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Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC) Fish Ecology FE - Watershed

Information

Project
Strait of Juan de Fuca IMW
Title
Movement and Survival of Juvenile Salmonids in Small Streams
Description
The Strait of Juan de Fuca Intensively Monitored Watershed (IMW) project began in 2004 to test the watershed-scale response of steelhead and coho salmon to watershed restoration and consists of one control and two treatment watersheds. Restoration treatments included wood placement, road and culvert removal, and riparian planting. Physical habitat and juvenile salmonid monitoring began in 2004, while smolt and adult monitoring had already begun in 1998. We found that relative survival can increase at the juvenile life stage due to restoration actions, and that coho salmon and steelhead show multiple life history types resulting in differences in survivorship and contribution to the adult escapement. While the proportion of yearling coho salmon migrants in all three watersheds has increased since 2010, there was no concomitant upward trend in adult return. We have documented large-scale changes in stream habitat condition due to the over two decades of stream habitat restoration. For example, in Deep Creek we observed an increase in wood loading, sediment storage, pool depth and frequency, and a reduction in particle size distribution and stream width. Cumulative habitat restoration actions that incorporate natural processes such as wood recruitment can have measurable, lasting, positive effects to stream habitat conditions. Moving forward, we will focus on how survival changes at the juvenile life stage and life history diversity quantitatively affects salmon populations.

Data Sets

no data found

Research Themes

Ecosystem approach to improve management of marine resources
The California Current Large Marine Ecosystem, Puget Sound and the Columbia River Basin are home to a wide range of freshwater and marine resources that provide a wealth of ecosystem goods and services. Ensuring the resiliency and productivity of the California Current and Pacific Northwest ecosystems requires an integrated understanding of their structure, function, and vulnerability to increased human population growth in coastal communities and competing uses of coastal waterways and oceans. The NWFSC‘s approach to understanding these large ecosystems integrates studies across ecosystems (terrestrial, freshwater, and marine) and scientific disciplines to inform resource managers responsible for conserving marine resources.

Research Foci

Describe the interaction between human activities, particularly harvest of marine resources, and ecosystem function
Humans are an integral component of ecosystems. These ecosystems provide goods and services such as fish and seafood harvests, but these activities and others such as habitat alteration, pollution, and ocean acidification, can have strong impacts. Understanding the nature of these interactions will require observational and experimental studies aimed at identifying ecosystem-level responses to human activities, both individually and cumulatively, as well as human responses to ecosystem changes. Modeling spatial choices for harvesting and other human activities that are affected by ecosystem integrity, for example, can support a better understanding of the effects of ecosystembased management actions.

Keywords

IMW
Intensely monitored watershed
Oncorhynchus kisutch
coho
Oncorhynchus mykiss
steelhead
PIT tag
Passive Integrated Transponder tags
movement
movement
salmon
all salmonids
survival
Survival

Products

Advances in the population ecology of stream salmonids International Symposium, Gerona, Spain 2015.
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Bennett, T. R., P. Roni, K. Denton, M. McHenry, and R. Moses. 2015. Nomads no more: early juvenile Coho Salmon migrants contribute to the adult return. Ecology of Freshwater Fish 24(2): pp.264–275. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/eff.12144/epdf
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Bennett, T., R. Wissmar, and P. Roni. 2011. Fall and spring emigration timing of juvenile coho salmon from East Twin River, Washington. Northwest Science 85:562–570. http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.3955/046.085.0406
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Ehinger, W. J., J. Hall, M. McHenry, K. Hanson, T. Bennett, M. Liermann, G. Pess, K. Krueger. 2016. Strait of Juan de Fuca IMW Annual Assessment. Prepared for the Salmon Funding Recovery Board’s Monitoring Panel. Olympia, WA.
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Hall, J. E., P. Roni, T. Bennett, J. McMillan, K. Hanson, G. Pess, R. Moses, M. McHenry, and W. Ehinger. 2015. Life history diversity of steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in two coastal Washington watersheds. 2015. American Fisheries Society, Portland, OR, August 17, 2015.
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Hall, J., M. McHenry, W. Ehinger, T. Bennett, K. Hanson, M. Liermann and G. Pess. 2018. Strait of Juan de Fuca Intensively Monitored Watersheds. 2017 Synthesis Report. Prepared for the Salmon Recovery Funding Board
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Hall, J., P. Roni, T. Bennett, J. McMillan, K. Hanson, R. Moses, M. McHenry, G. Pess, and W. Ehinger. 2016. Life history diversity of steelhead in two coastal Washington watersheds. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 145 (5):990–1005. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00028487.2016.1194893
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McHenry, M., M. Liermann, G. Pess, W. Ehinger, K. Hanson and T. Bennett. 2021. Strait of Juan de Fuca Intensively Monitored Watersheds 2020 Annual Report. Prepared for the Salmon Recovery Funding Board.
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NOPLE (North Olympic Lead Entity for Salmon) 2013.
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Northwest Fisheries Science Center Watershed Program Open House 2010, 2013, 2015, 2017.
Northwest Fisheries Science Center Watershed Program Open House 2010, 2013, 2015, 2017.
Pess, G., McHenry, M., W. Ehinger, T. Bennett, K. Hanson and M. Liermann. 2020. Strait of Juan de Fuca Intensively Monitored Watersheds 2019 Annual Report. Prepared for the Salmon Recovery Funding Board
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Pess, G.R., McHenry, M., Liermann, M.C., Beechie, T.J., and Hanson, K. Submitted. “How does over two decades of active wood reintroduction result in changes to aquatic habitats of a forested river system?” by submitted to Earth Surface Processes and Landforms.
This paper quantifies the change in aquatic habitat conditions due to over 20 years of wood reintroductions at the watershed scale. Date of Delivery is an estimate for publication.
Roni, P., T. R. Bennett, R. Holland, G. R. Pess, K. M. Hanson, R. Moses, M. McHenry, W. Ehinger, and J. Walter. 2012. Factors affecting migration timing, growth, and survival of juvenile Coho Salmon in two coastal Washington watersheds. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 141:890–906. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00028487.2012.675895
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Strait of Juan de Fuca Intensively Monitored Watershed Database
https://www.webapps.nwfsc.noaa.gov/apex/f?p=274:1:25521899047110:::::
Sylvander, B., R. Kang, R. Davidson, R. Marsicek, P. Roni, K. Hanson and T. Bennett. Data Management for an Intensively Monitored Watershed. Presented at the 2014 NWFSC Science Symposium and in 2015 at the AFS Symposium.
Presented at the 2014 NWFSC Science Symposium and in 2015 at the AFS Symposium.

Taxa

Species Oncorhynchus kisutch
Coho salmon, silver salmon
Species Oncorhynchus mykiss
rainbow trout, steelhead trout, syeelhead trout

People

Gabriel Brooks
Staff
George Pess
Supervisor
George Pess
Supervisor
Karrie Hanson
Staff
Karrie Hanson
Staff
Martin Liermann
Staff
Martin Liermann
Staff
Morgan Bond
Staff
Steve Corbett
Staff
Todd Bennett
Principal Investigator
Todd Bennett
Principal Investigator