Elevated stream temperature, origin, and individual size influence Chinook salmon prespawn mortality across the Columbia River Basin

Bowerman, Tracy; Keefer, Matthew L.; Caudill, Christopher C.

doi:10.1016/j.fishres.2021.105874

Cited by 31 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…It was also well beyond our study scope to assess other biologically meaningful indicators of biological effectiveness. This included how reproductive success or fitness of individuals or populations was associated with prior fish behaviors at the dams and the potential for delayed effects or associations between dam passage behavior and mortality [ 55 ], including prespawn mortality in spawning areas [ 131 , 132 ]. Measuring the potential delayed or cumulative effects of dam passage on fitness requires data on post-passage survival, spawning success, and survival of progeny [e.g., 93 , 133 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…What is reasonably well understood is that adult migration rates through multi-dam CRB reaches are sensitive to river discharge and temperature [e.g., 43 , 134 ] and that decades-long warming (and reduced discharge) in the migration corridor has led to faster migration by some populations [e.g., 89 ] and a mix of faster and slower migration for others [e.g., 51 , 54 ]. Warmer conditions also raise the energetic cost of migration, and the nexus of migration speed, river temperatures, and bioenergetics has been a recent adult research focus in the CRB [e.g., 44 , 106 , 131 , 132 , 135 ]. Developing empirical relationships among adult passage behaviors (e.g., passage rate and efficiency) and subsequent fitness outcomes is critical to defining biologically appropriate effectiveness targets in the CRB, especially because conditions are predicted to warm in the region [e.g., 136 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Technical fishway passage structures provide high passage efficiency and effective passage for adult Pacific salmonids at eight large dams

et al. 2021

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Fishways have been widely used for upstream passage around human-built structures, but ‘success’ has varied dramatically. Evaluation of fishway success has typically been conducted at local scales using metrics such as fish passage efficiency and passage time, but evaluations are increasingly used in broader assessments of whether passage facilities meet population-specific conservation and management objectives. Over 15 years, we monitored passage effectiveness at eight dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers for 26,886 radio-tagged spring-summer and fall Chinook Salmon O. tshwaytscha, Sockeye Salmon O. nerka, and summer steelhead O. mykiss during their migrations to spawning sites. Almost all fish that entered dam tailraces eventually approached and entered fishways. Tailrace-to-forebay passage efficiency estimates at individual dams were consistently high, averaging 0.966 (SD = 0.035) across 245 run×year×dam combinations. These estimates are among the highest recorded for any migratory species, which we attribute to the scale of evaluation, salmonid life history traits (e.g., philopatry), and a sustained adaptive management approach to fishway design, maintenance, and improvement. Full-dam fish passage times were considerably more variable, with run×year×dam medians ranging from 5–65 h. Evaluation at larger scales provided evidence that fishways were biologically effective, e.g., we observed rapid migration rates (medians = 28–40 km/d) through river reaches with multiple dams and estimated fisheries-adjusted upstream migration survival of 67–69%. However, there were substantive uncertainties regarding effectiveness. Uncertainty about natal origins confounded estimation of population-specific survival and interpretation of apparent dam passage ‘failure’, while lack of post-migration reproductive data precluded analyses of delayed or cumulative effects of passing the impounded system on fish fitness. Although the technical fishways are effective for salmonids in the Columbia-Snake River system, other co-migrating species have lower passage rates, highlighting the need for species-specific design and evaluation wherever passage facilities impact fish management and conservation goals.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Technical fishway passage structures provide high passage efficiency and effective passage for adult Pacific salmonids at eight large dams

et al. 2021

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“…Environmental variables can also interact with both demographic variables and phenotypic traits, such as density, size, or origin, to predict survival in salmonids (Bowerman et al, 2021 ; Crozier et al, 2008 ; Zabel et al, 2006 ). While we recognize the need for these types of environmental data in studies predicting fitness, we also understand the potential difficulty in obtaining these metrics during field sampling.…”

Section: Caveats Future Directions and Conservation Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

An evaluation of the potential factors affecting lifetime reproductive success in salmonids

Koch

Narum

2021

Evolutionary Applications

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Lifetime reproductive success (LRS), the number of offspring produced over an organism's lifetime, is a fundamental component of Darwinian fitness. For taxa such as salmonids with multiple species of conservation concern, understanding the factors affecting LRS is critical for the development and implementation of successful conservation management practices. Here, we reviewed the published literature to synthesize factors affecting LRS in salmonids including significant effects of hatchery rearing, life history, and phenotypic variation, and behavioral and spawning interactions. Additionally, we found that LRS is affected by competitive behavior on the spawning grounds, genetic compatibility, local adaptation, and hybridization. Our review of existing literature revealed limitations of LRS studies, and we emphasize the following areas that warrant further attention in future research: (1) expanding the range of studies assessing LRS across different life‐history strategies, specifically accounting for distinct reproductive and migratory phenotypes; (2) broadening the variety of species represented in salmonid fitness studies; (3) constructing multigenerational pedigrees to track long‐term fitness effects; (4) conducting LRS studies that investigate the effects of aquatic stressors, such as anthropogenic effects, pathogens, environmental factors in both freshwater and marine environments, and assessing overall body condition, and (5) utilizing appropriate statistical approaches to determine the factors that explain the greatest variation in fitness and providing information regarding biological significance, power limitations, and potential sources of error in salmonid parentage studies. Overall, this review emphasizes that studies of LRS have profoundly advanced scientific understanding of salmonid fitness, but substantial challenges need to be overcome to assist with long‐term recovery of these keystone species in aquatic ecosystems.

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“…More broadly, Bowerman et al. (2021) found that spring‐run Chinook Salmon adults in the mid‐ and upper Columbia River regions and spring‐/summer‐run adults in the Snake River region all suffered high levels of prespawn mortality in years when mean August temperature exceeded 18°C. In a regression model pooling data from throughout the Pacific Northwest, the prespawn mortality averaged about 50% as mean August temperature approached 20°C, but there was considerable scatter, suggesting important roles for environmental heterogeneity and local adaptation (Bowerman et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a regression model pooling data from throughout the Pacific Northwest, the prespawn mortality averaged about 50% as mean August temperature approached 20°C, but there was considerable scatter, suggesting important roles for environmental heterogeneity and local adaptation (Bowerman et al. 2021). Torgersen et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Capacity of Two Sierra Nevada Rivers for Reintroduction of Anadromous Salmonids: Insights from a High‐Resolution View

et al. 2021

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Historically, anadromous steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss and spring‐run Chinook Salmon O. tshawytscha used high‐elevation rivers in the Sierra Nevada of California but were extirpated in the 20th century by construction of impassable dams. Plans to reintroduce the fish by opening migratory passage across the dams and reservoirs can only succeed if upstream habitats have the capacity to support viable populations of each species. To estimate capacity in the Tuolumne and Merced rivers of the central Sierra Nevada, we used a high‐resolution approach based on remote sensing and dynamic habitat modeling. Our results suggested that for both species in both systems, sediment grain sizes would support widespread spawning and the water temperatures, depths, and velocities would generate ample capacity for fry and juveniles. However, the unregulated Merced River was consistently too warm for adult Chinook Salmon to hold in the dry season prior to spawning, while the regulated Tuolumne River maintained a cooler, more stable thermal regime with a capacity for thousands of holding adults. In our high‐resolution approach, we also discovered several specific physical controls on life history expression, including thermal constraints on the timing of spawning, hydraulic prompts for downstream migration of fry, divergence of the hydraulic niches of steelhead and Chinook Salmon, and a key but uncertain role for thermal tolerance in adult Chinook Salmon. Our results suggested that steelhead reintroduction could succeed in either system and Chinook Salmon could succeed in the Tuolumne River if passage strategies account for large numbers of migrant fry and juveniles driven downstream by winter storms and snowmelt. The Merced River appeared too warm for adult Chinook Salmon, which raises questions about the current limited understanding of thermal tolerance in holding adults. Our study shows how a high‐resolution approach can provide valuable insights on specific limiting factors that must be addressed for reintroduction to succeed.

show abstract

Elevated stream temperature, origin, and individual size influence Chinook salmon prespawn mortality across the Columbia River Basin

Cited by 31 publications

References 73 publications

Technical fishway passage structures provide high passage efficiency and effective passage for adult Pacific salmonids at eight large dams

Technical fishway passage structures provide high passage efficiency and effective passage for adult Pacific salmonids at eight large dams

An evaluation of the potential factors affecting lifetime reproductive success in salmonids

Capacity of Two Sierra Nevada Rivers for Reintroduction of Anadromous Salmonids: Insights from a High‐Resolution View

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