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GROWTH, SURVIVAL AND MOVEMENT OF JUVENILE SALMONIDS AS INDICATORS OF HABITAT QUALITY
Citation:
Ebersole, J L., P. J. WIGINGTON JR, J P. Baker, M A. Cairns, M R. Church, J E. Compton, S G. Leibowitz, R D. White, AND B. Hansen. GROWTH, SURVIVAL AND MOVEMENT OF JUVENILE SALMONIDS AS INDICATORS OF HABITAT QUALITY. Presented at American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting, Madison, WI, August 22-26, 2004.
Description:
Fish-habitat relationships have often relied on measures of fish abundance as indices of habitat quality. Indices based on abundance measures may be misleading, however, due to high turnover rates in suboptimal habitats, seasonality of habitat use, or lagged responses to habitat conditions. We are investigating habitat-specific demographics and movement characteristics of PIT-tagged juvenile salmonids in the West Fork Smith River, a 6800 ha watershed in coastal Oregon to evaluate the relationship of habitat conditions to growth, survival and movement. Pre-winter size and condition of juvenile coho salmon varied by watershed location, and was correlated with summer water temperature and other habitat characteristics. Smolt size the following spring, however, was not associated with location of origin due to spatially-variable growth rates and winter movement of juvenile coho salmon within the watershed. Year-round sampling of fish, water chemistry, streamflow, temperature, and physical habitat is ongoing and will provide spatial and temporal context to relationships among fish distribution, survival and growth at a watershed scale.