Seasonal and diel changes in habitat use by juvenile bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) and cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki) in a mountain stream

1998 ◽  
Vol 76 (5) ◽  
pp. 783-790 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph L Bonneau ◽  
Dennis L Scarnecchia

Habitat use by juvenile bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) and cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki) in Trestle Creek, Idaho, changed seasonally and dielly. Both cutthroat and bull trout selected pools over riffles in both summer and winter. Both species used a wide range of depths at night but were absent from shallow water (<15 cm) during the day in summer and winter. During summer, juveniles of both species occupied areas of lower velocity water at night than during the day. Both species also occupied lower velocity water during winter days than summer days. During winter days, juvenile bull trout were located below or directly on cobble substrate, whereas cutthroat trout often formed aggregations suspended in the water column of large pools. Both species were more closely associated with cover during the day, and made the greatest use of cover during winter days. Land management activities resulting in decreased pool habitat, instream cover, and stream-bed stability may be especially detrimental to bull trout and cutthroat trout in winter.

Author(s):  
Adam J. Sepulveda ◽  
Robert Al-Chokhachy ◽  
Matthew B Laramie ◽  
Kyle Crapster ◽  
W Ladd Knotek ◽  
...  

The potential to provide inferences about fish abundance from environmental (e)DNA samples has generated great interest. However, the accuracy of these abundance estimates is often low and variable across species and space. A plausible refinement is the use of common aquatic habitat monitoring data to account for attributes that influence eDNA dynamics. We therefore evaluated the relationships between eDNA concentration and abundance of bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus), westslope cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi) and rainbow trout (O. mykiss) at 42 stream sites in the Intermountain West (USA and CAN) and tested if accounting for site-specific habitat attributes improved the accuracy of fish abundance estimates. eDNA concentrations were positively associated with fish abundance but these relationships varied by species and site and there was considerable variation unaccounted for. Random site-level differences explained much of this variation, but specific habitat attributes of those sites explained relatively small amounts of this variation. Our results underscore that either eDNA sampling or environmental characterization will require further refinement before eDNA can be used reliably to estimate fish abundance in streams.


2004 ◽  
Vol 61 (8) ◽  
pp. 1528-1537 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy J Schrank ◽  
Frank J Rahel

Knowledge of movement patterns is critical to the management and conservation of inland salmonids. We studied the movements of Bonneville cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki utah) in a drainage in western Wyoming, USA. Our objectives were to (i) characterize the postspawning movement patterns of adult Bonneville cutthroat trout, (ii) contrast postspawning and summer movement patterns, and (iii) identify factors that disrupt the movements of Bonneville cutthroat trout. Our data showed that postspawning movements of Bonneville cutthroat trout formed a continuum, with fish moving from 0.5 to 82.0 km. Postspawning distance was positively related to fish length. Despite the wide range of movement observed during the spring, fish did not move more than 0.5 km during the summer. A road culvert and an irrigation diversion dam did not seem to pose barriers to the upstream movement of Bonneville cutthroat trout to headwater spawning areas in the spring. However, 23% of radio-tagged fish in 2000 moved into the irrigation diversion ditch as they moved downstream after spawning and subsequently died there. Maintaining drainage connectivity is an important conservation concern for trout populations such as this one, where fish move between complementary spawning and summer habitats.


Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 990
Author(s):  
Tariq M. Munir ◽  
Cherie J. Westbrook

Beaver dam analogues (BDAs) are becoming an increasingly popular stream restoration technique. One ecological function BDAs might help restore is suitable habitat conditions for fish in streams where loss of beaver dams and channel incision has led to their decline. A critical physical characteristic for fish is stream temperature. We examined the thermal regime of a spring-fed Canadian Rocky Mountain stream in relation to different numbers of BDAs installed in series over three study periods (April–October; 2017–2019). While all BDA configurations significantly influenced stream and pond temperatures, single- and double-configuration BDAs incrementally increased stream temperatures. Single and double configuration BDAs warmed the downstream waters of mean maxima of 9.9, 9.3 °C by respective mean maxima of 0.9 and 1.0 °C. Higher pond and stream temperatures occurred when ponding and discharge decreased, and vice versa. In 2019, variation in stream temperature below double-configuration BDAs was lower than the single-configuration BDA. The triple-configuration BDA, in contrast, cooled the stream, although the mean maximum stream temperature was the highest below these structures. Ponding upstream of BDAs increased discharge and resulted in cooling of the stream. Rainfall events sharply and transiently reduced stream temperatures, leading to a three-way interaction between BDA configuration, rainfall and stream discharge as factors co-influencing the stream temperature regime. Our results have implications for optimal growth of regionally important and threatened bull and cutthroat trout fish species.


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