Optimal Reproduction in Salmon Spawning Substrates Linked to Grain Size and Fish Length
Millions of dollars are spent annually on revitalizing salmon spawning in riverbeds where redd building by female salmon is inhibited by sediment that is too big for fish to move. Yet the conditions necessary for productive spawning remain unclear. There is no gauge for quantifying how grain size in...
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ftunivwyomingfig:oai:figshare.com:article/13678153 2023-05-15T17:59:41+02:00 Optimal Reproduction in Salmon Spawning Substrates Linked to Grain Size and Fish Length Clifford Riebe Leonard S. Sklar Brandon T. Overstreet John K. Wooster 2014-02-05T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1002/2013wr014231 https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Optimal_Reproduction_in_Salmon_Spawning_Substrates_Linked_to_Grain_Size_and_Fish_Length/13678153 unknown doi:10.1002/2013wr014231 https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Optimal_Reproduction_in_Salmon_Spawning_Substrates_Linked_to_Grain_Size_and_Fish_Length/13678153 CC BY 4.0 CC-BY Geology grain-size distributions gravel augmentation Pacific salmon population diversity resilience river restoration Text Journal contribution 2014 ftunivwyomingfig https://doi.org/10.1002/2013wr014231 2023-02-04T11:07:28Z Millions of dollars are spent annually on revitalizing salmon spawning in riverbeds where redd building by female salmon is inhibited by sediment that is too big for fish to move. Yet the conditions necessary for productive spawning remain unclear. There is no gauge for quantifying how grain size influences the reproductive potential of coarse-bedded rivers. Hence, managers lack a quantitative basis for optimizing spawning habitat restoration for reproductive value. To overcome this limitation, we studied spawning by Chinook, sockeye, and pink salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, O. nerka, and O. gorbuscha) in creeks and rivers of California and the Pacific Northwest. Our analysis shows that coarse substrates have been substantially undervalued as spawning habitat in previous work. We present a field-calibrated approach for estimating the number of redds and eggs a substrate can accommodate from measurements of grain size and fish length. Bigger fish can move larger sediment and thus use more riverbed area for spawning. They also tend to have higher fecundity, and so can deposit more eggs per redd. However, because redd area increases with fish length, the number of eggs a substrate can accommodate is maximized for moderate-sized fish. This previously unrecognized tradeoff raises the possibility that differences in grain size help regulate river-to-river differences in salmon size. Thus, population diversity and species resilience may be linked to lithologic, geomorphic, and climatic factors that determine grain size in rivers. Our approach provides a tool for managing grain-size distributions in support of optimal reproductive potential and species resilience. Key points: Usable spawning area is predicted from salmon length and grain-size distribution Bigger salmon move larger sediment, produce more eggs, and build bigger redds Tradeoffs of fish size and redd building give moderate-sized fish an advantage. Other Non-Article Part of Journal/Newspaper Pink salmon WyoScholar - University of Wyoming research repository Pacific Sockeye ENVELOPE(-130.143,-130.143,54.160,54.160) Water Resources Research 50 2 898 918 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
WyoScholar - University of Wyoming research repository |
op_collection_id |
ftunivwyomingfig |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Geology grain-size distributions gravel augmentation Pacific salmon population diversity resilience river restoration |
spellingShingle |
Geology grain-size distributions gravel augmentation Pacific salmon population diversity resilience river restoration Clifford Riebe Leonard S. Sklar Brandon T. Overstreet John K. Wooster Optimal Reproduction in Salmon Spawning Substrates Linked to Grain Size and Fish Length |
topic_facet |
Geology grain-size distributions gravel augmentation Pacific salmon population diversity resilience river restoration |
description |
Millions of dollars are spent annually on revitalizing salmon spawning in riverbeds where redd building by female salmon is inhibited by sediment that is too big for fish to move. Yet the conditions necessary for productive spawning remain unclear. There is no gauge for quantifying how grain size influences the reproductive potential of coarse-bedded rivers. Hence, managers lack a quantitative basis for optimizing spawning habitat restoration for reproductive value. To overcome this limitation, we studied spawning by Chinook, sockeye, and pink salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, O. nerka, and O. gorbuscha) in creeks and rivers of California and the Pacific Northwest. Our analysis shows that coarse substrates have been substantially undervalued as spawning habitat in previous work. We present a field-calibrated approach for estimating the number of redds and eggs a substrate can accommodate from measurements of grain size and fish length. Bigger fish can move larger sediment and thus use more riverbed area for spawning. They also tend to have higher fecundity, and so can deposit more eggs per redd. However, because redd area increases with fish length, the number of eggs a substrate can accommodate is maximized for moderate-sized fish. This previously unrecognized tradeoff raises the possibility that differences in grain size help regulate river-to-river differences in salmon size. Thus, population diversity and species resilience may be linked to lithologic, geomorphic, and climatic factors that determine grain size in rivers. Our approach provides a tool for managing grain-size distributions in support of optimal reproductive potential and species resilience. Key points: Usable spawning area is predicted from salmon length and grain-size distribution Bigger salmon move larger sediment, produce more eggs, and build bigger redds Tradeoffs of fish size and redd building give moderate-sized fish an advantage. |
format |
Other Non-Article Part of Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Clifford Riebe Leonard S. Sklar Brandon T. Overstreet John K. Wooster |
author_facet |
Clifford Riebe Leonard S. Sklar Brandon T. Overstreet John K. Wooster |
author_sort |
Clifford Riebe |
title |
Optimal Reproduction in Salmon Spawning Substrates Linked to Grain Size and Fish Length |
title_short |
Optimal Reproduction in Salmon Spawning Substrates Linked to Grain Size and Fish Length |
title_full |
Optimal Reproduction in Salmon Spawning Substrates Linked to Grain Size and Fish Length |
title_fullStr |
Optimal Reproduction in Salmon Spawning Substrates Linked to Grain Size and Fish Length |
title_full_unstemmed |
Optimal Reproduction in Salmon Spawning Substrates Linked to Grain Size and Fish Length |
title_sort |
optimal reproduction in salmon spawning substrates linked to grain size and fish length |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1002/2013wr014231 https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Optimal_Reproduction_in_Salmon_Spawning_Substrates_Linked_to_Grain_Size_and_Fish_Length/13678153 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-130.143,-130.143,54.160,54.160) |
geographic |
Pacific Sockeye |
geographic_facet |
Pacific Sockeye |
genre |
Pink salmon |
genre_facet |
Pink salmon |
op_relation |
doi:10.1002/2013wr014231 https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Optimal_Reproduction_in_Salmon_Spawning_Substrates_Linked_to_Grain_Size_and_Fish_Length/13678153 |
op_rights |
CC BY 4.0 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/2013wr014231 |
container_title |
Water Resources Research |
container_volume |
50 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
898 |
op_container_end_page |
918 |
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1766168533405794304 |