Reynolds

2015

Ecosphere

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Abstract. Organisms transporting nutrients from highly productive ecosystems can subsidize food webs and alter ecosystem processes. For example, the carcasses and eggs of migratory Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) provide a high-quality food source that could potentially benefit other species of salmon rearing in fresh water. We investigated relationships between spawning chum (O. keta) and pink (O. gorbuscha) salmon density, and the body size and age of juvenile coho salmon (O. kisutch) in 17 streams on the central coast of British Columbia, Canada. Chum salmon density was the most consistently important and positive correlate of coho body size, in comparison with pink salmon density, juvenile coho salmon density, and numerous characteristics of habitats. This was shown by comparisons both among and within streams, and between sites above and below natural barriers to spawning chum and pink salmon. In addition, streams that had higher chum and pink salmon spawning densities had a higher proportion of age 0 coho (less age 1), suggesting earlier juvenile coho salmon migration to the ocean with increased spawning salmon nutrient availability. Most of the coho salmon sampled had little or no direct contact with spawning chum and pink salmon, which suggests an indirect, time-delayed influence on coho salmon body size.

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“…Coastal brown bears are particularly dependent on anadromous salmon, with body size, fecundity and densities all strongly positively correlated with salmon abundance [6]. Recognition of the importance of the annual pulse of salmonderived resources for coastal watersheds has prompted efforts to assess the trade-offs between allocating salmon to commercial fisheries versus a variety of ecosystem processes such as providing a high-quality resource subsidy to coastal bear populations [7,8]. However, such efforts have focused specifically on the trade-offs associated with allocating salmon abundance between fisheries and ecosystems, and have not assessed whether the life-history variation within salmon species affects their profitability to terrestrial consumers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Riding the crimson tide: mobile terrestrial consumers track phenological variation in spawning of an anadromous fish

et al. 2013

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When resources are spatially and temporally variable, consumers can increase their foraging success by moving to track ephemeral feeding opportunities as these shift across the landscape; the best examples derive from herbivoreplant systems, where grazers migrate to capitalize on the seasonal waves of vegetation growth. We evaluated whether analogous processes occur in watersheds supporting spawning sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka), asking whether seasonal activities of predators and scavengers shift spatial distributions to capitalize on asynchronous spawning among populations of salmon. Both glaucous-winged gulls and coastal brown bears showed distinct shifts in their spatial distributions over the course of the summer, reflecting the shifting distribution of spawning sockeye salmon, which was associated with variation in water temperature among spawning sites. By tracking the spatial and temporal variation in the phenology of their principal prey, consumers substantially extended their foraging opportunity on a superabundant, yet locally ephemeral, resource. Ecosystem-based fishery management efforts that seek to balance trade-offs between fisheries and ecosystem processes supported by salmon should, therefore, assess the importance of life-history variation, particularly in phenological traits, for maintaining important ecosystem functions, such as providing marine-derived resources for terrestrial predators and scavengers.

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Using Grizzly Bears to Assess Harvest-Ecosystem Tradeoffs in Salmon Fisheries

Abstract: Using grizzly bears as surrogates for “salmon ecosystem” function, the authors develop a generalizable ecosystem-based management framework that enables decision-makers to quantify ecosystem-harvest tradeoffs between wild and human recipients of natural resources like fish.

Cited by 66 publications

References 34 publications

Grizzly bear monitoring by the Heiltsuk people as a crucible for First Nation conservation practice

Grizzly bear monitoring by the Heiltsuk people as a crucible for First Nation conservation practice

Effects of subsidies from spawning chum and pink salmon on juvenile coho salmon body size and migration timing

Riding the crimson tide: mobile terrestrial consumers track phenological variation in spawning of an anadromous fish

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