ABSTRACT. Despite their dual importance in the assessment of endangered/threatened species, there have been few attempts to integrate traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and evolutionary biology knowledge (EBK) at the population level. We contrasted long-term aboriginal TEK with previously obtained EBK in the context of seasonal migratory habits and population biology of a salmonid fish, brook charr, (Salvelinus fontinalis) inhabiting a large, remote postglacial lake. Compilation of TEK spanning four decades involved analytical workshops, semidirective interviews, and collaborative fieldwork with local aboriginal informants and fishing guides. We found that TEK complemented EBK of brook charr by providing concordant and additional information about (1) population viability; (2) breeding areas and migration patterns of divergent populations; and (3) the behavioral ecology of populations within feeding areas; all of which may ultimately affect the maintenance of population diversity. Aboriginal concerns related to human pressures on this species, not revealed by EBK, also help to focus future conservation initiatives for divergent populations and to encourage restoration of traditional fishing practices. However, relative to EBK, the relevance of TEK to salmonid biodiversity conservation was evident mainly at a smaller spatial scale, for example, that of individual rivers occupied by populations or certain lake sectors. Nevertheless, EBK was only collected over a 4-yr period, so TEK provided an essential long-term temporal window to evaluate population differences and persistence. We concluded that, despite different conceptual underpinnings, spatially and temporally varying TEK and EBK both contribute to the knowledge base required to achieve sustainability and effective biodiversity conservation planning for a given species. Such integration may be particularly relevant in many isolated regions, where intraspecific diversity can go unrecognized due to sparse scientific knowledge or undocumented TEK, and where governmental agencies and local communities increasingly seek to find common ground on which to address biodiversity issues.

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The lower segments of tributary streams provide the only remaining backwater habitat for much of the lower Missouri River. We describe the movements of adult channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus between a 13‐km segment of the Missouri River and a tributary, Perche Creek, that enters the river in this segment to determine the extent to which river‐dwelling fish use the tributary habitats. We used mark‐recapture techniques to describe movements offish larger than 250 mm in total length between these habitats during a 22‐month period. Most fish (59%) initially caught, recaptured, or both in the Missouri River moved into or out of Perche Creek, and most of these transient fish (72%) used the lower 8 km of the tributary. The tributary population was made up predominantly of resident fish (79%), which were initially caught and recaptured in Perche Creek. Channel catfish moved greater distances in the spring than in the fall and were more likely to move upstream in the spring and downstream in the fall. Fish shorter than 250 mm were more abundant in the river than in the creek and made up 45 and 35% of the catches in each area, respectively. Furthermore, of the fish longer than 280 mm, a greater proportion of the fish resident in the river (44%) than in the creek (33%) were longer than 380 mm. More fish longer than 380 mm moved from the creek to the river (44%) than from the river to the creek (26%). Thus, the tributary habitat was used most frequently by fish 280–380 mm long. Flathead catfish Pylodictis olivaris were much less abundant in the creek than in the river and did not provide sufficient sample sizes to evaluate movement patterns. However, based on abundances in our catches, the proportion of river flathead catfish using the creek was much lower than for channel catfish. Most of the few flathead catfish found in the creek were longer than 280 mm.

Most of the backwater habitat in the floodplain of the lower Missouri River has been eliminated, but the lower reaches of tributaries have flow and depth characteristics similar to backwaters. We sampled the assemblages of fish larvae and age‐0 juveniles in the lower 8 km of four tributaries and in the Missouri River main channel to determine the extent to which riverine species use these backwaters for early life history stages. We also sought to determine which tributary characteristics were associated with use by riverine species. Densities of 8 of the 10 fish taxa analyzed were greater in tributaries than in the Missouri River in 1987 and 1988. The composition of the larval fish fauna varied: carpsuckers Carpiodes spp., goldeye Hiodon alosoides, freshwater drum Aplodinotus grunniens, and common carp Cyprinus carpio occurred in large rivers; whereas mostly gizzard shad Dorsosoma cepedianum, nearctic cyprinids (mostly emerald shiner Notropis atherinoides and red shiner Cyprinella lutrensis), and sunfishes Lepomis spp. occurred in small tributaries. Assemblages in large tributaries included large‐river and small‐tributary taxa. The gradient in assemblage composition, from small‐tributary fauna to large‐river fauna, corresponded to a gradient in channel morphometry, from shallow waters and coarse substrate to greater channel depths and fine sediments. The complex pattern of flow between the Missouri River and its tributaries and the diversity of tributary morphometry were associated with, and may be critical to, productivity and the maintenance of a diverse fish fauna.

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