Diet composition and habitat use of piscivorous fishes (Arctic grayling, burbot, Dolly Varden, inconnu, and northern pike) in Chena, Unalakleet, and upper Yukon watersheds, 2013-2015

Predation on anadromous salmon can have important consequences for both predators and prey. Salmon provide large seasonal pulses of energy and nutrients via carcasses, eggs, and juveniles to many freshwater consumers, and conversely predation can represent a significant source of mortality for juven...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Erik Schoen, Kristen Sellmer, Mark Wipfli, Renae Ivanoff, Andrés López, Benjamin Meyer
Format: Dataset
Language:unknown
Published: Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.5063/KK996D
id dataone:doi:10.5063/KK996D
record_format openpolar
spelling dataone:doi:10.5063/KK996D 2023-11-08T14:14:15+01:00 Diet composition and habitat use of piscivorous fishes (Arctic grayling, burbot, Dolly Varden, inconnu, and northern pike) in Chena, Unalakleet, and upper Yukon watersheds, 2013-2015 Erik Schoen Kristen Sellmer Mark Wipfli Renae Ivanoff Andrés López Benjamin Meyer Chena River watershed, Alaska Upper Yukon River watershed, Alaska Unalakleet River watershed, Alaska ENVELOPE(-147.95775,-145.42302,65.02645,64.79121) BEGINDATE: 2013-04-25T00:00:00Z ENDDATE: 2015-08-25T00:00:00Z 2021-07-19T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5063/KK996D unknown Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity Diet Predation Stomach contents Pacific salmon Chinook salmon Arctic grayling burbot Dolly Varden northern pike Food habits Habitat overlap Thymallus arcticus Lota lota Salvelinus malma Stenodus leucichthys Esox lucius Oncorhynchus tshawytscha Dataset 2021 dataone:urn:node:KNB https://doi.org/10.5063/KK996D 2023-11-08T13:47:03Z Predation on anadromous salmon can have important consequences for both predators and prey. Salmon provide large seasonal pulses of energy and nutrients via carcasses, eggs, and juveniles to many freshwater consumers, and conversely predation can represent a significant source of mortality for juvenile salmon. Recent declines of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) populations in Alaska have raised concern that predation might inhibit their recovery. Using this dataset, we quantified patterns of predation by freshwater fishes on juvenile salmon across seasons, habitats, predator sizes, and streamflow levels in the Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim region of Alaska. We analyzed piscivore stomach contents and identified prey using DNA sequence ‘barcoding’. In coastal rivers, juvenile pink (O. gorbuscha) and chum (O. keta) salmon contributed heavily to Arctic grayling (Thymallus arcticus) and Dolly Varden char (Salvelinus malma) diets, coho salmon (O. kisutch) prey were rare, and Chinook salmon were not detected. In interior rivers, Arctic grayling, burbot (Lota lota), and northern pike (Esox lucius) consumed small numbers of Chinook salmon. Predation on Chinook salmon was documented disproportionately in sloughs during a summer of exceptionally high streamflow. Dietary and distributional patterns suggested northern pike and burbot may exclude salmon from sloughs in low-gradient river reaches that would otherwise provide suitable rearing habitat. The data also provided tentative support for the hypothesis that high streamflow induces juvenile Chinook salmon to move from mainstem habitats into sloughs, where they face an increased risk of mortality. Incorporating predation risk into climate adaptation, fisheries management, and habitat restoration decisions may help to facilitate Chinook salmon recovery. This analysis can be reproduced using the csv data files and 2 R scripts included. The analysis was conducted using R version 4.0.5. Run R scripts in this order: 1) Compile_discharge.R (compiles discharge data from USGS gauges) 2) Salmon_predation_data_analysis.R (reads in data from csv files, analyzes data, and produces output figures and tables) Dataset Arctic grayling Arctic Burbot Esox lucius Kuskokwim Lota lota Northern pike Thymallus arcticus Yukon river Alaska lota Yukon Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity (via DataONE) Arctic Yukon Pacific Keta ENVELOPE(-19.455,-19.455,65.656,65.656) Varden ENVELOPE(7.656,7.656,62.534,62.534) ENVELOPE(-147.95775,-145.42302,65.02645,64.79121)
institution Open Polar
collection Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity (via DataONE)
op_collection_id dataone:urn:node:KNB
language unknown
topic Diet
Predation
Stomach contents
Pacific salmon
Chinook salmon
Arctic grayling
burbot
Dolly Varden
northern pike
Food habits
Habitat overlap
Thymallus arcticus
Lota lota
Salvelinus malma
Stenodus leucichthys
Esox lucius
Oncorhynchus tshawytscha
spellingShingle Diet
Predation
Stomach contents
Pacific salmon
Chinook salmon
Arctic grayling
burbot
Dolly Varden
northern pike
Food habits
Habitat overlap
Thymallus arcticus
Lota lota
Salvelinus malma
Stenodus leucichthys
Esox lucius
Oncorhynchus tshawytscha
Erik Schoen
Kristen Sellmer
Mark Wipfli
Renae Ivanoff
Andrés López
Benjamin Meyer
Diet composition and habitat use of piscivorous fishes (Arctic grayling, burbot, Dolly Varden, inconnu, and northern pike) in Chena, Unalakleet, and upper Yukon watersheds, 2013-2015
topic_facet Diet
Predation
Stomach contents
Pacific salmon
Chinook salmon
Arctic grayling
burbot
Dolly Varden
northern pike
Food habits
Habitat overlap
Thymallus arcticus
Lota lota
Salvelinus malma
Stenodus leucichthys
Esox lucius
Oncorhynchus tshawytscha
description Predation on anadromous salmon can have important consequences for both predators and prey. Salmon provide large seasonal pulses of energy and nutrients via carcasses, eggs, and juveniles to many freshwater consumers, and conversely predation can represent a significant source of mortality for juvenile salmon. Recent declines of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) populations in Alaska have raised concern that predation might inhibit their recovery. Using this dataset, we quantified patterns of predation by freshwater fishes on juvenile salmon across seasons, habitats, predator sizes, and streamflow levels in the Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim region of Alaska. We analyzed piscivore stomach contents and identified prey using DNA sequence ‘barcoding’. In coastal rivers, juvenile pink (O. gorbuscha) and chum (O. keta) salmon contributed heavily to Arctic grayling (Thymallus arcticus) and Dolly Varden char (Salvelinus malma) diets, coho salmon (O. kisutch) prey were rare, and Chinook salmon were not detected. In interior rivers, Arctic grayling, burbot (Lota lota), and northern pike (Esox lucius) consumed small numbers of Chinook salmon. Predation on Chinook salmon was documented disproportionately in sloughs during a summer of exceptionally high streamflow. Dietary and distributional patterns suggested northern pike and burbot may exclude salmon from sloughs in low-gradient river reaches that would otherwise provide suitable rearing habitat. The data also provided tentative support for the hypothesis that high streamflow induces juvenile Chinook salmon to move from mainstem habitats into sloughs, where they face an increased risk of mortality. Incorporating predation risk into climate adaptation, fisheries management, and habitat restoration decisions may help to facilitate Chinook salmon recovery. This analysis can be reproduced using the csv data files and 2 R scripts included. The analysis was conducted using R version 4.0.5. Run R scripts in this order: 1) Compile_discharge.R (compiles discharge data from USGS gauges) 2) Salmon_predation_data_analysis.R (reads in data from csv files, analyzes data, and produces output figures and tables)
format Dataset
author Erik Schoen
Kristen Sellmer
Mark Wipfli
Renae Ivanoff
Andrés López
Benjamin Meyer
author_facet Erik Schoen
Kristen Sellmer
Mark Wipfli
Renae Ivanoff
Andrés López
Benjamin Meyer
author_sort Erik Schoen
title Diet composition and habitat use of piscivorous fishes (Arctic grayling, burbot, Dolly Varden, inconnu, and northern pike) in Chena, Unalakleet, and upper Yukon watersheds, 2013-2015
title_short Diet composition and habitat use of piscivorous fishes (Arctic grayling, burbot, Dolly Varden, inconnu, and northern pike) in Chena, Unalakleet, and upper Yukon watersheds, 2013-2015
title_full Diet composition and habitat use of piscivorous fishes (Arctic grayling, burbot, Dolly Varden, inconnu, and northern pike) in Chena, Unalakleet, and upper Yukon watersheds, 2013-2015
title_fullStr Diet composition and habitat use of piscivorous fishes (Arctic grayling, burbot, Dolly Varden, inconnu, and northern pike) in Chena, Unalakleet, and upper Yukon watersheds, 2013-2015
title_full_unstemmed Diet composition and habitat use of piscivorous fishes (Arctic grayling, burbot, Dolly Varden, inconnu, and northern pike) in Chena, Unalakleet, and upper Yukon watersheds, 2013-2015
title_sort diet composition and habitat use of piscivorous fishes (arctic grayling, burbot, dolly varden, inconnu, and northern pike) in chena, unalakleet, and upper yukon watersheds, 2013-2015
publisher Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity
publishDate 2021
url https://doi.org/10.5063/KK996D
op_coverage Chena River watershed, Alaska
Upper Yukon River watershed, Alaska
Unalakleet River watershed, Alaska
ENVELOPE(-147.95775,-145.42302,65.02645,64.79121)
BEGINDATE: 2013-04-25T00:00:00Z ENDDATE: 2015-08-25T00:00:00Z
long_lat ENVELOPE(-19.455,-19.455,65.656,65.656)
ENVELOPE(7.656,7.656,62.534,62.534)
ENVELOPE(-147.95775,-145.42302,65.02645,64.79121)
geographic Arctic
Yukon
Pacific
Keta
Varden
geographic_facet Arctic
Yukon
Pacific
Keta
Varden
genre Arctic grayling
Arctic
Burbot
Esox lucius
Kuskokwim
Lota lota
Northern pike
Thymallus arcticus
Yukon river
Alaska
lota
Yukon
genre_facet Arctic grayling
Arctic
Burbot
Esox lucius
Kuskokwim
Lota lota
Northern pike
Thymallus arcticus
Yukon river
Alaska
lota
Yukon
op_doi https://doi.org/10.5063/KK996D
_version_ 1782012331368120320