An experiment and a mark‐recapture field study of juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) were conducted to identify controls of key energy flow chains in river food webs. In the small‐scale experiment, we investigated the individual and interactive effects of physical habitat structure (PHS) as small wood and resource availability (tissue of adult Chinook salmon, O. tshawytscha) on nutrients, algae, invertebrates, and fish predators including juvenile coho. In the field, we quantified the effects of natural variation in prey availability (invertebrate drift biomass), PHS (wood), and local fish density on summer growth of juvenile coho across multiple stream reaches. Adding salmon tissue to experimental channels resulted in strong bottom‐up effects on select invertebrates including increased population biomass of chironomids and baetids, the numerically dominant invertebrates, and faster growth of juvenile coho. We link the enhanced growth of coho to chironomid productivity: for instance, adult chironomid flux was 4.3× higher and coho consumption of these animals 3× higher in salmon‐subsidized channels. PHS in experimental channels was associated with reduced algal biomass, potentially in response to increased invertebrate consumption, and invertebrate flux or export. The field study revealed coho growth was negatively related to PHS and total fish density and positively related to Diptera drift biomass; however, the effects of fish density and drift biomass on coho growth were relatively weak. The field study also indicated that prey resource availability and coho growth were associated with differences in canopy cover, with prey biomass and coho growth 2–4× higher in reaches receiving more sunlight. As in the experiment, coho in natural stream reaches predominantly fed on adult chironomids and other Diptera, indicating that these taxa and life‐stages are a key link between the benthic food web and mobile vertebrate predators. Our study showed that bottom‐up processes initiated by salmon subsidies and possibly light flux determined key trophic interactions in the Cedar River food web. Moreover, we speculate that PHS may modify some of these interactions indirectly through its effects on the movement of organisms through the environment.
Radiotherapy components of an magnetic resonnace-guided radiotherapy (MRgRT) system can alter the magnetic fields, causing spatial distortion and image deformation, altering imaging and radiation isocenter coincidence and the accuracy of dose calculations. This work presents a characterization of radiotherapy component impact on MR imaging quality in terms of imaging isocenter variation and spatial integrity changes on a 0.35T MRgRT system, pre-and postupgrade of the system. The impact of gantry position, MLC field size, and treatment table power state on imaging isocenter and spatial integrity were investigated. A spatial integrity phantom was used for all tests. Images were acquired for gantry angles 0-330°at 30°increments to assess the impact of gantry position. For MLC and table power state tests all images were acquired at the home gantry position (330°). MLC field sizes ranged from 1.66 to 27.4 cm edge length square fields. Imaging isocenter shift caused by gantry position was reduced from 1.7 mm at gantry 150°preupgrade to 0.9 mm at gantry 120°postupgrade. Maximum spatial integrity errors were 0.5 mm or less preand postupgrade for all gantry angles, MLC field sizes, and treatment table power states. However, when the treatment table was powered on, there was significant reduction in SNR. This study showed that gantry position can impact imaging isocenter, but spatial integrity errors were not dependent on gantry position, MLC field size, or treatment table power state. Significant isocenter variation, while reduced postupgrade, is cause for further investigation.
Research showing that salmon carcasses support the productivity and biodiversity of 3 aquatic and riparian ecosystems has been conducted over a variety of spatial and temporal scales. 4In some studies, carcasses were manipulated in a single pulse or loading rate or manipulations 5 occurred during summer and early fall, rather than simulating the natural dynamic of an extended 6 spawning period, a gradient of loading rates, or testing carcass effects in late fall-early winter 7 when some salmon stocks in the US Pacific Northwest spawn. To address these discrepancies, period. We found little evidence that carcasses influenced primary producer biomass or fish 13 growth; however, nutrients and some primary consumer populations increased with loading rate. 14 These effects varied through time, however. We hypothesize that the variable effects of carcasses 15 were a result of ambient abiotic condition, such as light, temperature and disturbance that 16 constrained trophic response. There was some evidence to suggest peak responses for primary 17 producers and consumers occurred at a loading rate of ~1.0 -2.0 kg/m 2 , which was similar to 18 other experimental studies conducted during summer. 19 20
We investigated physical habitat conditions associated with the spawning sites of Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha and the interannual consistency of spawning distribution across multiple spatial scales using a combination of spatially continuous and discrete sampling methods. We conducted a census of aquatic habitat in 76 km of the upper main-stem Yakima River in Washington and evaluated spawning site distribution using redd survey data from 2004 to 2008. Interannual reoccupation of spawning areas was high, ranging from an average Pearson's correlation of 0.62 to 0.98 in channel subunits and 10-km reaches, respectively. Annual variance in the interannual correlation of spawning distribution was highest in channel units and subunits, but it was low at reach scales. In 13 of 15 models developed for
Mobile species are particularly affected by artificial barriers requiring large investments to restore connectivity. However, few large-scale, long-term studies have investigated the ecological outcomes of restoring connectivity for these species. Our study, spanning 15-20 years, quantified response trajectories, which represent temporal trends following disturbance, of three native salmonids colonizing 20 km of protected habitat following restoration of fish passage at Landsburg Dam, Cedar River, WA, in 2003. Built in 1901, the dam blocked the upriver movement of native anadromous coho and Chinook salmon and nonanadromous mountain whitefish for 102 years. Restoration effectiveness was also assessed by comparing temporal trends in freshwater productivity of juvenile coho and Chinook salmon in the Cedar River after restoration to a nearby undammed subbasin. We also compared summer densities of juvenile coho and Chinook salmon, and mountain whitefish above the dam measured a decade after restoration to undammed reference systems. Anadromous salmon and nonanadromous mountain whitefish populations increased linearly or nonlinearly following restoration. The positive, asymptotic response represented by adult Chinook salmon counts indicates a slowing in population recovery rate, plateauing a decade after restoration. In contrast, annual abundance of adult coho salmon increased at a constant rate, indicating additional capacity 15 years post-restoration. Salmonid compositional diversity, driven largely by juvenile coho salmon, also increased nonlinearly, plateauing in a decade. We observed substantial spatial variation in the temporal response, as juvenile coho salmon and mountain whitefish population expansion slowed linearly with upstream distance from the restoration site. There was evidence that some of the annual variation in salmonid biomass in summer was a result of discharge variability in winter and spring, with biomass declining as flow variability increased. Species reintroduction and establishment had no discernible effect on stream-rearing salmonids living above
Okanogan summer‐run Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha holding in the Similkameen River near Oroville, Washington. Photo credit: Brian Miller, Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. The Ecosystem Diagnosis and Treatment model (EDT) is a deterministic, life cycle‐based habitat model developed to support the conservation and recovery of declining Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp. and steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss in the Pacific Northwest. Originally conceived in the 1990s, the current generation of EDT is proving its value as a data synthesis and analysis platform, capable of transforming complex environmental data into useful quantitative metrics to guide decision making. Here we describe the integration of EDT with long‐term research, monitoring, and evaluation in the Okanogan River in the state of Washington to support the ongoing conservation and recovery of steelhead listed under the Endangered Species Act. The lessons learned in this important Columbia River subbasin demonstrate the value of EDT as an adaptive management tool that is both effective and transferable. Modeling tools like EDT are one of many technological advances that will help resource managers identify priority habitats for conservation and restoration.
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