Evaluating dispersal and culvert passage performance of juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in urban streams
Document Type
Oral Presentation
Campus where you would like to present
SURC 137B
Start Date
16-5-2013
End Date
16-5-2013
Abstract
As world population grows, the boundaries between anthropogenic and natural environments expand. This often leads to habitat degradation and fragmentation. For aquatic systems in the Pacific Northwest, culverts and anthropogenic crossing structures in stream channels pose barriers to the migration of anadromous fish. In the city limits of Ellensburg, Washington, the channels of Wilson and Mercer Creeks collectively flow under anthropogenic structures for over 2,000 meters. Mercer and Wilson Creeks held populations of Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) that have since been extirpated. To test the impact of culverts on fish movement, individually PIT tagged juvenile Coho salmon (n=6,024) were released at two sites in each stream. Fish were tracked with a portable PIT tag antenna and electrofishing surveys. ArcGIS software was used to plot detections and derive distances travelled by individual fish. Downstream dispersal distance and distance travelled through culverts varied among the population. More fish dispersed from their release site in the lower release sites than in the upper. More data on how culverts impact downstream migration will become available when the juvenile Coho salmon smolt in the spring of 2013. As this study continues, it will provide useful information on how Coho salmon respond to urban environments.
Recommended Citation
Green, Ethan, "Evaluating dispersal and culvert passage performance of juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in urban streams" (2013). Symposium Of University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE). 35.
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source/2013/oralpresentations/35
Additional Mentoring Department
Biological Sciences
Evaluating dispersal and culvert passage performance of juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in urban streams
SURC 137B
As world population grows, the boundaries between anthropogenic and natural environments expand. This often leads to habitat degradation and fragmentation. For aquatic systems in the Pacific Northwest, culverts and anthropogenic crossing structures in stream channels pose barriers to the migration of anadromous fish. In the city limits of Ellensburg, Washington, the channels of Wilson and Mercer Creeks collectively flow under anthropogenic structures for over 2,000 meters. Mercer and Wilson Creeks held populations of Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) that have since been extirpated. To test the impact of culverts on fish movement, individually PIT tagged juvenile Coho salmon (n=6,024) were released at two sites in each stream. Fish were tracked with a portable PIT tag antenna and electrofishing surveys. ArcGIS software was used to plot detections and derive distances travelled by individual fish. Downstream dispersal distance and distance travelled through culverts varied among the population. More fish dispersed from their release site in the lower release sites than in the upper. More data on how culverts impact downstream migration will become available when the juvenile Coho salmon smolt in the spring of 2013. As this study continues, it will provide useful information on how Coho salmon respond to urban environments.
Faculty Mentor(s)
Paul James