Importance of large woody debris for juvenile chinook salmon habitat in small boreal forest streams in the upper Yukon River basin, Canada
The importance of large woody debris (LWD) in forested stream ecosystems is well documented. However, little is known about LWD in northern boreal forest streams. We investigated the abundance, characteristics, and function of LWD in 13 small tributary streams of the upper Yukon River basin, Yukon T...
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/x04-066 2023-12-17T10:51:32+01:00 Importance of large woody debris for juvenile chinook salmon habitat in small boreal forest streams in the upper Yukon River basin, Canada Mossop, Brent Bradford, Michael J 2004 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/x04-066 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/x04-066 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Forest Research volume 34, issue 9, page 1955-1966 ISSN 0045-5067 1208-6037 Ecology Forestry Global and Planetary Change journal-article 2004 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/x04-066 2023-11-19T13:38:52Z The importance of large woody debris (LWD) in forested stream ecosystems is well documented. However, little is known about LWD in northern boreal forest streams. We investigated the abundance, characteristics, and function of LWD in 13 small tributary streams of the upper Yukon River basin, Yukon Territory, Canada. LWD abundance was similar to values reported from temperate regions, whereas LWD size and total volume were well below values for the Pacific Northwest. LWD formed 28% of the pools, which provide important habitat for juvenile chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha Walbaum). The median diameter of pool-forming pieces was 17 cm, and ring counts on fallen riparian trees indicated that pool-forming pieces were likely 70200 years old when downed. Juvenile chinook salmon density was correlated with LWD abundance in our study reaches. We conclude that despite differences in climate and forest type, LWD in Yukon streams and LWD in temperate regions appear to perform a similar function in creating fish habitat. Resource managers should consider the relatively slow tree growth and thus potentially long recovery times following human disturbances in these watersheds. Article in Journal/Newspaper Yukon river Yukon Canadian Science Publishing (via Crossref) Yukon Canada Pacific Canadian Journal of Forest Research 34 9 1955 1966 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Canadian Science Publishing (via Crossref) |
op_collection_id |
crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
topic |
Ecology Forestry Global and Planetary Change |
spellingShingle |
Ecology Forestry Global and Planetary Change Mossop, Brent Bradford, Michael J Importance of large woody debris for juvenile chinook salmon habitat in small boreal forest streams in the upper Yukon River basin, Canada |
topic_facet |
Ecology Forestry Global and Planetary Change |
description |
The importance of large woody debris (LWD) in forested stream ecosystems is well documented. However, little is known about LWD in northern boreal forest streams. We investigated the abundance, characteristics, and function of LWD in 13 small tributary streams of the upper Yukon River basin, Yukon Territory, Canada. LWD abundance was similar to values reported from temperate regions, whereas LWD size and total volume were well below values for the Pacific Northwest. LWD formed 28% of the pools, which provide important habitat for juvenile chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha Walbaum). The median diameter of pool-forming pieces was 17 cm, and ring counts on fallen riparian trees indicated that pool-forming pieces were likely 70200 years old when downed. Juvenile chinook salmon density was correlated with LWD abundance in our study reaches. We conclude that despite differences in climate and forest type, LWD in Yukon streams and LWD in temperate regions appear to perform a similar function in creating fish habitat. Resource managers should consider the relatively slow tree growth and thus potentially long recovery times following human disturbances in these watersheds. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Mossop, Brent Bradford, Michael J |
author_facet |
Mossop, Brent Bradford, Michael J |
author_sort |
Mossop, Brent |
title |
Importance of large woody debris for juvenile chinook salmon habitat in small boreal forest streams in the upper Yukon River basin, Canada |
title_short |
Importance of large woody debris for juvenile chinook salmon habitat in small boreal forest streams in the upper Yukon River basin, Canada |
title_full |
Importance of large woody debris for juvenile chinook salmon habitat in small boreal forest streams in the upper Yukon River basin, Canada |
title_fullStr |
Importance of large woody debris for juvenile chinook salmon habitat in small boreal forest streams in the upper Yukon River basin, Canada |
title_full_unstemmed |
Importance of large woody debris for juvenile chinook salmon habitat in small boreal forest streams in the upper Yukon River basin, Canada |
title_sort |
importance of large woody debris for juvenile chinook salmon habitat in small boreal forest streams in the upper yukon river basin, canada |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2004 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/x04-066 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/x04-066 |
geographic |
Yukon Canada Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Yukon Canada Pacific |
genre |
Yukon river Yukon |
genre_facet |
Yukon river Yukon |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Forest Research volume 34, issue 9, page 1955-1966 ISSN 0045-5067 1208-6037 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/x04-066 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Forest Research |
container_volume |
34 |
container_issue |
9 |
container_start_page |
1955 |
op_container_end_page |
1966 |
_version_ |
1785576819919945728 |