A Place to Call Home: A Synthesis of Delta Smelt Habitat in the Upper San Francisco Estuary

Sommer, Ted; Mejia, Francine

doi:10.15447/sfews.2013v11iss2art4

Cited by 87 publications

(140 citation statements)

References 81 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

121

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Liberty Island appears to have a high proportion of native to alien fishes, particularly in wet years. Abundant planktivores are found in the region, including Delta Smelt, Threadfin Shad and American Shad, consistent with NSBI predictions (Lindberg and Marzuola 1993;Sommer et al 2011;Sommer and Mejia 2013).…”

Section: Discussion Evaluating Regional Differencessupporting

confidence: 82%

Evaluating the Aquatic Habitat Potential of Flooded Polders in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta

Durand¹

2017

SFEWS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Discussion Evaluating Regional Differencessupporting

confidence: 82%

Evaluating the Aquatic Habitat Potential of Flooded Polders in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta

Durand¹

2017

SFEWS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…To gain a better understanding of the extent of this ecological interaction between Delta Smelt and Mississippi Silversides, knowledge of the life history of both species is crucial. However, though multiple studies have described the biology and population dynamics of Delta Smelt (Moyle et al 1992;Bennett 2005;Feyrer et al 2007;Merz et al 2011;Sommer et al 2011;Sommer and Mejia 2013;Rose et al 2013), little is known about the life history and habitat associations of Mississippi Silversides within the Delta. Characterizing the abundance and distribution of this invasive species with environmental factors may provide insight into what has allowed Mississippi Silverside to become so widespread and abundant in this system.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Abundance Trends, Distribution, and Habitat Associations of the Invasive Mississippi Silverside (Menidia audens) in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, California USA

Mahardja¹,

Conrad²,

Lusher³

et al. 2016

SFEWS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although many alien fish species have colonized the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta), few are as pervasive and abundant as Mississippi Silversides (Menidia audens). Moreover, Mississippi Silversides are hypothesized to be an intra-guild predator of the endangered Delta Smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus). Because of their prevalence in the Delta and potential predation on Delta Smelt, Mississippi Silversides may have far-reaching effects on both the aquatic ecosystem and conservation management policies of the region. Yet little is known about how Mississippi Silverside abundance and distribution have changed within the Delta, or how they respond to various habitat attributes such as temperature, turbidity, and flow. We examined 19 years of beach seine survey data to evaluate how the abundance and distribution of Mississippi Silversides has changed over the years, characterize their habitat associations, and determine the environmental factors that predict their annual cohort strength. Concurrent with the decline of several pelagic fish species in the San Francisco Estuary in the early 2000s, we observed a significant increase in Mississippi Silverside catch that was accompanied by a moderate distributional shift in which densities increased in the western Delta region. We also found that the occurrence of this highly prolific alien species was associated with higher water temperature, higher turbidity, relatively low conductivity, and moderate to high levels of dissolved oxygen. Lastly, we demonstrated that freshwater input to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta during the summer and water exports during the spring months were both negatively correlated with the annual cohort size of Mississippi Silversides in the region. Our study identified the environmental variables deserving additional attention in future studies involving Mississippi Silverside and suggests that the species favors habitat conditions that are likely to be detrimental for pelagic species such as Delta Smelt. KEY WORDSMississippi Silverside, invasive species biology, Menidia audens, littoral fish, life history RESEARCH

show abstract

“…Wild collection data are from the '20 mm Survey' conducted between March and July from 1995 to 2015 (Sommer and Mejia, 2013), which collects the life-stage most relevant for this study. The delta smelt collected by the 20 mm survey were 21.2 mm (±9.58 mm s.d.…”

Section: Materials and Methods Habitat Temperaturesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the crossroads of human demands for water and conservation of the Delta are several high-profile native pelagic fishes (Sommer et al, 2007). These include two estuary-dependent Osmeridae fishes, the threatened anadromous longfin smelt (Spirinchus thaleichthys), the southernmost population of the species that ranges from California to Alaska, and the endangered delta smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus), a semi-anadromous species with a distribution confined to the Delta (Moyle, 2002;Sommer and Mejia, 2013). Abundances have reached record lows in California, and conservation efforts to protect these species by regulating water withdrawals from the system are particularly contentious as this affects the water supply for >25 million people and a multibillion dollar agriculture industry (Brown et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The utility of transcriptomics in fish conservation

Connon

Jeffries

Komoroske

et al. 2018

Journal of Experimental Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

There is growing recognition of the need to understand the mechanisms underlying organismal resilience (i.e. tolerance, acclimatization) to environmental change to support the conservation management of sensitive and economically important species. Here, we discuss how functional genomics can be used in conservation biology to provide a cellular-level understanding of organismal responses to environmental conditions. In particular, the integration of transcriptomics with physiological and ecological research is increasingly playing an important role in identifying functional physiological thresholds predictive of compensatory responses and detrimental outcomes, transforming the way we can study issues in conservation biology. Notably, with technological advances in RNA sequencing, transcriptome-wide approaches can now be applied to species where no prior genomic sequence information is available to develop species-specific tools and investigate sublethal impacts that can contribute to population declines over generations and undermine prospects for long-term conservation success. Here, we examine the use of transcriptomics as a means of determining organismal responses to environmental stressors and use key study examples of conservation concern in fishes to highlight the added value of transcriptome-wide data to the identification of functional response pathways. Finally, we discuss the gaps between the core science and policy frameworks and how thresholds identified through transcriptomic evaluations provide evidence that can be more readily used by resource managers.

show abstract

A Place to Call Home: A Synthesis of Delta Smelt Habitat in the Upper San Francisco Estuary

Cited by 87 publications

References 81 publications

Evaluating the Aquatic Habitat Potential of Flooded Polders in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta

Evaluating the Aquatic Habitat Potential of Flooded Polders in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta

Abundance Trends, Distribution, and Habitat Associations of the Invasive Mississippi Silverside (Menidia audens) in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, California USA

The utility of transcriptomics in fish conservation

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About