The diadromous watersheds-ocean continuum: Managing diadromous fish as a community for ecosystem resilience

Ouellet, Valérie; Collins, M. J.; Kocik, John F.; Saunders, Rory; Sheehan, Timothy F.; Ogburn, Matthew B.; Lake, Tara Trinko

doi:10.3389/fevo.2022.1007599

Cited by 9 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 222 publications

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“…This approach has similarly been adopted in the recovery plans for other anadromous fishes, such as the endangered Coho salmon in California [ 76 ]. Furthermore, restoring aquatic connectivity for river herring spawning migrations can help recover additional ecological functions and ecosystem services along the ecosystem gradient of the watershed-ocean continuum [ 77 ]. River herring serve as forage prey for other birds, mammals, fish like the recreationally valuable striped bass, while transporting nutrients from the marine environment into freshwater ecosystems [ 78 , 79 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early detection and recovery of river herring spawning habitat use in response to a mainstem dam removal

et al. 2023

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Historical loss of river and stream habitats due to impassable dams has contributed to the severe decline of many fish species. Anadromous fishes that migrate from the sea to freshwater streams to spawn have been especially impacted as dams restrict these fish from accessing ancestral spawning grounds. In 2018, Bloede Dam was removed from the Patapsco River near Baltimore, Maryland, restoring approximately 100 km of potential habitat for migratory fish. We assessed the response of anadromous river herring, alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) and blueback herring (Alosa aestivalis), to this dam removal by monitoring environmental DNA (eDNA) and eggs from 2015 to 2021 at locations upstream and downstream of the dam site during their spawning migrations. We additionally assessed the presence of fish by collecting electrofishing samples and tracked the movements of individual adult fish within the river using passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags. No adult river herring, eDNA, or eggs were detected upstream of Bloede Dam in the four years prior to its removal despite the presence of a fish ladder. Our results suggest initial habitat use recovery by spawning river herring in the first year post-removal, although a relatively small proportion of the population in the river used the newly accessible habitat. In the three years post-removal, the likelihood of detecting river herring eDNA upstream of the former dam site increased to 5% for alewife and 13% for blueback herring. Two adult fish were also collected in electrofishing samples upstream of the dam site in 2021. We found no evidence of changes in egg abundance and no tagged fish were detected upstream of the dam site post-removal. While long term monitoring is needed to assess population changes, this study highlights the value of integrating methods for comprehensive understanding of habitat use following dam removal.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early detection and recovery of river herring spawning habitat use in response to a mainstem dam removal

et al. 2023

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“…In conclusion, our study suggested that global approaches such as the regional and coast‐wide initiative conducted by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission in the last benchmark stock assessment (ASMFC, 2020) may be widely beneficial to management. While most management actions are still directed locally, actions at national and global scales are required to mitigate the climate change effect on species stocks (Kritzer et al, 2022; Ouellet et al, 2022). GR3D explicitly integrates range‐limit processes such as dispersal and enables us to forecast how changing conditions may affect population dynamics since multiple processes are influenced by temperature.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of straying, reproductive strategies, and ocean distribution on the structure of American shad populations

Poulet,

Lassalle,

Jordaan

et al. 2023

Ecosphere

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The use of species distribution models has proliferated, providing insights for sustainable management of migratory species in a globally changing environment. However, many of these models are based on statistical relationships developed from historical conditions that may not perform well under changing or even analogous conditions caused by climate change. In this paper, we used a mechanistic species distribution model called GR3D (Global Repositioning Dynamics for Diadromous Fish Distribution) to examine the integrated dynamics of American shad (Alosa sapidissima) populations across their native range along the Eastern U.S. coast, where the species demonstrates latitudinal variations in life histories and reproductive strategies. The initial design of the model was adapted to incorporate region‐specific parameterization to fit the species ecology. Then, a sensitivity analysis was performed to test the influences of uncertain processes regarding American shad distribution at sea, straying and reproduction on key characteristics of the species distribution. The sensitivity analysis showed the influence of the Allee effect (i.e., “depensatory” process) and the homing rate (i.e., fidelity to the breeding sites) on the probability of presence and abundances among catchments and metapopulations estimated by the model. Contrary to the homing rate, the distance of straying did not change the estimated number of metapopulations or abundances. Homing strength, however, was quite influential. The integration of complex migration patterns during the marine phase (i.e., wintering and summering offshore areas) provided more likely estimates of the species' overall distribution. Overall, our study illustrated the utility of incorporating factors governing the large‐scale distribution of migratory species to improve local management.

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“…The Atlantic salmon Endangered Species Act listing is unique in recognizing the need for recovery of the full diadromous community as critical to recovery. Additionally, recent work suggests that the ecosystem services provided by diadromous fish collectively are important to climate resilience across river, estuary, and ocean habitats [120].…”

Section: Plos Climatementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Projects arising through these efforts include two noted in Section 6.2 associated with Atlantic salmon: a range-wide analysis of existing and projected habitat conditions for Atlantic salmon and baseflow mapping across Maine watersheds [104]. Synthesis work on diadromous fish communities and ecosystem interactions of these twelve species was also completed [120]. It describes the structure and function of diadromous fish communities in freshwater ecosystems, synthesizes species ecosystem roles and interactions in the U. S. NES, and discusses changing environmental conditions in rivers, estuaries, and the coastal ocean.…”

Section: Watersheds and Estuariesmentioning

confidence: 99%

NOAA fisheries research geared towards climate-ready living marine resource management in the northeast United States

Saba,

Borggaard,

Caracappa

et al. 2023

PLOS Clim

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Climate change can alter marine ecosystems through changes in ocean temperature, acidification, circulation, and productivity. Over the last decade, the United States northeast continental shelf (U.S. NES) has warmed faster than any other marine ecosystem in the country and is among the fastest warming regions of the global ocean. Many living marine resources in the U.S. NES ranging from recreational and commercial fish stocks to protected species have shifted their distribution in response to ocean warming. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) is responsible for the assessment, protection, and sustainable use of the nation’s living marine resources. In the U.S. NES, NOAA Fisheries has made substantial progress on climate research related to fish, fisheries, and protected species. However, more research is needed to help inform tactical management decisions with the goal of climate-ready living marine resource management. This is a major challenge because the observed physical and biological changes are unprecedented, and the majority of marine species assessments and management decisions do not utilize environmental data. Here we review the research accomplishments and key needs for NOAA Fisheries in the U.S. NES in the context of climate change and living marine resource management. Key research needs and products are: 1) Infrastructure with continued and enhanced ocean surveys that includes cooperative research with the fishing industry and other NOAA line offices and partners; 2) Tracking and projecting change, and understanding mechanisms including state of the ecosystem reporting, improved regional ocean and ecosystem hindcasts, forecasts, and projections, and continued process-based laboratory and field studies, 3) climate-informed management, including stock assessments that account for climate where possible, translation of changing species distributions into spatial management, climate vulnerability assessment and scenario planning, ecosystem-based management, management strategy evaluations, and increased multidisciplinary science that includes economic and social indicators.

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The diadromous watersheds-ocean continuum: Managing diadromous fish as a community for ecosystem resilience

Cited by 9 publications

References 222 publications

Early detection and recovery of river herring spawning habitat use in response to a mainstem dam removal

Early detection and recovery of river herring spawning habitat use in response to a mainstem dam removal

Effect of straying, reproductive strategies, and ocean distribution on the structure of American shad populations

NOAA fisheries research geared towards climate-ready living marine resource management in the northeast United States

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