Understanding Chinook Salmon-Ecosystem Interactions at the Limit of Their Inland Range, as Told by Trees and Teslin Tlingit Knowledge Holders ...

• Main Author: Connoy, Jared
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Science 2022
• Subjects: Pacific Salmon; Indigenous Knowledge; Yukon; Ecology; FOS Biological sciences; Environmental Sciences; Pacific; Teslin; tlingit
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.11575/prism/39725; https://prism.ucalgary.ca/handle/1880/114605

Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) function as major sources of sustenance and nutrients in moving from marine environments inland. This has been demonstrated in coastal systems by positive relationships between Pacific salmon abundance and riparian tree growth and δ15N, likely mediated by predators and scavengers fertilizing the soil through consuming and transporting salmon carcasses. This thesis investigated whether these relationships occur at the limit of Pacific salmon distribution on the Teslin Tlingit Council (TTC) Traditional Territory in Southern Yukon, other ecosystem roles of salmon and population declines in the area, and the interactions of these processes. Tree growth chronologies were created at five riparian sites for 40-50 trees (N = 220) and related to salmon escapement or abundance data from the Yukon and Teslin rivers. Site growth chronologies were significantly and positively related to salmon escapement at three of four salmon-bearing sites and not at the negative (salmon-free) control ...